What Drivers Said: World Wide Technology Raceway

Joey Logano – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford – WINNER:

You have a knack for winning in places we’re going to for the first time, and here at Gateway, what does it mean to you to win in front of a packed house the first time here?

“It doesn’t get much better than that. So racing for the lead with Kyle, one of the best. It was very fun. Cross back and forth. I knew it was coming. I did it to him; I knew he would do it to me. We crossed back and forth there on the last lap a few times. Definitely good for Pennzoil Mustang. Nice to get a few wins here in the season, start collecting those points, playoff points. I am out of breath. Jamie, I’m out of breath here. What a great car though. Very quick. I kind of screwed up in qualifying and Paul made a great decision by putting on two tires. Blaney did a great job pushing down on that one, at least keeping me close and able to make the move. Nice racing there.”

We looked at your crew chief, Paul Wolfe. I think he was sweating here when we had a few restarts there, but you said it. How was it? What goes through your mind when you decide which job to choose and whether your teammate will be behind you to help you?

‘I hoped that Blaney would choose with me. He put in a good teammate there and then was able to push me and give Team Penske a chance to win the race. That was cool to see Ford power lined up at the bottom. That was special to see. Like I said, it was a good race to cross. Who would have thought we had jobs like this here? I thought we were going to run to the bottom, and we ran all the way to the top and crossed. It was a lot of fun racing here and I look forward to coming back.”

Kyle Busch – No. 18 Snickers Toyota – finished second:

Can you finally lead me through the pass?

“My car was better on the outside, but it took a few laps to roll up there. Cold tires, firing on that restart – didn’t have the help behind me. I would put my hand out the window and signal Kurt (Busch) to push me along and Joey (Logano) was half a car back out my window trying to see it so the hand signal wouldn’t be relevant so I didn’t do it, which caused Kurt to backtrack too far. I came into turn one myself and was too far back. If you’re the man on the inside, flush the man on the outside and it’s over. I did get a crossover but threw it too far into (turn) three. It chattered all four tires. I just didn’t have a grip to get out of the corner well enough to be on his outside, so I don’t know. Much better than Phoenix in general. We were definitely more in the running than there. The guys from this JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), Toyota, Snickers, M&M’s, Interstate Batteries, Rowdy Energy, Breathe Right team have done a good job of improving and it’s something to work on.”

Kurt Busch – No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota – finished third:

What else did you need on that last reboot?

“I thought there would be a hand signal when it would be time to go and I would fucking avoid the 18 (Kyle Busch). We did the whole brother miscommunication. We should have won that. There had to be a Toyota have to be in the win lane a Busch in the win lane (Joey) Logano he didn’t do anything clever – we just messed up when we got the launch Then I wanted Kyle to walk all alone with 1-2 but what a “Great day for our Monster Toyota. We won a stage. I bet on that and the team was behind me.”

Ryan Blaney – No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford – finished fourth:

“We had a very fast car. I had a great chance to win and just made a mistake in the pits and finished 17th and by the time we got back into the lead I just ran out of tires. I am proud of the Dent Wizard team all day long. The car was super fast but just didn’t do well with the performance there on that last pit stop. †

Aric Almirola – #10 Built Ford Proud Ford – Finished Fifth:

“It was a solid day for us. We really needed that. It turned around a bit this past month. We’ve been in the top 10 and finished 20th or worse in the last month and a half. Really proud of today’s effort It was sort of a clear day and ran in the top five all day Drew and the guys on the team did a great job We are so close to having what we needed to challenge those guys for the pipe. “

Erik Jones – No. 43 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet – finished seventh:

“Our day was up all day. We lost some spots there at the end with just the restarts and getting tighter. We struggled with that a bit during the day. It was a good day for us. We needed a top 10 run and we got it today with the No. 43 Bombarito Automotive Group Chevy.

“I am happy with that. Of course we want to be a little better. I think we have some things we can work on to get there and be a little bit faster than some of those guys. We keep going, but it was a solid day for us.”

Ross Chastain – No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet – finished eighth:

You and the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) and the No. 9 (Chase Elliott). Take us back from your perspective.

“It was just terrible driving. It’s one thing to do it once, but I kept running into guys. At this level I should be better than that. It’s just too bad for Moose Fraternity, Advent Health, Jockey and Worldwide Express. I have all these people who believe in me with Justin Marks and Pitbull putting me in this car. They deserve better.”

Are you going to talk to them?

“I will, yes. I owe half the field an apology. Words won’t fix it, so I’ll have to pay for it on the track. I almost did today and I deserve everything they do. I can’t believe I kept making the same mistakes; overdrive the corners and drive into guys. I had time to be gently reset; and we’d go green and I’d bump into someone. Terrible.”

What would you say to them now?

“It is completely unacceptable that I have done that. For the No. 11, No. 9, No. 34, so many guys. I was just wrong driving today. Meeting people at this level is not acceptable. I can’t believe, standing here now, that I just made so many mistakes in a row. It’s one thing for one, but I just absolutely ran over my head today. It is unacceptable.”

Christopher Bell – No. 20 Rheem Toyota – Finished Ninth:

AJ Allmendinger – No. 16 Gold Fish Casino Slots Chevrolet – Finished Tenth:

“I am very happy with today. I didn’t know what to expect without training or qualifying and the car had to be repaired. The team made the car better all day long. In the end we needed a bit of track position, but we were really good there at the end. I am proud of the commitment from start to finish to get a top 10 to finish a great weekend.”

austin cindric – No. 2 Menards/Atlas Ford Mustang — Finished 11th:

“Proud of the pit crew guys, really solid race for them and proud of their progress. It is clearly a very strong weekend for Team Penske. Great to bring Joey (Logano) to another win, we have a lot of strengths as a team. I feel like I just adjusted myself too tight towards the end. We had let the trapdoor come down and that created a lot of downforce at the rear and led me on the wrong track. †

Justin Haley – No. 31 Leaf Filter Gutter Protection Chevrolet – Finished 14th:

“We weren’t the best all day, but we had a good strategy at the end to recover for a good points day. I’m proud of everyone for the hard work to get us back into the top 15.”

Austin Dillon – No. 3 Gets Bioethanol Chevrolet – Finished 15th:

“Today was tough, but this No. 3 Get Bioethanol team never gave up. We started the race much further back in the field than we had hoped after qualifying didn’t go as well as expected, and that made the day challenging with how aero dependent this track is. We struggled all day in dirty air. We made a big adjustment late in the race to hone our Chevy’s handling, and that really helped. If we had tightened up our car earlier, we could have had a different day in hindsight. It was great to be able to bring NASCAR to St. Louis, and especially to do so as we celebrated 20 million NASCAR miles at e15.”