TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Daytona International Speedway
Race 17 of 36 – 400 miles, 160 laps
Saturday, July 2, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Daytona International Speedway
1st, Brad Keselowski
2nd, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, Trevor Bayne
4th, Joey Logano
5th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11th, COLE WHITT
16th, DAVID RAGAN
17th, DENNY HAMLIN
22nd, REED SORENSON
25th, CARL EDWARDS
28th, MATT KENSETH
29th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
33rd, MATT DiBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Daytona International Speedway**
1st, Kevin Harvick 565 points*
5th, CARL EDWARDS 527 points
6th, KYLE BUSCH 492 points
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 482 points
10th, DENNY HAMLIN 446 points
11th, MATT KENSETH 443 points
29th, DAVID RAGAN 243 points
35th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 176 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Kyle Busch (second) was the top-finishing Toyota in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Daytona International Speedway.
· Busch led four times for 16 laps (of 161) in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Camry to earn his 10th top-five finish of the season.
· Camry drivers Carl Edwards (eight laps), Denny Hamlin (seven laps), Martin Truex Jr. (one lap) and David Ragan (one lap) also led laps Saturday night at the Florida superspeedway.
· Ragan earned a season-best 16th-place finish Saturday night at Daytona.
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Can you describe what the racing was like on the final laps?
“It was really close to Talladega. We finished second at Talladega. Just there at the end of the race the 2 (Brad Keselowski) car was really, really fast. Really, really strong. It’s really hard to get by him. I tried just about everything. The only thing I didn’t quite have was a big enough push one time to just try to make a move. He was really good at making that thing pretty wide. I can’t say enough about our Interstate Batteries team for all of the work and effort that they put in to bring us back from where we were a couple days ago and being able to get us this really good race car tonight. Our Toyota Camry was fast thanks to TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and their horsepower and everybody – NOS Energy drink, M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, everybody. I just wish that we had a little bit more in order to try and get the victory there. I had a big run from the 6. Trevor Bayne really helped us out there at the end in getting us a really good shot down the backstretch, but man I just didn’t have enough. I just couldn’t get to the outside.”
How tough was it to figure out where you needed to be on the final laps?
“It was a tough night but, man, you had to have a whole lot of help to get by that 2 (Brad Keselowski) car. He was just so strong today. Strong at Talladega too, we finished second to him there. There was just so much going on and there wasn’t enough of a run that I could get in order to get enough alongside of him or pin him down or pin him up – whichever way it might have been. He could make his car really, really wide and hold us off. I can’t say enough about this Interstate Batteries team from where we came from a couple days ago and where we’re at and finishing second. It feels good to get that finish like that. Thanks to TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and their horsepower for keeping us upfront as good as we were. To race a backup car and finish second there is a true testament to this team and Joe Gibbs Racing and everyone back at the shop. Thanks to M&M’s, Skittles and NOS Energy Drink and I look forward to next week.”
COLE WHITT, No. 98 RTIC Coolers Toyota Camry, Premium Motorsports
Finishing Position: 11th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Shriners Hospital Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 16th
How was your race tonight?
“We really had a car that drove well. I think that we needed a little bit more speed to contend for the win but our car drove nice and on the long runs we were really good. We just needed to restart on the outside lane those last two restarts — starting fifth and seventh we were just kind of a sitting duck on the bottom. Those guys in the second lane can get really good runs and then they can move to the third and on the bottom you’re just stuck. You don’t have anywhere to go. Unless you restart on the front row the bottom is not that good of a choice. Great day for our Shriners Hospital Toyota. It was a fun race and I’m glad to be in one piece.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
REED SORENSON, No. 55 RoyalTeakCollection.com Toyota Camry, Premium Motorsports
Finishing Position: 22nd
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Subway Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 25th
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 28th
What did you see that triggered the accident?
“Just a bunch of cars crashing – pretty much that was it. I was just trying to make my way back toward the front a little bit there. We had a bad pit stop exchange and came out way, way behind everybody. Carl (Edwards) was up towards the front and we were running with him before the pit stop. I probably should have just hung in the back, hindsight, but who knows when they’re going to wreck, you never know if they’re going to wreck. Just trying to get back towards the front and there was a wreck somewhere a few rows up in front of me and just nowhere really to go.”
Was the racing getting aggressive prior to the accident?
“I don’t know, I couldn’t really see up there to see what happened. The cars were a little bit unstable tonight, which typically makes for a little bit better plate racing. There were times when it looked like it was getting pretty hairy up there and we would back up a little bit, but it was actually starting to look like it was going to stable out. It was mainly two-wide and some three-wide, but you can’t predict when they’re going to happen.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 33rd
