NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AXALTA “WE PAINT WINNERS” 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 6, 2016
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 MONSTER ENERGY/HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
YOU HAD GIVEN YOURSELVES A GRADE OF A- THIS SEASON, TODAY YOU WERE AN A+. HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO SAVE THE FUEL WHILE KEEPING THE LEAD?
“It’s tough to balance everything and when you have a fast car and an interim crew chief and the way that the fuel mileage played out, I didn’t know if we were going to have enough fuel. But, thanks to everybody at Haas Automation, Monster Energy and Stewart-Haas. This is a wonderful win for us. We have been so close all year. It’s a matter of just putting it all together, pit crew, engine, thanks to Hendrick engines, and Chevrolet and everybody that works on these bodies, the chassis’ you name it. It’s just so much fun to drive and to be competitive and to be up front. Thanks a lot.”
WHEN THEY TOLD YOU THAT THEY DIDN’T THINK YOU HAD ENOUGH FUEL IN THE TANK WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND AND HOW DID YOU HAVE TO AMEND YOUR DRIVING FROM THERE?
“I was like, whoa, how many laps shy are we? They said two. These are really long straightaways at Pocono and you have to manage saving fuel as well as maintaining lap time. So many thoughts can go through your head, but I just stuck with the checklist. I just stuck with saving fuel and watching the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) behind us. Thanks to Gene Haas, Tony Stewart, everybody at Haas Automation, Monster Energy it’s our first win in the Cup Series for Monster, it’s awesome to be able to have the team week-in and week-out to be competitive and then to put it altogether today.”
HOW MUCH DID YOU HAVE TO ADJUST ON THE CAR WITH THE RACE TRACK AFTER ALL THE RAIN WE HAD OVER THE WEEKEND?
“It was a tough call. I didn’t think we would get the race in yesterday evening, but the track really would have been fast yesterday evening. Today, the sun came out kind of like a typical Sunday here in Pocono. We had to have the short run speed. I mean I had a restart that I executed perfectly to get the No. 24 and the No. 88. It is amazing how the team put me in position. I had to do my job to save fuel. Heck, there is still more Sunoco in the tank. Let’s keep going until we run out.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
“Well it’s special anytime you win. For Tony Gibson (crew chief) to be out this week because of a lugnut issue we had to overcome a lot. Johnny Klausmeier our interim crew chief, our lead engineer, he stepped up and when you do that it makes you really feel about that team comradery, that team chemistry and that team effort.”