FAST QUIPS
“I went over to the company Christmas party, and I look over and Santa Claus is there, and then I got to looking a little closer and it’s (team co-owner) Tony (Stewart). Tony is Santa Claus, which, by the way, he fit perfectly into the outfit.”
— Clint Bowyer, who will drive the No. 14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart retired from Cup competition last year.
“All they wanted to do was cut your throat.”
— Kyle Busch, talking about enjoying spending time with competitors at the Race of Champions in Miami before the actual racing began.
“We had a curtain in front of the stage, and when the curtain dropped and they started, everybody said, ‘That’s an awesome tribute band.’ Halfway through the first song, people rushed the stage, and it turned into a full-on rock concert.”
— Kurt Busch, on the reaction to Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler playing his wedding
“New or old 24 gear, I’m happy with it.”
— Chase Elliott, on still seeing fans sporting Jeff Gordon attire. Gordon drove the No. 24 Chevrolet from 1992 to 2015.
“... all-or-nothing, checkers or wreckers.”
— Cup rookie Erik Jones, on his driving style
“There has been a lot of planning and a lot of things put in place, but I still think there needs to be realistic expectations.”
— Stewart-Haas Racing ’s Kevin Harvick, on the team’s switch to Ford from Chevrolet
“One of the fun things I got to do this offseason was to drive a NASCAR car down an open highway in California at 180 miles an hour through the sand dunes region while they’re taping dirt bikes jumping over and Monster Trucks and buggies and snowmobiles in the sand. You name it, they’ll create it.”
— Kurt Busch, on sponsor Monster Energy
“I don’t think it was my fault at all.”
— Matt Kenseth, deadpan, on the surprising retirement of longtime teammate Carl Edwards
“I think it would be a fantastic race and something the fans could truly enjoy.”
— AJ Allmendinger, on the possibility of NASCAR scheduling a road race at Charlotte Motor Speedway