What drivers said after NASCAR All-Star Race
By Dustin LongJun 13, 2021, 11:07 PM EDT
Here is what drivers said after Sunday's NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway:
Kyle Larson — Winner: I can't — honestly, I can't believe it. That second run there, we were really bad, and I was like, man, we're in trouble. I went backwards that round. I was like, this is — we got an uphill battle and did not imagine seeing myself winning this race today, but (crew chief) Cliff (Daniels) and everybody worked so hard on this thing, made some good adjustments throughout those second and third rounds and got us in position. Yeah, that last restart worked out exactly how I needed it to. I wanted Chase to not get a good run down the back. Thankfully I think the 12 got to his inside, and I just shoved him down the back and he probably thought I was going to just follow him and I was like, There's got to be enough grip where we'd be running for one corner. It was a little slick up there but I was able to get it and hold him off from there. I can't believe it."
Brad Keselowski — Finished 2nd: "It feels like running second to the Hendrick cars right now is an accomplishment. They are just stupid fast. I had him off turn 4 but they just have so much speed. He just motored right back by me, like damn! It feels like a first-in-class day with the Discount Tired Ford. The team did a great job of executing and getting us in position, we just didn't have enough speed to make the most of it. It was good execution day though and I am proud of that. That is the best car I have had here, I just couldn't get close enough to him (Larson). I could get to like 5 or 6 feet and then the draft stopped working. His car is so fast down the straightaway. Even with this package, you can't draft those Hendrick cars. They are so fast. We have work to do. I feel like my team really executed the race very well and got us in position, we just didn't have the raw speed we needed to close it out. I felt like we made some great moves, it just wasn't enough."
Chase Elliott — Finished 3rd: "Kyle (Larson) got to my outside and that was the end of it, really. Just got beat. Appreciate the effort today by Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and everybody on our NAPA team. I'm super proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet. We'll keep it rolling and try to find another spot or two when it counts."
Joey Logano — Finished 4th: "It was an eventful night. We started miserable. I said that on the radio, I said the car was miserable. It was out of control and impossible to drive to where we were third from last. We were third from last to start that 30-lapper after all the 15-lap runs. The boys did a good job on pit road and Paul (Wolfe) did a good job getting it closer and then a few good restarts at the end got us into the top-five. Another restart, maybe. Everyone is pushing so hard and you can get a big run like Brad was able to do and almost clear him and take the lead. If we could take the lead it would be tough to pass me. Overall, I don't know. These 550's aren't clicking for me. We got a good finish, yes, but it is a miracle we did it. I don't know how it happened."
Ryan Blaney — Finished 5th: "We were pretty decent all night. We had a couple good finishes in the stages which averaged us out to fourth. We were running fourth or fifth there and we had a restart and I took the bottom for the last stage and got a pretty good restart and took them three-wide into 1 and didn't clear the top lane and they freight trained through me and I got loose entering Turn 1 and gave up a few spots. It was going to be hard to beat the Hendrick guys. They were pretty fast. Brad had a good run at them but I thought that was our only shot, that restart, but I just didn't quite clear 'em."
Alex Bowman — Finished 6th: "Sixth place isn't terrible, but definitely not where we wanted to end our night. Congrats to Chevrolet and the No. 5 team. A million dollars would have been nice."
William Byron — Finished 7th: "Tonight, we had a very strong Axalta Chevy. We were able to really get through traffic even though passing was difficult with this package. We put ourselves where we needed to be in basically just about every round. We definitely had a shot at the million dollar prize going into the last stint, but it just didn't go our way. While it's tough to not get the win, there are still positives we can take away from tonight. We'll take the momentum and go on to Nashville."
Aric Almirola — Finished 8th: "As a team we had a really solid day. Winning the final stage (of the Open) to transfer to the All-Star Race today was the first goal, and we had a fast Smithfield Ford to get it done. It was honestly one of our most solid days all year. We didn't make any mistakes, and we ran better than we have all year at a 1.5-mile track. And we finally had a race with no mistakes. We needed that heading to Nashville."
Cole Custer — Finished 14th: "Well, we didn't win the money tonight, but I think we at least leave here with a better idea on a lot of different things. We had nothing to lose, and I think we made the most of our track time. I think we leave here having gained some knowledge that is going to pay off as we head into the second half of the season."
Tyler Reddick — Finished 16th: "Man, that was one of the hottest races I've ever been part of, but we did what we initially came to do and that was to make the main show tonight to give it our all for the $1 million dollars. Our iCashautos / I Am Second Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was really loose in the Open, but I was able to keep it up front and win Stage 2 to advance to the All-Star race. We definitely fired off better for the All-Star Race, but it was tough to tell which direction the car was leaning in once the shade started to come in. I felt like we teetered right on the edge of being too tight and too loose all night long, but the car seemed to change every single lap. We kept fighting though to try to make our car better all night long and made some progress. It was fun to be in the All-Star Race for the first time in my career and race with no points on the line, but I'm ready to get back to the season and continue our momentum at Nashville next weekend."
Austin Dillon — Finished 19th: "It was great to see all of the fans at Texas Motor Speedway today, and all of the excitement and buildup for the All-Star Race. Man, what an opportunity to be able to race for $1.1 Million dollars in the No. 3 Andy's Frozen Custard Chevrolet. It was a hot one out there tonight, which made Andy's Frozen Custard a cool sponsor for the race. We started fifth and ran a strong race despite how slick the track was. We were lacking a lot of grip and just missing something, but this team never gave up. I got a little too aggressive during our timed pit stop and we ended up with a speeding penalty, which put us a lap down. I wish we could have gotten the Lucky Dog before the last round. It was hard to make up many positions in those last 10 laps. We'll regroup and move onto Nashville Superspeedway next week."