SPARTA, Ky. - When it comes to racing etiquette, the rules of conduct vary from driver to driver.
Following Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s faux pas at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, which eliminated Kyle Busch and five other competitors from the field, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was expecting an apology.
But the call never came.
“I am disappointed that he did not (call),” Busch said at Kentucky Speedway on Friday in advance of Saturday’s Quaker State 400. “You wipe out half the field and pretty sure there would be a pretty busy Monday for him, but there wasn’t, so apparently he just doesn’t care.”
Stenhouse, who is currently 16th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, was the defending winner of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. He won the first two stages but was collected in a wreck with Kyle Larson in the closing stages of the race.
“We definitely brought what I feel like was the best car in the field,” Stenhouse said. “Winning two stages was nice but obviously we wanted to win at the end because that would get us into the playoffs. I was frustrated with myself causing crashes like that. It was definitely a bummer of a night.”
The night was worse for Busch who finished 33rd after completing just 64 laps. Will he approach racing Stenhouse differently in the future?
“I can’t – I can’t worry about people that far back in the field,” Busch replied.
Bowman Looks To Build On Recent Success
Alex Bowman is living life on the bubble.
The driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet is currently 15th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings.
But without a check in the win column, Bowman could be on the outside looking in for the Playoffs.
“There is definitely a good bit of pressure obviously that comes with it,” Bowman said. “Really last week was probably the most pressure that I will see until we get to Indy if things keep going the way they have. Definitely in the back of my mind I was looking at the No. 95 car (Kasey Kahne) leading laps and some of the other guys up there, I was like, ‘oh this could get really bad for us.’ Glad it didn’t turn into too bad of a night for us, still got solid stage points and all that.”
Bowman led the Hendrick Motorsports contingent for the past two races – at Chicagoland Speedway and Daytona International Speedway. His 10th-place finish last Saturday was his third consecutive and seventh top-10 result since becoming the driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet. Bowman’s 66 laps led this season also tops his three teammates.
“For me, it’s just we have to keep putting races together and keep running solid top 10 and hopefully that gets us there,” Bowman added. “Obviously, we would like to win before the cutoff, but I think we can do it on points we just have to keep moving in the right direction.
“We have kind of struggled to get stage points this year and that has really put us farther behind than I think we would be if we got stage points of how we finish. But we will just keep working at it and I think we can make it.”
After serving as the test driver for HMS, Bowman is well-versed with the systems on the Hendrick campus. His time spent with crew chief Greg Ives has been invaluable for getting up to speed. He feels the team is finally showing the consistency that was missing in the first half of the season.
“Working with Greg is a ton of fun,” Bowman said. “It’s been great working with him. I think we have been pretty solid. We have finally seemed to put races all the way together the last three weeks, not have any big mistakes and finished where we deserved to finish.”
WDUN will carry live PRN Radio coverage of Saturday night's NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway beginning at 6:30 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Kentucky Speedway – Sparta, KY
Quaker State 400 – July 14, 2018
Saturday Night’s Starting Lineup
1. (78) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 188.890 mph.
2. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 188.739 mph.
3. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 188.547 mph.
4. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 188.390 mph.
5. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188.206 mph.
6. (21) Paul Menard, Ford, 188.121 mph.
7. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 187.944 mph.
8. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 187.696 mph.
9. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford, 187.630 mph.
10. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 187.071 mph.
11. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 187.000 mph.
12. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 186.884 mph.
13. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 187.169 mph.
14. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 187.071 mph.
15. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 186.625 mph.
16. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 186.548 mph.
17. (6) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 186.522 mph.
18. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 186.342 mph.
19. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 186.329 mph.
20. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 186.181 mph.
21. (24) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 186.143 mph.
22. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 185.886 mph.
23. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 185.465 mph.
24. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 184.716 mph.
25. (43) Darrell Wallace, Jr. #, Chevrolet, 184.533 mph.
26. (47) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 184.483 mph.
27. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 184.420 mph.
28. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 182.846 mph.
29. (95) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 182.543 mph.
30. (15) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 181.178 mph.
31. (72) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 180.385 mph.
32. (23) J.J. Yeley(i), Toyota, 179.868 mph.
33. (00) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 179.104 mph.
34. (51) B.J. McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 177.883 mph.
35. (99) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 176.188 mph.
36. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
37. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 0.000 mph.
38. (7) Jesse Little(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
39. (66) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 0.000 mph.
