TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
June 29 – July 5, 2015
TOYOTA TIDBITS
KYLE’S COMEBACK: Kyle Busch was victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Sonoma Raceway in just his fifth event back since an accident at Daytona International Speedway sidelined the 30-year-old racer. Busch led the field twice for 17 laps (of 110) at the Northern California road course en route to victory lane for the 26th time in a Camry in NSCS competition. Busch, who won the July 2008 NSCS event at Daytona, will return for to the 2.5-mile Florida superspeedway for Sunday’s NSCS race for the first time since sustaining injuries to his right leg and left foot in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at the track in February.
TOYOTA TALLY: With his win Sunday at Sonoma, Busch joins fellow Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) drivers Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth who each have earned victories for Toyota this year. Edwards, Hamlin and Kenseth are all currently inside the top-30 in the point standings and eligible to compete for the NSCS championship. However, Busch is currently 37th in the point standings after missing the first 11 races of the season and will need to get into the top-30 of the standings following the Richmond race in September to be eligible for the 10-event Chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship playoff.
JONES’ JOURNEY: Young Erik Jones has had quite the eventful first half of the 2015 NASCAR season. The 19-year-old Michigan-native has competed in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series, including each NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) races where he’s contending for the series championship driving Tundras for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Jones has also raced in 13-of-14 NXS events and made his career-first NSCS start filling in for Busch at Kansas Speedway back in May. In 23 total starts this season, Jones has earned two NXS victories and one NCWTS win, including sweeping the weekend’s races at Iowa Speedway (NCWTS) two weeks ago and a victory at Chicagoland Speedway (NXS). Jones hopes to continue the winning ways in the JGR No. 54 Camry this weekend at Daytona as the team has won the last two NXS races – Busch at Michigan and Jones at Chicagoland.
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry drivers Matt Kenseth (ninth), Denny Hamlin (13th), Clint Bowyer (16th) and Carl Edwards (17th) and currently rank in the top-20 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) point standings … Hamlin has recorded three consecutive top-six finishes at Daytona.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Does your Sonoma win make it easier for your return to Daytona this weekend?
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think the win has any prerogative on Daytona. I think Daytona is Daytona. We fly down there and we roll into that race track, and it’s going to be different than I’ve ever probably gone into that race track no doubt. I don’t know what that’s going to be yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to getting out there on the race track and attacking that demon per se and just being able to get out there and get back in the draft and get back in the pack and just work myself to having a good race car for Sunday night.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 DEWALT Made in the USA Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does it take to be successful at Daytona?
“To be successful at Daytona, if there’s an accident you don’t want to be in it and you need to figure out how to be at the front of the field at the end. It’s a lot harder to pass at plate races than it used to be, so I don’t feel that it’s one of those races where you want to lay back, because you can never guarantee you’ll make it back up to the front. Our plan for Daytona is always to go there and race hard because hopefully we have great speed and can keep our DEWALT Camry up front. The racing at Daytona is always really exciting since it’s generally a big pack of cars and there’s always a lot going on. Daytona is all about positioning and having speed in your car, so that if you do get up towards the front, you can stay there.”
How do you prepare for the hot temperatures of Daytona in July?
“When you get in the summer months there’s a lot of tracks that can be really hot that you wouldn’t necessarily think of them being in a hot environment and if you go to Daytona at night it could be halfway decent. You try to stay prepared all of the time, but especially during the summer months try to eat right and stay rested and stay hydrated and do all of those things.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Are you looking forward to the July race at Daytona?
“The July race at Daytona is always one of the hotter races for sure. I think I’m overall excited to see how NBC does with it being the first race for them. Really our superspeedway program in general has been on point for the last two years. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better at superspeedways and I always find a way to kind of finish well at them, so hopefully we’ll keep that trend.”
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS): Camry drivers Daniel Suarez (10th), David Starr (12th) and JJ Yeley (13th) currently rank in the top-15 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) point standings … JJ Yeley will make his 200th career NXS start in Saturday night’s race at Daytona … David Ragan will drive the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Camry in the NXS race at Daytona.
ERIK JONES, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What are your expectations going into Daytona this weekend?
“I’m looking forward to running Daytona and with the No. 54 team again. Obviously, we have some momentum from the Chicago win and maybe we can make it three in a row for this JGR team. I know we’ll have a fast car although with Daytona you never know what other factors come into play, so if we can keep our nose clean I’m sure CG (Chris Gayle, crew chief) will help put us in contention to win. In my mind, it’s hammer down.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra driver Matt Crafton leads the NCWTS standings by 12 points over second-place Tyler Reddick … Erik Jones (third), Johnny Sauter (fourth), Timothy Peters (seventh), Cameron Hayley (ninth) and Ben Kennedy (10th) also currently rank in the top-10 for Toyota … The NCWTS enjoys another weekend off before returning to action at Kentucky Speedway on Thursday, July 9.
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Daytona International Speedway (NSCS & NXS)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Carl Edwards, No. 19 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 23 Camry
Jeb Burton, No. 26 Camry
David Ragan, No. 55 Camry
Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Camry
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Blake Koch, No. 8 Camry
Cale Conley, No. 14 Camry
Daniel Suarez, No. 18 Camry
Jeff Green, No. 19 Camry
David Ragan, No. 20 Camry
Eric McClure, No. 24 Camry
Timmy Hill, No. 26 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 28 Camry
David Starr, No. 44 Camry
Erik Jones, No. 54 Camry
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