Here’s what the drivers shared after Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
Josh Berry — Winner: “I’m really proud of everyone on this (Wood Brothers) team. They are an amazing group. They build excellent race cars, and it’s a privilege to drive for them. I’m truly thankful to be here. There are many people I could thank for this achievement, but being a Cup Series winner is incredibly special … I can hardly believe it. I’m so proud of this team. The car performed really well all day. We executed our plan perfectly. We had a little trouble on pit road but managed to recover, and I’m extremely proud of these guys. Honestly, I’m just trying to soak it all in. I want to take my time and really enjoy this moment.”
Daniel Suarez — Finished 2nd: “I feel a bit disappointed. But first, I want to congratulate the 21 team and Josh. They did an awesome job. They’ve been fast lately and always in the mix, so hats off to them. We did everything right, you know? The team was fantastic with our strategy and pit stops. Our car was quick. We just had a bit of trouble in the short runs. Before the last run, I told my crew chief, ‘Hey, we need to be upfront; I need a little better short run because I’m having too much contact in turns one and two.’ Unfortunately, I think that’s why we lost the race—too much contact. I nearly wrecked in turns one and two.”
Ryan Preece — Finished 3rd: “As we started the season, our motto was to live by the fire, die by the fire, and take risks. We aimed to be aggressive and stay on the offense to put ourselves in a good position. I’m really happy for Josh. I liked him a lot when we were teammates, and I’m super proud of everyone on the Consumer Cellular Ford Mustang Dark Horse.”
William Byron — Finished 4th: “When the fuel strategy changed, it really flipped our plans. It wasn’t just about pit strategy; we had to pit to finish the race. Unfortunately, we ended up having to restart in the 20s, which made it tough to move back up through the field. I think we did well getting back, but our car felt tighter in traffic. There are definitely areas we need to improve because once we lost the first few rows, the car acted very differently. We have to keep working on that.”
Ross Chastain — Finished 5th: “Yeah, that move helped Daniel Suarez take the lead. I was all in for him and glad to help out. I pushed him well down the frontstretch and through the restart zone; I helped him again into turn one and turn three. We stayed connected nicely. It was aggressive, but it got him to the front. Unfortunately, he hit the bottom too hard with his car and let Josh Berry slip past him a couple of laps into that run. It’s disappointing because he had a better car than we did and a chance to win, but it just slipped away.”
Austin Cindric — Finished 6th: “Today was definitely a strong day for our Discount Tire Ford Mustang. We showed good speed and overcame some challenges. Brian (Wilson), our crew chief, made a great decision that helped us regain our position on the track. We can definitely build on what we accomplished today.”
Christopher Bell — Finished 12th: “Today was definitely tough. I’m still figuring out how I feel, but we didn’t race as well as we did in the past few weeks when we had clean races. I believe the Interstate Camry had the potential to compete for a win when we were at our best, but we kept moving from the back to the front and back again, and we couldn’t find the right balance since it changes so much when you’re back there. I thought we were in a good spot in stage two to go for another win, but it slipped away from us.”
Joey Logano — Finished 15th: “It was a hard way to finish the weekend for us. The last run was starting to look like our strategy from last fall, but I made a mistake on pit road that I really wish I could change. I’m proud of our effort, but we should have had better results.”
Michael McDowell — Finished 16th: “It was a rollercoaster of a day for the No. 71 Group 1001 Chevy team. We had a small problem early on when the diffuser flap fell. We didn’t realize it until near the end of stage 2. Once we fixed that, we got back in the game, but we were still a bit behind on adjustments. I thought we could make it into the top 10, but during the last run, the car became very tight. It’s disappointing to lose positions at the end; nobody wants that. But we’ll keep improving, working hard, and taking notes to get it right.”
John Hunter Nemechek — Finished 20th: “The race didn’t start well since the balance wasn’t right in our No. 42 Backstreet Boys Toyota Camry XSE. We struggled to get through traffic, but we were lucky to have some cautions that kept us from going a lap down, which really helped us. We made some strategy adjustments that improved our car throughout the day, and we ended up finishing 20th. A big thank you to the team at Legacy Motor Club, and I appreciate Brian (Littrell), Kevin (Richardson), and Nick (Carter) for joining us today. I feel good about our result considering how we started, but we still need to work on our mile-and-a-half program. It’s a step in the right direction.”
Ty Dillon — Finished 21st: “Our Sea Best team keeps improving and getting stronger every time we work together. It’s exciting to see this trend as we move forward. We had chances to finish better, but we definitely improved from the start of the race to the finish. I’m really happy with how we performed. We’ll keep pushing to get better. I’m very satisfied with our effort.”
Erik Jones — Finished 27th: “Our Dollar Tree team had a mixed day at Las Vegas. We had a tough time with the car’s handling and fell back in the pack. Near the end of the race, someone hit us from behind, causing us to spin and damage our No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE. We’ll keep working hard to turn things around and aim for a great result.”
Austin Dillon — Finished 32nd: “Our Dow Chevrolet was really fast today, but the results don’t reflect how good we actually were. We passed many cars early in the first stage, which helped us plan to pit early and start stage 2 in the top 10. However, we had a slow pit stop that pushed us back into the middle of the pack. We managed to race our way back into the top 20 and felt like we had a top-10 car. Sadly, we got caught in a big crash in stage 3.”
The crash occurred right in front of us, and we got caught up in it. Richard (Boswell, crew chief) and the crew did an excellent job fixing the No. 3 car, allowing us to get back on the track and complete the race. I’m excited about Homestead-Miami next weekend. If our car performs as well as it did this weekend, I believe we stand a good chance. I’m very proud of everyone at Richard Childress Racing. Both cars showed impressive speed throughout the weekend, and there’s a lot to look forward to this season.
Shane van Gisbergen — Finished 34th: “Our start to the day was looking promising. I was beginning to find my pace and making progress. Unfortunately, I made an adjustment that didn’t work out, and I couldn’t bounce back. It’s disappointing because my Red Bull Chevrolet had a lot of potential, and I felt I could have done well. My teammates performed really well, so I know the car had the speed. I just need to learn how to place myself better. We’ll be ready for Homestead next weekend.”
Kyle Busch — Finished 33rd: “Our BetMGM Chevrolet was strong at the beginning of the race. We were up front and just about to pit when a caution came out, which gave us the lead. It was unfortunate to receive a penalty for speeding in the pits. I was sure we were good, and Randall (Burnett, crew chief) thought so too, but it is what it is.”
Clearly, the problem with the right rear effectively ended our race. Although we managed to complete laps and finish, we were optimistic about having a competitive car that could win today.”
Ryan Blaney — Finished 35th: “I believe it was my mistake. I thought I had two cars below me and one above, but it turns out there were two above, and I squeezed the two into the wall, so I take responsibility for that. It was a tough weekend for our team. I felt our car was performing well, and we finally made it into the top five before the crash.”
