Here’s what the drivers had to say after Chris Buescher won the regular season finale at Daytona.
Chris Bucher – WINNER: What a big push from Brad in those closing laps of the start of the whole restart. We lined up and worked to connect. We barely got those last two laps and it was a little tough at times, but that’s what we’re working on. Super sprints are so hard to do For two years now. We were so close. We’ve been in the last five laps of a lot of these things to get done here tonight, which is special.”
Aric Almirola – Third place: “I’m just disappointed. It was an amazing race car. Drew and all those guys brought in an amazing Smithfield Ford Mustang and we should have won the race. I’m just disappointed. Congratulations to RFK. Congratulations to Chris Bucher and Brad. I mean they pulled off a great finish to that race.” Flawless and they did a great job, but I definitely thought we had a car that could get there and try to win.
Chase Elliott – Finished 4th: “I feel like we had a good chance there, but Brad (Keselowski) and the number 17 (Chris Buescher) worked really well together there and managed to stick together. They were very consistent up there.. “They had a chokehold on the top lane. And unfortunately I couldn’t get to Kevin (Harvick) and stay there that way and make the bottom lane work. I just kind of bottled it up there and just couldn’t get enough momentum to go forward.
Kyle Busch – Finished 7th: “It was a very short distance that we couldn’t get up to the front where we wanted to. But overall, proud of the effort. We know we just have to get over the T, put the dots on, be a little bit more perfect, and just let some things go. “Happened during the races that took us out. A lot of it wasn’t our fault, nor was it our doing, but just circumstantial. Better luck, I think. I’ve used it to its full about eight weeks ago.”
William Byron – Finished 8th: “We had a solid night. In the group we were struggling to get forward, just one step back the whole time. But it’s good to get into the top 10 and go to Darlington with some momentum. That’s really I think the racetrack is good for us. We’ve got some Little things to work on in Darlington, just to get a little bit better, but I feel like the first round is going really well.
Kevin Harvick – 9th: “We knew we were in a bad position with my teammates. The Fords could push a lot better than the Chevys. Chase gave me a couple of good shots, but they couldn’t really stay connected and push because of the body shape. Their noses, so they got ahead of me. We fought all the time.” All the way to the end and then they stuck me in the middle and we got ninth, but it was fun.
Bubba Wallace – Finished 12th: “Grateful we’re in it. This is the quietest I’ve ever been. It’s ass backwards. I came to Daytona, and I focused so much on controlling the things that you can control. My stubborn ass never wants to listen to people telling me that. I did.” That’s finally it, and we’re stuck. What an amazing feat for our team of 23. I was honest with my team after Atlanta after qualifying – I said if we get our points together, we can do great things in the playoffs. I’m so proud of the team from top to bottom, Very grateful.”
Chandler Smith – 15th place: “I think we had a solid, good weekend. We were out front in both races, maybe we didn’t get the result we might have deserved based on our speed in the Xfinity race. Lots of TV time. I would call that a success.”
Christopher Bell – 16th: “Yes, the first round is about being consistent and not beating yourself up. If you can get there with two strong races, you should be in very good shape. However, they are great tracks for us and great opportunities for us to score more qualifying points.
Ross Chastain – 17th: “It feels really good to hear that—in qualifying again. I have to go back to 2021 and miss it on my first real attempt at a quality Chevrolet. I missed it with CGR in the No. 42 car and it hurts. But now I’m getting the day off.” Tomorrow and be ready on Monday morning to get into the tech hub and continue preparing for Darlington.”
Martin Truex Jr. – 24th: “It was a bit disappointing not to be able to really race tonight after Denny (Hamlin) got to that position and took the stage win – it was kind of disappointing, but the big picture was the right thing to do. We’ve got to We’re collecting 10 great races like we did in 2017 again.”
Truex Jr. The regular season cup tournament concludes
The regular season title trophy is “really great,” says Martin Truex Jr., but he’s focused on the championship again this year, and the extra 15 points is even better.
Denny Hamlin – 26th: “I’m really proud of the entire 23XI team getting two cars into qualifying in just our third year. It’s a testament to all the hard work they put in. You can’t do it without your manufacturer involved.” Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing Alliance and the team themselves put in the fast cars On the racetrack, above all, the drivers are improving. We’ve seen a really big Bubba (Wallace) transformation get better. He’s progressing and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does.”
Austin Dillon – Finish 33rd: “We just had a left front suspension failure with a little friction. It’s very frustrating. You try to have fun and get some points, but it really doesn’t pay for it. I win races.”We didn’t race for that. We made some good moves, and then some not-so-great ones. I have to go back and find a reason not to keep ourselves up front, right in front of that.”
Ty Gibbs – Finished 35th: “I felt like I was getting a big boost. I feel like all our team mates were working really well together tonight. I may have had a push in a bad place, but we were on our way to winning the stage. I want to thank Christopher (Bale) for all the support he gave me, and I I really do.
Ryan Blaney – Finished 36th: “I’m fine. I don’t know. I think it looks like the 54 turned on me. The 20 pushed him and that was just a weird place I guess and I grew up right, so it’s not in a fun place. It’s a shame. We had a fast car and came from the back to “We went ahead a few times and we thought we made a good move to try and win the stage and we couldn’t get a break. Luckily everyone is fine. We’re going into next week.”
Austin Cindrick – Finish 37: “Obviously there was a big wreck (Turn 4). I was at the end of the pack so I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t get a check in and avoid that and still have a chance to win the race tonight so I’m disappointed that I’m in a position to win it.” Tonight, but I’m thankful to everyone at Team Penske and the second car all year for doing everything they can to try and get us a win tonight.
