- Matt Kenseth (fifth) was the highest-finishing Toyota in Sunday’s rain delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway.
- Camry driver Kenseth led the field twice for 10 laps before finishing fifth in the 500.5-mile event.
- In addition to Kenseth, Camry drivers Brett Moffitt (eighth) and Clint Bowyer (24th) each led one lap in the race.
- Camry drivers Carl Edwards (12th) and David Ragan (18th) also claimed top-20 finishes in the season’s second race.
- Toyota driver Bowyer (10th) is currently in the top-10 in the unofficial NSCS point standings.
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
Are you happy with your finish?
“Yeah, it’s good to finish fifth with the day we had. It was a massive struggle, so my whole Dollar General team did a great job on our Camry – some bad adjustments, some good adjustments. Nobody gave up and they kept working on it, did all kinds of stuff to it and then at the end there we just had to gamble and try to get some track position and hold on to what we could.”
Why did you struggle at times in today’s race?
“We were just off most the day – kind of on and off – and then there when we finally got our lap back to restart 12th or 13th with a few laps to go and we were trying to restart in the front and hold on to what we could and it turned out to be a good decision. We had that short run that kind of put a little bit of a cycle on their tires and evened us out a little bit, so it was a great finish for us today. It wasn’t necessarily a great run, but it was a great finish for us today.”
BRETT MOFFITT, No. 55 Aaron’s 60th Anniversary Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
How was your race?
“This is truly amazing. We showed good speed all weekend long. We just couldn’t bust off a quick lap on fresh tires and we kept adjusting on the car during the race. It wasn’t where we needed it to start and I kept learning how to be more aggressive on the restarts and use other people’s air to benefit me. I can’t thank Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota and Aaron’s enough for this opportunity. Definitely learned a lot out there. Wish I could be in the car more often.”
What did you learn today?
“It’s a lot of little things. We can all go fast in a car by ourselves, but it’s racing around 42 other guys and keeping the car under control. Atlanta has a lot of tire fall off, so being able to run the majority of a run – 40, 50 laps – and still be good at the end paid off a lot. Our car had great speed and I can’t thank Aaron’s and Michael Waltrip Racing enough for this opportunity.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
Did your race go as planned?
“It didn’t, but we ran well. The guys are unbelievable on pit road. This is ARRIS’ home track. We had everybody here and we worked our way up towards the front and we had a cut tire there, so that set us back, but I’m really proud of the guys. They were super fast on pit road and nobody gave up, everybody stuck with it, we got the Lucky Dog. The car was just a little bit slow there at the end I think from my left rear damage.”
Was today’s race intense?
“It was a really intense race. Everybody was driving really hard. As tough as this package was to get close to cars, this track really responded well because you could run three or four wide, so it made it actually pretty fun. I had a good time and I just wish we could have got a better finish.”
Did you use the adjustable track bar?
“I was actually really pleased with the track bar adjustment stuff. I thought that was pretty fun and it worked for us – our Toyota responded to it. I didn’t think that would be much of a big deal, but it really was.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 18th
How was your first race in the No. 18 Camry?
“I was really thrilled. The first 100 laps of the race, our M&M’s Crispy Camry was fast, had speed and track position means a lot at any race and as we fell back a little bit and I think it was a snowball effect. We just really probably were a little behind on our adjustment and that’s probably just my inexperience with these guys and being a little timid on making a few adjustments. As the track rubbered up at the half way mark of the race, we were just way too loose, so we had to take some pretty big swings to get back, but I was happy at the end of the race. We had some good speed, but we had lost too much ground. All in all, a good weekend. We learned a lot, brought the car back in one piece, but we can run better than that. I felt like we had a good, solid top-10 car and things just didn’t shake out.”
How do you feel moving forward?
“I’m very encouraged. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and these guys are great to work with. Our pit crew is outstanding and I think we made a bad selection on our pit box today – we couldn’t get out of our stall for anything. We’ve got some really good guys and so our first weekend – kind of knock the rust off all of us and I’ll be able to get back and debrief a little bit and hopefully have a little calmer week. These guys didn’t know who has going to drive the cars until Tuesday night. I think this week will go a lot smoother and looking forward to Las Vegas.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 24th
JJ YELEY, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 34th
JEB BURTON, No. 26 Maxim Fantasy Sports App Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
What happened to cause your accident?
“I was right on the 19 (Carl Edwards) entering (turn) one and he checked up and if I didn’t move to the right, I was going to spin him out. I was going to run right in the back of him and when I moved to the right of him it put me right on the door of the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and I just sucked around and that was it. I apologize to all those cars involved, but it’s tough. I mean, we had a good FedEx Ground Toyota for most the day. Just lost the handle there on the last run and kind of put us in a spot where we hadn’t restarted all day and just got sucked around and got a little loose.”
