TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Bristol Motor Speedway
266.5 miles, 500 laps
April 15, 2016
TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
1st, CARL EDWARDS
2nd, MATT KENSETH
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, KYLE BUSCH
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
24th, DAVID RAGAN
30th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Comcast Business Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 1st
What does this pole mean to you here at Bristol?
“Just awesome, what Comcast Business does is they find solutions for complex problems and this place is really complicated and my guys did a really good job making the car drive well on all different segments. When you’re driving in the corner and these things take off and slide and Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and everybody did a really great job. It’s really cool to get this pole.”
What has the recent strong runs meant to this team?
“We just had an awesome year and it’s a true team effort. As I’ve spent more time at JGR I’ve just learned that from the top to the bottom it’s just a real team. It’s fun to be a part of it and we’re having a good time. Hopefully we can turn this into a win. We have that first pit stall again, my guys will be excited about that and we’ll just go get ‘em.’
How did your fast lap of 14.991 seconds feel today?
“That’s pretty cool to run a less than 15-second lap. It’s a real testament to my guys and everybody on this team has been working so hard. You see it each week the JGR Toyotas are up front and these cars are really nice to drive. Dave Rogers (crew chief) and everybody did a really nice job. I’ve got Comcast Business on board and I was just telling the guys that they manage solutions to complicated problems and this place is complicated. You would think it would be simple since it’s so small, but getting the cars into the banking and everything changes and you have to manage it from a setup perspective and my guys did a great job with that.”
Were you worried watching your teammates make their final laps that they could knock you off the pole?
“The trick is not to watch. I was half paying attention, but I don’t really want to know until after it’s over. It means so much to get a pole, especially at a place like this and competing against these guys – if you look up and down this line, these are the best racers in the world so there’s a lot of pride doing well here at Bristol.”
Do you have more confidence knowing your previous poles here resulted in first and second-place finishes?
“I didn’t know that so that’s great. Qualifying just sets the field, but we did get some race runs in and the car drove really well so I feel really good about our chances in the race just based on the little bit of race trim that we ran. We’ve got to go out and get the car dialed in tomorrow. The other unknown that is pretty obvious is that we’re not running the race track like we probably will in the race so I think that you’re going to see a lot different race than maybe even practice tomorrow once we move up to the top. We’ve got to predict what the car is going to do up there. It will be a race the entire time, you’re just going to have to make sure your car works for the last 200 laps and I guarantee they’re going to be different than anything we see before it.”
Do you believe the new downforce package will play into Sunday’s race?
“I think the true test will be once the cars are out there and you’re running two or three wide, nose to tail with people. That’s when you really see it. So far the lower downforce package has really let us race closer together in those conditions, in the race conditions. We probably won’t see that until they drop the green flag and really understand how much better it is.”
Do you expect the bottom line to be the passing line on Sunday?
“I don’t know, the last few races, it seems like it’s been around the top. It seems like it’s been awhile since we’ve raced in the daytime. Maybe that’s just me, sometimes I’m forgetful. It’s been a few years and nobody knows how the tires are going to track out in the sun. It’s going to be pretty warm. I don’t know, it might be on the bottom. It could be like the old Bristol or it could be right up against the fence. I have a feeling either lane will probably work, but the top is going to come in I believe. It just seems like it has over the last couple years.”
What is it like to be a part of Joe Gibbs Racing right now?
“It’s pretty amazing. It’s a real testament to Coach Gibbs. You think of everything that he personally has been through, everything that our team has been through – starting this fourth team and all the changes, the different style cars. All of this stuff and those guys have just never quit working. Everybody just builds the best cars they can and everybody works together as well as I’ve ever worked with people. The first guy to congratulate me on the way up there to victory lane was Matt Kenseth and it’s cool to be a part of something like that where everybody is competitive and we’re all pushing forward, but we’re also helping one another. It’s really neat. That doesn’t always yield great results like it is right now, but it is and I’m just going to enjoy it. It’s really neat to be a part of it.”
What were you able to learn through the qualifying rounds to make you fast in the final round?
“The first couple of runs and every driver does this, you get to kind of pick different things you find on the race track. I found some stuff in the second run that I thought would make me faster and it didn’t and then I kind of went back to what I did in the first run and in a way running multiple rounds like that, it’s neat because it gives you that opportunity, but it also gives you the opportunity to screw it up. I’ve done that. It was cool that the third round ended up being a really good lap based on what I learned those first two runs.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 2nd
How was the car in qualifying and are you pleased with the second-place starting position?
“We were just a little off. These guys did a great job with our Dollar General Camry today. Obviously, all of the JGR cars were fast again so thanks to everyone who’s building these things and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) with the engines. In the first round we were pretty good we thought and then the second round we tried something and we were too tight and then the third round we were a little too loose really. We were just that much off, but overall it was a great day and we’ll still get a good pit stop and a good place to start and hopefully we’ll get it driving good tomorrow and we can race them on Sunday.”
How were the qualifying rounds?
