TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race 30 of 36 – 501 miles, 334 laps
Sunday, October 9, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Charlotte Motor Speedway
1st, Jimmie Johnson*
2nd, MATT KENSETH
3rd, Kasey Kahne*
4th, Ryan Newman*
5th, Kyle Larson*
6th, KYLE BUSCH
12th, CARL EDWARDS
13th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
23rd, DAVID RAGAN
25th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
30th, DENNY HAMLIN
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Charlotte Motor Speedway*
2nd, MATT KENSETH 3,040 points#
3rd, KYLE BUSCH 3,036 points#
6th, CARL EDWARDS 3,029 points#
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 3,028 points#
8th, DENNY HAMLIN 3,012 points#
31st, DAVID RAGAN 398 points
35th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 316 points
#competing in the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship
*unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Matt Kenseth (second) was the top-finishing Toyota driver in Sunday’s rain-postponed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
· Kenseth led the field once for five laps (of 334) in the fourth race of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
· Camry driver Kyle Busch (sixth) led the field for one lap en route to a top-10 result, while his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (30th) led twice for 52 circuits before his engine expired.
· In addition to the finishes by Camry Chase contenders Kenseth, Busch and Hamlin, their fellow Toyota title contenders Carl Edwards (12th) and Martin Truex Jr. (13th) tallied top-15 results on the 1.5-mile track.
TOYOTA QUOTES
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Was today a good race for you?
“Yeah, it was a great second. I think this is one of the toughest tracks there is on the circuit to pass at. It was better during the day than it is at night and that’s a good thing, because we had to go to the back twice, so we were able to make up some ground and finish okay.”
How do you feel after the first race of the ‘Round of 12’?
“I honestly don’t really know where anybody else finished except for the 48 (Jimmie Johnson), so we ran second and it was a good run for us. We had a pretty good three or four weeks, so hopefully we’ll just keep that up.”
What does it say about your team to be able to fight back for second?
“They did a great job. Honestly, last two years in a row pretty much Charlotte has kind of taken us out of the Chase – mostly my doing, different things happening the last couple years here – so had a lot of problems last year, this year we had a lot of problems again, but we were able to kind of rebound from them and just kind of take our time. We knew it was a long day and they had good pit stops, good strategy and got us back where we needed to be there at the end.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries/ABC Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Are you surprised by the number of incidents today?
“Anything can happen – that’s why you’ve got to run these races, so am I surprised? A little bit. Am I shocked? No. We’ve just got to keep doing what we know how to do and luckily we had the opportunities to be able to battle back and work ourselves back in the position to where we can have a good strong finish.”
Do you feel fortunate you caught the tire going down?
“Yeah, no doubt. There early on we had a tire come apart and that just kind of ruined our day. Right from there, it just seemed like we were playing catch up and thought we were going to have a good opportunity to have a good finish and then we had the 3 (Austin Dillon) spin his tires and clog up the inside lane and just chaos started and I did the best I could to try to avoid it and I didn’t want to check up too bad and slow down too much and get run over, but I ran over the guy in front of me, so I hate it that we ruined Chase’s (Elliott) day like that, but, man, things happen quick like that on restarts too, so I wish it – we had a little bit better breaks, but we certainly didn’t have a whole lot go wrong like some of them other guys.”
Do you feel more comfortable knowing other Chase contenders had issues and you have a points cushion?
“Yeah, but that margin can go away in a hurry. We can have a flat tire next week and not catch it and put ourselves in the wall and not be able to come back out, so there’s definitely things that we’re fortunate of right now. We’ve just got to keep playing the game and see how it flies.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
What happened in the large accident halfway through the race?
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen the replay. That was all I had to keep it going straight. Somebody got into the back of our Stanley Toyota. We dodged bullets today and we came back from a couple problems like that. We had something in the exhaust that came apart. This Toyota engine ran all day with something wrong and I’m so glad it hung on and we ended up with a decent points day. We had a pretty fast car so that was good.”
How does it feel having a points cushion heading into the next two races?
“I’m not going to think about having a cushion. I know what this competition is about and all these guys can go win the next two races. We’re going to go to Kansas and try to win the race and have a little more fun. That was actually pretty enjoyable today, but man, my nerves are shot. I thought at any moment that thing was going to blow up – thanks to TRD (Toyota Racing Development) for keeping it together.”
How many issues did your team have to overcome today?
“We had all sorts of trouble today. We had something wrong with the exhaust and then thought we had a tire coming apart and an engine coming apart – it ran for about 400 miles I guess so hat’s off to TRD, they did a good job keeping that together. I all but wrecked and somehow came out of that and then we had a lug nut hang up in the gun so we had all sorts of adversity to come out of here with a cushion on ninth so this is good.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 13th
What happened on the final pit stop when the car stalled?
“The clutch went out. I had the clutch on the floor sitting there in first gear when they dropped the right side and the clutch just pumped up and pushed my foot all the way up so the clutch just went completely out and I had no clutch at the end. I had to start it in gear and luckily we were able to get it started. Not sure what happened, just one of those freak deals. Just happened at the wrong time.”
How will you approach the next two races in this round with other Chase drivers having a rough day?
“Just one race at a time. I’m disappointed at how we ran today, but at the same time we were running fourth when we had our issues. As bad as we were we were still going to have a good day and then the clutch problem. That really just took any chance we had away. All in all, we just missed it and we fought hard and we did a good job of making something out of it until the clutch went out. Unfortunate, but more importantly I want to say that I’m sorry to Austin Dillon, the 3 team, Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) and all those guys. I know they’re working hard and they certainly didn’t need me to turn them around on that restart. I feel terrible about that. I was just trying to help get him going and just pushed way too hard so I just want to apologize to those guys and hopefully I can talk to Austin and make sure he’s okay with everything.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Pink Cosmo Motors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 25th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 30th
What happened that took you out of the race?
“Just an engine failure there. We hadn’t had one in a long time with TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and Toyota. It’s just my time and it’s usually Chase time when I have these things happen. Tough break obviously. Had a good car and we’ll have to go to Kansas and get a good run there and do everything we can to advance.”
Do you feel ‘snake bit’ in the Chase?
“I’m so used to it by now. I’ve been doing this 11 years and I can’t name anyone else who has had as bad of luck as I have in the Chase, but it’s just part of it and it’s part of racing. You have to have every piece of the puzzle just perfect to win these championships and this is just a hiccup and luckily some other guys had some bad days today and we’re not out of it.”
How was the car before the engine expired?
“It was good and I was pacing myself. I thought we had a really good car on the long run and it looked like the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was starting to get loose there and I was staring to reel him back in and that’s just part of it. I’ve been through these mechanical failures a lot throughout my career and it’s usually always in the Chase. Unlucky, but in this format you can still win and advance and some other guys had some tough days. We’re still not out of it my any means.”
Are you surprised that this race became such a wildcard in the Chase?
“I think each race you’re going to have a handful that are going to have issues – Kansas I don’t think will be any different and Talladega we know will be crazy. That’s why we’re not out of it my any means, we just have a little hole we have to dig out of.”
Were you surprised that the engine let go so late in the race?
“Usually if they break they either break really early or they don’t break at all. We didn’t have much practice so I’m very surprised that it did break when it did. We’ve had very reliable engines over the last few years and this is just one little crazy thing that happened that made the motor let go.”
