FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, August 8th, 2015
NOTES AND QUOTES FROM XFINITY SERIES PRE-RACE AND RACE COVERAGE FROM WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL ON NBCSN
Race winner Joey Logano to Marty Snider: “This is my first road course win, it means so much.”
Runner-up Brad Keselowski to Kelli Stavast: “There was a lot going on today. I think you saw that on pit road afterward.”
Regan Smith to Mike Massaro after his post-race altercation with Ty Dillon: “I might have lost the championship today, but (Ty Dillon) sure as hell did too. There is zero chance that No. 3 car wins this championship, and I am going to make sure of it.”
Tempers were flaring today as NBCSN presented NASCAR XFINITY Series Racing from Watkins Glen. For the second straight week XFINITY drivers went head to head on the track and after the race as well. Prior to another heated session, Saturday afternoon’s festivities began with the Countdown to Green pre-race show, hosted by Krista Voda alongside Kyle Petty and analyst Parker Kligerman. Features reporter Rutledge Wood and NBCSports.com lead motorsports writer Nate Ryan contributed to the coverage. Reporters Kelli Stavast, Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Mike Massaro patrolled pit road at “The Glen.”
Once the green flag dropped, race announcer Rick Allen, Daytona 500-winning crew chief Steve Letarte and 21-time Sprint Cup winner Jeff Burton called the race, which culminated with Joey Logano’s first-ever road coarse victory.
| Position | Driver | Car # |
| 1 | Joey Logano | 12 |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | 22 |
| 3 | Chris Buescher | 60 |
| 4 | Boris Said | 54 |
| 5 | Ty Dillon | 3 |
Today’s event at Watkins Glen kicked off a road course heavy portion of the NASCAR XFINTIY series schedule, as two of the next three races also feature right turns. Known as NASCAR’s road race “ringer,” 52-year-old Boris Said took the wheel of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 car for Kyle Busch and raced to a top five finish.
After last week’s scuffle between Roush Fenway teammates Darrell Wallace, Jr. and Chris Buescher, Buescher came in third while Wallace finished 16th on the 2.45-mile road course. The conclusion of today’s race at “The Glen” also saw a fierce post-race argument between drivers Ty Dillon and Regan Smith.
The following are highlights from this afternoon’s XFINITY pre-race and race coverage on NBCSN.
Petty on road courses: “I always enjoyed running road courses. I think to do well here you have to enjoy it…It is a lot of fun to go left and right.”
Boris Said to Wood before the race: “It is still fun to compete, no matter if you are winning or running in the back. NASCAR is such a great sport I have been doing this for over 30 years. I just love driving. I don’t care if I am in the front or the back, But it is definitely more fun in the front and I plan to be there today.”
Eventual race winner Logano to Ryan prior to the green flag: “At Watkins Glen and in road courses in general, there are a lot of unknowns throughout the race. I will see how the strategy goes…You have to be smart and you have to be aggressive.”
Chase Elliott to Burton pre-race about road courses: “It is something different. We don’t get to do this a ton. So having a chance to turn right some on a fast road course like here at Watkins Glen is pretty cool.”
Letarte on pitting at Watkins Glen: “Your concern is not just the speed of the pit stops…When you turn the car around backwards everything is in reverse order. It is very easy to make mistakes. It is easy to step on a pit hose, leave a dump can in the pit box, or remove equipment. The one thing you can’t have, when you talk about strategy at a road course, you can’t have penalties.”
Burton on aggressive restarts: “The clock is ticking…Everybody starts to fight for position. As of now everybody has been really calm, and has worked with each other pretty well. When it really starts to matter the intensity is going to pick up. Getting into (turn) one someone is going to overdrive it, we see it every race here. It is so hard to pass…On these restarts it is an opportunity, it is a chance to go pick up positions.”
Burton on Logano’s post penalty return to the top ten: “When you are a Sprint Cup driver racing in the XFINITY Series, you’re not worried about points. When you have a really fast car, sometimes it is fun to have to go to the back. When you are that fast and you can pass people…you just get to go out and enjoy it.”
Letarte on Keselowski’s radio request to Logano not to wreck each other: “It’s always the guy in second…I know what Brad is saying and he is absolutely right. He is saying Roger Penske provided these two very fast race cars to come out on Saturday and get some experience before the Sprint Cup race on Sunday. But he obviously doesn’t want to wreck his teammate.”
Letarte on the XFINITY Series point leader Chris Buescher’s racing strategy: “On every one of these crazy restarts, Chris Buescher is thinking, ‘excuse me, everyone stay away from me. I am happy. I am in forth. I am doing a great job. You Cup guys just go have a good day and let me be. I’m doing what I need to.’”
Logano to Burton with less than ten laps to go: “Everything is going good so far. Team Penske has prepared two pretty similar racecars. I’m racing my teammate (Keselowski) up here, he is pretty good as well…It is nice to be able to pass back up through the field. It is nice to drive back up to the lead. That was pretty fun. But I would rather not do that if I don’t have to.”
Logano’s crew chief Todd Gordon to Massaro on double duty racing at “The Glen”: “It is a good chance to get a dry run. This is our Cup pit crew. With the backward pit stop, we had a mistake today. We get to dissect that and figure out what we need to do differently tomorrow.”
Ty Dillon to Burns on his altercation with Smith: “It was a mistake and my fault. Honestly, I was going to talk to him, but I guess he didn’t want to talk,”
Smith to Massaro on Ty Dillon’s actions on the track: “I got dumped in turn one and it was pretty plain and simple. I don’t think I’m the only one that he (Ty Dillon) dumped today…I might have lost the championship today but he sure as hell did too. There is zero chance that No. 3 car wins this championship, and I am going to make sure of it.”
Letarte on Ty Dillon and Smith’s argument: “Ty Dillon is right, he made two mistakes. Regan Smith is right in that he got spun around, and he was the guy who took the punishment. But in the end, this race is over and they are still going to have to race together week after week.”
Race winner Joey Logano to Snider: “This is my first road course win, it means so much. It shows so much depth in team Penske…It is fun to have a car that is that fast.”
Runner-up Keselowski to Stavast: “There was a lot going on today. I think you saw that on pit road afterward. These road courses are always very interesting and they are tough. The moves you have to make to make something happen are always going to be aggressive, and there are always going to be some hurt feelings.”
NBCSN’s NASCAR coverage continues tomorrow with Countdown to Green, Served by Sonic pre-race show at 1:30 p.m. ET followed by Sprint Cup Racing from Watkins Glen at 2 p.m. ET.
***
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–
