Drivers react after NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Richmond

The Monster Energy Cup Series concluded its regular season Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, a race that featured a wayward ambulance nearly impacting the playoff field, the points champion lashing out over a controversial late caution erasing his sizable lead, and two of NASCAR’s biggest stars surprisingly failing to earn a spot in the postseason.

Somewhat forgotten is Kyle Larson winning the Federated Auto Parts 400, ending the regular season with his fourth victory of the year and giving him the No. 2 playoff seed behind Truex. It was Larson’s fourth-career victory, but first on a non- 2-mile speedway.

Afterward, Larson, Truex, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano and a NASCAR executive reflected on the night, the odd occurrences, and more. Here are some quotes encapsulating the peculiar race.

Kenseth on having his race end due to collision stemming from an ambulance blocking pit road:

“Well we were all just kind of coming to pit road and I saw an ambulance sitting there and so I looked left of the ambulance at the same time (my spotter) yelled at everyone to stop as there was an ambulance just sitting there. It was an accordion effect and I just couldn’t get stopped.

“Not really sure why pit road was open with an ambulance parked there, but everybody stopped and I didn’t see it in time and ran into the car in front of me.”

Earnhardt on not making the playoffs in his final season before retirement:

“Apologize to our fans we’re even in this situation we’re in tonight. We believe in ourselves, and we should have been locked in before we got here. But wasn’t a great season performance‑wise, but we got 10 (races) to go. Tonight showed us that we can certainly run well if we work hard.”

Truex on the caution caused by Derrike Cope, who was multiple laps behind, that negated his lead with four laps remaining:

“I don’t know if it should have been thrown or not, I haven’t seen. I just think that’s ridiculous that a guy could cause a caution with one lap to go as bad as he’s running and just riding around there basically just making laps. It’s pretty dumb.

“There’s a guy out there that shouldn’t even be out there, 20 some laps down, riding around. As slow as he is, he can’t even hold his damn line. It’s ridiculous. He scrapes the wall, [NASCAR] throws a caution with one to go. That’s not what racing should be. I’m mad about that. … I’m madder about all that than I am about losing.”

Logano, who finished runner-up in a race he needed a win to advance, on not qualifying for playoffs after entering the season as a championship favorite:

“Our championship season was on the line, and we just came up one spot short, which stinks. It hurts, it stinks. May be the end of our championship run, but it’s not the end of our season.

“But just overall, obviously it stings to come up one spot short and not be able to get into the playoffs. It is what it is. It’s reality, and we will move on.”

Larson on his fourth win of the season, equaling Truex for series-best, and his first on a short track:

“Good night for us to win at a short track. Feels amazing. But to have our pit crew perform like they did tonight makes me feel very proud for them and our whole organization. I’m not a very good short-track racer, so for us to come here and challenge for the win and get the win, it feels great.

“I’m really pumped for the playoffs. We’ve got a great shot at the championship, I feel like, this year. I’m looking forward to it.”

Scott Miller, senior vice president of competition for NASCAR, explaining why an ambulance was blocking pit road while drivers were trying to stop:

“It’s not like this is a common occurrence for us; it was a very strange thing. The track workers are usually very, very good at following the directives. Tonight, they didn’t follow the directive from the tower. We will do our due diligence to figure it out.”