TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
August 15 – 21, 2016
TOYOTA TIDBITS
BRISTOL SUCCESS: Toyota has amassed 24 victories at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway across NASCAR’s three national series – and 15 of those wins have come at the hands of Kyle Busch. In total, Toyota has eight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) victories at the 0.533-mile short track, nine wins in the XFINITY Series (NXS) and seven triumphs in the Camping World Truck Series. Camry driver Carl Edwards most recently won the NSCS race at Bristol in April and Erik Jones was victorious in the NXS event at ‘The World’s Fastest Half-Mile’. Busch has 17-career wins at the track, including a Cup victory and XFINITY win before he began piloting a Toyota. The reigning NSCS champion also won all three NASCAR series at Bristol in August 2010, becoming the first driver to sweep all three national series races in a weekend.
ROOKIE READY: Tundra driver William Byron heads into Wednesday’s NCWTS race at Bristol with a rookie record five wins, six top-five finishes and seven top-10 results in 12 races this season. Byron, who broke the record for most wins by a NCWTS when he won at Pocono in July, currently leads the point standings by 25 points over fellow Tundra driver Matt Crafton midway through the season. The 18-year-old will return to Bristol after finishing second in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race there last year.
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry drivers Kyle Busch (fourth), Carl Edwards (fifth), Denny Hamlin (seventh), Martin Truex Jr. (eighth) and Matt Kenseth (ninth) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) point standings … Toyota currently leads the NSCS manufacturer point standings by 35 marks over Chevrolet with 910 points … Camry drivers have won 11 of 22 NSCS races this year … TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) president David Wilson is a graduate Virginia Tech, and the school’s football team is scheduled to compete in a game against the University of Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 10.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s 75th Anniversary Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What is the most challenging aspect of Bristol Motor Speedway?
“I think the most challenging aspect of Bristol is just how difficult it is to transition through from the straightaways to the corners, back to the straightaways and have your car setup in order to do all that. Sometimes you can be really loose getting in or you can be really tight in the middle – you just seem to never be able to get a good-flowing car that works well there. Drivers have to do a lot of manipulation on the race track with their car in order to try to make the best of it.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How important was the off-weekend in preparation for Bristol and the upcoming Chase?
“The team [had] a week off and there’s no better place to come back to than Bristol to get back in the swing of racing. We’ve had a number of wins there. Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and I and our team’s first win of the season was there. We’re going back with what we think is a better plan, a better car and hopefully we can go qualify well again and put the Stanley Toyota in victory lane. Bristol is 500 laps of insanity with the groove being up by the fence. You’ve really got to plan your passes. You’ve got to work traffic. Hopefully we can start up front, stay up front and play the game the right way. We’ve been having a lot of fun. This race is one of the ones we look forward to as an opportunity to have a good time and win another trophy before the Chase starts.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Does the Watkins Glen International win give you confidence heading into the final races of the regular season?
“Obviously any time you can win it’s a boost for the entire team. I think after Sonoma, we wanted to win on a road course really bad. We were able to get that done at Watkins Glen and now we have turned our focus to the rest of the regular season, trying to build momentum for the Chase. We have some really good tracks coming up for our FedEx team and the goal is to get another win to help our seeding in the Chase.”
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS): Camry drivers Daniel Suarez (second) and Erik Jones (fourth) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) point standings … Suarez is 25 points behind points leader Elliott Sadler after 21 races … Toyota currently leads the NXS manufacturer point standings by 29 marks over Chevrolet with 875 points.
ERIK JONES, No. 20 Reser’s Main St. Bistro Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Are you looking forward to returning to Bristol Motor Speedway after your win there in the spring?
“After two road courses, I’m really excited to get back to Bristol this weekend. I love the short track races and night races always seem to work out better for me. Having won the race early this year at Bristol, I know we’ll have a fast Camry and know what we need to do to get around the track and be in contention for the win. Bristol is a track that was definitely high on the list of tracks where I wanted to get a win and to have gotten that win so earlier in my career is pretty cool. I’m ready to get to Bristol and get us another win with the Reser’s team.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Do you enjoy racing at Bristol Motor Speedway?
“I can’t wait to get to Bristol and back in my ARRIS Camry on Friday night. Racing under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway is truly spectacular and something every fan should witness. I really love the track and all the action it provides for us racers as well as the fans. We had such a strong Joe Gibbs Racing Camry in the spring. Unfortunately we got shuffled outside the top five on the last restart and didn’t get the finish we deserved. We are running double duty this week, so hopefully I can learn something during Wednesday night’s truck race that I can carry over to Friday’s race.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra drivers William Byron (first), Matt Crafton (second), Timothy Peters (fourth), Christopher Bell (sixth) and Cameron Hayley (eighth) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) point standings … Toyota currently leads the NCWTS manufacturer point standings by 45 marks over Chevrolet with 424 points.
WILLIAM BYRON, No. 9 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
What is your level of familiarity with Bristol Motor Speedway?
“The late model race I ran at Anderson (Indiana) Speedway last month was probably as close as I’ve come to a track like Bristol. Bristol is a totally different animal and it is kind of like a roller coaster with the high banking and how small it is. It’s totally different than anything I’ve been to, but I learned a lot in the K&N race last year so that was a good experience.”
What does it mean to you to break the record for most wins by a rookie in the NCWTS?
“It means a lot to me and our team to achieve that goal. Getting that checked off the list and not having to stress about whether we were going to get another win really helps the determination of the team. Every week I go to the track worried about if we are going to get another win this year. I told myself after Pocono we could go to the track every weekend and win, but Bristol is like no other, so we’re going to prepare as best we can to keep that streak going.”
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Is the top groove still the fastest way around Bristol?
“I think that’s about the only lane. I mean it’s such a huge momentum race track and it’s very interesting because during practice we’ll run the middle and then we’ll slowly migrate up there and try to get some rubber on it. Then we’ll start looking for that ground – basically right where that concrete has been ground right up top, about three feet from the fence – and you just run around there. That’s where the most grip is and that’s where you make all your time. That’s the place to be – it’s kind of like Martinsville, but just the opposite. Either be on the bottom or be on the top.”
TOYOTA 2016 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series
Races
Starts (Drivers)
Wins
Top-5s
Top-10s
Poles
Times Led
Laps Led
NSCS
22
165 (13)
11
32
60
9
167
3,368
NXS
21
175 (29)
13
34
46
16
86
2,115
NCWTS
12
139 (25)
9
32
61
3
72
1,230
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Bristol Motor Speedway (NSCS, NXS & NCWTS)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Carl Edwards, No. 19 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
David Ragan, No. 23 Camry
Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Camry
Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Camry
Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Camry
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Matt DiBenedetto, No. 10 Camry
Hermie Sadler III, No. 14 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Daniel Suarez, No. 19 Camry
Erik Jones, No. 20 Camry
Corey LaJoie, No. 24 Camry
Dakoda Armstrong, No. 28 Camry
Timmy Hill, No. 40 Camry
David Starr, No. 44 Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Christopher Bell, No. 4 Tundra
William Byron, No. 9 Tundra
Brett Moffitt, No. 11 Tundra
Cameron Hayley, No. 13 Tundra
Timothy Peters, No. 17 Tundra
Austin Self, No. 22 Tundra
Ben Rhodes, No. 41 Tundra
Daniel Suarez, No. 51 Tundra
Caleb Holman, No. 75 Tundra
Jesse Little, No. 81 Tundra
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Tundra
Rico Abreu, No. 98 Tundra
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