TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
March 16 – March 22, 2015
TOYOTA TIDBITS
TOYOTA TERRITORY: Headquarters for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., are located in Torrance, Calif. Toyota sold its first car — the Toyopet Crown — in its initial dealership located in Hollywood, Calif., in 1957. Sales began in 1958 and totaled 288 vehicles that first year. Since production of the Toyota Camry began in Georgetown, Ky., more than 25 years ago, over seven million Camrys have been built in the U.S. The Camry has been the best-selling car in America for 13 straight years, and 17 of the past 18 years.
POWER PRODUCED IN THE O.C.: TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) is based in Costa Mesa, Calif. The 47,000 sq. ft., Southern California facility employs about 180 associates and is in charge of design, development, testing and production of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) engines. The Camry V8 engines — which are used by Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) drivers — will travel approximately 4,800 miles before ever firing up at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, as engines are shipped to teams in North Carolina in advance of the race for installation in the team’s Camrys and transported back across the country on the team haulers for the Auto Club 400. Several Toyota drivers have visited TRD’s Costa Mesa facility.
LET’S GO PLACES: Toyota drivers — from NASCAR, NHRA, off-road and Scion drift racing — will visit Toyota headquarters for the annual Toyota Motorsports Day for associates on March 19. In addition to the events at Toyota headquarters, Toyota is the official pace car at Auto Club Speedway and the Camry will pace both races over the weekend. The Toyota PitPass will also be on-site at Auto Club Speedway in the fan midway, featuring several interactive elements including a 50-foot Ferris wheel with eight gondolas painted like the Michael Waltrip Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing Camry race cars.
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry drivers Matt Kenseth (10th), Denny Hamlin (13th) and Clint Bowyer (15th) currently rank in the top-15 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) point standings … Camry driver Kyle Busch has won the two most recent events (2013 and 2014) at Auto Club Speedway … Toyota drivers have four poles at the two-mile speedway … Hamlin started out front in 2009 (Oct.), 2012 and 2013 while Brian Vickers also led the field to the green in 2009 (Feb.).
DAVID RAGAN, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you approach California knowing the 18 Camry team has won the two most recent races there?
“That makes me excited. I knew Kyle (Busch) had won recently at California, but didn’t know it was each of the last two years. That puts some pressure on the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Camry. It also gives you some confidence that your team has run well and your teammates have run well there. A lot of things change from year to year. Every track I’ve gone to so far with the 18 bunch, I’ve learned something and have experienced something a little different, and California could be a lot of the same.”
What type of race track is Auto Club Speedway?
“California is a pretty straightforward race track that doesn’t have a lot of grip. It’s got a few bumps here and there and it’s important to dodge the seams. So you kind of know going into it what you need to be a contender at California. I enjoy it. It’s a neat racetrack and there’s certainly no race track similar to it on our circuit since they’ve repaved Michigan. You’ve got some bugs to work out there on Friday and Saturday, but it’s a fun place to race.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Did you enjoy Motorsports Day last year?
“It was fun. I think it’s always fun when you can go see some of the employees and where things happen. The Toyota museum was pretty cool to learn more about the company and some of their vehicles and stuff, so it was fun.”
Do you like racing at Auto Club Speedway?
“I’ve always liked it. It’s always been one of my favorites – maybe started being less of a favorite four or five years ago I think when they got real wide and the seams and the grooves changed. I haven’t adapted as well as some other guys have. We used to run really, really well there when the groove was on the bottom, but I really enjoy the race track. It’s very challenging and puts on a good race.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Subway Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Do you enjoy racing at Auto Club Speedway?
“Auto Club Speedway is a blast to drive. The surface lets you slide around. The way the Goodyear tires fall off there makes it a really competitive and a fun race. You can race three or four wide. I’ve had a lot of success there as a driver. The track is fun. For me it’s a special race this year because it’s TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and Toyota’s home track. The JGR Camry’s have had a lot of success there, so for me it’s an exciting place to go. We have Subway on our Camry for their first race and I get to go and learn about Toyota and TRD, spend some time at their headquarters and get to know the people that help make our race cars go fast and build our engines. It’s just a really fun race. It’ll be an opportunity for us to go out and get a really solid finish, and hopefully compete for the win.”
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS): Camry drivers David Starr (ninth), Daniel Suarez (10th) and JJ Yeley (15th) currently rank in the top-15 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) point standings … A series record was set when JGR Camry drivers won nine consecutive races at California’s Auto Club Speedway – from 2008 to 2013. Toyota driver Kyle Busch has the most wins at the two-mile race track with six — Aug. 2008, Feb. 2009, Feb. 2010, Oct. 2010, March 2011 and March 2013. Former Camry drivers Joey Logano (Oct. 2009 and March 2012) and Tony Stewart (Feb. 2008) also contributed to the streak … Denny Hamlin will drive the No. 54 Camry at Fontana.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How does it feel going into another double-duty weekend, racing the No. 54 Monster Energy car on Saturday?
“Well I do like it better now, I didn’t like it for many, many years. I enjoyed the last time, in Vegas, even though we didn’t run as well as we wanted. There are some times the double-duty can benefit you and I think the rules packages are now a little closer to where it probably can benefit you to run a few Xfinity races. For me, I thought it was time for me to kind of get back and start running a few more just to see if I can find anything that can make me better on Sundays. Even though I typically don’t like doing double duty, the stats show that I always run better Sunday when I race on Saturday. I don’t know why, but it’s happened. This one is the hometown for Monster Energy so we’ll go out there and try to bring one home for them.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra drivers Matt Crafton (second), Erik Jones (third), Johnny Sauter (fourth) and Ben Kennedy (seventh) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) point standings … The NCWTS will return to action next weekend at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway on March 28.
TOYOTA 2015 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led
NSCS 4 34 (14) 0 3 6 0 14 37
NXS 4 42 (17) 0 3 6 0 8 55
NCWTS 2 19 (11) 0 4 10 0 8 130
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Auto Club Speedway (NSCS and NXS)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Camry
David Ragan, No. 18 Camry
Carl Edwards, No. 19 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 23 Camry
Jeb Burton, No. 26 Camry
Reed Sorenson, No. 29 Camry
Brian Vickers, No. 55 Camry
Matt Dibenedetto, No. 83 Camry
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Blake Koch, No. 8 Camry
Jeff Green, No. 10 Camry
Cale Conley, No. 14 Camry
Daniel Suarez, No. 18 Camry
Mike Bliss, No. 19 Camry
Erik Jones, No. 20 Camry
Eric McClure, No. 24 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 28 Camry
David Starr, No. 44 Camry
Denny Hamlin, No. 54 Camry
