TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
September 23 – 29, 2013
TOYOTA TIDBITS KENSETH KO’s NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Camry driver Matt Kenseth took the checkered flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) for his second-consecutive win to start the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship playoff. Kenseth led the field four times for a race-high 106 laps (of 300) to claim his seventh win of 2013 — marking the most by a driver in the NSCS this year and the most victories by Kenseth in any season of his career. The triumph also came in Kenseth’s 500th NSCS start, matching a feat only previously accomplished by Richard Petty.
CAMRY CHASERS: Following the second event of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship playoff, Kenseth continues to lead the 13-driver field and sits 14 points ahead of Kyle Busch, who is in the second position. Camry driver Clint Bowyer currently ranks 10th in the standings — 48 points behind Kenseth.
TOYOTA 2013 TALLIES: The win by Kenseth at NHMS on Sunday was the 13th NSCS victory for Camry drivers in 2013, marking the most Cup Series victories by Toyota in a single season. Toyota drivers previously totaled 12 wins in 2010, and the manufacturer has accumulated double-digit victories in five-of-seven seasons competing at NASCAR’s highest level (2008-10, 2012-13). Six Camry drivers have combined to record the 13 victories in 2013 — Kenseth (seven wins), Busch (four), Martin Truex Jr. (one) and Brian Vickers (one) — including wins in five of the last seven events.
MTJ AT ‘MONSTER MILE’: Dover is located about 130 miles from Mayetta, N.J., the hometown of Truex, driver of the Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) No. 56 Camry. Truex earned his first NSCS victory in the spring of 2007 at Dover when he led 216 laps (of 400), and he has one win, six top-10 finishes and two poles (May 2010 and Oct. 2011) in 15 starts at the track. In addition to his on-track activities, the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Martin Truex Jr. Pediatric Care Center, a five bed emergency department in Manawakin, N.J., will take place on Sept. 25. The state-of-the-art facility offers around the clock care for infants and children who are injured or in physical distress, and was formed through a partnership with thevSouthern Ocean Medical Center. Donations from the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation aided the opening of the new clinic. The mayor will also declare Sept. 25 as ‘Martin Truex Jr. Day’.
DOVER CHECKERED FLAGS: Busch has recorded two NSCS victories at Delaware’s Dover International Speedway while driving a Toyota. The driver of the No. 18 Camry visited victory lane at the one-mile concrete oval in the spring 2008 and 2010 races. Prior to joining Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing, Kenseth claimed two wins at Dover in the 2006 and 2011 spring races and started from the pole at the track twice (June 2002 and Sept. 2003).
CONCRETE QUALIFYING: Camry drivers have had success qualifying at Dover in recent years, including four consecutive poles and six total top qualifiers on the concrete race track. Both Truex (May 2010 and Oct. 2011) and Denny Hamlin (Oct. 2012 and June 2013) have recorded two Dover poles, while David Reutimann (May 2009) and Mark Martin (June 2012) each have one pole in Delaware. The last four NSCS races at Dover have begun with a Camry at the front of the field. In addition, Camry drivers have won seven poles in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) at Dover.
DECORATED AT DOVER: Camry drivers have totaled six NNS wins at Dover — which is tied for the second most at any Nationwide Series track by Toyota — and Brian Vickers claimed a runner-up result when the series last raced in Delaware (June). Among active drivers with three or more starts at the track, Vickers has the best average finish (5.5), including a victory on the one-mile track in 2003. In six Dover starts, Vickers has four top-fives, five top-10s and has led 105 laps.
CRAFTON CARRIES ON: When the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) competes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) on Saturday, the race will be a ‘home’ event for Matt Crafton, the series points leader.
Crafton is fromTulare, Calif., which is located approximately 250 miles from the speedway, and the Tundra driver considers LVMS his home track because it is the closest event to California on the NCWTS schedule. Crafton currently leads the NCWTS standings by 41 points and has finished every race in the top-10 this season, including a victory at Kansas Speedway (April).
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry driver Matt Kenseth leads the NSCS with seven victories in 2013 … Three of Kenseth’s victories have come on tracks shorter than 1.5 miles in length as the Cup Series moves to Dover, a one-mile oval … After consecutive wins to start the Chase, Toyota is now tied for the lead in the manufacturer point standings with 188 points … Jimmy Makar, the senior vice president of racing operations at Joe Gibbs Racing(JGR), is from Cedar Knolls, N.J. … Mike Metcalf, the gas man for Clint Bowyer and the No. 15 MWR Camry, is a native of Washington D.C. …
Metcalf played football for Appalachian State prior to become a NASCAR crew member … Bob Hannigan, the hauler driver for the No. 18 Camry of Kyle Busch, is from High Bridge, N.J. … Denny Hamlin will be in Washington D.C. on Sept. 26 to accept the March of Dimes “Champion for Babies” award at the organization’s Volunteer Leadership Conference and 75th anniversary celebration … The Monster Monument in Victory Plaza at Dover will feature a 2013 NSCS Toyota Camry for this weekend’s races.
