Toyota NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race 17 of 33 – 200 laps, 211.6 miles
Friday, July 16, 2016
TOYOTA NXS DRIVER FINISHING POSITIONS at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, ERIK JONES
4th, DANIEL SUAREZ
16th, JJ YELEY
17th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG
34th, JEFF GREEN
37th, COREY LAJOIE
38th, CARL LONG
40th, MATT DIBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA NXS DRIVER POINT STANDINGS following New Hampshire Motor Speedway (race 17 of 33)*
1st, DANIEL SUAREZ 574 points
4th, ERIK JONES 520 points
15th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG 348 points
16th, JJ YELEY 323 points
*unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Kyle Busch won his sixth NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race of the season on Saturday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after starting from the pole.
· Busch led a race-high 190 laps (of 200) en route to his 82nd career NXS victory and 71st in a Camry. With his laps led today, Busch has now set the record for most laps led in NXS with a total of 17,064 laps in his career.
· This is Toyota’s 11th NXS win of 2016 and 120th since entering the series in 2007.
· Camry driver Erik Jones (second) grabbed his 10th top-five result of the year and secured his place in this year’s inaugural NXS Chase.
· Daniel Suarez (fourth) earned his eighth top-five finish of the season and continues to lead the series point standings.
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Were you worried about Erik Jones on the final restart?
“A little bit I was. He (Erik Jones) got a good restart, got to my inside and stayed there a little bit and then the next one he kind of stayed alongside me a little bit too. He raced me clean and gave me room and didn’t door slam me or anything to try to get the win. Our cars were pretty equal I felt like and it was just a matter of track position. I thought four tires would pay off for him, but it didn’t. That’s just Loudon, that’s just what this place is. Can’t say enough about Chris Gayle (crew chief) and everyone on this NOS Energy Drink Camry and they did a great job for me. Chris made some great calls today and some really good calls – we had a stout car and we had a stout engine – JGR Engines and Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) – appreciate their support of course and XFINITY Series, this is fun to come out here and run here, race here, win here. Of course the fans as well too, we appreciate those here and those on TV. I missed my DVX folks last time so I appreciate this being a day race so I can have them on. It’s fun to get out here, get some experience, learn some things and hopefully I can take that into tomorrow.”
What does it mean to break the record of laps led in NXS, now surpassing 17,000?
“I guess they’re big numbers. I really don’t know what big numbers are and records are made to be broken. There may be somebody like me that comes along down the road that does the same thing that I’ve been fortunate enough to do – I’m with a good team here at Joe Gibbs Racing and I’ve got great partners with NOS Energy Drink and the people that have been behind me all these years. Running in this series is something fun for me to do, cool for me to do and it also helps me out and gets me a little more experience.”
Did you know that two tires would hold off the four tires that Erik Jones took on the last pit stop?
“I wasn’t sure, certainly with the calls that Chris Gayle (crew chief) made, he had confidence in those calls, which I’m proud of and we were able to do the best with what we had there. Obviously being able to come out here and win, this NOS Energy Drink Camry was awesome. The guys gave me a great piece. We ran up front and ran with our teammate there. We were so equal that it was hard to tell who had the better car. I don’t think that either of us had the better car, but we had a really good opportunity to have track position over them. I thought the four tires would pay off, but I think I got through lapped traffic just a little bit better than he did and he (Erik Jones) lost ground and it was pretty much our game from there.”
How were you able to hold off Erik on the last restart?
“I think just having the outside lane. Erik (Jones) could have bonsaied in there and body-slammed me and moved me out of the way and taken the win, but he ran me clean like a great teammate and those favors will be returned down the road I’m sure. We had a great race with each other and he passed me early on in the race for the lead. I got mixed up getting into the corner behind a couple guys and some traffic and he got by me. All good for today for JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing).”
Is the win even more special considering you weren’t scheduled to run this race?
“Certainly it is unexpected and we feel for Matt Tifft and those guys, especially with his illness and the things that he’s going through, he’s going through some rehab right now so can’t wait to see him come back.”
Will Matt Tifft take a race that you were scheduled for later this season when he is able to return?
“I don’t know, obviously it’s a disappointing situation for (Matt) Tifft to know that he’s got really good equipment sitting here waiting for him to get back in the car and he wasn’t able to race this weekend. Of course, texting back and forth with him a little bit making sure that he’s doing well and making sure that rehab is going well. It seems like things are if not on pace then maybe a little bit ahead of pace for him to get back in a race car so looking forward to that. What happens with races that I’m running or he was hoping to run or if somebody else might run, I’m not sure – that’s a management question.”
How are the Toyotas able to be so dominant this season?
“I’m just glad I’m in a Toyota. We do have really good cars and I feel like there’s been a lot of hard work done at the shop and that’s the reason why we’re all so fast, but it’s through the great help of TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and everybody in Costa Mesa as well as Salisbury that help us out in making our chassis and cars better. It’s just how do I go out there and beat my teammates? You just try your best and do what you can and hopefully communication and getting your car setup correctly for the race is what’s best for you. There may be some things that Denny Hamlin focuses on in practice that help him on the short run or things that I might focus on to help me on the long run. It’s just a matter of being able to go out there and race and that’s why we race those races to see who is the best after the course of all those different variables.”
How much of a mentor role do you take with the young teammates at JGR?
