TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Pocono Raceway
Race 14 of 36 – 400 miles, 160 laps
Monday, June 6, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Pocono Raceway
1st, Kurt Busch
2nd, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3rd, Brad Keselowski
4th, Chase Elliott
5th, Joey Lugano
7th, MATT KENSETH
8th, CARL EDWARDS
14th, DENNY HAMLIN
19th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
23rd, DAVID RAGAN
31st, KYLE BUSCH
40th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Pocono Raceway**
1st, Kevin Harvick 490 points*
4th, CARL EDWARDS 437 points
5th, KYLE BUSCH 416 points
9th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 403 points
10th, MATT KENSETH 382 points
12th, DENNY HAMLIN 372 points
30th, DAVID RAGAN 189 points
34th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 151 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Matt Kenseth (seventh) was the top-finishing Toyota in Monday’s rain-postponed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway.
· Kenseth led the field twice for 31 laps (of 160) on the 2.5-mile track.
· Toyota driver Carl Edwards (eighth) also tallied a top-10 result in Pocono.
· Camry driver Kyle Busch (31st) led the field once for three circuits but finished back in the field after a mid-race accident sent the driver to the garage for repairs before returning to the track.
TOYOTA QUOTES
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How was your Camry in the race today?
“We had a great race car. Just had really, really poor restarts and if I did have a good restart, then there was like somebody getting checked up in front of me and I’d lose more spots. I just gave them all up on restarts. Honestly, I think we had a car that could challenge for the win. I just couldn’t figure out how to get to turn one.”
What was it like battling for the lead early in the race?
“They both (Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott) got by me on a restart and just trying to get back in front, so it was a frustrating day just because I couldn’t get in front of them. The restart zone in turn one – once I got to turn one and got rolling, I thought we were really competitive, but disappointing finish for how fast our car was for sure.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS SURFboard Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
How was today’s race?
“It was a long, tough day. We worked hard on the ARRIS SURFboard Camry. We had the fastest modems on the car, but not maybe the fastest car. It was a struggle. They guys worked hard, though. We did well on pit road. Every restart something would happen. I was just struggling with the restarts, but just tough day. That’s a tough race track right there. It’s really hard to get an advantage on someone.”
Why were the restarts so difficult?
“It was very easy to go from hero to zero to hero all the way back to zero. There was one time I thought, ‘Oh, this is a good one,’ and then I got down and it wouldn’t turn. I ran right into Kurt (Busch). It was like, ‘Man, what happened?’ It’s just you’ve got to be really good on those restarts.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 19th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s 75th Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 31st
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 EJ Wade Construction Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 40th
What caused your incident?
“We had a really rough start to the race in the first place. (Martin) Truex (Jr.) was pulling out of his pit stall and we were coming in and there was some sort of miscommunication there and I feel bad for him. We tore our car up there and tried to fix it – got it where it was drivable and going into one something broke or not sure what happened. It was probably something damage related and we went and killed the wall. It’s been a rough streak here, but we’re still appreciative of Toyota and EJ Wade Construction on the car here – newer sponsor. I hate that we can’t get any luck. Hopefully, we’ll get on track soon.”
