All of Team Interstate in Chase Contender Round

Kyle Busch leads Matt Kenseth at Dover. © 2015 Nigel Kinrade NKP

All eyes were on the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry through the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway Sunday as driver Kyle Busch delivered a strong performance to qualify for the second round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

Kyle Busch’s helmet rests on top of the car before Sunday’s race. ©2015 Matthew T. Thacker NKP

Small adjustments from crew chief Adam Stevens, a two-tire stop and even two restarts in the last 100 laps gave Kyle every advantage. However, nothing could derail Kevin Harvick from finishing in Victory Lane.

“I just can’t say enough about my team first of all, everyone on this whole Interstate Batteries Camry team – they did a great job for me and gave me a great piece with the limited amount of time in practice that we had and the conditions of practice that we had,” Kyle said, referring to the rain-out conditions that canceled qualifying and led to shortened practice sessions.

Kyle’s strong second-place finish cemented his spot in the Contender round of the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup. In fact, after Dover, all four Joe Gibbs Racing teams locked into the next round of Chase races. The three-race round starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway next week.

“Adam did a great job guessing right and giving me a really great race car for today to run up front like we did. It was fun. We did our job. We had a second-place car today and we finished second, nothing to hang our heads about there. [Harvick] was lightning fast today; no catching those guys.”

The Chase Goes On: Contender Round

This was the first elimination race of the Chase. Some drivers set aside their Chase hopes after Dover, including Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.

The continuing drivers, including Kyle, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards, all get their respective points set to 3,000 and they start anew with three races Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega. The top eight drivers then advance to the Eliminator round.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Dover

• No. 18 – Daniel Suarez – 10th
• No. 20 – Denny Hamlin – 2nd
• No. 54 – Kyle Busch – 3rd

This Week

• NASCAR: Charlotte Motor Speedway

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By Youssef Sleiman (70 Posts)

Youssef Sleiman writes and reports the powerful news at Interstate Batteries.