TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race 20 of 36 – 400 miles, 160 laps (race ran 170 in overtime)
Sunday, July 24, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, MATT KENSETH
3nd, Jimmie Johnson
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, Kyle Larson
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
32nd, RYAN ELLIS
35th, CARL EDWARDS
37th, DAVID RAGAN
40th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Indianapolis Motor Speedway**
1st, Kevin Harvick 671 points*
5th, KYLE BUSCH 601 points
6th, CARL EDWARDS 593 points
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 573 points
9th, MATT KENSETH 545 points
10th, DENNY HAMLIN 542 points
30th, DAVID RAGAN 278 points
36th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 190 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Kyle Busch earned his fourth win of the 2016 season in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
· He started in the pole position and led a race-high 149 laps (of 170) – the most laps led in race history.
· Busch becomes the first driver in NASCAR history to sweep both the NSCS and NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) pole and race wins in the same weekend.
· This was the 10th NSCS victory of the season for Toyota and 89th since entering the series in 2007.
· Camry driver Matt Kenseth (second) and Denny Hamlin (fourth) also earned top-five finishes. Martin Truex Jr. (eighth) also earned a top-10 result at the 2.5 mile historic race track.
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Did you expect to be as dominant in the race as you were?
“No, I guess I didn’t. I hoped it would be like that and be that good. This Skittles Camry was awesome, I can’t thank everyone from Skittles enough and everyone from M&M’s and their 75th anniversary year this season with us. Of course Interstate Batteries. This Toyota was awesome today, it was just so fast and able to get out front and stay out front. Not even some of my teammates could challenge. This was hooked up and on rails. I can’t say enough about Sprint and everything they’ve done for our sport. Of course the fans – thank everyone for being here and everyone watching on TV – you guys are awesome. We appreciate all of our partners at Joe Gibbs Racing. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and these guys are a phenomenal group and I’m proud to be with them. It’s fun to come out here and have such a dominant piece at Indy. They don’t come along often so I was just hoping I didn’t screw it up.”
What type of message does this performance send to the competition as you approach the Chase later this year?
“Joe Gibbs Racing, for sure – I wouldn’t say the 18 – I think any of us have a shot to win on any given week. Carl (Edwards) was really strong today and Matt (Kenseth) was strong today, Martin Truex showed his strength today as well. Denny (Hamlin) was there as well. We all have a great communication and comradery and are able to work together well and that’s what makes this team so strong. The guys at the shop have been doing a great job and TRD – the guys at Costa Mesa – they’ve done a phenomenal job with these motors. It’s pretty cool to come out here and have another Brickyard 400 victory – two in a row and to celebrate with all this team and of course a beautiful family, too.”
Did you think you could set a new NASCAR record by sweeping the poles and race wins in the same weekend?
“It’s so cool because it hasn’t been done before. I’ve tried and been successful at being able to do a lot of things that others haven’t been able to do before. I guess I give myself more chances than others because I run more of those races. It helps you and when it helps you win on Sunday, that’s what makes everything so worthwhile on those Saturday races. I can’t say enough about everyone on that NOS Energy Drink Camry – the guys on Saturday do a good job too helping prepare me and being able to do this stuff on Sunday.”
How does it feel to be the second person to win back-to-back Brickyard 400 races?
“It means a lot. I just knew that we’d have a shot coming to Indy since these guys do such a great job. Adam (Stevens, crew chief) sets up an awesome race car. The thing was awesome to drive. It was on rails. This Skittles Camry was phenomenal. I can’t thank everyone from Toyota enough. To collect four wins so far so far this year, that just means we’re hungry for more.”
What went through your mind with all the restarts at the end of the race?
“Every caution that came out it was like, ‘Ahh, again always.’ You always seem to get them. We had such a really good car and I didn’t want to see any yellows. I figured our strength was our long run speed, but we also had short run speed too and could get out on the field there the first couple of laps. It was a great day for us. This was really fun. All those restarts just made it more challenging and we rose to the occasion and we were able to win this thing.”
JOE GIBBS, Owner, No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Were you nervous at the end of the race watching Kyle Busch try to win at Indy again?
“I’m still nervous. I felt with all the restarts we had, it was going to be on us because some of those guys had four tires. Kyle (Busch) did a great job. I’m happy for Skittles, Mars – everybody back there at Mars – we just want to thank you so much. This is just a great deal for us.”
How impressed were you that Kyle Busch was able to dominate and outlast the competition for the win?
“I think for everybody out there, it was hard on them. I think these guys are already in good condition to drive these cars like this. You have to admire them. This whole field. We appreciate being here with all the fans at Indy – we love coming to Indy. The Lord has blessed us with a great day.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Did you have anything for your teammate Kyle Busch at the end of the race?
“It didn’t seem like it. We never got in front of him all day and the clean air is always really big here. It was a great day for our Dollar General Camry. We did not have a good Friday, did not have a good Saturday and pretty respectable Sunday, so I have to thank all my teammates for helping us out. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) made some great changes. We were pretty competitive all day, just never got quite to the lead to see what we had.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How was your race?
“It was great, our FedEx Camry was great it got through traffic well as you saw going back to 20th with that penalty and driving to the front. Proud of the effort by our whole FedEx Camry team. It’s disappointing to just get a top-five. We had aspirations to come here and win. Like I said, you have to be perfect in every part of the race team, especially on race day to win these races, especially track position races and we just had one big mistake on pit road and we at least came back and got a top-five.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
RYAN ELLIS, No. 93 ScienceLogic Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 32nd
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
What happened on the restart to take you out of the race?
“It felt like I just got tight down there. I had a little trouble there on the starts and I got down there, we were fighting really hard for the bottom and it felt like I got tight with whoever was on the outside of me. If indeed that is what happened, I apologize, that’s pretty frustrating. I don’t know if he came down or if I came up. It felt like I got in there and just scrubbed that right front. Hopefully a Toyota wins. I hate it for Stanley, Joe Gibbs Racing and everybody that was caught up in that wreck. It’s frustrating.”
How challenging was racing on the outside line?
“I was having a lot of trouble on the outside. I thought when I got down there it would stick because it was on the bottom, but I think it’s something with the way we had everything going. Plus, I tried to cool the tires a little bit and maybe could have cleaned them a little better. Sorry for everybody that got tied up in it. That’s tough.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Brandeis Machinery Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
What caused your incident?
“We just blew a left rear tire and slapped the wall. We were okay. We never just could get the track position. I felt like we had a top-25 car. We raced there in the mid-to-high 20s and just without a lot of cautions – a lot of opportunities to work on our race car – we were just kind of stuck. It’s really hard to pass here and felt like our Brandeis Toyota was okay. We could race around some decent cars, but just never could have the track position to really see what we could do. We gambled early and did a wave around and I think that paid off for us and we had good tire wear all day long – must have just run over something. Ran over something and cut a tire on the front straightaway. Tried to get it slowed down and just couldn’t slow it down quick enough.”
What was the heat like today?
“It was hot. It’s always hot in Indy, so we prepare for it and we wouldn’t know any different, so it was about normal.”
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 ScienceLogic Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 40th
