Kyle Busch earned the
fourth win by a Toyota Camry
in today’s race at
Darlington Raceway. The win
was Busch’s third NSCS win
of 2008. Busch has earned
eight NASCAR wins this
season -- three NSCS
(Atlanta, Talladega and
Darlington), three NNS
(Texas, Phoenix and Mexico
City) and two NCTS
(California and Atlanta).
Toyota Camry drivers Denny
Hamlin (seventh) and Dave
Blaney (ninth) also earned
top-10 finishes in the race.
Other Toyota drivers in the
field included David
Reutimann (19th), Tony
Stewart (21st), Michael
Waltrip (24th), Brian
Vickers (25th), J.J. Yeley
(26th), AJ Allmendinger
(27th) and Michael McDowell
(28th). Camry drivers have
earned 14 top-five finishes
and 22 top-10 finishes in
2008. Busch extends the
unofficial NSCS point lead
with his win at Darlington.
Busch is 79 points ahead of
second place, Jeff Burton.
Other Camry drivers in the
top-20 in the unofficial
NSCS point standings include
Hamlin (fourth), Stewart
(eighth) and Vickers (17th).
KYLE BUSCH, M&M’s/Indiana
Jones Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing Finished: 1st
What does it mean to win at
an historic place like
Darlington? “It’s pretty
awesome. Darlington
obviously showed again
tonight that is one of the
hardest places -- always has
been, and always will be.
Even with the fresh asphalt
this place is tough. I just
can’t thank this M&M’s, Joe
Gibbs Racing team enough.
They did an awesome job.
We’re going to go through a
lot of Mac Tools this week
fixing this thing, but
that’s okay. It’s an awesome
win for us. I can’t thank
these guys enough. They
prepared such a great race
car. The lapped cars were
great at the end -- they
gave me all the room in the
world.” Who was on the radio
calming you down during the
race? “Everbody. Everybody
did their part. Anyone that
was on the radio. (Steve)
Addington (crew chief) did a
great job, making great race
calls. Jeff Dickerson
(spotter) up top -- he’s my
savior every week. He’s a
pretty awesome dude.” What
about the ‘pathetic’ race
car? “It just doesn’t turn.
It doesn’t want to do what
it needs to do here. This
place became aero-tight. It
became one of those aero-
sensitive race tracks
because there is only one
lane you can run around this
place that is the fast way
around. Any time that you
want to get by somebody, you
just have to save your stuff
and try to maneuver past
them somehow, someway, but
it’s hard to do.” How hard
was the car to handle,
considering you hit the wall
a few times in the race? “It
was that tight. Coming off
of (turn) two a couple
times, I got real loose and
hit the wall because we
over-adjusted, but you have
to be that way on these
tires. You have to be out of
control and I was pretty
much out of control, trying
to hold onto the thing.
After we ran about 15 or 20
laps, and the rest of the
guys fell off so much, we
could just keep ticking
along and keep going. We
knew we had a good car, we
just had to get up front and
get track position. Greg
Biffle was really, really
strong at the beginning of
this race. He would’ve been
a good competitor to race at
the end, but unfortunately,
he had his misfortunes.” How
important is it for you to
carry the momentum heading
into the All-Star Race?
“It’s pretty cool. We just
need to keep that bull’s eye
on us. Guys are looking at
us and worrying about us.
We’re the target that
they’re shooting for. Carl
Edwards is good, too. He
finished second tonight, so
those guys are tough every
week as well. We’re on top
of the game for right now,
but Carl is going to be
right with us next weekend,
and there were a lot of good
cars that tested at
Charlotte.”
KYLE BUSCH, M&M’s/Indiana
Jones Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing (continued) How
does it feel to have that
kind of accomplishment
because usually people come
in here and win this thing,
they're the veterans, here
you are doing it at 23? “It
means a lot. This racetrack,
don't get me wrong, I don't
know all the history and
heritage of it, but I know
there's a lot to it. I know
watching Carl Edwards' piece
with (David) Pearson, having
the fun day he had, then
watching some of the
highlights of the races
here. It's kind of fun to
watch those and see what the
track was like back in the
heyday. But we're running
around here so fast now it's
confusing. To me it's just
neat to be able to go around
this place and remember all
that and yet still be able
to become the winner
tonight. It means a lot,
especially because it's
Mother's Day weekend now,
and of course my mom was
here to be able to help
celebrate with us. Happy
Mother's Day to her. And
having Indiana Jones and
M&M's on board this weekend
with us, that was pretty
cool, too. Glad we could get
them a win for the special
promotion they had going.
After the lug nut issue were
you concerned about driving,
wearing out equipment, and
that you wouldn't have
anything left for the end?
“I was. I was more worried
about trying to pass cars,
come through there, getting
tight, bouncing off the
fence more times than I'd
make a clean corner. To be
honest with you, a year ago
or two years ago, I probably
would have just thrown my
hands up and wrecked the
thing. But I'm getting that
much smarter -- not much --
but just that much smarter
to where I know that we've
got still a long race. If it
would have happened 30 laps
to go, I would have been
junk. I would have probably
folded in half. Fortunately
it was still a long enough
ways to go. Like two weeks
ago at Talladega, we had the
same thing. I had a pit stop
miscue, I didn't get in my
box, had to drive through.
