TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Martinsville Speedway
Race 33 of 36 – 500 laps, 263 miles
Sunday, October 30, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Martinsville Speedway
1st, Jimmie Johnson*
2nd, Brad Keselowski*
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
4th, MATT KENSETH
5th, KYLE BUSCH
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
31st, DYLAN LUPTON
32nd, MATT DiBENEDETTO
36th, CARL EDWARDS
37th, DAVID RAGAN
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS – following Martinsville Speedway**
1st, Jimmie Johnson 4,044 points#*
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN 4,039 points#
3rd, MATT KENSETH 4,039 points#
4th, KYLE BUSCH 4,037 points#
8th, CARL EDWARDS 4,005 points#
9th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 2,226 points
33rd, DAVID RAGAN 424 points
35th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 356 points
#competing in the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Denny Hamlin (third) was the top-finishing Toyota driver in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
· Fellow Toyota drivers Matt Kenseth (fourth), Kyle Busch (fifth) and Martin Truex Jr. (seventh) also scored top-10 finishes at the half-mile Virginia oval.
· Truex started from the pole and led 147 laps (of 500) while fellow Camry driver Kenseth led a race-high 175 laps. Hamlin (48 laps) and Busch (three laps) also took turns at the front of the field.
· Three Camry Chase contenders Hamlin (second), Kenseth (third) and Busch (fourth) remain in the top-five in the points as the ‘Round of 8’ heads to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend.
· Carl Edwards suffered a tire failure during the race that forced him to the garage for repairs and ultimately finished 36th in the race. Edwards is currently eighth in the point standings.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Can you speak to the racing between yourself and Jimmie Johnson today?
“It’s hard racing those guys and racing very, very tough. Out of character for him over the last few years in the Chase, but they’re doing what they think is successful, but upsetting me is not going to make their job any easier. I think that he nearly wrecked us at New Hampshire and then we raced him hard for the lead. It’s one thing if it’s the lead at Charlotte because I was upset about New Hampshire and then we race like a bunch of dummies for seventh or eighth or something like that during halfway. That’s their prerogative and they can race however they want and we can race the way we want, but in turn they’re doing what they think they need to do to win a race.”
What is your outlook for the next two races?
“I look forward to both of them, I think they’re both good tracks for us. We ran really strong at Phoenix in the spring so I look forward to all these. I think we set ourselves up to be able to be good and consistent and do what we need to do to get top-fives these next few races and if we can do that then we’ll be in Homestead.”
Do you feel there is frustration from your teammate that you might have held him up in the closing laps?
“It’s tough to say, I think we all agreed that we would work together on restarts and try to do everything we could to be sure we didn’t screw the other guy over on restarts and stuff like that. When it comes to racing, I didn’t think that any of us really had anything for the 48 (Jimmie Johnson). Maybe the other guys thought I was holding up the line, which is very possible, I definitely was at one point. There at the end, I didn’t have anybody pressing on my rear bumper and we had a third place car.”
How does it change the approach knowing not all four JGR Camrys can advance to Homestead?
“I don’t think it changes a whole lot honestly. I think that we each still have a shot, there’s just one spot taken so three of us would still be a good number to get in that final group and we’ll so everything we can to get that done.”
Which cars do you feel passes you under caution causing some of the scoring confusion?
“The 83 (Dylan Lupton), the 4 (Kevin Harvick), the 42 (Kyle Larson) and the 6 (Trevor Bayne) just blew right by us trying to steal a lap back and two of them got away with it. We’re in the big leagues and you have to get it right. Even I they had to red flag it to review the tape, I mean I had 20 cameras on my car, one of them saw those guys going around us. It’s disappointing, but it doesn’t affect our day.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How was your race today?
“We had a good day, not a great day. The guy doing a great day is the guy doing a burnout. We had a great car, we just got a caution when we didn’t need one – we were on pit road and then at the end when we needed a caution, I saw a car hit the wall and a car smoking so I was hoping to get another yellow and get a shot at it, but just didn’t get it. The chips just didn’t fall our way today, but we had a good car, we led some laps and ran a little better than we finished, but we still got a pretty decent finish out of it.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What was it like racing with your Joe Gibbs Racing teammates in the closing laps?
“You can’t wreck each other and that’s all there is to it I guess. We worked so good together that we gave the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) car the win today. That’s how good JGR is. We had a great M&M’s Camry and we could have been a little farther up front, but we were held up there and we couldn’t pass and if I did try to make moves or try to make a pass, I got cutoff. But we came through it with a top-five. We probably could have been about second, I don’t know if we could have got up there and caught the 48 as long as we got caught up behind all that stuff, but we had a fifth-place car today and we showed that today. (Matt) Kenseth led the most laps today I think and we were right there with him much of the day so it’s frustrating not to be higher up.”
How do you approach the next two races?
“One race at a time. I can’t tell you where we’re going to finish at Texas and how good we’re going to run, we have to go there and map it all out through practice and have a good race car for the race and do it for the race. You can only take it one race at a time so we go to the next one, we work on it and we make sure we get out of there with as good of a day as we can. We assess where we are and where we need to be and what we need to do with the next one.”
What was your perspective of the scoring issue during the race?
“All I knew is when I came off pit road I beat the leader so that allowed me to stay on the lead lap. From there it didn’t seem like it was that hard to figure out, but NASCAR couldn’t figure it out. They’re a hell of a lot smarter than me so maybe there was another problem that I saw.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Auto Owner’s Insurance Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How was the race today?
“This was a good step forward for us at Martinsville. Probably had the best car we ever had here. We started up front (on the pole) and led a bunch of laps early (147). We were up there all day, but have to figure out how to be better the second half of the race at Martinsville. Once we can do that we’ll have a shot at winning one of those grandfather clocks (winning trophy). I really want one of those clocks. The second half of the race it was typical Martinsville — tight in the center and too loose on exit. We fought that for almost the entire second half of the race.”
DYLAN LUPTON, No. 83 EJ Wade Construction Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 31st
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 93 EJ Wade Construction Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 32nd
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
Do you know what happened when you lost the tire?
“Goodyear was kind enough and I have a lot of respect for them – they came down here and looked at the tire and said it was a belt failure so that’s really big of them to say, ‘Hey, there’s nothing you could have done about it.’ We had a really good race going and sometimes that’s just what happens in racing. I just feel bad for Sport Clips, I think we had a top-three car. I was having a lot of fun and now we just go to Texas and try to win there and Phoenix – we could win at either one of those race tracks.”
Do you feel you have to win one of the next two races to get to Homestead?
“Yeah, we plan on running this round – Talladega was no fun for us. We want to try to win each one of these races this round and really that’s probably the best performance we’ve had at Martinsville for a long time. Things like that happen in racing though and we have a heck of a crew. These guys are true warriors, we’re just going to go out and battle for every spot. I have a feeling we’ll be alright.”
Is it frustrating to have so many instances this season where you’ve struggled after having a strong race car?
“This is racing and that means the world for Goodyear to come down and tell us what happened. It was nothing that we could have really avoided. That’s just the kind of thing that happens. It’s a high performance sport and everybody is pushing everything. We could have won both Texas and Phoenix earlier this year so I feel very confident going to those two tracks so we’ll be alright.”
What were your thoughts on the scoring issue during the race?
“I know at points like that, sitting up there being NASCAR, it’s the hardest thing in the world to run all those laps, but it is the right thing. I applaud NASCAR for getting it right, that means so much to all the competitors. For NASCAR to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to stop the show and get this right and move on,’ I have a lot of respect for them.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
