FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, September 5th, 2015

NOTES AND QUOTES FROM XFINITY SERIES PRE-RACE AND RACE COVERAGE FROM DARLINGTON RACEWAY ON NBC

Kyle Petty prior to the green flag: “I’ve seen Kyle Busch pass more cars in three laps, in any given time, than anybody I have ever seen.”

Race winner Denny Hamlin to Mike Massaro in Victory Lane: “You can’t have a performance like that without a dominant race car, and obviously (crew chief) Mike Wheeler and these guys have done that for me.”

Runner-up Kyle Busch to Kelli Stavast: “Coming home one-two-three for Joe Gibbs Racing is pretty stout.  Everybody at the shop should be proud of that effort.”

Darlington, N.C. — September 5, 2015 — NBC presented NASCAR XFINITY Series racing from Darlington Raceway, the track dubbed “Too Tough to Tame,” this afternoon.  Marking the return of a proud NASCAR tradition, this Labor Day Weekend slate of XFINITY and Sprint Cup racing from Darlington pays tribute to NASCAR’s rich history with a “throwback” celebration featuring the look, sound and style of the 1970s.

Saturday afternoon’s #NASCARthrowback festivities began with the Countdown to Green pre-race show, hosted by Krista Voda alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Hall of Fame driver Dale Jarrett.  Green-flag racing from the “The Lady in Black” was handled by lead race announcer Rick Allen, 21-time NASCAR Sprint Cup winner Jeff Burton and Daytona 500-winning crew chief Steve Letarte.  Reporters Nate Ryan, Rutledge Wood, Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Mike Massaro and Dave Burns contributed throughout the broadcast.

Position Driver Car #
1 Denny Hamlin 20
2 Kyle Busch 54
3 Daniel Suarez 18
4 Kevin Harvick 88
5 Chris Buescher 60

The following are highlights from this afternoon’s XFINITY pre-race and race coverage on NBC.

Voda: “There are certain tracks where a win puts you on an elite list, and Darlington is one of those places. For 54 years, Labor Day meant racing in Darlington. Now, after a decade, the tradition returns.”

Jarrett: “The fans have really embraced this entire scene, along with the teams and the drivers.  We’ve got throwback paint schemes from the 1970s, classic cars and a lot of really good things. We are in the right spot for Labor Day Weekend.”

Petty on Kyle Busch starting in the 36th position today: “I’ve been worried to death about Kyle Busch.  Will he ever be able to find his way from the back of the field to the front?  Are you kidding me!?  I’ve seen him pass more cars in three laps on a race track, in any given time, than anybody I have ever seen! He goes high, he goes low, he goes left, he goes right, he goes over the top—it doesn’t make any difference.  He’ll get to the front.”

Burton prior to the green flag: “The thing about today’s race is that it’s only 147 laps long, so you have to attack this race track right off the bat. You’ve got to establish your track position right from the start, and if you make a mistake, you may not have enough time to recover. So the pressure is on.”

Letarte: “Chase Elliott, the defending winner of this race, has been looking forward to getting through the recent road courses and getting back to these oval tracks, and now it’s time for him to mount a run against the XFINITY points leader Chris Buescher.”

With 50 laps to go, Krista Voda offered the following report: “Bubba Wallace racing here in Darlington in an XFINITY Series car for the first time is communicating that he has no front downforce in traffic. On the radio, he said, ‘I’m not trying to impress anyone, I’m just trying to keep it out of the wall.”

After Allen noted that Jeff Burton holds the record for laps led in an XFINITY Series race at Darlington, after leading all 147 laps from the pole on his way to victory in 2002, Burton offered: “It was a good day, I thought.”

With 5 laps to go, Allen sums up the differential between leader Daniel Suarez and his surging Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin: “Last time around, Denny Hamlin’s lap was almost two seconds faster (than Suarez’). Do the math, and Hamlin is definitely going to catch him.”

Winning crew chief Mike Wheeler to Dave Burns after the race: “Denny Hamlin is really great here, and the guys in the shop built a brand new car for us that was really good.”

Race winner Denny Hamlin to Mike Massaro in Victory Lane: “You can’t have a performance like that without a dominant race car, and obviously Mike Wheeler and these guys have done that for me… I scraped the wall and misjudged my line one time, got a little right-side damage and the car just stopped turning. So I don’t know if my right fender would have made it or not.  I am awful proud of this team and even the pit crew did an amazing job today keeping all of our track positions.”

Runner-up Kyle Busch to Kelli Stavast: “Coming home one-two-three for Joe Gibbs Racing is pretty stout.  Everybody at the shop should be proud of that effort.”

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–NBC SPORTS GROUP–