We come around, there were
still laps to go where we
could rebound from it.
Knowing there was enough
time to rebound from it, I
just kind of laid back,
stayed cool, tried to
maneuver my way through
traffic and do the best that
I could. You know,
fortunately I was able to
get through about half the
guys. And then coming down
pit road, my guys had
another awesome stop in
order to get me a few more.
Then on that last stop, they
got me out first. That's all
you can ask for from your
pit crew. They did an
awesome job.” Are you
impressed with your
accomplishments so far this
year or are you not
impressed until you win
more? “I wouldn't say that
I'm not impressed with what
I've done. And I'm very
grateful and humble that
I've been able to win six
weeks in a row, yes, but I
feel like there could have
been more. And hopefully in
the next couple weeks, I can
go to Charlotte next week, I
can either win a truck race
or All-Star Race or both, at
that. That would be awesome.
Then going into the 600
weekend, either win the 600
or have a great racecar in
the Nationwide race and try
to win that thing. You go
out there every weekend,
like I said before, you have
to think you're the best,
you have to know you have
the best guys working on
your stuff, and you've got
to be able to go out there
and make the best out of it.
If we make the best out of
it, like tonight we did, and
we won, that's awesome. If
we make it a second, third
or fourth, we have to take
what we get that weekend.
Inevitably this streak is
going to end. It's not going
to keep going every single
weekend. I've just got to
keep my smiles on hopefully.
STEVE ADDINGTON, Crew
Chief, No. 18 M&M’s/Indiana
Jones Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing How special is
it to win in your home state
of South Carolina? “Oh, it's
awesome to win in your home
state. That was pretty big.
I ran here in the Busch
Series with Jason Keller,
ran second to Jeff Burton I
don't know how many times.
To come in here, to win a
Cup race here, it's really
big. It makes me feel good
about it.” What was the
issue with the lug nuts and
the glue and how did you get
it resolved or did you get
it resolved? “We're looking
to see if there's something
bad on the tube of glue or
whatever. It's the first
time it's happened all year.
The first stop, the first
couple of stops, I didn't
even know it was happening.
They never said anything and
they didn't miss a beat.
Then it started falling off
and they just left it
because they thought they
could get away with it.
That's when it was brought
to my attention. I was
pretty upset about it,
thinking he's probably
thinking we have lost this
whole deal, our pit crew's
falling apart -- all that
stuff. But, no, there was an
issue there. They're looking
into it. We'll get it
resolved.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11
FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing Finished: 7th
Can you talk about the
decision to pit from the
lead, giving up track
position late in the race?
“We just weren't getting the
fuel mileage that some of
the teams were getting so we
made the decision to pit
from the lead. The FedEx
team was awesome all day on
pit road and we gained a lot
of spots today but as it
turned out the track
position we gave up was too
much to overcome. These cars
are so tight when you pull
within a couple of car
lengths, we just couldn't
make it back to the front.”
DAVE BLANEY, No. 22
Caterpillar Toyota Camry,
Bill Davis Racing Finished:
9th Can you talk about what
this run means for your
team? “This is a brand new
car, and it was really good
all weekend. It was really
solid. They kept getting it
better and better all night.
That last run, we kind of
faltered for some reason.
But not bad, man. That is
run that this team needed.
If we can get our act
together, we can do this.
Our pit crew did a good job,
pitting with the front group
of guys, holding their own.
It was a good night for us.”
How important is it to get
the team back in the top-35
in owner points? “It’s huge
-- really huge. You don’t
want that struggle if you
don’t have to have it. We
put ourselves in that
position. We just haven’t
run well. I’m just happy for
the whole group. I have a
really good, experienced
group of guys and they
deserve to run a lot better
than we’ve been running.”
How good was your car
tonight, considering you
were running with the
leaders all night? “That’s a
huge gain from what we’re
used to. On tracks like
this, we’ve been three laps
down. They built the new car
for here, and we’ve finally
done some testing here the
last few weeks. We went to
Nashville for two days and
went to Charlotte for two
days. We just really haven’t
had the chance to do that.
We learned a lot. Tommy
Baldwin, crew chief on this
thing, deserves to run up
front. That was good
tonight. Good all around as
a morale booster for the
driver and everybody else.”
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 44
UPS Toyota Camry, Michael
Waltrip Racing Finishing
Position: 19th
TONY STEWART, No. 20 Home
Depot Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing Finishing
Position: 21st
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55
NAPA Toyota Camry, Michael
Waltrip Racing Finishing
Position: 24th
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red
Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull
Racing Team Finishing
Position: 25th
J.J. YELEY, No. 96 DLP
HDTV Toyota Camry, Hall of
Fame Racing Finishing
Position: 26th
AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 84
Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red
Bull Racing Team Finishing
Position: 27th
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 00
Brain Cancer Action Week
Toyota Camry, Michael
Waltrip Racing Finishing
Position: 28th