TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Bristol Motor Speedway
266.5 miles, 500 laps
August 19, 2016
TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
1st, CARL EDWARDS
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
3rd, KYLE BUSCH
5th, MATT KENSETH
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
18th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
37th, DAVID RAGAN
TOYOTA QUOTES
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 1st
Are you surprised you won the pole?
“A little bit surprising – we didn’t make a mock run. That tells you how great of teammates I have. They’re so fast and they helped us a lot, so we’ll start where we started earlier this year. Hopefully we can put STANLEY in victory lane, but this is going to be a heck of a race. Those are fast laps. That’s a lot of fun. Just proud of my guys – they worked really hard. We rolled the dice and it was fast.”
Do you think the top will come into play during the race?
“Yes? Who knows? Stay tuned – it’s going to be crazy. I think it – we’ll see what happens tonight with the XFINITY cars and then we’ll just respond, you know? We’ll just do whatever we have to do. This team is amazing. I really – this is all about my teammates. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have been able to come up with that setup and run that lap, so we’re just going to have some fun tomorrow night and hopefully get another victory.”
Did you think Denny Hamlin would win the pole?
“Yeah, he (Denny Hamlin) seems slightly fast today, so I was quite nervous, but pretty cool – all these JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) Toyotas are great. TRD (Toyota Racing Development), everybody’s been working hard. We’ve been working well together, pushing each other and, like I said, I owe it to my teammates. This is – with no qualifying runs in practice, this is pretty cool.”
How has the Joe Gibbs Racing momentum been built?
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and I’ve learned that – it’s very interesting to see it from the inside – there is not one – it’s not like we’re spending more money than anyone else or we have some trick or something like that. It is truly a team starting with TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and the engines – their involvement and their dedication is huge – and then you move into the guys that are building the chassis, the aero department, all of the engineers and the way they work together, the meetings that we have between the drivers and the crew chiefs. I mean, today is a good example – having this pole position was really just based on looking at our teammates’ notes and the way that we interact with those guys, how open everyone is and so really I guess what I’m saying is, yeah, we’re running really well, but it’s not one thing. It’s a very good foundation of teamwork and it all starts with Coach (Joe) Gibbs (team owner). It’s cool to be a part of it.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 2nd
How close were you to winning the pole?
“We lost the balance the lost couple rounds for sure, but overall still pretty happy with our FedEx Express Camry. Through the weekend, we’ve had really good speed, so pretty optimistic about that. I can’t believe we’ve qualified as good as we have this year and to not have gotten a pole has been unbelievable, but still a great effort by our whole team and hopefully we have a good race up here tomorrow night and we get in victory lane.”
Which lane do you think will be the fastest on Saturday?
“Yeah, I think it’s going to be a mix. I think the top will definitely come in. It’s just a matter of whether it’s going to be quicker than the bottom. I think the bottom wears out tires and so you’ve got to be aware of that, so it’s going to be a fun race. I think it will at least add something we haven’t seen here in a while.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s 75th Anniversary Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 3rd
How was your qualifying effort?
“Third is a pretty solid place to start. The M&M’S Camry handled well today. Of course the pole position would’ve been awesome, but we’ll take third and give it our best shot tomorrow night.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 5th
What does qualifying fifth say about your team?
“It says three of my teammates beat me. Yeah, you know our Dollar General Camry hasn’t been driving real good today and really we haven’t had great speed, but we went to qualifying trim in practice, ended up fifth here today and had it driving a little bit better, so happy to be up towards the front. Congratulations to Carl (Edwards). They’ve been able to get a few poles this year, so hopefully we can keep it up front tomorrow night.”
Can you win from your starting position?
“Yeah, you know everybody that’s not on the pole always says it’s just a starting position, so I’m going to say it’s just a starting position – it’s just a starting position, so I hope so. Today was really a struggle, but Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and this whole group is really good at kind of figuring out what I need for the race and they’re real good about making their adjustments here and keeping up with the track and having it where it needs to be at the end of the race. I think we’re coming off two DNFs here in a row, but we’ve ran really well, so hopefully we can be up front and be there at the end tomorrow and be in the mix.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Hall of Fame Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Starting Position: 7th
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Cosmo Motors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 18th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 37th
