{"id":20267,"date":"2018-07-13T20:00:22","date_gmt":"2018-07-14T01:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=20267"},"modified":"2018-07-13T20:00:22","modified_gmt":"2018-07-14T01:00:22","slug":"nascar-friday-kentucky-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/13\/nascar-friday-kentucky-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Friday Kentucky Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lee Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/b><\/p>\n

Call me maybe? Busch disappointed by Stenhouse<\/b><\/p>\n

SPARTA, Kentucky\u2014 When it comes to racing etiquette, the rules of conduct vary from driver to driver.<\/p>\n

Following Ricky Stenhouse Jr.\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The car of Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Snickers Intense Toyota, sits in the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Kentucky Speedway on July 13, 2018 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Daniel Shirey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

But the call never came.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am disappointed that he did not (call),\u201d Busch said at Kentucky Speedway on Friday in advance of Saturday\u2019s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). \u201cYou wipe out half the field and pretty sure there would be a pretty busy Monday for him, but there wasn\u2019t, so apparently he just doesn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely brought what I feel like was the best car in the field,\u201d Stenhouse said. \u201cWinning 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The night was worse for Busch who finished 33rd after completing just 64 laps. Will he approach racing Stenhouse differently in the future?<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t \u2013 I can\u2019t worry about people that far back in the field,\u201d Busch replied.<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch Inteview – <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BOWMAN LOOKS TO BUILD ON RECENT SUCCESS<\/b><\/p>\n

Alex Bowman is living life on the bubble.<\/p>\n

The driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet is currently 15th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

But without a check in the win column, Bowman could be on the outside looking in for the Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is definitely a good bit of pressure obviously that comes with it,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cReally 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, \u2018oh this could get really bad for us.\u2019 Glad it didn\u2019t turn into too bad of a night for us, still got solid stage points and all that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bowman led the Hendrick Motorsports contingent for the past two races \u2013 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\u2019s 66 laps led this season also tops his three teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s just we have to keep putting races together and keep running solid top 10 and hopefully that gets us there,\u201d Bowman added. \u201cObviously, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with Greg is a ton of fun,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Bowman Interview –<\/strong> <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/KYS_MENCS_Bowman_071318.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE FINE LINE BETWEEN BOLD AND OVER THE LINE<\/b><\/p>\n

When three Xfinity Series drivers \u2013 Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick were asked to name which driver was the most aggressive, no one hesitated.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, poses with the Xfinty Pole Award after qualifying for the pole position for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway on July 13, 2018 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Jerry Markland\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Both Custer and Hemric turned and cast their eyes on Reddick.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s understandable, given the 22-year-old Corning, California, driver\u2019s checkers-or-wreckers attitude. Reddick was sidelined in the last two races.<\/p>\n

\u201cTyler\u2019s hit the wall like in every single race,\u201d Custer said. \u201cHe definitely gets after it ever single lap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reddick did not back down from the assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m going to take a guess that I\u2019m the most insane of the bunch,\u201d Reddick replied. \u201cThat\u2019s probably why I\u2019m behind them in points, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, Reddick earned his first career NXS victory before either Custer or Hemric here at Kentucky Speedway last fall. He scored his second victory in the season opener at Daytona in February.<\/p>\n

But the driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevy trails his peers in the NXS standings. Hemric is currently second behind Elliott Sadler. Custer, 20, is third, 26 points behind Hemric. Reddick ranks sixth.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience comes with age,\u201d said the 27-year-old Hemric. \u201cI try not to be that guy.\u201d<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/KYS_NXS_Custer_Hemric_Reddick_071218.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lee Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service   Call me maybe? Busch disappointed by Stenhouse SPARTA, Kentucky\u2014 When it comes to racing etiquette, the rules of conduct vary from driver to driver. Following Ricky Stenhouse Jr.\u2019s faux pas at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, which eliminated Kyle Busch and five other competitors from the field, the driver […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[282,16,464],"class_list":["post-20267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-kentucky-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-quaker-state-400"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/356743.jpg?fit=4852%2C3234&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-5gT","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20267"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20274,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20267\/revisions\/20274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}