Catchfence

• Kyle Busch (third) was the top-finishing Toyota in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Auto Club Speedway.

• Camry drivers Denny Hamlin (sixth) and Brian Vickers (10th) also had top-10 finishes.

• Other Toyota drivers in the field included David Reutimann (14th), Michael Waltrip (15th), Marcos Ambrose (22nd), Joey Logano (26th), Robby Gordon (30th), Jeremy Mayfield (34th), Scott Riggs (36th), Scott Speed (41st), Dave Blaney (42nd) and Joe Nemechek (43rd).

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd

Are you satisfied with your run tonight?

“It was a good run for us. The whole Interstate Batteries team did an awesome job for us. I got to thank Toyota and TRD — all the guys on this team and M&M’s. It was a decent run for us. We started out (running) sixth to 10th and worked our way up there. Got up to fifth, then got up to fourth, and finally there we ended up third. It was a real good solid run for us — just wish we were a little bit better. Those two up front, it looked awfully familiar of what we did yesterday with those guys just checking out. I know what it feels like to be that far behind and finish third, that’s for sure.”

Was this a great weekend overall?

“It was a great weekend. We had a great run there. We wish we could have been a little bit better, but a third-place finish isn’t too bad. We’ll take that. It’s a great run for us. All the guys on the team did a great job working all weekend trying to get it there for me. They were trying — you know we wanted to win that thing and get the ‘triple,’ but we just ended up tick short.”

How do you feel about not being able to pull off the ‘ triple’?

“We wish we could have won the race, that’s for sure, and pull off the ‘triple,’ but we’ll take that. I was awfully proud of the team. The guys worked hard all weekend. The Interstate Batteries Camry was decent there in the beginning then we just kept working on it making it better and we got up there. That’s all that matters. A couple of guys made their stuff worse. It was really good to end up that way and end up third – we’ll take that. It was a good rebound from last week.”

What does this finish do for your team after your Daytona result?

“We wanted to come to these places and run well. This is one of the ‘Chase’ races, so we have to set it in stone right now that we’re going to be contenders in the final 10 like we weren’t last year. We’ve got a good, strong start here and hopefully we can go to Vegas, roll in there and finish well there, and go on into the next ones.”

How would you describe your night after the weekend you’ve had?

“It was less than stellar, that’s for sure. Tonight was a good run for us. I’m really proud of our team. They did a flawless job just trying to prepare the car and get me there and get me a shot for it. Man, that 17 (Matt Kenseth) and 24 (Jeff Gordon) were just so strong. It looked like the 18 (Busch’s Nationwide car) and 51 (Busch’s truck) yesterday. As far ahead as they were from us and we were finishing third, it’s just a tough break. We’ll go to Vegas and hopefully have a strong run there.”

Did you ever feel like the car could be a winning car tonight?

“No, I felt like we got to third, if I could ever challenge those guys, then maybe. But I couldn’t even challenge them. I couldn’t even keep up with the 17 (Matt Kenseth) and the 24 (Jeff Gordon) on that last run. Never thought it was a winning car. Felt like if I could just bide my time right there, I could finish third, just try to protect a third-place finish. I had the best seat in the house for that battle. It was pretty cool to see those guys racing like that. It was a good show for the fans. Their first good race they’ve had out here in a while. They stuck through the weather. That was cool to have all them here, too, being able to watch those guys, two superstars putting on a show like that.

You watched that battle for so long. Did you think Gordon was going to get Kenseth?

“Yeah, I saw the battle earlier the run before. (Matt) Kenseth’s stuff was getting a little bit loose. As a matter of fact, he was backing up to me. I figured that maybe — I knew they made an adjustment on that last pit stop, so I wasn’t sure how good that adjustment was going to be. It was good enough. They made it to where they could hold their own there with Jeff (Gordon) for a while. Then Jeff’s stuff just got tight apparently. I talked to him after the race a little bit. He wasn’t able to keep the ground on the bottom like he wanted to. It was cool to watch those guys, though, like that.”

What kind of a challenge is that to win three in the same weekend?

