- Denny Hamlin (fourth) was the highest-finishing Toyota in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season-opening Daytona 500 at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.
- Hamlin crossed the finish line behind race-winner Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick (second) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (third).
Camry driver Clint Bowyer (seventh) also secured a top-10 finish in the 203-lap race. - Tundra driver Matt Crafton from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series filled in for Kyle Busch, who was injured in yesterday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race. Crafton finished 19th in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Camry in his first NSCS start.
- Two Camry drivers are currently in the top-10 in the unofficial NSCS point standings — Hamlin (fourth) and Bowyer (seventh).
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Did you like your chances for the final restart?
“You know, you’ve got a 50-50 shot of winning it when you’re on the green-white-checkered on the front row. Our line didn’t form up and it’s typically whatever line gets organized the most usually goes forward on these green-white checkers and we just – inside line didn’t get going. We came up a little short again.”
Why did you have radio issues again?
“We just didn’t have – I had communication, but it was just staticy and there was something we’ve been fighting for really a couple years.”
Was Joey Logano that much faster than everyone else?
“I didn’t think he (Joey Logano) was that much better than everyone else. He got the pushes and cleared when he needed it. I had an opportunity – just once you get the lead, you really have got a good advantage. Every time I held it, I got shuffled right away. It was as good fight for our FedEx team. Proud of everyone at Toyota and TRD for the efforts they put in this weekend. Just wish I could get one for Joe (Gibbs, team owner).
How did the track feel today?
“The track was a ton different. We saw handling issues that we haven’t seen all week. The cars just drove totally different. It was a different race than what we’ve had these last 10 days.”
Did you have a chance if the final caution didn’t come out?
“I felt okay. Of course, I didn’t want to be fourth, but I thought for sure if the wreck was in the back we were going to come back to the line and we had kind of a four-car breakaway, so I thought the front two – the second and third, (Kevin) Harvick and (Dale Earnhardt) Jr., were going to do something and I was going to hope to capitalize on that move. From fourth, it would have been hard to win it. My chance was really on that restart.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
Could you have done anything different during the final restart?
“I don’t know what I could have done different. I have to go back and look at it. Just you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t there. I had them stacked up – some pretty good cars there behind me and I knew they were going to shuffle me out. I was kind of the lone wolf in the whole group other than the 22 (Joey Logano) and he happened to be leading. Once they got me in the middle, three-wide, I just didn’t really have – I was stuck and screwed.”
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 18th
MATT CRAFTON, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 19th
What was this race and experience like for you?
“It was a learning curve. The first half we just rode around and tried to learn, learn, learn. I made a mistake – I had a pretty good surge up top and I tried the bottom and shuffled myself all the way to the back. I should have had a little better finish there at the end, but it is what it is.”
What did you fight with the car?
“I fought tight and just kept freeing it up and freeing it up – they haven’t seen any temperatures this hot the whole time they’ve been here, so I think everybody fought the same thing. Trying to learn it all at the same time – it’s a pretty gnarly learning curve.”
How difficult was it to jump into a car with no practice?
“Pretty gnarly – it was very, very tough, but that’s what we get paid to do – drive race cars and figure it out quick. I felt fine, just my back from being in that seat hurt. Under yellows I would loosen up the belts as much as I could and just try to bow myself up in the seat just because my back was just cramped so unbelievable bad. We made it.”
ADAM STEVENS, crew chief, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What is your opinion of how Matt Crafton did filling in for Kyle Busch?
“First and foremost, I hope my buddy Kyle (Busch) gets healed up soon and hope he was listening and watching today. I know he texted me a bunch of times – my phone was blowing up. Matt (Crafton) did a good job. It’s a lot to ask of a guy to not practice a car and come and race it. We kind of took the strategy of just letting him ride around the first part of the race and letting him work up to it. Everything was going fine, but you know how these speedway races end and sure enough it ended like we thought it would. We ran all the laps and it was a good effort – proud of his effort and proud of the team — something to build on going forward.”
What was the moral like with the race team today?
“Everybody is in high spirits to start this season – we got the wind taken out of our sails yesterday, but we’ve all been in communications with Kyle and we know that he’s a strong person and he’s going to come back stronger than ever. Whatever the doctors tell him, he’s probably going to shave about three or four weeks off of that and be beating on our door. I’m sure he’ll be in my office sometime next week talking about how we’re going to make this happen.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 24th
How strong was the race car?
“Actually had a very strong car and I had a lot of fun. I just didn’t pick the right lines there at the end – it just didn’t work. We got far enough back that it made it kind of hard to get back to the front. I had fun – I really did. Had a great car and we didn’t tear anything up – just had a good time.”
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 25th
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
MIKE WALLACE, No. 66 Crazy Vapors Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 36th
JJ YELEY, No. 23 Maxim Fantasy App Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 40th
