“It’s incredible what he’s been able to do since his injury.” – Jeff Burton on race-winner Kyle Busch
“Luckily, I got back to the lead lap before the yellow came out. That saved us right there.” – Race-winner Kyle Busch to Marty Snider in Victory Lane
“That move by Kyle Busch was huge…that un-lapped him, the caution comes out, and he’s the leader.” – Steve Letarte on the eventual race-winner with 51 laps left
LOUDON, N.H. – July 19, 2015 – NBCSN continued its NASCAR coverage with Sprint Cup Series Racing from New Hampshire, Presented by Pixels. Inside the broadcast booth, race announcer Rick Allen, 21-time Sprint Cup winning driver Jeff Burton and Daytona 500-winning crew chief Steve Letarte called the action. Patrolling pit road were NBCSN reporters Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Mike Massaro and Dave Burns. Kyle Busch won the race, his third win in eight races this season, and second victory in as many weekends.
The following are highlights from this afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race coverage on NBCSN.
Letarte on tire fire from Alex Bowman’s car: “That fire is what’s left of the flat tire on the right front brake rotor. These brake rotors are ridiculous warm. After you remove the old tire and put the new one on, if there are some strings or cords left on there, it’s like a wick to a candle and once it hits that hot rotor, you get big flames.”
Letarte on Landon Cassill and smaller teams: “This is such a strong run for a smaller team. These are not teams that you expect to come out and run with Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing.”
Burton on tough decision to pit at caution on Lap 118: “This is when I was always glad I was a driver, because I just got to do what my crew chief told me to do. To me, this is a difficult decision.”
Letarte to Burton: “I love when the drivers say that. When it’s a simple call, they always say, ‘Yeah, we’re coming!’ and when it’s a difficult decision, they say, ‘Woah, hey that’s your decision.’”
Letarte on importance of spotters: “They’re doing more than just clearing their driver through traffic. They’re watching and observing the race. Those eyes in the sky watch the whole track. If someone is moving around and finding grip, it’s very important to tell your drivers. A guy like Brad (Keselowski) is very good at searching around, but he may never think to run that crazy wide exit that Kevin Harvick is running.”
Pit road reporter Marty Snider on rumors that Martin Truex Jr.’s team owner, Barney Visser, is contemplating a manufacturer switch away from Chevrolet: “I asked Barney earlier today if that might happen and he said, ‘It’s a very real possibility. In fact, I would love to move manufacturers if we can get the deal done in the next month or two.’”
Lap 169; Letarte on pit road strategy: “Our field is split into three different groups right now. There’s a big group of cars that pitted in the mid 80s, another group that pitted around lap 105, and another group that pitted around 118. The mid-80s group – which includes leader Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch – they have to start thinking about pit road because their fuel window is coming up in the next four to five laps. When they do come in, it’s going to be very interesting to see what the other two groups of cars do.”
Letarte: “How did Brad Keselowski get behind Kevin Harvick? Kevin Harvick pitted three laps before Brad Keselowski. That means he had new tires for three extra laps, and at about a half second a lap, that leap-frogged (Keselowski) through the pit cycle.”
After a driver’s water bottle was determined to be the debris on track that triggered a caution flag at lap 192, Burton offered: “I believe every driver’s water bottle should be numbered, and if NASCAR finds someone’s water bottle on the track, there ought to be a penalty.”
Minutes later, former crew chief Ray Evernham tweeted: “Hey @JeffBurton we used to put your # on our water bottle Lol”
Letarte on Kyle Busch passing Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick to get on lead lap prior to caution with 51 laps to go: “That move by Kyle Busch was huge. This puts Kyle Busch back on the lead lap. When everyone else pits on this caution, I’ll give you one guess who the leader is going to be. That’s why he pushed the issue. His crew chief is telling him, ‘You have got to get by these guys.’ That un-lapped him, the caution comes out, and he’s the leader.”
Burton on Kyle Busch with 51 laps to go: “He’s in the best spot on the race track to win this race. It all started with that move.”
Letarte on Keselowski, who took two tires instead of four earlier in the race: “I liked the call for two tires…it wasn’t for the fortunate break the 18 had, the 2 would be the leader. Paul Wolfe has played the best strategy he can, but at some point you have to hope the balance of your race car matches the two tires when you put them on your car.”
Burton on Kyle Busch, leading late with six laps to go: “I’m telling you, from being in this spot…these six laps seem like they’ll just never end. You’re just hoping for no cautions…these laps take forever.”
Burton on Kyle Busch after the win: “It’s incredible what he’s been able to do since his injury. His team stayed together without him being there. Just an incredible job done by everybody involved, not just Kyle.”
Race-winner Kyle Busch to Marty Snider after his win: “Luckily, I got back to the lead lap before the yellow came out. That saved us right there. I just drove has hard as I could when I came off of pit road.”
NBCSN continues its NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series coverage with action from Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend, culminating with the Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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