TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 36 of 36 – 268 laps, 402 miles
Sunday, November 20, 2016
TOYOTA NSCS DRIVER FINISHING POSITIONS at Homestead-Miami Speedway
1st, Jimmie Johnson*
2nd, Kyle Larson*
3rd, Kevin Harvick*
4th, Joey Logano*
5th, Jamie McMurray*
6th, KYLE BUSCH
7th, MATT KENSETH
9th, DENNY HAMLIN
27th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
29th, DAVID RAGAN
31st, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
32nd, REED SORENSON
34th, CARL EDWARDS
36th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS following Homestead-Miami Speedway (Race 36 of 36)**
1st, Jimmie Johnson 5,040 points*
2nd, Joey Logano 5,037 points*
3rd, KYLE BUSCH 5,035 points
4th, CARL EDWARDS 5,007 points
5th, MATT KENSETH 2,330 points
6th, DENNY HAMLIN 2,320 points
11th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 2,271 points
33rd, DAVID RAGAN 455 points
35th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 386 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Kyle Busch (sixth) was the top-finishing Toyota driver in Sunday’s season-finale NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
· Toyota secured the NSCS manufacturer’s championship with a single-season best 16 wins this year, marking the first Sprint Cup Series manufacturer’s title for Toyota since joining the Cup Series in 2007.
· Camry driver Carl Edwards (34th) led the field eight times for 47 circuits and Busch led one lap on the 1.5-mile Florida speedway.
· Edwards was in contention to win the NSCS driver’s championship late in the race when he was involved in an accident with fellow title contender Joey Logano. The incident resulted in Edwards finishing 36th and fourth in the ‘Championship 4’ point standings. Busch finished third in the final standings.
· Camry drivers Matt Kenseth (seventh) and Denny Hamlin (ninth) recorded top-10 results in the season finale that stretched one lap into overtime.
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Can you describe overtime and what happened on the final restart?
“We were just too far back. In order to make up that many spots, we were going to need more than just two laps, but we were going to be able to do it if there were more laps, but that’s the choice we made and we didn’t feel like we had a shot to win if we didn’t come down. So, we were going to just be fighting them off from that point. Just can’t say enough about this M&M’s team. All year long they fought hard and there were moments today where definitely it wasn’t going to be our race at all and then there were moments where it might be our race and we just weren’t able to pull through tonight.”
What does it say about your team the way you fought tonight?
“You just never give up. You’ve just got to keep going. Whatever is thrown at you, you’ve just got to keep making the best of what you’ve got and just keep trying. We did that and we had a lucky break there when the yellow got us back in the sequence with everybody. We weren’t the best this weekend. We didn’t have the fastest car – our teammate did. Neither one of us come home with a prize which is disappointing. Big congrats to seven time (Jimmie Johnson) and being able to continue that legacy and race against him and hopefully we can beat him one of these times.”
What does it say about your relationship with Adam Stevens to make the ‘Championship 4’ both seasons?
“Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and I – we really enjoy working with each other. I think our relationship is really strong and it’s grown and it’s really, really good. We’ve just got to keep working on things that will make us better at Homestead obviously. We know that we can get here. We can get here with wins or we can get here without wins, but we’ve done it the hard way a couple times. Just wish we would’ve been a little bit better today.”
Can you describe your race tonight?
“It was a really rough night for us at the beginning and it didn’t seem like it was going our way and then all of a sudden it looked like we had it in the bag and it was ours to win or ours to lose and we just didn’t quite get a great restart there on two restarts to go. (Joey) Logano shot through the middle and got me really tight and loose down into Turn 1. We just kept trying to fight through there and fight through that and what happened and with coming back down there at the end and taking four tires it just got us way too far behind in traffic and we just couldn’t make up from that deficit. This M&M’s team did a great, great job all year long. Here this weekend, we fought hard a little bit with an ill handling car, but we made the most of it and just not enough.”
What were your thoughts as a race car driver after what happened with your teammate Carl Edwards?
“I don’t know. You just keep going through what’s going on and make the most of your opportunities. We did that. We did that all year long. We did the right things sometimes and here tonight we felt like we were kind of behind the eight ball a few times and then it looked like it would be ours to lose and somehow we just weren’t able to execute there and do a good enough job at the end.”
How tough is it to repeat as a champion?
“It’s very challenging. The biggest thing is you just don’t know where anybody is until the end. I mean, (Jimmie) Johnson was nowhere all night long – couldn’t keep up with us really. We were the third-best car I felt like and I never even saw him my mirror barely. He just came out of nowhere there at the end and did what he needed to do and was Superman and won the championship, so that’s when it matters.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 49 NASCAR Heat Evolution Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 27th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
JEFFREY EARNHARDT, No. 83 Starter Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 31st
REED SORENSON, No. 55 RoyalTeak.com/Backyard Company Toyota Camry, Premium Motorsports
Finishing Position: 32nd
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 34th
Who has responsibility for the accident?
