Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Dover International Speedway
406 miles, 406 laps
June 4, 2017
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Jimmie Johnson*
2nd, Kyle Larson*
3rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR
4th, Ryan Newman*
5th, Chase Elliott*
6th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
8th, DENNY HAMLIN
13th, MATT KENSETH
15th, ERIK JONES
16th, KYLE BUSCH
24th, GRAY GAULDING
26th, RYAN SIEG
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 545 points
4th, KYLE BUSCH 416 points
9th, DENNY HAMLIN 361 points
12th, MATT KENSETH 327 points
18th, ERIK JONES 283 points
19th, DANIEL SUÁREZ 278 points
34th, COREY LaJOIE 82 points
35th, GRAY GAULDING 74 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
· Camry driver Martin Truex (third) had the highest-finishing Toyota in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.
· Truex led three times for 102 laps (of 406) as he won both the first and second stage of the Delaware race.
· Camry driver Daniel Suarez tallied a career-best, sixth-place result at Dover. The finish was his second top-10 finish in the last three Cup events.
· Camry driver Kyle Busch finished 16th after leading twice for 19 laps in a race that stretch six circuits into overtime and ended under caution. The race featured 15 cautions for 72 laps.
· Ryan Sieg made his Cup debut in the No. 83 Camry for BK Racing and finished 26th.
TOYOTA QUOTES
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Are you disappointed with finishing third?
“I don’t know. It just – we had a good day. We had a good car and just got caught by that caution when we pitted and lost our shot at the win. I don’t know that we had the best car, but we had a good car for sure and, you know? The 42 (Kyle Larson), the 48 (Jimmie Johnson), us – I think we were all so close. Whoever it seemed like got out front was the best, but all in all, you know, it was a good day. Just not the finish we hoped for, but still when you’re this disappointed with third, it speaks volumes about your team and where you’re at and what’s going on, so I had a lot of fun out there today. I can’t even tell you how challenging this track was with these cars and this aero package and all that. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I almost wrecked by myself, so it was a lot of fun. It was a challenge. We had to come through the field, which was difficult – says a lot about our car and our team and we’ll keep digging and try to get them next week.”
Did you think you had a chance to catch the leaders in the race’s final laps?
“Yeah, we ran out of time I guess. We had to pass a lot of cars – came from a long way back – but that’s the way it goes I guess some days. We had a really good car all day and good track position. It seemed like if we could get in the lead, we could drive away from them and hold the lead, but just didn’t work out for us today. Got caught by that caution and had to come from the back. It was tough to do that, but a good call by Cole (Pearn, crew chief) to get tires there that last caution and that’s I guess the difference. We were able to pass some cars and make our way back up there.”
Would you have had a chance to win if the race didn’t end under caution?
“I don’t know, man. The 48 (Jimmie Johnson) had such a good jump and I was third and I’d say probably not, you know? There’s – to pass the 42 (Kyle Larson) and to pass the 48 in two laps, it’s not going to happen. We were all so equal today it seemed like whoever or whichever one of us got our front could stretch it out, but all in all I had a lot of fun racing with those guys today. We ran hard. Everybody ran each other really hard and luckily it was clean and we never got into each other, but it was tough out there today. These things are a handful. The track was really, really rough and the cars were – I was so loose at times today. I don’t know how many times I almost thought I was going to crash, but hung on to it and made a good day out of it.”
Did you think you and Kyle Larson were going to wreck?
“Well, he kept pinching me down and I was way faster than him and it was early in the race and he kept pinching me down, pinching me down. I’m like, ‘Man, I’m going to end up wrecking him just because he’s turning me sideways so bad.’ He was loose. He was hanging on. He was just holding me up and I felt like it was way too early in the race for that and he’s really putting himself in more jeopardy than anything because if I didn’t catch it every one of those times there was a good chance he was going in the fence with me. It was probably pretty risky on his part to keep doing that, but we both made it through today. There’s no guarantees that we will next week if he keeps doing it.”
Are you okay with the race ending under caution?
“You know, if you have 10 of them, they’re going to even out. I mean, today – today I would have liked to see us finish it. If I was the leader – if I was Jimmie (Johnson) – I’d be happy with it, so what comes around, you know, goes around I guess and I’m sure there’ll be chances, times when it works out for us and times when it doesn’t. I don’t really have a problem with it either way.”
DANIEL SUÁREZ, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How was it getting your career-best Cup finish?
“I think it was good. Like everything, ups and downs. In the beginning, we were okay and then later on we were pretty bad. We were able to make some adjustments and get back to a top-10. I feel like we had a top-10 car and we ended up right there. I think the entire team is making process and that’s for sure and I’m very proud of that and we just have to keep working and keep moving in the same direction.
What did you see during the last wreck?
“A lot of people with no tires, some more with two, some more with four. It was a little crazy. I was surprised how good of a grip I had getting to corner one and then exit of two I saw the 13 (Ty Dillon) sideways and really a big mess up there and I’m lucky I was clear by myself to move around and avoid the wreck, but it was a close one for sure.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
How was today’s race?
“We struggled for the most part – hanging out just outside the top-10. Really didn’t have a fast car to speak of. That’s where we qualified, that’s where we practiced and kind of where we raced. Just got to be a little bit faster and we’ve got to work on our setup. We obviously are – we faded quite a bit on the long runs and that definitely hurt us.”
