TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Kansas Speedway
Race 11 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
Sunday, May 7, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Kansas Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, Kevin Harvick*
3rd, Kurt Busch*
4th, MATT KENSETH
5th, Ryan Blaney*
11th, CARL EDWARDS
14th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
29th, DAVID RAGAN
30th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
37th, DENNY HAMLIN
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Kansas Speedway**
1st, Kevin Harvick 390 points*
2nd, KYLE BUSCH 386 points
3rd, CARL EDWARDS 367 points
10th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 303 points
13th, DENNY HAMLIN 273 points
14th, MATT KENSETH 269 points
31st, MATT DiBENEDETTO 140 points
32nd, DAVID RAGAN 137 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Kyle Busch captured the checkered flag in Sunday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Kansas Speedway.
· The victory marks the third for Busch this season and sixth for Toyota in the first 11 races of 2016.
· The win marks the first NSCS victory for Busch at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway leaving only two active tracks where he has yet to visit victory lane in NSCS competition – Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway.
· The defending series champion now has 33 NSCS victories while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, tying Tony Stewart for the most NSCS wins at JGR.
· Busch’s JGR teammate Matt Kenseth finished fourth, his best finish of the season.
· Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. started from the pole and led a race-high 172 laps (of 267), but a loose wheel following a late-race pit stop forced him to a 14th place result.
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Red Nose Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
“This is pretty big – man, there’s been a lot of rough days here at Kansas, that’s for sure. A lot of good ones too, but I just can’t say enough about this team and everyone on this M&M’s Camry, this thing was awesome tonight. At the beginning and middle part of the race we weren’t great, but Adam Stevens (crew chief) and the guys, they just kept working on it. The 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was probably the fastest car, but we kept ourselves in the game. It was pretty impressive. Can’t say enough about Interstate Batteries, NOS Energy Drink, Toyota of course, Sprint and what they’ve done for our sport and what they do for our sport. Everybody can help celebrate with us with Red Nose Day and have some fun. We appreciate everyone supporting Red Nose Day.”
How important was the call by Adam Stevens?
“Which one? He (Adam Stevens, crew chief) makes a lot of them. He makes a lot of good calls and I’m proud to have Adam Stevens on my pit box. He does a really good job. The call to stay out, yes. I thought clean air was fast and I knew we had some laps on our tires, but still I felt like our car was really good out front. I was a little worried about Matt (Kenseth) and I’m not sure what happened to him on the restart. Then (Kevin) Harvick hounded me for a few laps and he raced me really clean and had a couple opportunities – once off of four and I kind of cut him off a little bit, but when you’re clear, you’re clear and you take that chance. We took that chance, we have a couple wins and from there I ran the line I was running before the caution came out and I picked up speed. Why it wasn’t there beforehand, I don’t know, but it certainly worked out for us and I’m real impressed to be here and to be working with this team.”
What did you think of Adam Stevens’ call to leave you out?
“I’m just proud to have Adam Stevens (crew chief) on my pit box. I knew our car was really good. I knew our car was best out front. I had trouble in traffic all night long. I wasn’t the best at being able to pick my way through that stuff, but when we had green flag pit stops I really got some good holes and was able to make some good time, but the call to stay out was a no brainer and it certainly worked out for us. I was kind of worried about those guys that had tires behind us, but then they all crashed with tires, so it was kind of weird. Having to hold off (Kevin) Harvick – I thought I was going to battle my teammate Matt Kenseth. I’m not sure what happened to him, but raced Harvick really, really hard and really, really clean. They did a great job. He had a chance probably too rough me up a little bit off turn four there, but he chose to be the veteran and the champion that he is and we raced it out and we raced it clean. Why I wasn’t running the faster groove before that, I don’t know because I picked up time when I went back to the groove that I was running before that caution came out, so all in all it really worked out for us.”
Did you have any struggles tonight?
“It did go our way. I certainly found the boundaries that you need to have here being able to feel the race car and I’m so used to just attacking all these race tracks that sometimes I over attack and that may be what has bit me here in the past, but tonight I really felt this race car all night long. It was really grooving and styling out front.”
What does it mean to win at yet another track for the first time in the Sprint Cup Series?
“There’s two that I haven’t won at and those two I’ve had so many opportunities to win at those places. I’ve not had very many opportunities to win here, so I’m pretty confident that we can knock those off the list and I’m excited about that opportunity and working with this team of guys and Adam Stevens (crew chief) and everybody that he has assembled. It’s so much fun. This group is – really means a lot to me and let’s go on and backup what we did last year.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Are you pleased with your finish tonight?
“It’s our best finish of the year so that’s the bright side. I’m sort of happy for Kyle (Busch) and Adam (Stevens, 18 crew chief), but seriously happy for everyone at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing). Martin (Truex Jr.) had them covered and I don’t know what happened to him in the pits or whatever. We were about a second to fourth-place car most of the day. I thought we were as good as the 18 (Busch) if we could have had the position, but it was tough to stick on that bottom. I tried something different there to try to lay back and get the pass, but once they were single file I couldn’t go get them. We were just a little off, but these guys had great pit stops and great adjustments and we seem to be getting closer.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
What went through your mind when you felt the loose wheel after the pit stop?
“I couldn’t believe it. Went around (turns) one and two and I was like, ‘Wheels loose.’ I kept telling myself that maybe it’s not me, maybe it’s just shaking because it has tape on it or something stupid. It was loose and I knew it right away. Frustrating, but that’s how it goes.”
Do you feel this team is close to getting to victory lane this season?
“We’re going to win races for sure – if we keep bringing cars like that, we’re going to win some. It’s frustrating when you’ve had it happen so many times in your career. I swear, you watch guys win races that don’t have the fastest car or on fuel mileage and all this stuff and it’s like, damn. Someday I’m going to get on one of those or on the other side of one of them. Usually you can dominate and win, but its tough and it happens. It’s part of racing.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Cosmo Motors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 30th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
What caused the incident?
“I don’t know. I’m looking – I had a huge run off of turn two and I was going to go low on the on 2 (Brad Keselowski), but he went to block, so I went through the middle and I didn’t let off into turn three. I went through the middle of them and I either got touched from the 2 or I got loose underneath the 42 (Kyle Larson). I’m not sure really until I get a good look at it honestly.”
What did you see during the accident?
“I was going in there three-wide. I wasn’t letting off and the 42 (Kyle Larson) was just too close up there. It wasn’t his fault by any means, but we were both trying to drive in there to clear each other and I just got loose and I mean that’s crazy there was no contact, but both me and 2 (Brad Keselowski) got loose there. Shame – I just screwed us on pit road twice. Our car was a fast car today. Just didn’t show it. We were just in the back because I sped twice. I’ve got to get better on pit lane to give us a chance and then I was just going for it there because I knew our car had some speed. I was on two tires and the guys in front of me were on none or two. I was just going for it. I’ve got the win and that’s part of this format is going for it and that’s what we did.”
