What drivers said at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Here is what drivers had to say after Sunday’s Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

William Byron — Winner: “I felt like in practice we had a good car. I was a little bit nervous about the wind today and how that would change what we had going on and whether or not we’d be as strong, but just kind of the consensus, I guess, in the garage and then talking to some of the drivers, they were pretty confident about what we had going on. I was happy about that. Yeah, started the race good. I thought Kyle (Larson) was really strong. He could stay close to me for a lot of the runs in the first and second stage, and I felt like I was a little bit tight, but just trying to navigate lap traffic and navigate the wind and how that would change the handling. Just happy with getting the first win of the year. It’s been a while since we’ve won. It’s been almost a year, and it’s nice to kind of just get back to what I feel like we’re capable of. It’s been up and down, but I feel like this is what we’re capable of every week. … I speak for everyone in the fact that we miss Chase (Elliott) out here. He’s a big contributor to feedback and our debriefs and he’s a great race car driver. Has a lot to offer there. I think there was a void there, but I think we were able to fill it with just kind of coming together as a team, and having Josh come on board, he’s obviously a great race car driver, too, and I know him from the past. … It was an important day. I felt that for sure. I texted (team owner Rick Hendrick) after practice and felt really good about the car and just wanted to reassure that we’re going to go out there and try to win for him because it was a tough week.”

Kyle Larson — Finished 2nd: “It’s just part of Cup racing. It seems