Toyota NXS Pocono Post-Race Notes & Quotes – 6.4.16

Toyota NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes

Pocono Raceway
Race 12 of 33 – 132.5 miles, 53 laps
Saturday, June 4, 2016

TOYOTA NXS DRIVER FINISHING POSITIONS at Pocono Raceway

1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, ERIK JONES
4th, KYLE BUSCH
9th, DANIEL SUAREZ
13th, JJ YELEY
18th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG
34th, JEFF GREEN
38th, CARL LONG
40th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA DRIVER NXS POINT STANDINGS following Pocono Raceway (race 12 of 33)*
1st, DANIEL SUAREZ                        408 points
5th, ERIK JONES                                359 points
16th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG          231 points
17th, JJ YELEY                                   207 points
*unofficial point standings

TOYOTA NOTES
·         Camry driver Erik Jones (second) was the top-Toyota finisher in Saturday afternoon’s rain-shortened NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Pocono Raceway, an event won by Kyle Larson under caution.
·         Jones started from the pole in the inaugural NXS race on the 2.5-mile track in Pennsylvania.
·         Camry driver Kyle Busch finished fourth and led the field for the first 16 laps after starting second.
·         Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Suarez (ninth) also tallied a top-10 finish in his Camry at Pocono.

TOYOTA QUOTES

ERIK JONES, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Is weather something you just have to prepare for?
“Yeah, it’s part of it, but I think we just ran out of time overall. If we were able to keep racing, we needed probably about two more corners or a lap at most to really get there and get around Kyle (Larson). We had a good Sport Clips Camry, but it’s just a matter of running out of time and the way strategy worked out.”

Did you know the rain would come so soon?
“We knew it was coming. We saw it. We tried to play the best we could for it. I was doing all I could right there to try to get back in the lead the quickest I could. We didn’t think we’d get to halfway, honestly. We knew it was coming and tried to play the best we could into it, but, at the same time, you’ve still got to run your race and try to put yourself in a good position to run all the way to the end.”

Did you run out of time to get to the lead?
“Yeah, not enough time, so thought we by far had one of the best cars in the field, but just couldn’t get back to the lead there before it started raining, so it’s unfortunate, but Sport Clips Camry was good. Just not enough time to get back to the lead and have a shot at it. Pretty unfortunate, but move on from here.”

Is it frustrating to know you probably had the fastest car with the race ending short?
“It’s pretty frustrating, you know? You look at this whole year and it’s kind of been a season of just missing it by that much kind of year for us. We missed it a few races here with penalties and circumstance and the way things worked out and today was another one of those days where I thought we had a good shot at the win and the way it played out we just didn’t – it didn’t work out for us. It’s pretty frustrating being that fast, but just nice to know we’re that fast – nice to know we can contend for wins.”

What was it like trying to pass in traffic?
“It’s tough to pass. I forgot kind of how hard it was to pass here. It seemed like if – even if you were a lot better than the guy in front of you and you ran them down, it still took you a lap to really set them up and work them over and get around them, get a run. You’ve just really got to set yourself up to get that run on the straightaway and try to get up next to them and drag them down and hope you can clear them, but it’s tough to pass, but I think it was fun for me to try to setup those passes and change your entry to try to get a good run down the straightaway and get a run on them.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Did you think you had a Camry that could contend for the win?
“Our car was good and decent. The 20 (Erik Jones) was definitely better than we were probably. When we up front leading early, we were good up there, but 20 could make better moves through traffic so he got where he needed to be, but still was a little short. I don’t know. We were good. We were close.”

Is weather just part of the game?
“Yeah. Yeah, it is. I mean, it’s – we could have probably strategized a little bit differently knowing that we were going to run a shortened race, but we figured we would have the opportunity to run a full-length race, so we were strategizing for that and it bit us.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
Did NASCAR make the right call ending the race?
“There’s more rain coming. We had a lot of day left and who knows what would have happened. We just passed halfway. It’s a shame we had to call it at this point.”

Do you think you could have driven up front to contend for the win?
“Not with the way my arris Camry is right now, but we had one more chance to make an adjustment and we could have had an opportunity to get up there to race for the lead. All of our Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas were fast, but the weather didn’t cooperate.”

JJ YELEY, No. 44 Zachry Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 13th

DAKODA ARMSTRONG, No. 28 Toyota Camry, JGL Racing
Finishing Position: 18th

JEFF GREEN, No. 14 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 34th

CARL LONG, No. 40 Toyota Camry, MBM Motorsports
Finishing Position: 38th

MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 40th