TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Michigan International Speedway
200 miles, 400 laps
August 26, 2016
TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
9th, CARL EDWARDS
13th, MATT KENSETH
14th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
16th, KYLE BUSCH
32nd, DAVID RAGAN
34th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 3rd
How were your qualifying runs?
“It was good and my runs were good – all of them were good. Just really, just a little off obviously. That was the closest we were to the fastest speed. We were one of the top cars in every session and can’t really complain, no real balance complaints, just a little off on speed really.”
How does the new downforce package feel so far this weekend?
“It was good, I think everyone is running a little faster – about a half a second faster than what they did with this package last time which tells me teams are getting smarter. It doesn’t take long once you take downforce away, these teams start to adjust, get their balance better and you see faster speeds. These are pretty quick speeds for this spoiler that’s on it. I think we’ll see how it all pans out in the race – I know it was tough to really pass in the race, hopefully that’s a little better this time as well.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 9th
What happened with the 48 during the second round of qualifying?
“Everybody is trying to get out there and get clean track and I think Earl (48 spotter) and Jimmie (Johnson) are both great competitors, they didn’t mean to pull out in front of us. In the end it just slowed us down enough that we wanted to run a second run and that got us a little behind, but it’s no big deal. It’s a 400 mile race so if we can’t make up a couple spots then we don’t deserve it.”
What have you learned with this downforce package now the second time here at Michigan?
“At this track, the package is not a huge departure from what we normally run because the speeds are so high. If anything, it will just be better and everything will be closer because you’re not relying on downforce as much. I applaud NASCAR and hopefully we can keep our ARRIS Toyota up front. This is a great place to win a race, so much on the line here with the domestic manufacturers being right here. I know everybody brings their best stuff here and we’d love to have a Toyota in victory lane.”
What were you thinking when you saw Jimmie Johnson pull out in front of you on your qualifying lap?
“I thought ‘No, No!’ I’m sure they thought our lap was done. Jimmie (Johnson) is a great competitor and they didn’t do it on purpose. Those guys want to compete straight up, that’s the way it goes – it was a mistake. At the end of the day it didn’t cost us making it to the next round, but we had to make another run and that might have cost us, but hey, that’s racing. We have 400 miles and we have a fast ARRIS Toyota, so hopefully we can get to victory lane.”
How important is a good starting position at Michigan?
“With this package, you’re theoretically able to race a little closer, so hopefully that won’t be as crucial. We went back and looked at the restarts last time and they are tough – it’s going to be tough. We have to do some things there. I feel like we learned some things last time and we’ll go out and have a good time. This is the site of my first race that Jack (Roush) put me in a Cup car. Hopefully it will be slick and we can slide around and we’ll have a good time.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 13th
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Starting Position: 14th
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 16th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 32nd
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Vector Security Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 34th
