TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Toyota Owner’s 400 — Richmond International Raceway
300 miles, 400 laps
April 24, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Richmond International Raceway
1st, CARL EDWARDS
2nd, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, Jimmie Johnson*
4th, Kasey Kahne*
5th, Kevin Harvick*
6th, DENNY HAMLIN
7th, MATT KENSETH
9th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
23rd, DAVID RAGAN
30th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
37th, RYAN ELLIS
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Richmond International Raceway**
1st, CARL EDWARDS 331 points
4th, KYLE BUSCH 302 points
8th, DENNY HAMLIN 258 points
10th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 246 points
15th, MATT KENSETH 212 points
30th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 123 points
32nd, DAVID RAGAN 116 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Carl Edwards was victorious at Richmond International Raceway in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.
· The win is the second for Edwards this season and second consecutive as he also made his way to victory lane last Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
· This is the fourth consecutive victory for JGR and Toyota along with the fifth in the first nine races of 2016.
· Today’s victory by Edwards was also the first ‘Toyota Owners 400’ win by a Camry driver since Toyota started sponsoring the race four years ago.
· Toyota drivers led 232 laps (of 400) with Edwards leading a race-high 151 laps and his JGR teammates also taking turns out front – Kyle Busch (78 laps), Denny Hamlin (one lap) and Matt Kenseth (two laps).
· All four JGR Camrys along with the Furniture Row Toyota finished in the top-10 in today’s race – Busch (second), Hamlin (sixth), Kenseth (seventh) and Martin Truex Jr. (ninth).
TOYOTA QUOTES
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 XFINITY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Was there any question at all once you caught Kyle Busch that you would bump and run to win?
“Well, yeah, it was a huge question. Kyle’s (Busch) an amazing teammate and it’s like he got really slow there at the end. Something happened that last lap. It was like his rear tires went off or something. He went down into (turn) one and I dove it in and I got to him and I thought, ‘Man, I’ve got something.’ And he went to get down to the bottom and park it in three and four and I had already decided to go down there so I thought, ‘Man, I’m going to give him a little nudge,’ and we both have got wins and we’re racing for fun getting these trophies and just an awesome day. I cannot thank XFINITY enough. I hope folks are watching with the X1. It’s a revolutionary way to watch TV. Man, I didn’t think we had anything. Kyle was so good there for that run. I was doing everything I could. He never spun his tires and if Dave (Rogers, crew chief) hadn’t screamed at me to just go get him that last lap I don’t know if I would’ve dove it in there that well. Just a team effort. I can’t think ARRIS and Toyota enough. It’s a great day for Toyota. They’ve done so much for me. Just everybody – Comcast, XFINITY all of these guys. And, all of the fans. It’s an afternoon race which made it a lot of fun to drive and a bunch of families here. Just very cool. Subway too – it’s a big win for us.”
Can you take us through the final lap and how close things were with Kyle Busch?
“So going into the white flag Dave (Rogers, crew chief) said something on the radio basically like, ‘Get your butt in gear and go get him.’ So, I thought, ‘Heck, I’ll drive down there in turn one really far and it looked like Kyle (Busch), his car got real slow that last lap like his tires were just burnt up. He did a really good job keeping me held at bay ‘til then but then we went down the back straightaway and I saw him spin the tires. So, going back down the back straight away I thought, ‘I’m going for the bottom. That’s where I’m going.’ He went down there and just parked it and his car was sliding and I was just so much faster I had to give him a little tap and we got by him. I didn’t think I was going to get him hard enough. I thought it would just be a bump and go but we got the win. We both got wins so it’s just racing hard and having fun. I can’t thank XFINITY enough for being here and being a part of this. It’s really cool.”
How much more difficult is that situation when it’s a teammate you’re racing for the win?
“It’s really difficult. I didn’t want to touch him at all. I just decided I was going to run the bottom and I went down there and I was like either I’ve got to lay on the brake and slow down or I can just kind of keep my momentum going and touch him. We were so much faster there at the bottom. If he’d have gone high I don’t know, I might have just got by him but it just looked like – I’d have to talk to him but it looks like his car just gave up like he’d just used up his tires. I couldn’t catch him up to that point, I thought it was over with about five to go.”
How many laps did it take for your Camry to kick in?
“Everybody came and went all day. It was really hard to decide whose car was better where. Early on I was really good on the short run. That last run Kyle (Busch) took off and there was nothing I could do. I thought he had me. I didn’t think I’d be able to catch him but man, I have to thank Dave (Rogers, crew chief). He was yelling at me on the radio to keep going and that meant a lot. I don’t know if I’ve ever gone to the white flag and had a crew chief yell at me like that so that got me going.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Banfield Pet Hospital Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What happened on the final lap with Carl Edwards?
“It was just racing I guess. We had a great car. The Banfield Pet Hospital Camry was really good today. We were fast. Maybe not as good as Carl (Edwards) was on the long run but we did everything right. We did everything we were supposed to do and put ourselves in the right position. Adam (Stevens, crew chief) made some awesome adjustments to this car. We lost it there the second to last run and were fading a little bit but the guys gave me an awesome pit stop, got me track position and got us out front and we had a shot to win so that’s all that matters.”
Can you take us through the final lap?
“We had a really great car. The Banfield Pet Hospital Camry was awesome and had really good speed today. Real proud of the guys. We probably weren’t the best car on the long runs today, but Adam (Stevens, crew chief) made some phenomenal adjustments in order to keep us continually getting better as the day progressed there. The pit crew did a great job and got us in position and just kind of gave it up a little bit there on the last lap, but I guess that’s racing.”
How much did the track change throughout the race today?
“A lot. The track changed a lot. There were a lot of things going on. At first you were always tight and then in the end it seemed like we were kind of just getting looser and looser as the day was going. So, real weird the way that was happening. It’s definitely different being a day race with how the track was changing.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How did you stay on top of all of the adjustments to your Camry today?
“It was difficult. Definitely the track was really slick. As you could see the line was all over the race track. So, fun race. The tire did a good job holding up there and had a good fall off. Proud of the whole FedEx Ground team. We fought back from the pit road penalty and good for our teammates there one-two and we were just right there behind them.”
What is the unwritten rule when racing against teammates for the win?
“Yeah, I think every driver is trying to win for themselves. I mean, ultimately if you give yourself an opportunity to win you know you’re not going to wreck your teammate I think its okay. That’s the biggest thing – you can’t wreck a teammate for a race win, that’s for sure. I mean, I think that we did a good job with this organization. We had some pit road issues today and alternator issues. We’ve just got to get through one of these races with no issues and we should be okay. Still just a little bit off there and sixth place finish was about what we had.”
How was the racing today?
“Yeah, it was. It was a really fun race. I had a blast out there. Just this tire allowed you to move up the race track and make some ground sometimes. Overall I was pretty pleased with everything that we saw and obviously a last lap pass is a good thing.”
Did the last lap pass surprise you?
“No, it didn’t surprise me. We tire tested here so we knew it was coming.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
What was it like with the multiple grooves of racing today?
“I thought the track was okay. There was a little bit more room than there typically was. I never really went for it real far. I got back to about seventh, where we are, and that’s about what I was at the beginning when we had our problems so I could never quite get up there with the best cars. But, it was nice it widened out a little bit.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Cosmo Motors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 30th
RYAN ELLIS, No. 93 Science Logic Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