“It was good. I thought the first round we were pretty balanced and the second round we made some adjustments to try to make it quicker and just got a little tight and I kind of missed turn three. Still had a good lap time, which was encouraging and then the last round that was about what we had. We had to run a third lap that second round and that possibly hurt a little bit. We just got loose that last round and got everything I thought we could out of it. It was a better lap from what we had. We wanted to be on the pole for sure and if you can’t be then obviously you want to be second. Those two pit stalls seem to always be a pretty decent advantage here. We get a good pick and get to start up front.”
How much will the new downforce package play a role in this race?
“I believe that aerodynamics come in a little bit, as long as the car is moving then aero matters and it’s actually a pretty fast race track. I think it will be kind of the same as everywhere else, obviously the slower you’re going, the less it affects it. We have some pretty high speeds here and you certainly want as much downforce and you have some fast, edgy corners here.”
What is making JGR so strong right now with four of the top-five starting spots for Sunday’s race?
“I always believe its fast race cars. Fast race cars always make drivers look better obviously and vice versa. Obviously we’ve had really fast race cars since about this time last year. Thankfully, it’s carried into this season with this package. Feel good about what everybody is doing. We haven’t had all the results, but as an organization and as a group, Martin (Truex Jr.) included, all five cars have been really, really fast. If one of us misses it a little bit then another one is right up there in the mix to win. That’s always really encouraging.”
How similar is the setup in your car to your teammates?
“I have no idea. I’ll probably look later, but I haven’t looked yet. We get done with practice, particularly on qualifying day, and we have a pretty thorough debrief, but I don’t get into Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and my engineer’s jobs. They got together and figured out what they thought we would need and what the rest of the guys are doing because obviously they were really fast. They figured it out and honestly I don’t know.”
Is it important for top athletes to be able to retire at the top of their sport?
“I have to be totally honest with you and you may not believe me, but I haven’t really thought about it that much for myself just because I feel incredibly good, I’m driving I think arguably the best team in the sport, love the guys I’m working with and we’re still really competitive. Just to generalize it, our sport is just so different. I think you see a lot of people not go out on their own terms because they keep trying to do it for too long because they can still get a job and they can still maybe get in stuff that’s maybe not as good, but somebody is still going to hire them. This sport clearly isn’t nearly as athletic as those other sports so your body, you don’t have to throw a football 50 yards and you don’t have to be able to dunk the ball and run hard for an hour. You don’t have to be able to do that stuff as you can look around the garage and see there’s some people in great physical shape and some that probably aren’t in such great physical shape and both groups win races and win championships. I think it’s a little different. I’m thankfully not to that point yet. I talked to Jeff (Gordon) a little bit about it actually the year before he retired and he told me that it was going to be his last year and told me some of the reasons why and some of the things he felt and things like that and I haven’t had any of that yet. I don’t know, but you’re right, very few people get to do it on their own terms. I think first of all to even be racing at this level is a dream come true. Even though I’ve been here for a long time, I never dreamed in a million years growing up in Wisconsin racing a little late model car that we bought for $1800 at a little quarter mile track that I would ever be able to do any of this stuff. No matter what happens, it’s been awesome. Like Jeff’s been able to do and Tony (Stewart), there’s a few lucky ones that can obviously let them race as long as they want because they’ve earned it and they can do it on their own terms. Yeah, if you had a choice, that’s what you want to do.”
Do you hope to be able to retire from NASCAR while you’re still competitive?
“I hope so, what’s really important to me honestly is being competitive. There’s some drivers that were just awesome in their day and I’m not going to say any names right now, but when my wife came in the sport she was watching and there was a driver who was a champion and won a lot of races and one night she came in and asked why he was racing, that he sucks. I’m like, ‘are you kidding, he’s one of the best ever.’ But he did it for six or seven years too long because all the new fans, that’s what they thought. For me, I want to go out whenever that day happens, I want to be competitive and be winning races and I’m sure everybody obviously wants that. That’s always been important to me is to be competitive and go out there being your best every week.”
Will your wife be the one to tell you when it’s time to retire?
“No, I think you have me confused with somebody else. Katie (Kenseth) is my best friend and we talk about a lot of things. Again, this is turning into a huge retirement topic right now for some odd reason, I’m not sure why and I’m getting a little bit of a complex about it. We don’t really sit and talk about that, I’d certainly talk about everything with her and she has given me a lot of advice and good advice and kind of plays devil’s advocate now and then when it comes to racing things as well as everything else in life.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 4th
How was the car in qualifying?
“The car has good speed and that’s one good thing about it. The FedEx Freight car has really had good speed all day. Those last two rounds definitely didn’t go the way we had hoped – the track changed a little bit there and we didn’t quite keep up with it. Overall, pretty happy with the effort. That will get us a good pit stall hopefully and we can have a smooth 500 laps around here Sunday.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s 75 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 5th
How was the car in qualifying?
“We’re alright, the second round was really good and not sure what happened in the third round. Just missed the speed we were looking for and got real loose on entry. Didn’t make up a whole lot of time from the loose on entry on the exit.”
Is there any advantage to starting from the inside line?
“The top will probably come in by then so we’re at a disadvantage with an inside spot. It doesn’t matter, long race, we’ll be fine.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Starting Position: 8th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 24th
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Cosmo Motors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 30th
