TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Phoenix International Raceway
Race 4 of 36 – 312 miles, 312 laps
March 13, 2016
TOYOTA NSCS DRIVER FINISHING POSITIONS at Phoenix International Raceway
1st, Kevin Harvick*
2nd, CARL EDWARDS
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
4th, KYLE BUSCH
5th, Dale Earnhardt Jr.*
7th, MATT KENSETH
14th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
20th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
24th, DAVID RAGAN
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Phoenix International Raceway**
1st, Kevin Harvick* 154 points
2nd, KYLE BUSCH 154 points
3rd, Jimmie Johnson* 140 points
4th, Kurt Busch* 137 points
5th, CARL EDWARDS 136 points
6th, DENNY HAMLIN 131 points
9th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 117 points
16th, MATT KENSETH 90 points
31st, DAVID RAGAN 48 points
33rd, MATT DiBENEDETTO 44 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Carl Edwards (second) was the top-finishing Toyota in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Phoenix International Raceway.
· Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates Denny Hamlin (third) and Kyle Busch (fourth) also earned top-five finishes.
· Camry drivers led 140 laps (of 313) at the one-mile Arizona oval with Busch leading twice for 75 laps in the No. 18 Camry and Edwards leading three times for 65 circuits.
· Busch has registered top-five finishes in all four races to start 2016 and has a current streak of eight consecutive top-five finishes dating back to last season at Martinsville in Nov.
· Matt Kenseth (seventh) also earned a top-10 finish for Toyota on Sunday.
· Busch and race-winner Kevin Harvick are tied for the lead in the unofficial NSCS point standings after four races. Edwards (fifth), Hamlin (sixth) and Martin Truex Jr. (ninth) also rank in the top-10 in points.
TOYOTA QUOTES
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What was going through your mind on that last lap racing Kevin Harvick?
“I should’ve wrecked him (laughter). No, those guys were doing a great job all day. They hung on with those tires but we were faster so I thought, ‘Man, I’ll just move him out of the way and get by.’ I just didn’t move him far enough and then he got up the door and I thought I was trying to time — I thought ‘I think he’s going to beat me.’ So, I tried to sideswipe him before he got there but I needed to be in front of his front tire. Anyway, just a fun race. Man, I wish we could’ve won that thing. Dave Rogers (crew chief) did a great job. I’ve got to thank Stanley. They’re onboard here. Hopefully everybody that damaged their stuff could use some Stanley Tools to fix it today. ARRIS, Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Subway, Comcast, XFINITY, all of our sponsors. I wanted to win that thing but you win some and you lose some. It was a good race.”
Did you like the new aero package at this track?
“The package is definitely better here. The Goodyear tire was really the good part. It wore out and it was slick. That was a lot of fun.”
Did you feel like it was your race to win after taking two fresh tires on that last pit stop?
“Yeah. He (Kevin Harvick) was pretty fast on no tires but I thought once we got clear I thought ‘Man, I’m going to get one shot,’ and I tried to go to the outside of him and block a little bit and I just didn’t have anywhere to go but to just kind of rub him a little bit.”
Can you describe the last lap of the race battling Kevin Harvick for the win?
“Well, we were faster, we had tires. Dave Rogers (crew chief) made a great call. I got down there and I was going to go around the top and he (Kevin Harvick) moved up so I went to the bottom and I thought, ‘I’m going to move him out of the way,’ but I didn’t want to wreck him. Those guys earned their spot. And, I moved him and it just was a drag race and we just lost it. It was just an awesome race. We had an opportunity to win it. Before that final caution we didn’t have an opportunity. That’s going to be a tough one to swallow but it was a lot of fun.”
What were you and Kevin Harvick doing on that final lap?
“I had a run on him (Kevin Harvick) so he banged my door and then as he was going by I thought, ‘Man, I better him to try and slow him down.’ But I wasn’t far enough in front of him when I hit him so it didn’t make that much of a difference. Man, just fun.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Can you talk about your effort at Phoenix today?
“Yeah, it was a great effort for our whole FedEx Freight Toyota team. Just I thought we had a car that could win. We really did a good job back there – pit crew did a good job down the stretch there. So, overall I’m very proud of our program. We’ve really come a long way on this race track. Obviously this is a very pivotal race track when it comes to getting to Homestead so we want to run good here and this is a good step.”
What was it like on the last lap watching Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards battle for the win?
“I was actually rooting on Carl (Edwards) going ‘Get him.’ But, we’ve been on the other side of that photo finish. Awesome that this rules package creates this kind of racing and some of the finishes that we’ve seen so far this year.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Did you think you had a race-winning car today?
“We had a really good car today and we ran upfront for a bunch of the race. I’m not sure if we could’ve beat the 4 (Kevin Harvick) or not but given some different circumstances maybe. But, overall the Skittles Camry was good. Missed it just a little bit on the long runs for sure. We just can’t quite keep up as good as those guys can on the long side of the run, so that’s kind of where we lost it today. I also screwed us up a little bit on pit road but we were at least able to overcome that.”
Are you happy with the way the season has started so far for you?
“Yes and no. You could be happy with top-five and you could be happy with running up front and doing those things. Those are the things you’re supposed to do, but ultimately we’ve got to get to victory lane. We’re close. We’ll see if we can hit one here on the west coast swing, maybe next week in California, and put ourselves in.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
How was your race?
“The car was never the same after the first pit stop. From that point on we couldn’t get going to overcome some of the slick turns. We had a shot at the end to gain a few spots when the caution came out for a green-white-checkered finish but got bottled up in traffic.”
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Schluter Systems Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 20th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 24th
