- Carl Edwards (13th) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Phoenix International Raceway, an event won by Kevin Harvick.
- Fellow Camry driver and Edwards’ Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Matt Kenseth (16th) also logged a top-20 finish at the one-mile Arizona oval.
- Three Camry drivers are currently in the top-15 in the unofficial NSCS point standings — Kenseth (10th), Denny Hamlin (13th) and Clint Bowyer (15th).
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 13th
What challenges did you fight with the car today?
“We fought a lot of things. We were a little tight in the middle of the corner and when we would get in dirty air our car seemed to be more affected than other people. We just have to work on that. Overall we just got lucky a couple times not to tear something up. This is a better finish than we’ve had so I’ll just move on to California. We had a lot of folks from Stanley here and just wanted to make sure we had a good effort for them and I feel like we did a great job never quitting. I’m proud of my guys for that.”
How do you feel about the outcome of today’s race?
“This is the kind of run, even though it’s not great, this is the kind of run we needed just to have a little bit more of a solid run. We made the most of what we had today and I think we ended up 13th or something like that. I feel like we had about a 15th-place car and we didn’t do worse than that.”
Was there one particular issue you battled with the car?
“For us, it was a matter of the air. I don’t know what the other drivers had trouble with, but once I got about 10 car lengths behind another car that was it and I couldn’t do much. It seems like some other guys could do better. It might just be me, but that’s the problem we had.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 16th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 18 Snickers Xtreme Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 21st
How was the car in today’s race?
“We had a top-15 Snickers Xtreme Camry I think. Real proud of my guys and the way we started the race, but just had a really tough last third of the race. I didn’t have a great restart with about 100 (laps) to go and lost some track position. I think we still would have been in good shape if we would have had a few more cautions in the last 50 or 60 laps. We certainly didn’t have a winning car by any means and I’m a little disappointed that we can’t put an entire race together, but all in all our team did a good job and our team rebounded and picked up a few spots there at the end, which was important. We’ll go back and look at it and learn when we go back to another short track.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
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: 31st
JEB BURTON, No. 26 Maxim.com Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 34th
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 41st
What happened in the accident?
“I have no idea. I would love to see the replay. It’s a shame because this Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry was really good in practice and I felt really good about the first lap. Last I heard I was coming out of (turn) four and I heard I was all clear and I was against the wall and then I just got drilled from behind and turned into the wall. It seems kind of early to be using the bumper, but I need to see a replay.”
Did you get hit from behind and put into the wall?
“I don’t know. I came out of turn four and my spotter said, ‘All clear.’ I went up to the wall and all of the sudden I got hit from behind. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if Jimmie (Johnson) was outside and if he was then I was told I was all clear and if he wasn’t outside or if he was outside by an inch then it seems kind of early to wreck someone on lap one. I don’t know whose fault it was, I just know I got hit from behind and I was against the wall and my spotter said, ‘All clear.’ That’s pretty much all the information I’ve got.”
