DiBeneditto, McDowell, and Nemechek Quotes

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang -- HOW WILD WAS IT AT THE FINISH?  “Man, it was crazy.  We had a really good car.  I mean, we could have contended for the win.  It was really fast, but lost track position when things shuffled around and we had to do the wave around.  Me and my spotter, I’ve got to give him a lot of credit, Doug Campbell, I told him we should win some sort of restart award.  We were 18th because of track position how it cycled out with like seven to go.  We had two monstrous restarts and then pushed Cole to the win there, which kind of felt cool.  Good for him.  Congrats, but this is a big race for us having the Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang in the Quaker State 400, so I wish we could have won it, but circumstances didn’t work out.  We’ll take a strong finish and a really fast car.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang -- A CRAZY RESTART.  TAKE US THROUGH IT.  “I just want to thank everybody from Stewart-Haas Racing and everybody from Hunt Brothers Racing.  Our Ford Mustang was not very good today, but we got a good break with the caution.  I had a couple good restarts there and got the car better, but still just not where we needed to be -- but the restarts worked out in our favor and we were able to get the lead and Martin just misjudged there on the backstretch and got me sideways.  I got out of the gas and that just brought everybody into the picture and then we were four-wide on the front straightaway here and the 12 hit the drain and came up and hit the side of the car and then i couldn’t see, so, yeah, it got wild and that’s what you’re supposed to do.  I’m just really happy for Cole Custer and everybody on the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang.  That’s pretty cool to get your first win.  As much as I would have loved to win, I’m glad that we kept it in the company.”

YOU WEREN’T UP FRONT ALL DAY, BUT AT THE END YOU HAD A CHANCE.  “We got lucky with that caution and got track position. We had a couple good restarts there and then we were in a position to win. We made it through turns one and two and then Martin (Truex) kind of misjudged on the backstretch and kind of got into us. I had to check up. Next thing I knew I was four-wide on the front straightaway and the 12 (Blaney) hit the drain and went back up the racetrack. I just have to thank everyone from Hunt Brothers Pizza, Busch Light, Jimmy John’s, Mobil 1 and Haas Automation. Everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing for continuing to bring great cars. And congratulations to Cole Custer. Obviously, last week he was a big part of our win and to get to victory lane in your rookie year is a big deal. Really h No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Delo Ford Mustang

Started: 30th

Finished: 24th

Stage One: 26th

Stage Two: 24th

Stage Three: 24th

The No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Delo Ford Mustang took the green flag in Sunday's 267-lap race from the 30th position. During the Competition Caution, McDowell noted that his Ford Mustang was "a little free" and would pit for 4 tires, fuel and a packer adjustment. The remainder of Stage 1 would be caution-less and the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Delo Ford Mustang would finish the stage in the 26th position. Under the Stage 1 caution, McDowell noted that his race car started off loose, however tightened up as the run went on. He would pit for 4 tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.

Stage 2 would run green for most of the stage. With less than 10 laps remaining, McDowell came to pit road under green for fuel only as he came over the radio to say, "I'm coming to you guys this time. I'm out." Shortly after getting back on track, the caution flag would fly and the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Delo Ford Mustang would stay out on track. McDowell went on to battle his way into the Lucky Dog position, finishing Stage 2 in the 24th position. Under the Stage 2 caution, McDowell brought his No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Delo Ford Mustang to pit road for 4 tires, an air pressure adjustment and fuel.

Michael McDowell and his No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Delo Ford Mustang restarted the Final Stage of Sunday's 400-mile race at Kentucky Speedway on the lead lap. Over half of the Final Stage would be run under green, as McDowell raced his way into the Top-15 and then to 3rd as green flag pit stops began. Just as McDowell was getting ready to bring his No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Delo Ford Mustang to pit road for a fuel-only pit stop, Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer came over the radio, telling the No. 34 to "STAY OUT" as the caution flag flew. Under the caution, McDowell brought his race car to pit road for fuel, 4 tires, a tire pressure adjustment and trackbar adjustment. As the race went back to green, McDowell noted that his race car was "so much better" and he would battle inside of the Top-10 before another caution flag would fly. On the next restart, McDowell would receive damage from another car and go on to finish Sunday's race at Kentucky Speedway from the 24th position.

McDowell on Kentucky:

“Well that one definitely stings. We had a really good car on the long run, we just couldn't fire off on the short run. Drew and the guys did a great job all day. We ran long and caught a caution and had good track position at the end, sitting in the Top-10. Unfortunately, I had to restart on the bottom and got sucked around and that was about it. You get loose one time and can lose about ten spots. It's really unfortunate. I hate it. I hate giving up spots at the end of a race, but that happens with this package and especially when some of these restarts get crazy. If you're not in the right line, it just happens. I feel like I let my guys down. We had another solid performance speed-wise; we just didn't get the result today. Thanks to everybody at Love's Travel Stops for coming on board with us. I'm sorry that we couldn't get you guys that Top-10, but we'll keep fighting hard."

No. 38 YANMAR America Ford Mustang

Started: 22nd

Finished: 36th (out)

Stage One: 29th

Stage Two: 29th

Stage Three: 36th (out)

Following a random draw for starting position, John Hunter Nemechek took the green flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Kentucky Speedway in 22nd place. He noted on Lap 6 that his No. 38 YANMAR America Ford Mustang was “free to start” and was experiencing a lot of splitter bounce. At the Competition Caution, Nemechek pitted for 4 tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. As Stage 1 came to a close, Nemechek was still loose and still bouncing off the splitter. He would take the green- and-white checkered flag a lap down in 29th position and pitted under caution for 4 tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.

Nemechek continued to struggle with the handling of his No. 38 YANMAR America Ford Mustang in Stage 2. He radioed to the team on Lap 116 that the splitter bounce was worse and when he was “behind someone in traffic, I just get loose.” He noted a few laps later that he was “wrecking loose center off” and eventually made a green flag pit stop for 4 tires, fuel, wedge and packer adjustments. When the caution came out on Lap 153, Crew Chief Seth Barbour made the call for Nemechek to pit for another packer adjustment and in the few short green flag laps remaining in Stage 2, Nemechek said that his handling had definitely improved. He would finish Stage 2 in the 29th position.

Two laps down and without a wavearound opportunity, Nemechek pitted for 4 tires and fuel at the final Stage Break Caution. As Stage 3 got underway, Nemechek noted that his No. 38 YANMAR America Ford Mustang was finally in a place where he felt comfortable and his handling had improved. After making contact with the wall on Lap 243, Nemechek sustained heavy damage to the right side of the car, and the crew was unable to make enough repairs on pit road. He would retire to the garage and finished in 36th place.

Nemechek on Kentucky:

“Wasn’t the day we were hoping for in our No. 38 YANMAR America machine. We were loose to fire off and we were hitting the splitter, and it got worse before it got better. Seth and the crew tried a few different adjustments, but by the time we were able to get the handling to a better place, we were already multiple laps down and then we made heavy contact with the wall, which ended our day. Hate that for the team and our partners at YANMAR America. Everyone has worked so hard to get our Front Row Motorsports cars ready each week. We’ll regroup and focus on having a good run in the All-Star Open and getting our YANMAR America Ford Mustang into the All-Star Race on Wednesday."

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2020, Issue 7, Posted 8:03 PM, 07.12.2020