Here’s what drivers had to say after Martin Truex Jr.’s dominant performance Monday:
Martin Truex Jr. – Winner: “What we’ve been able to do here over the years is pretty remarkable, and not winning has become very frustrating. James (junior) and I have talked about it many times. We’ve thought about it all weekend, we talked to Christopher (Bell) about it before the race. He’s like, ‘Man, you’ve led more laps here than even I have in Cup.’ Really great work by everybody. What a race car we had today . Just proud of the whole team. The pit stops were flawless. The race car was amazing. We had some challenges at times throughout the race and it was a handful at times but we just kept our heads down , we kept digging.”
Joey Logano — Finished 2nd: “Even so, home track, there’s no place you want to win more than this, so it’s hard not to get the Shell-Pennzoil Ford in Victory Lane. But hey, the second one sucks sometimes, you know. It stings the most when you’re so close and you feel like you’ve got a shot at it. It’s still a good day for us.”
Kyle Larson — Finished 3rd: “Overall, it was a great race for the #5 Valvoline Chevy team. I’m honestly not sure how much work we had to do with the car. I think we were pretty good throughout the race. The initial start didn’t work and we were stuck at the bottom. At the end of stage 1, we were able to move forward, and then stage 2 went well. The final stage also went well. Number 19 was the class of the field: he definitely had the car to beat.”
Kevin Harvick — Finished 4th: “We knew we just had to run on the old tires. I just shot the background. I probably should have rolled in the fourth lane instead of the third lane, but still a decent day. We will continue to connect. This had been a great track for us – another top five. These songs and these fans here especially have been so good to me over the years. It’s always fun to come here.”
Brad Keselowski — Finished 5th:
Austin Dillon — Finished 9th: “Our #3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevy team fought hard today. We didn’t have the best balance, but when the track changed, the car got to us a little bit and we were able to get something out of it with strategy and a good Chevy in the long run. It was a good fight. We fought a speeding penalty. We look forward to continuing the momentum next weekend at Pocono Raceway.”
Chase Briscoe – Finished 10th: “For the last two or three months, it feels like a win, really. At the start of the race, we weren’t at all. But I said a couple of weeks ago coming here that it’s going to take a while to figuring out these cars – learning these cars, what settings make the most sense and what my starting point is. I felt like at the end, we were a seventh car, but if we could have started the weekend there, we might have been in contention for the victory.”
Erik Jones – Finished 11th: “It was an up and down day for the No. 43 Allegiant Chevy team. We just started very deep in the field and had to push forward. We improved our Chevy throughout the day. We had a bad race but fortunately we ran hard and finished on the good side. There we got a track position with the final yellow that put us back in the top 15. We started again 20 and we got home 11 there, so it was a good run for what we had.”
Michael McDowell — Finished 13th:
#BIRTH … Michael McDowell finished 13th, his best at New Hampshire, and remains tied for the final playoff spot with six regular-season runs. pic.twitter.com/EU40kGfYiS
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) July 17, 2023
Daniel Suárez — Finished 16th: “In the beginning we had track position and were able to defend quite decently. But once we lost track position and lost the balance of the car a bit in the second stage, we couldn’t recover. We seemed to have problems with the right rear at the pit stops which also cost us a lot of track position. My pit crew is one of the best out there and I know they will find out. I’m pretty sure it was a mechanical problem and not his problem.”
Justin Haley – Finished 17th: “We struggled more in traffic in our #31 Chevy and lacked stability on the right rear. Track position was key, making it difficult to make too many adjustments for fear of losing that position. We fought hard in that last race, and I think we got the most out of the day. Overall, I think we learned a little bit this weekend at a place that’s usually one of my weaker tracks. It’s time to get back to work.”
AJ Allmendinger — Finished 19th: “Today was not our day in New Hampshire. We struggled really bad in traffic all day and couldn’t make the right adjustments to help handle our #16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevy. We’re definitely disappointed with our race today, but we’re going to Pocono.”
Aric Almirola — Finished 34th: “I thought (the right rear) felt a little awkward coming off pit road, but after that, I put the tires and gears before the restart, that’s it you know..spinned the tires.a few times,everything seemed normal.I didn’t really have any concerns for the restart,and then obviously the right rear wheel came off.So,really,very disappointed. “
Kyle Busch — Finished 36th: “No, I’ve been missing right rear grip the whole time we’ve been here. I just couldn’t get the right rear feel on the race track. You’re just trying to keep it under you as much as you can. It was getting late in the race, and I was trying a different line and it was too high. I didn’t like being so tall at the entrance. I couldn’t give him the wheel and have the right rear stick with the lateral grip you need.”