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Tools Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Do you adjust your plan after two straight wins to focus on your points lead?
“My outlook is really not any different, honestly. I know it’s kind of cliché, but it really is one week at a time — especially right now. If you get down toward the end and you’re lucky enough to have a lead or something, maybe you start looking at that more or thinking about it more, but man, two whole months and eight weeks of racing is a lot of racing, and in this system, one bad finish and you’re behind.”
Do you feel confident heading into the next few races?
“Anything can happen anywhere. You can be at your best track and have whatever happen and get a bad finish, but certainly I have a lot of confidence in the next three tracks coming up. In the past, they’ve been good tracks for us. I felt like we were real strong at Dover in the spring and I know I had a mechanical problem, but I thought we were pretty strong when we ran there. You’re never sure what you’re going to have there until you get there. You build your best car and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) gives you their best engine and you go there and kind of see how you match up.”
JASON RATCLIFF, crew chief, No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Tools Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What has enabled you to start the Chase with so much success?
“We sat down a couple weeks ago and just kind of had a little informal meeting, went to lunch and I think our philosophy or thought process coming in was let’s just continue to do what we’ve been doing. It’s been pretty successful so far this season, so let’s — we don’t need to do anything different, we don’t need to do anything new and the guys have done a really good job of doing that — of paying attention to details and executing at the shop as well as at the racetrack and we’re just going to continue to do that. Obviously, we haven’ t done anything different than we’ve done all season for the last two weeks and it’s worked pretty well for us, so we’re just going to continue to do that and I think it’ll pan out.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What will it take to catch Matt Kenseth?
“I don’t think you do anything differently than you’ve done all year long. I think the organization (Joe Gibbs Racing) is going to give the equipment to the both of us. I don’t think any one of us is going to get better stuff. It’s just going to come down to better communication between myself and the crew chief in that way because those are certainly the ways that you win these things — that’s how you build speed is getting your car better all through the weekend. But, if you can unload and just hit it and be on it and get going, then that’s a better way to win each weekend. It doesn’t matter if it’s your teammate or anybody else. You’ve still got to work hard and persevere. It’s eight more weeks.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS):
After 27 races this season, Elliott Sadler (fourth), Brian Vickers (fifth) and Parker Kligerman (10th) rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) point standings … Kyle Busch has three victories at Dover and has led the most NNS laps led in the history of the track (925 laps) … In addition to Busch’s Toyota wins at Dover, former Camry driver Joey Logano claimed two wins at the track and Denny Hamlin has one win in a Camry.
ELLIOTT SADLER, No. 11 OneMain Financial Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you approach Dover International Speedway?
“Dover is a unique place. It has a lot of banking, which makes it a pretty fast track. I have run well there in the past, but we struggled in the June race. We fought a loose handling car all day and I just got too loose and spun. We feel that we have a good handle on this weekend and hope to make up some ground in the points standings. All we can do now is fight for every position and race for the win as aggressively as we can. Dover is so close to OneMain Financial’s headquarters in Baltimore, so we definitely want to perform well and hopefully get this No. 11 Toyota in victory lane at the ‘Monster Mile.'”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): After 16 races this year, Matt Crafton continues to hold the lead in the NCWTS points standings by 41 points over second-place James Buescher … Timothy Peters (seventh), Johnny Sauter (eighth) and Darrell Wallace Jr. (ninth) are also in the top-10 in the standings … Tundra driver Germán Quiroga will return to Las Vegas to run his first marathon in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Nov. 17, two days after the NCWTS season finale … Tundra drivers have three victories in Las Vegas … Mike Skinner has two wins (2006, 2008) and Todd Bodine has one (2005).
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Jeld-Wen/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
What makes the Las Vegas race fun?
“Vegas, I always call that my backyard now just because we don’t go to Fontana (Auto Club Speedway) anymore. Vegas is the closest I’m going to get to home, so love going out there. We got passed on the last lap and it’s still the worst salt in the wound race I could ever possibly — it still hurts every time I think about it and we’ve finished second, we’ve finish third there. We’ve had, I think , two or three runner -up finishes there — I think three runner-up finishes in the last four years. It’s time to put this thing in victory lane.”
