Christopher Bell – Winner: “You never know how this thing is going to turn out whenever you have a lot of things changing and adverse circumstances like this. I personally like adverse situations because you always try to think outside the box. You know, whenever we went out, I was feeling around, and it felt like the general Loudon drain was really slippery. So I just tried running down or running up, and Adam (Stevens) put a tune on this thing, and it was turning out really good.
Bale survives wet conditions to win Cup at Loudon
Christopher Bell scored his seventh win in 11 NASCAR national series starts at New Hampshire, discussing how he “loved” the challenge of wet-weather tires and the adverse race conditions.
Chase Briscoe – 2nd place: “The rain definitely saved us. We were terrible in the drought. We knew that generally on road courses and even on ovals where we have raced in the rain, we have been really good. I didn’t expect to drive up to second, but yeah, really nice recovery in that Ford’s case. …Yes, it was fun to run and slide around (on tires in wet weather) at the end. The track was changing a lot. It was a lot like sprint car racing, and the groove was literally changing lap in and lap out.
Brisco takes advantage of rain to finish second at Loudon
Chase Briscoe admitted that “the rain saved us” after struggling early at New Hampshire, but took advantage of a big points day with nine races remaining before the Cup Series playoffs.
Josh Berry – finished third: “We were debating back and forth about down or up (on the last restart). I really wanted to get to the front row, but it was just – it just felt slow out there, right, and I just felt like I’d probably get caught up in the race with Chase (Briscoe), who was on the outside. Would have been on the side. That’s kind of how we ended up. To be honest, I think maybe I pushed Christopher really hard, and I think that slowed me down. Then I just got a little loose from the two and brought Chase back to my left rear. He kind of drugged me, and we got stuck racing and we had to drag the race to the line.
Berry restarts OT after finishing third
Josh Berry says he debated back and forth on which lane to take on the final overtime restart at New Hampshire and shares his confidence level on wet weather tires after a third-place finish.
Kyle Larson – finished fourth: “Yes, it was fun. I think when that happens, I think that’s why you see a lot of dirt racers migrating to the front. Just tried to get a feel for it out of caution. Going too low on the restart isn’t my best bet, but it worked out and I was able to maintain track position for the rest of the race, so I’m proud of it.
Chris Buescher – Finished 5th: “Loudon hasn’t been our best track, certainly not mine in particular. No posts were left vacant in this Fastenal Group today. To come home with a top five was amazing. We were really good when the rain was wet. We really struggled for it when it was dry but we were on wet tyres. There was only one really good groove at the end and it reignited a fight. We managed to stick around through them all and brought the thing home with a few more tire marks on the door than when we went in red to begin with, but it was a really good night for us. Was.
Tyler Reddick – finished sixth: “Yes, it was a really interesting day – that’s for sure. It was really a shame that we couldn’t find a way to victory today in our SiriusXM Toyota Camry, but for us, taking the risk and if the rain continues has the potential to win the race and make it into the top-10. Good for our team. We’ll finish sixth, and move on from that and get ready for the next one, but it was definitely an interesting day and a unique experience.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Finished 7th: “Our day was spent all over the place. Our condition was very bad due to dry tires and we struggled all day. And then when we went to the wet weather tyres, we performed really well. We struggled a bit, but in the end, we got our No. 47 Kroger/Kleenex 100 Years Chevy looking really nice. We were able to bounce back from 25th place and break into the top 10. We made the most of it, which was really cool. Two top-10s, back to back, and hopefully we can do the same thing in Nashville.”
John Hunter Nemechek – Finished 8th: “By the time we got all the cautions, we were stuck two laps down. I was sitting on top of the box with Ben (Beshore, crew chief) praying that we would be able to go back to racing. Our performance in the first run of the race was very poor, and we just worked on it all day. These people gave everything they had. Lots of adjustments throughout the day. …I’ll take the eighth after the day we had. I think we hung around in 31st or 32nd for almost the whole day, a very solid finish for us and something we needed. “Hopefully we can build some momentum off of this.”
Martin Truex Jr. – Finished 9th: “When it was raining heavily, I thought we were going home. Definitely a tough day. Our racer’s Camry had one speed. It’s a shame the way things worked out, but definitely happy to get into the top 10. It’s been a tough four weeks, so we needed a good finish. We had good stage points and we needed a good finish, very happy we got it, but it hurts to have a tough day here, it’s probably my last day.”