“Yeah, I think it was shared, you know what I mean? I think it was just racing. I haven’t seen a real close up view, but the way I had it figured is first of all that was the race of my life up to that point. That was a lot of fun and Joey (Logano) was so good on the short run. I don’t know how he got that restart. It was a really good restart. I thought we were – I thought everything was going to work out and Jason (Hedlesky, spotter) told me he was looking low and I – he told me basically he was there. I knew what Jason was saying and I just pushed the issue as far as I could because I figured that was the race there and so here let me watch it again. Yeah, Joey just timed it perfectly, he moved down, I thought I could feel him a little and I just thought that – I was probably a little optimistic, but I thought I could clear him or force him to lift. I just thought I had just a little more time, but he drove down as far as a guy could be expected to drive down and that’s how it ended. I don’t know what the caution was for. I really hope it was something that we needed to have a caution for because that was really – that was going really well.”
What did you say to the 22 team and did you apologize?
“Yeah, no apology. I just wanted to say, ‘Hey, that’s just racing and good luck to you guys.’ There’s so much on the line. I want to make sure that – I don’t want to be anything extra to mess with Joey (Logano). He’s done a good job and they deserve to go have a good, fair race. I hope Kyle (Busch) gets it. I just can’t than everybody enough – all of my fans, ARRIS, Toyota, Subway, everybody that came down here to support me, Comcast, SportClips – I’m a little ashamed of my haircut, I need one – and I thought we had it. This is – that was frustrating.”
How will you reflect on this race?
“It was so much fun to drive up through those guys. This track is perfect. It’s such a blast to drive. The Goodyear tires are great. We’re sliding around doing everything we can and having a really good time. Running Kyle (Busch) down and racing him like that and for him to race me that hard and that fair was so cool. I just hated to see that caution. That was very, very frustrating. I felt like that was our race and our championship, but hey this is how racing goes.”
How did your race team get you in a position to win a championship?
“They put it in my hands. That’s all you can ask for. Dave Rogers (crew chief), my guys, everybody, they did a good job. It didn’t work out. This is life. We performed well. We did our best. I just risked too much and Dave told me before this race it’s a pretty big reward and remember risk gets reward and I just had to push it. I couldn’t go to bed tonight and think that I gave him that lane. I’ll watch the rest of the race and I am telling you this team is going to be on fire next year. You watch out. This is going to be awesome.”
What happened to take you out of the race?
“Joey (Logano) was so good on the short run that I knew I couldn’t give it to him. I couldn’t give him that lane. I went down there and blocked and he went down there as far as a guy could expect to go down and I just thought – I thought we were going to possibly hit. I just thought I’d have a little more time to correct it, but we were so far down there we couldn’t go any farther down and basically we ended up wrecked, so that’s the way things go sometimes. This race – I was so proud of my guys. I was so happy with the performance. That run to catch Kyle (Busch) and pass him that was everything I had. That was the drive of my life and we didn’t yield a championship, but I have a lot of pride in how we performed.”
What did you tell Todd Gordon when you went to the 22 pit box?
“I just wanted to make sure that they knew and they could tell Joey (Logano) – I don’t know if Joey cares or not – I assume he does, but I just wanted to make sure he knew that was just racing in my opinion and that’s hard racing and I wished them luck.”
How would you sum up this race?
“This was a pretty dynamic race. I thought we were going to just kill them the first half of the race and then at the end Joey (Logano) – they stepped it up. They’ve got some real speed on the short runs, so I think Kyle (Busch) is going to have his hands full with him on this short run. Hopefully Kyle can get the win and a championship. But, man, just a fun race. I wish it didn’t end like that. My guys deserve better than that. Hindsight obviously it would’ve been better to be a little less aggressive and maybe race him but man I thought if he got in front of me it’s over.”
How much motivation will this championship run provide for next season?
“The neatest thing about tonight was when we restarted fifth and marched through those guys all the pressure and all of the stress – I’ve got to really credit what we went through in 2011 and the mental toughness with this team with just getting us up to the front, getting ahead of the pack and that caution was very deflating. It was very frustrating, but, yeah, it’s racing and that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Did you feel like you had to be more aggressive because it was the end of the race?
“Early in the race, I didn’t have to be that aggressive on the restarts because I could pick them off really quickly afterwards. Late in the race, Joey (Logano) was so strong for the first five laps. If he got in front of me I really believe the race was over, so that’s why I was so aggressive and obviously it was too aggressive, but as I was going down there I thought I could feel him a little bit and I thought I’d be able to turn right at the last minute. I thought I’d be able to get out in that situation if I needed to and I just couldn’t.”
What were you thinking during the walk from Turn 1?
“I had a lot of thoughts on that walk. That was – just it’s hard to – you put so much into this and so many people push so hard and you don’t get opportunities like this very often, so I just hope that pretty quickly I can get over the frustration and look at this for what it is. It was a great opportunity and really up until the end it was a lot of fun.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
What was your vantage point of what happened on the race track?
“All I see is the 2 (Brad Keselowski) coming up the track and nowhere to go. This is one of those wrong place, wrong time. We got put in the back a few times. Once was our mistake early and (Kevin) Harvick’s after that. It’s unfortunate. We had a really good race car tonight and nothing to show for it. It’s two weeks in a row. Frustrating, glad this year is over and we will go and regroup and get ready for next year.”
