Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Michigan International Speedway
Race 13 of 33 – 250 miles, 125 laps
June 17, 2017
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, William Byron*
3rd, Elliott Sadler*
4th, Brad Keselowski*
5th, KYLE BUSCH
20th, DAKODA AMSTRONG
24th, DYLAN LUPTON
26th, MATT TIFFT
38th, JJ YELEY
39th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, Elliott Sadler* 460 points*
9th, MATT TIFFT 295 points
12th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG 243 points
15h, JJ YELEY 197 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
· Camry driver Denny Hamlin was victorious in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINTIY Series (NXS) race at Michigan International Speedway.
· Hamlin held off second-place William Byron by 0.012 seconds, marking the closest XFINTIY Series finish at Michigan since NASCAR introduced electronic scoring in 1993.
· The 0.012-second margin is tied for the sixth-closest finish in NXS history since the introduction of electronic timing.
· Hamlin led the field three times for 34 laps (of 125) to claim his first XFINTIY Series victory of the season.
· Camry driver Kyle Busch rallied from a first-lap accident to finish fifth on the two-mile speedway.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Hisense Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How does it feel to win at Michigan International Speedway?
“Yeah, it’s good. The Hisense 4k TV Camry was fast all day. Definitely didn’t want that debris caution at the end. I did see it up in Turn 3 and I was just hoping they wasn’t going to call it, but I tell you proud of this whole team. Pit stops were awesome. With that No. 1 pit stall, it really – Kyle Benjamin got us last week by qualifying so well – that really helped us a lot. Got to thank everyone from Hisense, of course Sport Clips, Interstate Batteries, Toyota, JGR Engines – great engine – Coca-Cola, the Jordan Brand, everyone watching XFINITY, FS1 and all the NASCAR fans. It definitely feels good.”
How did you race William Byron in the final laps?
“Yeah, he (William Byron) did a great job and really I knew he had a really good car. That last long run that we had, he was about to pass me, so he’s done a great job. Obviously, he’s one of NASCAR’s next future superstars and I wanted to race him clean. I wasn’t going to turn him around or anything like that, so stayed low below him and got him a little bit loose through 1 and 2 that allowed me to get position and then into Turn 3 we both got sideways, he slid up just enough to let me barely get to that left rear and it was just enough to drag race past him, so proud of this team. Great that we got a win.”
What happened on the restart where William Byron took the lead?
“Well, he (William Byron) got a great push from the 22 (Brad Keselowski) – that was key – and I didn’t have anyone behind me that was on me pushing and so these cars once they get linked up, they’re able to really squirt out and get a big lead, so I knew once I didn’t have a pusher and I saw him getting pushed, we were in big trouble.”
Can you walk us through those second to last restart?
“Yeah, I was just loose down low – that was the biggest key is the restarts is I didn’t want be on the low side, so I knew I had the great push from the 22 (Brad Keselowski). He did a great job pushing me down the frontstretch, but we were banging doors the entire restart even though we were under caution under green and, man, what a great finish.”
Why did William Byron say you ‘schooled him’ on that last lap?
“Well, you know, I don’t know about that. He’s awful good in his own right, but we just got close enough. The key was us getting through 3 and 4 coming to the white and allowed me to draft up to him coming into Turn 1 and I didn’t want to knock him out of the way or anything like that. I just showed my nose low, it got him a little bit loose – just enough for me to get position on the backstretch. Same thing into 3 – we drag raced again – I was able to hang it just a little bit lower than him through 3 and 4 and just drag raced there at the end, but he’s going to have plenty – I’m sure of that.”
Did you realize how close William Byron got to you?
“Yeah, I knew there wasn’t going to be enough time though. There’s a certain amount of time it takes. When you side draft past somebody, it takes a certain amount of time for them to then get the advantage and then side draft past you and there just wasn’t enough time between Turn 4 and the start/finish line, so I knew I was in a really good position. As soon as I came off Turn 4, you know, just barely up beside him (William Byron), I was very confident that we were going to have the right position by the time the line got there.”
Is there anything you tried to do knowing William Byron is young and inexperienced?
“No, not really. The only thing, I had to make a decision when him and the 22 (Brad Keselowski) came off Turn 2 side-by-side, I actually had a pretty good run and I either was going to try to go three wide or I had to push the 9 (William Byron) or the 22 and, at that point, I thought that if I pushed the 9 ahead, I think I’ve got a shot – I think I can clear the 22, which I did – and I would rather race the 9 simply for the experience reasons, you know? Although, I didn’t see him really make many mistakes those last few laps. I just took advantage of the situation that I was in and kind of used him up aero-wise, so, you know, it didn’t matter who it was, but I thought that I – you know, I thought I made the right decision in pushing the 9 to the lead there.”
How would you characterize your end of race battle with William Byron?
“It was definitely more interesting than I was hoping the last 16 laps would be. We obviously had a great lead there and, you know, with that restart I knew that it was going to be important whoever got to Turn 1 first was going to come out with the lead and he (William Byron) ended up getting a great shove from the 22 (Brad Keselowski) on that second to last restart and cleared me and there was nothing I could do. It was the 9 (William Byron) and the 22 cleared me into 1 and there’s nothing I could do. I thought that I wanted to race the 9 more than the 22, so I chose to push him past the 22 down the back straightaway and get him the lead, but his car was really good late in runs and, obviously, we had one more restart and we just drag raced all the way to 1, I got a push from the 22, he was getting pushed from the 1 (Elliott Sadler), we were banging doors into Turn 1 and I tried to hold it wide open through 1 and 2 on the bottom, but I just got a little bit loose. He was able to clear us and I knew from that point it was all about just hanging – I needed to have a perfect 3 and 4 to make sure I could draft up the frontstretch and that’s exactly what I did and put him in somewhat of a bad aero spot there by showing my nose a little bit low and it just got him a little bit loose – just enough for me to get beside him – and the crazy part was is we went so low down the back straightaway that there was dust and stuff flying off the tires and when we went into Turn 3, we almost wrecked because we had so much trash on our tires and I think that was key for me ‘cause he had just as much trash and he got up the race track and I was able to hang on his left rear quarter panel by an inch or two and that gave me the advantage I needed. I knew once I came off Turn 4 on his left rear, you know, a little bit behind him that we were going to be in front by the time we got to the line.”
CHRIS GABEHART, crew chief, No. 11 Hisense Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What’s it like being on the box watching your driver battle for the win down the stretch?
“Well, you guys just heard that, right? That’s play by play from a pro, so today super glad to have the experienced guy in the seat because William Byron with years will gain that, but a guy like Denny Hamlin is able to think through every second of that at 190 miles an hour and know exactly where he needs to be each second and that’s why we’re here today. We had a fast car and I think we were going to win it either way, but when it came down to experience at the end, I’ll take him all day long.”
STEVE DESOUZA, EVP of XFINITY and Development, Joe Gibbs Racing
How satisfying is it to see Joe Gibbs Racing win its third-straight XFINITY race here at Michigan?
“Well, obviously, we’re very satisfied. It doesn’t come easy – any of them – and to have a day like this, it was a special day obviously when you get to see the close racing. That’s what we’re looking for and the fans like and it was just great to see it come from behind and Denny (Hamlin) hold it off and work hard, get it. Proud of all of our guys at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and everybody in our series too did a great job today.”
