What drivers said after clash at Bowman Gray Stadium

Winston-Salem, NC-Her is what drivers had to say after Sunday evening’s clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Chase Elliott – Winner: “I know it’s not a point race, but it’s nice to win, for sure. Just really proud of our team just to keep keeping your head down and pushing forward, definitely.

“Had a tough race. Ryan (Blaney) kept me honest there at the end. Denny (Hamlin) was really good in the second half of this break. I just felt he was a little riding and I was afraid of losing control of the race and not being able to get it back. Yes, fortunately it worked. Great way to start the season.

“… honestly, it felt like at the end of the first hundred that Denny and Tyler (Reddick) had gotten better than us and we had to get a good bit improved to track these guys back. Were kind of scared if we lost control, it would be hard to get it back.

Ryan Blaney – Finished 2: “It was fun. It was an explosion. The car was really good, especially the first half and the second half. To be able to get to second place, then run hard with chase there that will save more tires. I just didn’t quite have enough right in the back of the end to take a step on him. … It’s a fun time. I hope the fans enjoyed it. It was a really good show. Glad we could get to Bowman Gray and go on a fantastic race for everyone.

Denny Hamlin – Finished 3 .: “I just didn’t do well on that restart there, and kind of lost the bottom, and Chase (Elliott) took advantage of it. Once you get the lead, it is much easier to hang on to it. I thought they were just a little better the other half than we were, along with the 12 (Ryan Blaney) were too. We just have to get a little better, but overall a good day for our sports clips Toyota. “

Bubba Wallace – Finished 5 .: “I hate I came into 6 (Brad Keselowski). I wouldn’t get a top-five finish that way. He did everything he could to get down – and I got greedy and would fill the hole. I really didn’t think I hit him so hard, but I obviously did, so sorry for that. A good day – I wish I had the HARD CHARGER AWARD. The 12 (Ryan Blaney) struck me for it. I looked in the mirror before the break and he is two left and I am like he is quick. But all-in-all, a good day for our Leidos Toyota Camry. We start the season with a top-five. Does it count? We count it. All in all, a good day-we were still missing it on something. This tire was also from Martinsville in the fall. I didn’t like the car back then. I don’t like the car now but you have to fight for it. I have to look back on what I need to do better with this tire. I think it’s more me than the car-mare to get the potential, but all in all, it was a fun night. The crowd was loud and proud and it was a good time. “

Ross Chastain – Finished 6: “Well, we were in the race, but we were not ahead. For us to lead the road with sixth place, our strongest view this weekend was and we ended the best we were all weekend, so it’s promising. But we need more speed. We were proud last night with driving home, which we locked into all three cars, but we will do it in front. “

Austin Cindrric – Finished 7: “I thought we did a good job of making our Freightliner Ford Mustang Dark Horse better from Saturday night and even from the first 100 laps to the second 100 laps. I can’t really complain. I thought we had the speed to run in the top five. We made a lot of passports under green in the long run and felt we had a reasonable car and kept the tires under it. These quarter -mile events have been a fight for me for the past four years, so it’s really good progress and a solid thing that shows starting the season of the 2 car. “

Tyler Reddick – Finished 8: “After we had all these restarts up there and we finally started, my car was, the handling just wasn’t quite the same. It really got, really tight. It just put me in a bad place there. Really slow and not pointed where I had to be and people were able to get to my bumper. … it never really came back to where it was in the first half of the race, unfortunately. “

Shane van Gisbergen – finished 9: “Yes, it was a lot of fun. I think I still put myself in bad places and were moved out of the way. And then I didn’t know how to get back without making people mad. But yes, I had a lot of fun. “

Chris Buescher – Finished 10: “We put ourselves in a good position there at the start of the race by winning our heat yesterday, and overall I thought the car was solid. I am really proud of our guys and their efforts and we seem to carry this momentum into the Daytona weekend. “

Ryan Preece – Completed 11: “We achieved winnings during the break. I think we drove 20. And struggled to be there, and made good adjustments and got us back to 11. We didn’t really have any other options to move on, so at the end of the day I am happy with Positive changes and just ready to move on to the duels (at Daytona) and the big show. “

Josh Berry – Completed 13: “It was a lot of fun. I thought the guys did a really good job of making the car better and adjusting it from practice and heating to give me a really good car for the feature. Frankly, I felt that we had some more potential there if things would have been a little different, but generally I am really happy with it. Obviously, the goal is to come here and do the race, so to do it and get a decent finish in our first time, it was a lot of fun. “

KYLE BUSCH – finished 15: “The overall event at Bowman Gray Stadium was good, but that was not the result we wanted for our zone Chevrolet team. At the start of the feature, the car plowed tightly and would not turn. We were spun around and ended up walking two laps before the halfway holidays. (Crew Chief) Randall (Burnett) and No. 8 -guys made adjustments during the break, and when we went back green, it was the best the car had felt. It did what it was going to do. With the help of a few warnings, we came back on a leading lap and worked us up to 15. “

Brad Keselowski – Ended 21: “We showed a lot of potential early, but we were spun there with 75 to go and really never had a chance to recover. We were solid. Just a fifth-to-10-place car all day. We tried to get a little more, but overall a good debut excursion for a team that has had a lot of changes. “

Daniel Suarez – Finished 22: It was a little difficult tonight for No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevy Team. I thought we should have a little more speed. We were decent in the short term, but not too good in the long term, which was the opposite of how I thought we should be. Generally, it was a good event. “