Ross Chastain – Finished 10th: “Overall, I think if we ran the entire race without thinking, we got where we were supposed to be. I feel like we have some basic things to work on, like my front tires sliding a lot with the slip in the dry, the understeer in the wet and the understeer in the dry. I just need to slide my tires less. But overall, happy to make it to the top-10. We’ll regroup and get ready for Nashville.”
Ryan Preece – 11th: “I feel a lot better about today compared to how our end was before the rain delay. We were supposed to finish 28th and finished 11th. “I’m still disappointed to finish 11th because I think we should have still been higher than that.”
Eric Jones – 13th: “We put wets on the Dollar Tree Camry, they weren’t really good, and had to make some major changes to make them better, and we ended up running out of time trying to improve our track position. Well day, I wish we could run on dry places and run a normal race. We will take what we learned and hopefully it will be better for Vet next time.”
Harrison Burton – 14th: “To be honest, I’m a little disappointed. I think we should have finished much better. We picked bottom on the last restart and if it came back to me I would have picked top. I don’t know. it is hard. It’s hard not to restart fifth instead, I think I would have restarted 10th or 12th or something on top. You never know how it works. Not ending it is a problem. Felt like we had a nice car, especially when it got wet. If I could put a right rear tire on it. Caution was exercised as we left at nine and it was a really good time. It’s easy to get mad now but be thankful it came out because my right rear hurt a lot. We just have to explore everything there is and choose our process. I would like to finish it better next time but we had a good car and I’m proud of our guys.
Ty Dillon – Finished 20th: “I’m really proud of those guys today and everything they did to make the car better. At one point, we were two laps behind, and we just kept fighting, hitting our restarts, and gaining the position back. We still need to work on some things, but today it was a total team effort.”
Ryan Blaney – 25th: (What Michael McDowell said to him after the race) “He said he was sorry he ruined me. The apology is nice, but it won’t take back what he did. I knew what he was trying to do. It was a low percentage move and what do you think is going to happen here? And that was his excuse, but it stinks that it was at our expense, I was happy because we had a chance to compete. Came in, put the tires on, made a big adjustment and was hoping to start again behind the bell and see if we had anything for him but I’m proud of the 12 boys. And really fast cars. I really enjoy where our short track program is going right now. Hopefully we can continue to improve it a little bit.”
Blaney contacted McDowell in Loudon.
Ryan Blaney’s promising day at New Hampshire ended after Michael McDowell slipped to 12th late in the race, calling it a “low percentage move,” but he’s encouraged by his team’s short track program.
Noah Gragson – 27th: “I just lacked grip. Extremely loose around the track. One must have hit the paint on entry (turn), and not intentionally in any way with 23 (Bubba Wallace). Just a mistake on my part. It was unfortunate and I apologize to those 23 people for ruining their day. Obviously this is not what we want to do nor is it what I want to do. It was completely unintentional.”
Daniel Hemric – finished 31st: “We knew over the weekend that our short-track package had been a challenge for this Kaulig Racing team, and that was the challenge today. Our No. 31 Poppy Banks Chevy was lacking rear grip, and I was able to use the rear tires. Turned around after. Unfortunately, we couldn’t counterattack and get back into our lap.”
Austin Dillon – Finished 33rd: “Our luck on this No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet team this year is unreal. We started the race today with serious balance problems and difficulties going through the ups and downs at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Eventually we started rolling, we were going to roll ahead of two on the top, and the No. 10 car lost control and we had nowhere to go. Our Chevrolet was destroyed and our day was over. It’s unfortunate because I felt like we had a chance to lay some groundwork and think outside the box about wet tires. We’ll be back next weekend and headed to Nashville Superspeedway.
Several cars damaged after Gragson spun in Loudon
Noah Gragson goes for a slide at the racetrack and collects Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon and a few others on tires in wet weather in New Hampshire.
Kyle Busch – Finished 35th: “I am proud of everyone on the RCR and FICO team for their hard work this weekend. He did a great job making adjustments and repairs. We couldn’t qualify on Saturday and only practiced for five minutes. The FICO Camaro was a handful in the race but Randall Burnett continued to make changes. We pushed hard to get back into the lead lap and thought we could gain a few more places, but unfortunately we hit the wall under caution in wet conditions just before coming back to green after a rain delay And could not complete. We’ll take the FICO Chevy back to the shop to evaluate what happened and how we can improve our New Hampshire package.
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