“Anytime they every want to call me and talk to me, I’m always open and willing to talk to them. Last night Erik Jones texted me a little bit about trying to help him out for today and asking me some questions that I was able to help him out with I feel like anyways and he was right there with me all day. He was on my bumper learning hopefully and taking all that in and seeing what he could do to better himself for this track and getting himself ready for next year. The XFINITY cars don’t come back here the second time around, but having the experience that he had today I feel like was a big learning experience for him and again, I try to help all those guys as much as I can and as much as they want the help. Hopefully, obviously I feel like it’s going well and they’re able to be successful.”
CHRIS GAYLE, Crew Chief, No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Were you ever nervous about the restarts and the call for two tires?
“A little bit, when we took two tires the first time, obviously everyone else was going to take four and we were going to be the only ones sitting on two. When you’re the leader, you’re kind of a sitting duck – you have the call your strategy and they base it off of you. I wish I had almost changed that call last minute and took four, but once I saw that we were able to hold them off on two I was like, ‘This is pretty simple, track position is probably going to matter.’ I was a little nervous and I think Kyle (Busch) was, he may not say it, but on that last restart he went into one and two and it didn’t quite turn well enough for him. I knew we were on two and the 20 (Erik Jones) was right behind us on four. I was nervous for a couple corners, but once I knew he would get through two or three corners and the pressures would get up and we would start inching away from the 20 then we would be fine.”
ERIK JONES, No. 20 GameStop/NASCAR Heat Evolution Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What did you have for Kyle Busch in the closing laps and how was the race car?
“We had a good sequence there, but there’s not much that I could have really done. I had the opportunity to run him (Kyle Busch) up the hill on that last restart, but he races me clean all the time and there’s no reason for me to get into him. It’s unfortunate, we wanted to win pretty bad, but I think we had the car to do it, things just didn’t pan out our way and being in clean air definitely helped out. This GameStop Camry was good and a long way from yesterday. Thanks to everybody who helped out on that, we did a lot of work on it. We’re almost there, just need a little bit more.”
How does it feel to be locked into the NXS Chase?
“It feels good to be locked in, but just had a decent run today. We were fast all day and a little bit better at some points there in the middle part of the race, but overall I think we just weren’t good enough. Thought maybe we would have had something for them there at the end with four tires, but it took probably 20 or 25 laps to really get burnt in and four tires to really come into play. Unfortunately we didn’t have that long of run and then we got caught up behind that lapped car and I just wasn’t able to keep pressure on him. It’s unfortunate, but a good day overall for the GameStop Camry, learned a lot and we came a long ways from yesterday to get ourselves a solid run today.”
How difficult is it to figure out this race track when you only race here once a year in the NXS?
“It’s tough, you think about this track is super unique, I don’t think there’s another one on the schedule like it – a mile flat track like this so it’s tough for us to get our stuff good. And it’s tough for me as a driver to come here and race these guys that have been here like Kyle (Busch) and Brad (Keselowski), they’ve been here 15 or 20 times and have just so much more experience that I felt like I was playing catch-up all weekend plus yesterday trying to get caught up to where those guys are on this track. So many little things here that make speed that you have to figure out quick. Felt like we did a good job of that. I didn’t really know what I needed out of my car yesterday, but we did a good job of managing and doing the best we could to get where we needed to be and felt like we did a good job of that.”
Did you figure out how to spend your Dash4Cash bonus yet?
“I found out how to spend it, I bought a car, but I can’t talk about it. I’m looking forward to Indy for sure. We’re going for the bonus over there trying for another one, but Indy is such a cool place for us and Indy is such a unique track to begin with, but the Dash4Cash is an added bonus for sure. Looking forward to getting back to the heat race format and we’ve had a lot of success in that format so we can hopefully go and get a win there next weekend would be pretty special.”
How will the 15 lap heat race impact the Indianapolis race?
“Indy is definitely unique compared to the other ones – we had 50 laps at Bristol and we had 50 laps at Dover as well. 15 laps at Indy is a long time still, longer than you think, but it’s still a short heat race, but we’ll be able to learn something for sure. That’s a long enough run at Indy to really feel out your car some and make some adjustments. We’ll go into it with the same mentality that we did the last three and work on our stuff and get it better and get it the best we can. I think every one of the Dash4Cash races we’ve learned quite a bit about our car in the heat race and we’ve been able to make a fair amount of adjustments before the main to get it where it needs to be.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 19 Juniper Networks Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How difficult is it to beat your Joe Gibbs Racing teammates?
“Yeah they are, very proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. They did a good job. We had a top-five car, a very fast car all weekend long. I just think that we came up a little short. We had a fast car, but sometimes a little too tight, a little too loose, we lost some track position with four tires. It was hard to come back, but another solid top-five.”
Did you learn a lot in today’s race?
“I don’t know, maybe Monday I will learn something in the competition meeting. This is a tough place. I feel like we did a good job, but there is some room for improvements.”
JJ YELEY, No. 44 Zachry Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 16th
DAKODA ARMSTRONG, No. 28 WinField Toyota Camry, JGL Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
JEFF GREEN, No. 14 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 34th
COREY LAJOIE, No. 24 Youtheory Toyota Camry
Finishing Position: 37th
CARL LONG, No. 40 OCR Gaz Bar/CrashClaimsRUs Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 38th
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 40th
