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NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES: FORD ECOBOOST 300November 15, 2014Joe GibbsMatt KensethKevin KiddHOMESTEAD, FLORIDA KERRY THARP: Let's hear from our race winner tonight, and certainly what an exciting finish we had in the 20th annual Ford EcoBoost 300. Our race winner is Matt Kenseth. He drove the No.20 Game Stop Rock Candy Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. He's joined by his crew chief Kevin Kidd. This is Matt's 29th NASCAR Nationwide Series win, his first win in 2014, second time he's come to victory lane here at Homestead‑Miami Speedway. Congratulations, Matt, certainly a very exciting race and very, very exciting there towards the end. Just talk about the closing laps and how you made the move there to get this win. MATT KENSETH: Well, we kept getting those restarts at the end of the race, and the first couple got away okay. I felt good about it, and then the second‑to‑last one there I felt like I had a good run and made it through 1 and 2 wide open, and Kyle just got right in my left rear there and kind of motored past me and cleared me getting into 3. Pretty much knew it was over and thankfully got another caution and doubled us back up and I was able to get it rolling good on that second one and get back by him. We had a really good car tonight, especially on a short‑ to mid‑range run, and that kind of fell into our hands except for the last two or three cautions we didn't need, but it kind of worked out where we got in the front and had the speed on the front side of the run where we needed it. KERRY THARP: Kevin, congratulations on this win. I know this is a special, important win for you. Talk about some of the things that the crew did to help get this victory. KEVIN KIDD: Yeah, it's certainly a great victory for us as a team. The core group of our team, we've been together now for about five years, and it's been a little bit of a dry spell, so I'm really happy to see a lot of those guys get into victory lane, some for the first time. That just means a lot to me personally to see those guys with smiles on their face and really happy to celebrate a win. It's a total team effort. Everybody on our team works really hard, week in and week out, and you know, just very happy that we could all celebrate together. KERRY THARP: Coach Joe Gibbs, congratulations on this win. I know how much pride you and your organization take into this Nationwide Series, and certainly you guys have done terrific work there over the past several years. Just talk about this win tonight with Matt Kenseth getting to victory lane. JOE GIBBS: We love the Nationwide Series, it's obvious. It's a big part of what we do at Joe Gibbs Racing, and I want to say thanks to Kevin for all his team did. We really appreciate that. I'm sure with Matt‑‑ I don't know how many times this year between Cup and Nationwide, Matt has had the lead in races, and we've had numerous restarts at the end of the race, and somewhere in there we get nipped by somebody. This is one where we came out on the other end of it. I really appreciate it. Game Stop, all the guys there, we actually had Rock Candy on the hood there, but it was a big night for us. I really appreciate it, and like I said, we appreciate this series. Q. For Matt, were you surprised at all that Larson took the inside instead of the outside? MATT KENSETH: Well, I was, except for the fact that I had the lead on the outside so I was the one who controlled when we started the race, and he beat me and got the lead. So I think how the last one worked, it worked good for him, he got good traction and was able to get through 1 and 2 fast enough to pass me, so I think he wanted to leave‑‑ I'm sure he wanted to leave the pins set up the same as they were for the last restart because it worked good for him. Q. Joe, Darrell Wallace won his fourth truck race. He was up there last night he doesn't know what he's doing next year. Can you shed any light on what you have firmed up for him and what you're looking for for next year? JOE GIBBS: Yeah, we've got a lot of work we're doing right now. We're going to have a big meeting next week for him. But we've got some good stuff lined up for him for next year, so I think we're going to wind up with a real good package for Darrell. Q. Coach Gibbs, just the way the team owner standings shook out, finishing second for the second straight year, how tough is that to swallow just with all the success you guys had both with Kyle and with Sam Hornish? JOE GIBBS: Yeah, you've got to give them credit. The Penske group, you've got to give them a lot of credit and what they did there. They put a lot of drivers in the car and raced great. We had just a couple of bad situations that happened to us which cost us again. We don't like it, but we're committed to come back and try to go after it again. We appreciate getting an opportunity to race against real good race teams, and when you do that, you've got a chance to come out on the short end. Like I said, we love the series. We're going to be back next year roaring. Q. Joe, there was rumors this weekend that Daniel Suarez may run the Daytona truck race. I was wondering if that was the plan. JOE GIBBS: Yeah, we got a big package next year for Daniel, and we've got a lot of‑‑ we're going to be racing some truck‑‑ a lot of truck stuff and Nationwide for him, and like I just said, we've got a big program for Darrell, also. So both of those young guys are going to be in a lot of races for us, so looking forward to next year, and I think that'll be fun. KERRY THARP: Matt, Kevin, Coach Gibbs, congratulations on this win here tonight at Homestead‑Miami, and certainly thank you for, coach, your organization for all you continue to do for the Nationwide Series, soon to be the XFINITY Series. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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