TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Budweiser Duel 150s Race #1- February 21, 2013
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kroger Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Duel 1 Finishing Position: 11th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Florida DOT/D.A.B. Constructors Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Duel 1 Finishing Position: 13th
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 26 Sandy Hook School Support Fund Toyota Camry, Swan Racing
Duel 1 Finishing Position: 14th
What happened on the final laps?
“We had a really good car and I was just taking my time. I knew I was in good shape and Denny (Hamlin) pulled in behind me and we began running the leaders down and I was passing Carl (Edwards) and I don’t know what happened. Denny was sort of running the show from behind and he said, ‘Pass him when you get to him. Don’t ride in line. I’m helping you. You help me.’ And, I went around the outside of Carl and then they crashed. So, I’ll find out from Denny what happened. But, then the last couple laps I know now why Saturday night (Greg) Biffle and (Kevin) Harvick were up front. Man, those cars are fast — especially Biffle. We had him lined up. He was in trouble and he was just strong enough to sit there and hang on and finally the whole gang came and we lost all of our momentum and finished 15th. It was a good day. We needed to make it for the folks in Newtown, Connecticut. We wanted to have something for them to smile about on Sunday and now they do.”
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Duel 1 Finishing Position: 16th
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Duel 1 Finishing Position: 19th
What happened to the side of your car?
“The side window flew out on the last lap, so I don’t know what happened. The latches came undone with 20 (laps) or so to go and we’re trying to figure out if the latches came undone first or if the window tray there broke and made the latches come loose. The window was banging around for a while. I’m surprised it stayed in as long as it did. I hope we get to keep our starting spot, because it flew out on the last lap and there was no chance for us to pit and fix it. We’ll just have to wait and see what NASCAR says.”
How was your race?
“The race was fine. Our car handles really well and that’s something that’s really good for us. It’s really handled well all week. We just need to work on speed a little bit. There’s some guys out there at the end of the race when it comes down to it that can make some big moves and I just kind of got to stay in line and try to help somebody and stay with them. So, need to work on the speed of the car.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Duel 1 Finishing Position: 20th
What happened in the accident?
“We got in a five-car pack and we came up on I think the 13 (Casey Mears) and the 99 (Carl Edwards) and I think they were trying to figure out a way to keep us back there and stop our momentum. We all had a big head of steam up top. The 99 just came up a hair and I came down a little bit and really once I got the right-rear, I got loose and turned him and got the 21 (Trevor Bayne) involved. It’s a tough deal. I had, what I think, was one of the tightest cars out there — it was handling really well. It just shows you that any kind of bad aero position you put yourself in, your car can be vulnerable.”
How bad is the damage to your car?
“Fortunately, for us we just have to replace half the nose — this car will be fine. Hit nothing in the steering. Just looking for more side-by-side racing hopefully in the 500. Obviously guys running the top line single file in the first Duel will probably set the tone for that type of racing in the second.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued)
Will you race the same car in Sunday’s Daytona 500?
“We still are going to be racing the same car in the 500 — that part of it is good. We know our car was handling really, really well — almost too well to where we couldn’t get guys to stay close to us in the corners. This will be better once we get more cars out there, but I think for right now we were hoping to get a top-three or four finish there in that Duel and ended up wrecked.”
What do you expect the racing to be like in the Daytona 500?
“It’s tough to say. These positions that these cars are getting in are really putting the cars in vulnerable spots. We saw that you really can’t get close to each other side-by-side in the corners because if one of the cars gets loose every time just about, that’s something you really have to be aware of moving forward.’
