TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Talladega Superspeedway
500.1 miles, 188 laps
October 22, 2016
TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
1st, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
3rd, MATT KENSETH
8th, DENNY HAMLIN
12th, REED SORENSON
13th, CARL EDWARDS
14th, KYLE BUSCH
35th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
39th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
40th, DAVID RAGAN
TOYOTA QUOTES
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Starting Position: 1st
What does it mean to sit on the pole for tomorrow’s race in Toyota’s 1,000th NASCAR start?
“It’s definitely cool. You come here and you don’t really have a whole lot to say as a driver when it comes to qualifying, so obviously proud of the team and proud of everybody in Denver and proud of everybody at the race track for their efforts. Build a brand new car to come here and it’s awesome to be the fastest guy in town. Excited about that and obviously everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) who builds the engines has done a great job too – it takes a lot to get a restrictor plate pole, so excited for all those guys and really neat to lead Toyota to their 1,000th start tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get the victory when the day is over.”
Do you feel calmer about tomorrow since NASCAR mentioned a points penalty was unlikely from the jack bolt issue?
“I’ve been calm all day. The motivation thing, no. The guys prepared the car the best they could and I’m the lucky guy that got to drive it today. This is all about them – this is all about their efforts. All I did was hold the thing on the floor and not screw up. Just excited for all those guys. We really haven’t qualified well at the restrictor plate tracks the last few years. To come here with a brand new car and be able to do that says a lot. Just proud of everybody for their efforts really. All the crazy talk going on today is nonsense. I think people speculate on things and don’t really know what they are. The jack bolt issue is really not a big issue. It’s not hollow like what was reported. They didn’t take both – they just took the left front so it’s not a big issue. It was a parts manufacturing issue, no big deal at all and I’m sure NASCAR will tell you all what it was all about in a few days.”
How does it feel to get the pole for tomorrow’s race?
“It’s definitely the place to be to start the race – it’s just about trying to stay there as long as you can. We’ll see what happens. This is obviously a big race with a lot on the line. I look forward to it. I’m just so proud of the guys in Denver and everybody here at the race track for what they did here. This is all about the team, all about what they do and all about the guys at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) in California building these engines, so my hat’s off to all of them. I’m lucky to be sitting behind the wheel and holding it to the floor. It was a good day today and hopefully we will have another good day tomorrow.”
How much pressure do you feel to get through tomorrow and onto the next round of the Chase?
“All we have to do is make it through to the next one. We’ve got some good tracks coming up for us and tomorrow is going to be a tough race. A lot is going to happen, but we just have to hope for the best and do the best job we can do. I feel good about my car and it’s got a lot of speed in it obviously and just again thanks to everybody. They’ve given me the best opportunity to try to win our first Talladega race and hopefully we can get it done.”
Did you have some eventful moments throughout the day today with the confiscated part from NASCAR?
“I didn’t think it was weird at all. Being first at the end of the day is what it’s all about isn’t it? There was just a little bit, but no harm, no foul. I think there was a part that was a little bit machined wrong and NASCAR didn’t like it. We changed it out for another one and got the pole. We did what we had to do today and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow.”
What is your strategy for tomorrow’s race?
“The strategy is to stay there, but the problem is that it’s pretty hard to do. We’ve got a lot cut out for us tomorrow and it’s going to be a tough race for sure. You never know what can happen here at Talladega, but I’m excited about it. This is the fastest car we’ve had here in a few years and to get the pole is awesome. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully, we can stay up front all day long, have a strong car and have a shot at winning this thing.”
How will you approach the race tomorrow to evaluate risk versus reward?
“I think cautiously aggressive is what we’re going to try to be tomorrow. If things get out of hand and we feel like we’re in a danger zone then maybe we’ll move out of there and maybe find a place to chill out for a while, but I still think the best place to be is out front leading laps and I think our car is strong enough to be able to do that.”
What do you know about the issue with your confiscated part?
“It’s just a front jack screw that was – when they drilled the top down to put the – I guess they broach the hex in the top so you can put the wedge wrench in there and it’s just a little too deep. It wasn’t a big issue. It wasn’t a hollow jack screw like some people are saying on Twitter. It was just a part that was machined a little bit wrong I guess is what the team told me and they don’t think it’s a big issue. Obviously, it’s not affected our speed any, so that’s good and proud of the guys. The Bass Pro Toyota is really fast and I didn’t know what to expect here today, so we just did some race stuff yesterday, but guys did a good job getting the car ready and be cool to get a pole here at Talladega.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 3rd
How was your qualifying run?
“Good for America. It was good. I think we ended up third, so that’s really good. It’s obviously a team qualifying session – not anything to do with the driver really. I just steered around and hold it to the floor, so obviously they did a good job and it’s a good spot to start.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 8th
How strong is your Camry for Sunday?
“I felt like in the little pack that we had we were running pretty good speed. Really can’t tell anything about handling. We definitely didn’t want to wreck this car in practice, so we needed to keep it in one piece for the race, so we had to play the smart move there, but handling is not really been a huge issue here at Talladega since the repave, so we’ll take our chances on that knowing – look, we’re trying to get every ounce of speed out of the car that we could to get a good qualifying spot.”
What is your strategy?
“I’m actually trying to lead every lap. I mean, that’s all I can do is try to go out there and lead every single lap possible and put ourselves in position at the end. Definitely want to be in the lead if we get down to a shootout and try to defend from there, so we’ve got our work cut out for us, but it’s nothing we haven’t done before.”
REED SORENSON, No. 55 Toyota Camry, Premium Motorsports
Starting Position: 12th
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Subway Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 13th
How did it feel to be the only Joe Gibbs Racing Camry unaffected by the re-inspection today?
“I don’t know if I was unaffected – there was an emotional toll watching those cars and I was thinking, ‘Man, I hope we’re not doing whatever is going on there.’ It looks like a Stanley hammer could fit about anything. It’s amazing that with all the technology we have that you can still bang on something with a hammer and fix it. I’m pretty excited about our Subway Camry, it seems really fast and our cars are good. Everyone has put a lot of work into this and I’m just excited to get this race going and hopefully have a really good one. I would be great to get to victory lane.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snicker’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 14th
What have you been told about your team being told by NASCAR to go back through inspection?
“Nothing yet. Not my problem. I just worry about driving and doing the best I can do there, so did everything right and we ended up exactly where we thought we were going to – 14th – so we’ll take it. That’s fine and we’ll go racing tomorrow and see what happens from there.”
Did the tech changes result in your Camry feeling any different?
“No, not at all. Everything was really the same, you know? We did some single-car stuff yesterday just barely. Didn’t really do a full mock run or anything and taping it down or anything like that, but knew we had decent speed. Obviously, some of our other JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) cars they had a little bit better speed than ours. I guess I’ve had speedway pole in my career, so I might end with that. Really not worried about sitting on those, but more times than not we’d love to be able to finish these things and that’s all we’ve got to worry about tomorrow is being able to capture the right amount of points and be able to move on.”
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 93 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 35th
JEFFREY EARNHARDT, No. 83 Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 39th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 sweetFrog Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 40th
