· Kyle Busch (ninth) was the highest-finishing Toyota in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Phoenix International Raceway that was won by Kevin Harvick.
· Camry drivers Matt Kenseth (12th), Clint Bowyer (13th) and Denny Hamlin (19th) also registered top20 finishes in the 312 lap event.
· Two Camry drivers are currently in the top-10 in the unofficial NSCS point standings — Kenseth (seventh) and Hamlin (eighth).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
How was your day in Phoenix?
“We fought hard all day with our Skittles Camry. Just didn’t have the speed that we were looking for, especially getting off the corner. Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and the guys made the car better during the day, but we just didn’t have the handle to run with the leaders. We had a seventh to 10th-place car today and brought it home in ninth. Looking forward to Vegas next weekend.”
DAVE ROGERS, crew chief, No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How was the race for your No. 18 Camry team?
“The Skittles Camry looked really good out there and the pit crew was really fast and Kyle (Busch) did a great job, but unfortunately we just didn’t have the right parts and pieces under the hood there and we missed the balance. We were off on speed. Hats off to the 4 car (Kevin Harvick) and Rodney (Childers, No. 4 crew chief), he’s a good friend of mine. Him and Harvick, they put on a clinic and were really, really fast. Hats off to those guys. We just didn’t have the speed to run with them. We just couldn’t get our car balanced as well as they could.”
Did your team finish were they ran during the race?
“I think we ran about 10th all day, we ran top-10 all day and then at the end we realized that’s what we had so we took gambles mid-race to try to just take a chance and make something happen and the way it unfolded we were finished where we were running anyways. We were about a sixth to ninth-place car all day long.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Home Depot Husky Tools Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
How was your race?
“I felt like we started a lot better than we were yesterday. Yesterday I didn’t think we were competitive and today I thought we had a top-10 Husky Tools Toyota, we were doing the right things with it which was actually a huge improvement from yesterday. Kind of raced our way up there. We had everything going okay and looked like we were maybe going to sneak out a fifth or sixth or seventh — somewhere in there — then the caution fell right after we pitted and put is a lap down. We were the lucky dog and then we were in traffic the rest of the day. I just couldn’t negotiate traffic. My car would be so aero tight, I couldn’t really do anything. Just couldn’t really go forward.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 13th
How was your race?
“We had our 5-hour ENERGY Toyota in the top-10 there at the end. I just didn’t have enough grip there on those restarts with all the cautions late in the race. But a solid day for Brian Pattie (crew chief) and the 5-hour ENERGY guys with 13th.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 19th
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 25th
What did your team face during today’s race?
“The reality is I think we had a decent car. I don’t think anyone had anything for a couple of those guys, especially the 4 (Kevin Harvick). The guys on this Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry worked really hard and made a lot of gains over the weekend from where we started to where we finished. The first run, I think we were one of the fastest cars on the track and the second run we were trying to make an adjustment and the left rear jack screw broke so we didn’t get our adjustment. I think we even went the wrong way and that killed us — we lost track position and went a lap down. We fought hard and still had a decent car on the long run relative to comp(arison) and we got the lucky dog. Low and behold the right front, came back around to catch up and I wasn’t going that fast, it just blew the bead out, not sure why. We had some cords after the first stop, but that was after 100 laps and we blew it there after 60. Then after that it was just catchup and fighting to stay one lap down, hoping for the lucky dog.”
COLE WHITT, No. 26 Speed Stick Gear Toyota Camry, Swan Racing
Finishing Position: 27th
RYAN TRUEX, No. 83 Borla Exhaust Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 66 Land Castle Title Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 40th
ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 41st
PARKER KLIGERMAN, No. 30 Swan Energy Toyota Camry, Swan Racing
Finishing Position: 42nd
MORGAN SHEPHERD, No. 87 Morris Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 43rd
