TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Indianapolis Motor Speedway – July 28, 2013
Matt Kenseth (fifth) was the first Camry driver to the finish line in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Camry driver Kyle Busch (10th) also recorded a top-10 finish in the 400-mile race.
Denny Hamlin (four) and Clint Bowyer (one) both led laps in today’s 160-lap race.
Other Toyota drivers in the field at Indianapolis included Martin Truex Jr. (11th), Hamlin (18th), Bowyer (20th), Mark Martin (23rd), David Reutimann (29th), Travis Kvapil (31st), Bobby Labonte (36th), David Stremme (40th) and Joe Nemechek (41st).
Truex Jr. worked his way through the field to finish 11th after starting 38th.
After 20 races this season, Bowyer ranks second in the point standings — 75 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
Kenseth (sixth), Busch (seventh) and Truex (12th) also rank in the top-12 in the unofficial point standings.
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How was the race?
“None of them are easy, but today was difficult. We had really, really great pit stops from my Dollar General crew and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) made a great call to get us some track position. That’s really what got us our top-five. We didn’t have a car that good today. We were just off all weekend. We never hit it exactly right. Great adjustments for today. Great adjustments during the race — with strategy and pit stops — got us a good finish out of the day.”
How difficult was it passing other cars during the race?
“That’s really hard for me to say because I was getting passed a lot more than I was passing. Especially at the end we got two (tires) to get some track position and just hanging on to everything I could handle. It’s not easy passing here no matter what kind of cars you have here. I thought it was probably a little bit better like it’s been at all the tracks this year. Real happy for Ryan Newman. Obviously, after all that has gone on since New Hampshire, it’s awesome he sits on the pole and wins the race.”
Was your car strong enough to battle the race leaders?
“We were a little off, but the crew did a great job. Had really great stops and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) made a great call there to get us some track position at the end. From there, we were just hanging on to what we could. Team did a really great job. We just were a little off on speed. We got to work on that a little bit for next year. Hopefully, it will be a little better next week. Overall, it was a great day. I’m really happy for Ryan Newman with the weekend he had. That’s pretty awesome.”
What was the racing like today?
“Restarts were crazy like they always are and I probably contributed to one of them. Everybody gets going and it’s hard to pass once you get singled out. When there is another lane going slower, it’s hard to let off because you know the next guy behind you is going to go three-wide or go wherever the hole is. Restarts were really crazy, but once it got singled out then it was fairly typical Indy racing. It was a little tougher for me than maybe sometimes in the past because we really struggled with our car. Overall, I thought it was an exciting race with a lot of different strategies there at the end and the fastest two cars ended up battling for the win.”
Could you have battled Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson for the win?
“They were way faster than us and they were up there pretty far. Jimmie (Johnson) went by me so quick that I thought he was going to suck the numbers off the doors. He was really quick. Ryan (Newman) had a really fast car. We had a top-10 car most of the day, but I couldn’t run with those guys.”
Was the outcome what you expected?
“It’s about what I expected yesterday. I was hoping for a little bit better today. Just been off since we got here. It’s hard to be off on speed and magically fix it for Sunday. I thought Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) made some great decisions on adjustments. I think we were better than we were yesterday, but we weren’t going to contend for a win by any means.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Red-White-Blue M-Prove America Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
DAVE ROGERS, crew chief, No. 18 M&M’s Red-White-Blue M-Prove America Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What happened on the long pit stop during the race?
“We called a two-tire stop and we had a hiccup on the right side and at that point you’re going to leave pit road last so you might as well just sit in your box, take your four tires, make your adjustment and move on. We could have left pit road a lot earlier, but we still would have been last. We just took the time since we had a bobble — we just took the time to get the car where we wanted it and not try to race anyone. The goal was to come down and have a right-side tire stop and beat people off pit road like we typically do. We were off a little bit on pit road today and it cost us there. The team did a great job and there at the end, Kyle (Busch) did a great job digging down deep. I think we were 22nd with 40 (laps) to go and got a top-10 out of it. With 40 to go if you had asked me, ‘Would you be happy with a top-10?’ I would have told you, ‘Yeah.’ I better not be disappointed now.”
How did the car handle during the race?
“The M&M’s M-Prove America Toyota Camry was really good at times. There were points in the race that we were the fastest car, we just needed track position. We just got a little behind yesterday. We know this is a track position race and we were a little bit loose in our mock qualifying trim and I just tightened it up a little bit and added a little front rebound and when I did that it laid on the splitter, got too tight and wouldn’t turn and we qualified poorly because of it. Then we were playing catch-up all the time. At this level, it’s tough to play catch-up. These guys are too good and the cars are too consistent — there is too much parody between cars. I’m pleased with the team and I think we did a good job. There are some areas that we could certainly improve — we have to not make mistakes like we did in qualifying yesterday. We can improve a couple areas of our game and if we can do that in the next five or six weeks then we’re going to be in good shape for the Chase.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
How were you able to pass so many cars today?
“We did — it was a hell of a battle out there all day. We had our hands full all day long — that’s for sure. Just kept fighting hard — kept fighting, fighting, fighting. We didn’t get a lot of cautions so we had to do a lot of it when the field was strung out and that made it tough. We did have the one caution and we did get a real good restart and we were able to get a couple there. Just had a decent car on the long runs — we weren’t blazing fast by any means, but we were just steady. We would get one or two or three (cars) every run. The guys were really good on pit road and we got a couple there. Just dug deep today and did what we had to do for the Chase deal.”
How did the car handle during the race?
“The car was really similar to how it had been all weekend. All weekend we were a 10th to 15th-place car I felt like and I felt like we could have qualified in there somewhere had we not screwed up. It was just kind of a miscalculation on our part and our guys don’t normally make mistakes like that, but it was just something they overlooked this time around. I hate that it happened, but I’m glad we were able to recover and we’ve got some work to do to get better. For sure we made something out of a day that could have been really bad.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 18th
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 20th
MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
How was the race?
“We were pretty crippled with an ill race car. We weren’t able to make any real significant improvements on it. I think the team did a great job of battling. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) had great pit strategy. He did a great job of executing with what we had.”
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 31st
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Scott Products Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
DAVID STREMME, No. 30 Lean 1 Toyota Camry, Swan Racing
Finishing Position: 40th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 41st
