TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Martinsville Speedway
263 miles, 500 laps
April 3, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Martinsville Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, AJ Allmendinger*
3rd, Kyle Larson*
6th, CARL EDWARDS
15th, MATT KENSETH
18th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
21st, DAVID RAGAN
29th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
39th, DENNY HAMLIN
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Martinsville Speedway**
1st, Kevin Harvick* 220 points
3rd, KYLE BUSCH 215 points
4th, CARL EDWARDS 206 points
9th, DENNY HAMLIN 172 points
11th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 150 points
14th, MATT KENSETH 140 points
30th, DAVID RAGAN 87 points
34th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 70 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Kyle Busch was victorious at Martinsville Speedway in Sunday’s afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and claimed his first win of the 2016 season.
· Busch led the field five times for a race-high 352 laps (of 500) en route to his first Cup Series win on the Virginia short track.
· The Toyota driver also piloted a Tundra to victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville on Saturday to record a weekend sweep at the 0.526-mile track.
· Camry driver Carl Edwards (sixth) also tallied a top-10 finish at Martinsville.
· Camry driver Matt Kenseth (15th) led the field three times for 45 laps.
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s 75 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Did running the Truck Series race yesterday prepare you for today?
“I’d say it certainly helps when you get to run other divisions and that’s why I do it to pay off on Sundays. It doesn’t work every single weekend, but it works more times than it doesn’t, so can’t say enough about everyone at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) for giving me a great piece yesterday to help me learn, teach me some more things about Martinsville that I didn’t already know in 30 other prior starts. I can’t say enough about this whole JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) team on this side. This M&M’s Camry was awesome in practice yesterday. We had a really good car through practice and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) made some really good adjustments overnight to keep us where we need to be in order to run up front all day, led a lot of laps, probably led the most laps there and to win here in Martinsville is pretty cool – finally get to take a clock home. A lot of people said I didn’t deserve yesterday – maybe I don’t – but I certainly got one today.”
How big was it to have the preferred lane on the final restart?
“That was huge – the race off pit road – so I’ve got to thank my guys. Obviously, they were flawless today on pit road. They did a really good job. We made a few adjustments to the car throughout the day and they kept getting me out not even losing a spot on pit road, so they did a great job for me. That was the key to the race – being able to restart on the bottom like that. We all talked as a group earlier this morning about how we were going to do that and what we were going to do and we all said, ‘Okay, with 10 to go, it’s pretty much off limits, no more,’ and it was 12 to go, so it was pretty much right on the brink there, so sorry Matt (Kenseth), but I can’t say enough about my teammates. They helped me a lot at this place as well too – Denny Hamlin most importantly. He’s a huge key to our success here, getting me better over the years and just continuing to evolve our program and of course Matt Kenseth coming on board. He’s been a huge influence for me to get better here because he just came over and was really good right off the bat, but awesome day for M&M’s, NOS Energy Drink, Toyota, Interstate Batteries, JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), TRD (Toyota Racing Development) engines – can’t say enough about those guys – so real pumped about this one here.”
How confident were you in the final laps?
“I was a little worried there towards the end before that last caution came out that Matt (Kenseth) was catching me. He was on me pretty good and I wasn’t sure that I had enough brake in order to handle the rest of the day, but fortunately we got a yellow there, got some more tires and we were able to win this thing.”
Why was your balance so good in short and long runs?
“Yeah, I couldn’t take off as good as I wanted to for about five laps then I was okay for the next 10 and then I felt like I really took off after 15 laps, so that’s where our car was the strongest today and we had a lot of long runs today. The fans saw a true Martinsville race there with a lot of things happening throughout the event and some comers, some goers maybe, but all in all it was a great racecar for me to drive today. I can’t say enough about Adam Stevens (crew chief) again, all my guys, my pit crew – they gave me awesome stops today, got me out front when it mattered most there on that last pit stop to have the lead over Matt Kenseth and track position to prevail on the restart.”
Why did you go on the outside on the next to last restart?
“We all kind of talked earlier this morning and we figured within 10 to go it’s kind of time to go – you’ve got to race. There’s going to be a lot of hungry guys behind you that are going to routing and gouging and beating and banging and if we tried to do the let the guy line, they’ll just blow both us up the race track and take over. We knew late in the going you weren’t going to have that opportunity to do it, so I hate it that it was right at 10 to go that I couldn’t help my teammate with Matt (Kenseth). I can’t say enough about my teammates – Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth both really, really helped me get better here over the years – Denny especially and Carl (Edwards) as well too. Seeing Carl and Matt run really well here over the years certainly propelled me to get better because they haven’t been here as long as I have and it’s neat to win at Martinsville.”
ADAM STEVENS, crew chief, No. 18 M&M’s 75 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does it mean to you to win at Martinsville?
“You know, this is a big win for myself, for Kyle (Busch) and this whole team. It hasn’t been one of our strongest places –
maybe for JGR, but not for myself and Kyle historically. I think we made some good ground last year with David Ragan’s help in the spring and Kyle coming back in the fall and I think his level of feedback really picked up as he really understood what he needed in his car and that helped us as a team make better adjustments and continuing through the race today I think we got him dialed in a little bit better than he has been able to in the past because he could really identify what he was looking for.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
“My guys just do not quit. We were 32nd or 33rd and my guys didn’t give up. We got the fastest pit stops on pit road regardless of where I’m at in the field. Dave Rogers (crew chief) makes great adjustments and by the end we were moving forward, so really cool. We went from basically almost a last place race car to a top-five car at the end – just a super day for our ARRIS Camry.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 15th
What happened there at the end?
“Yeah, we had a great Dollar General Toyota today. We’ve had fast cars this year, but got shuffled to the back, so disappointing ending but it was an encouraging day. We ran really well, had great pit stops and they gave me fast cars. Hopefully we’ll start getting some finishes soon.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 18th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 21st
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Cosmo Motors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 39th
Did you wheel hop before getting into the wall?
“It’s my first time ever doing it here, so it’s a little embarrassing, but I mean we were the fastest car those last 30 laps and we got back to the top-five and I was making up a lot of my speed on entry. As the tires wear, the rears get hotter, less grip, you can’t brake at the same amount and I just – it was really out of the blue. I didn’t ever have a hint of it up until that moment, so a bit of a rookie move on my part – been around here too much to do something like that, but learning for the fall and I’m really encouraged about how good our car came up through the pack and I really thought we had a car that could win.”
