Kyle Busch registered his
seventh NSCS victory of the
season Saturday night in
Chicagoland. Camry drivers
have now recorded eight NSCS
wins this season. Tony
Stewart (fifth) and Brian
Vickers (sixth) also earned
top-10 finishes on Saturday
night. Other Toyota drivers
in the field included AJ
Allmendinger (13th), David
Reutimann (14th), Dave
Blaney (23rd), J.J. Yeley
(24th), Michael Waltrip
(36th), Denny Hamlin (40th)
and Michael McDowell (43rd).
Three Camry drivers led 178
of 267 laps in this
evening's race including
Busch (165), Stewart (11)
and Vickers (two). Camry
drivers have earned 28
top-five finishes and 41
top-10 finishes in 2008.
Other Camry drivers among
the top-20 in the unofficial
NSCS point standings include
Busch (first), Stewart
(10th), Hamlin (12th), and
Vickers (14th).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's
Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs
Racing Finishing Position:
1st Did you expect a finish
like this tonight? "I have
to thank these guys. I gave
up on myself and didn't
think I could do that. I've
watched Jimmie Johnson do
that a few times and I don't
know how I did that. This
M&M's Toyota team is just
phenomenal tonight. Great
pit stops all night.
Everytime we came down pit
road we had fast pit stops.
I have to thank the fans
that are here, Interstate
Batteries and M&M's,
Snickers, Combos, everybody
that makes it so fun and
Sprint. I can't believe
this."
How did you pass for the
win on that last restart? "I
don't know. Jimmie (Johnson)
was going to bring us down
slow. I remember this from
short track days when
somebody was in your mirror
and you creep up on them.
You stop and they'll go up
on you. Well, I just went -
I pushed Jimmie Johnson to
go and was like 'let's go
man, here we go.' That was
the saving grace right there
was a good restart. I just
had to go to the outside
because he was going to
block the bottom in turn one
and two. It sucked for me
out there. I don't know how,
why or whatever. Steve
Addington (crew chief) and
these guys deserve this one
here. It was a great car out
front all night. We got back
in traffic and complained
about it a lot. When we got
back out front it felt good
again. I knew when Jimmie
got us here that clean air
was going to be it. Luckily
we got that caution and got
back by him."
Do you believe how great
of a season you're having?
"I really don't believe how
good things are going. It's
just been a phenomenal year.
Something just so special. I
have to thank the good Lord
from up above. I don't know
where this is coming from,
but he's blessing us all at
Joe Gibbs Racing this year.
This is just a privilege to
be a part of and we're so
proud."
TONY STEWART, No. 20 Home
Depot Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing Finishing
Position: 5th How was your
car this evening? "We
weren't bad. We just got in
a situation where we got
free there the last couple
runs and that's when we
needed to be really good,
and we just fought loose for
some reason. So, we never
did get it tight enough on
entry and exit -- we got it
too tight in the center at
the end. We were just a
little bit off -- we were
close though."
How much did the track
change from day to night?
"Initially, when it was
still sunlight -- when the
sun went down it changed.
But, I think it pretty much
stayed the same once the sun
went down. It cooled off a
little bit there for a
segment. It seemed like it
stayed pretty constant the
rest of the night."
How did you make up some
ground at the end? "We
shouldn't have given it up
in the first place. We were
just too loose -- couldn't
get tight enough in and off
to be were we needed to be
-- but we were close."
Do you walk away from
this race feeling pretty
good about your team? "Yeah.
I've always felt good about
my team. We were just a
little off."
TONY STEWART, No. 20 Home
Depot Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing (cont.) What
can you say about Kyle
Busch's performance this
year? "It's pretty simple --
you look at the top of the
board there and he's winning
races. We ran with him the
majority of the day, we just
lost the handle on it at the
end. So, I'm pretty proud of
our guys. We're getting
caught up."
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red
Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull
Racing Team Finishing
Position: 6th What
challenges did you face in
tonight's race? "We started
the race pretty decent and
made the car better during
the first pit stops. The car
started to get too loose for
a long run so we had to
readjust a little bit. We
were really good on long
runs but not on restarts.
During the last stop we made
adjustments to help the
restarts. The car was good
and we could have competed
for the win with a little
track position. We
definitely had a top-five
car. Unfortunately, the
engine blew on the last lap.
We were down a cylinder on
the restart, so those guys
got a jump on us. Then, the
engine finally blew coming
out of Turn four on the last
lap, and we coasted across
the finish line. We ended up
sixth, so it could have been
worse. It was a good points
day for us."
AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 84
Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red
Bull Racing Team Finishing
Position: 13th How was your
race tonight? "It was good.
Starting that far back we
knew we were going to have
to work a little strategy.
The car was pretty good --
it was a little bit tight
all night. Jimmy (Elledge,
crew chief) kept making good
adjustments on it -- small
adjustments -- that kept
making it a little bit
better. But, we were like an
eighth to 12th-place car. I
think if we just could have
gotten that tightness out of
it we could have been right
around top-five. He (Jimmy
Elledge) made a great call
to kind of lead me out and
get that track position.
With these cars it seems
like track position is
everything. So, you take a
25th-place car that is okay
and you're running fifth and
it seems pretty good. Just a
good day all around -- a
good day for myself and
Jimmy (Elledge) to get
acquainted and learn each
other and the whole team.
The pit stops were pretty
good, we just missed a
little bit on the last stop
that probably cost us a
top-10. Overall it was a
good day, good points and
good way to start."
Did you have any problems
tonight? "Our car seemed
like it took 10 laps to get
going. Once the tires wore
off, I could run back up at
top and gain some speed.
Early on I just couldn't run
the bottom. I wanted to keep
going green longer and I
think we would have been
okay. It's a good way to
start and something to build
on."
Do you feel comfortable
with new crew chief Jimmy
Elledge? "Yeah, he's easy. I
had more information than I
ever could imagine. I knew
exactly where I was running
the whole time, what lap
times I was running, and
what the guys near me and
behind me were running. It's
everything I could ask for
and it seems like it makes
driving so much easier. I
love knowing what's going
on. His experience level -
it's great to have that and
learn from that."
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 44
UPS Toyota Camry, Michael
Waltrip Racing Finishing
Position: 14th
DAVE BLANEY, No. 22
Caterpillar Toyota Camry,
Bill Davis Racing Finishing
Position: 23rd
J.J. YELEY, No. 96 DLP
HDTV Toyota Camry, Hall of
Fame Racing Finishing
Position: 24th
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55
NAPA Toyota Camry, Michael
Waltrip Racing Finishing
Position: 36th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11
FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing Finishing
Position: 40th
MICHAEL McDOWELL, No. 00
Champion Mortgage Toyota
Camry, Michael Waltrip
Racing Finishing Position:
43rd