“It’s never been done before, so it’s definitely a challenge. We know that. I’ve won two in one weekend a few times. In Atlanta last year was probably my best shot to do the three. We won Friday, Saturday we led the most laps and were leading with 20 to go, and we had a shock break, put us in the wall, then we won on Sunday. The last one’s always the hardest to get. They leave it the hardest to get because it’s on Sunday and it’s the biggest show. You know, I don’t know. It’s not easy in this sport. But never is. But maybe one day.”

How much do you consider Matt Kenseth a contender?

“Well, you never know who to put down as a contender for the championship. But you’ve got to put down all the guys that made the ‘Chase’ the year before. Matt’s made it four years in a row, whatever it’s been. You knew he was going to be a contender. To start off this year with such a bang, it’s pretty cool. I think everybody knows by now. The last time it happened was ‘97 I believe when Jeff (Gordon) did it. So it doesn’t come very easily to win two in a row, let alone to win the first two races of the season in a row. He’s going to be fast at Vegas there, too. He was fast last year. He was running third or something on that restart and they all wadded up down the backstretch. He’ll be good next week, too. He might have a shot for three.”

Can you compare what winning three races in the same weekend is to another sport?

“Yeah, I mean, I guess like what (Michael) Phelps did, winning eight medals or whatever it was. I don’t know how many days he goes through before he wins eight. I don’t think he wins eight in one day or eight in two days or whatever. You know, it’s probably something like that. Just being able to excel at all the different games you play in the Olympic Games, being able to win all of them that you participate in.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th

How was your race?

“We were loose the entire race — we fought it and fought it. The longer the run, the harder it was on the right rear tires and we’d just roll away. We made adjustments to the FedEx Freight Toyota all night — we made as many changes as we could and got to where we could drive the car near the end. It was too bad — we were fourth and ended up sixth — we were way, way loose and just couldn’t hang on. The FedEx pit crew put together some fantastic stops and moved us up a few places on pit road — they did really well tonight. Even without testing we are really starting to put ourselves into a good position this season. We have been running near the front with the other guys who run up there — we haven’t lost any ground. Mike Ford (crew chief) and FedEx guys worked hard all weekend and it paid off at the very end for us.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Finishing Position: 10th

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 14th

What type of problems did you have tonight with your brakes?

“There was an issue with the master cylinder where it had no brakes at all. You had to pump them like mad and then periodically you could get it to slow down a little bit. Then it would go back the other way — unpredictable. You couldn’t be smooth and you couldn’t do what you needed to do to be consistent. At that point, our car was so down because we had to tighten it up so I could drive it in and drive it straight off because I couldn’t slow it down. This is not a track you use a lot of brake on, but you use some — I use some. It hurt us.”

Is it any consolation finishing in the top-15 with those problems?

“For the kind of problems that we had, it ended up being a pretty good night — all in all. It’s just really disappointing that that even happened — that kind of stuff shouldn’t happen. We have the best components on our car and there should be no failures like that. That’s the second time that happened. That happened at Lowe’s (Motor Speedway) and cost us a really good finish, and happened tonight, too. I don’t know what to do.”

Where would you have finished if you didn’t have those problems?

“I think we could have run in the top-10. We ran 14th just hanging on. I don’t feel a top-10 was out of the realm of things.”

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 15th

How was your race this evening?

“We had a really solid car all night. These things are real sensitive and we made a couple of adjustments that really made it go. Then we made a couple (of adjustments) at the end that really made it loose, and we couldn’t get going again. We ran about there most of the night — drove up from last and finished 15th. Considering by lap 10 I had passed more cars than I did in 2007 or 2008 here at California – I’m pretty proud of that.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Little Debbie/Kingsford/Clorox Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Finishing Position: 22nd

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 26th

ROBBY GORDON, No. 7 Jim Beam Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports
Finishing Position: 30th

JEREMY MAYFIELD, No. 41 All Sport Toyota Camry, Jeremy Mayfield Motorsports
Finishing Position: 34th

SCOTT RIGGS, No. 36 Red Bank Outfitters Toyota Camry, Tommy Baldwin Racing
Finishing Position: 36th

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Finishing Position: 41st

DAVE BLANEY, No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota Camry, Prism Motorsports
Finishing Position: 42nd

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 43rd