Toyota Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Richmond Raceway
Race 26 of 36 – 303 miles, 404 laps
September 9, 2017
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Joey Logano*
3rd, Ryan Newman*
4th, Kurt Busch*
5th, DENNY HAMLIN
6th, ERIK JONES
7th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
9th, KYLE BUSCH
20th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
29th, COREY LAJOIE
35th, GRAY GAULDING
38th, MATT KENSETH
*Non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 2,053 points#
2nd, Kyle Larson* 2,033 points#
3rd, KYLE BUSCH 2,029 points#
4th, Brad Keselowski* 2,019 points#
5th, Jimmie Johnson* 2,017 points#
7th, DENNY HAMLIN 2,013 points#
15th, MATT KENSETH 2,005 points#
18th, ERIK JONES 654 points
20th, DANIEL SUÁREZ 568 points
34th, COREY LaJOIE 179 points
35th, GRAY GAULDING 114 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
#competing in 2017 Playoffs
· Camry driver Denny Hamlin finished fifth with the top-Toyota entry in Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Richmond Raceway.
· Following the regular season finale at Richmond, four Camry drivers are now set for the MENCS’s Playoffs to determine the 2017 champion, including regular season champion Martin Truex Jr., as well as Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.
· Truex was awarded the MENCS regular season championship following the Richmond race. The Camry driver was in position to contend for the race win in overtime before being involved in an accident and finishing 20th.
· Truex led the field three times for a race high 198 laps (of 400), while Camry driver Matt Kenseth (38th) led the field once for 89 circuits and Kyle Busch (ninth) led three times for 38 laps.
· Busch won the race’s first stage, while Truex won the second.
· Camry rookies Erik Jones (sixth) and Daniel Suárez (seventh) also tallied top-10 results in the last event of the regular season.
· Jones’ Richmond finish marks the sixth-consecutive top-10 finish for the MENCS rookie.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What happened between you and Martin Truex Jr. on the track?
“We both drove in really, really deep. When I got on the brakes, the splitter slammed down on the ground, shot me up the track into him. We weren’t racing for the win or anything. But it’s unfortunate. Didn’t want to get into him. He’s a great teammate of ours. But, yeah, tough day for our FedEx team. Overnight we messed it up pretty good. We struggled all day. Got a little bit better there at the end by just kind of going back to where we started the day. Definitely not a car that could contend.”
You were able to rebound in the race by going back on adjustments, correct?
“Yeah. We were trying to make it better, but it was just getting worse and worse. It was a miserable day actually. They tell me I’m a hero around here. Today I was a clown.”
ERIK JONES, No. 77 5-SiriusXM Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Did you think you had a chance on the final restart?
“Well, I was hoping we’d try to make it three wide and make something happen, you know? We were just going to have to bully our way to the front and unfortunately we just didn’t get the chance. I just missed third gear and messed up. I mean, I don’t know if I’ve ever missed a shift before. It’s just really disappointing. I really hate it for my guys and hate that we didn’t at least get a shot at it. Would have loved to go after it, but the SiriusXM Camry was good all night. We were a top-five car all night. We just didn’t quite find that last little bit of speed we needed, but had the restart we wanted – had the shot we wanted – just didn’t work out.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Caramel Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
Where were you lacking tonight?
“Everywhere. I don’t know. We were tight early on in the night. We keep freeing our car up – was getting tighter. Then at the end we decided to tighten it up and it got better. Just weird. But we were kind of lost. Overall we were going to end up sixth. I thought that he was just going to be decent. That shows how fast our cars were for as bad of a night as we were going to have. Got that last yellow. That just mixed everything up – threw us all for a loop. We just didn’t get the best of restarts, got plugged up on the top. Couldn’t get going anywhere. We struggled into a ninth. Overall, real proud of our team. We’ve been real fast all year long. Arguably the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.), not arguably. The 78 has been the best car all year long. Then arguably it’s Kyle (Larson) or myself for P2 depending on the week. Fourth on back, it’s pretty much everybody else. Hopefully we can keep it that way through these next nine weeks and make it to the last one at Homestead.”
What do you have to do to beat Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 team?
“We’ve been having those talks for two years. We’re not quite sure. I’m going to Denver this week. Maybe watching a Broncos game will fix everything.”
Are you going to stop by Furniture Row Racing while you’re in Denver?
“I probably ought to, go by there, get underneath a couple cars. Don’t matter. They’re pitted next to us in the garage, our teammates. They’ve elevated our game, which has re-elevated their game. We keep playing cat and mouse with those guys. They’re really good. We know they’re going to be the best ones to beat.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 20th
What do the playoff points mean going into the Playoffs?
“Well, I hope we don’t need them. Obviously I think it’s a good thing that we have them, and I think we could have used them last year, obviously, with the way the playoffs worked for us. But I think for us, just focus on running as strong as we possibly can and keep the momentum going that we’ve had here lately. Cars have been just lightning fast and team’s been doing a great job. We’ve got a few little things we’ve got to work on, but all in all, I feel like we’re definitely one of the strongest teams, and hopefully we can just continue to perform at our ‑‑ at the level we’re capable of, and hopefully we don’t need those bonus points, but it’s going to be nice to have them, that’s for sure.”
What were you thinking when you saw the ambulance there on pit road?
“I was thinking that somebody that ‑‑ whoever hits the button to open pit road needs to pay attention to what’s going on on the racetrack. That’s what I was thinking. It’s not like it was a big surprise. It didn’t happen in a split second. The emergency vehicles were riding down the backstretch next to us as soon as we came off of 2, and continued all the way until the opening of pit road, and they just left pit road open. Somebody obviously wasn’t paying attention or wasn’t doing their job properly, and in my opinion at this level, it’s inexcusable.”
The car that got damaged at the end here, was that a car you guys were looking at for deeper into the playoffs, and how much might that impact you guys with having a car get destroyed like that at the end?
“I don’t think it matters. I think all our cars are pretty much the same. I think that it’s not like ‑‑ it used to be you had favorite cars and you had cars that you named because they were good. Honestly nowadays, I don’t even know ‑‑ I don’t even ask anymore what they are, where we raced them. I know the guys bring their best to the track every weekend. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t think it’ll set us back any.”
How do you view what happened with the cautions this evening?
“Yeah, I don’t really have a clue. I can’t answer that. I know I was right behind (Matt) Kenseth when that happened, and I don’t know if they thought he was blowing up or what. And then the final caution I really don’t know what it was for. I haven’t seen it. I just know it was the 15 (Derrike Cope) car, who was 20 some laps down. I don’t even think makes minimum speed, and really doesn’t even belong out there. I don’t know if he apparently scraped the wall a few times, and I don’t know, couldn’t stay in the racetrack as slow as he was going. It’s unfortunate they threw a caution for that, and I don’t know if it was ‑‑ I don’t know if it should have been thrown or not, I haven’t seen, I just think that’s ridiculous that a guy could cause a caution with one lap to go as bad as he’s running and just riding around there basically just making laps. Yeah, it’s pretty dumb.”
How do you feel looking back at the race tonight?
“I wish we could have got the trophy last weekend. Yeah, I mean, tonight sucks, plain and simple, just the way it ended up. You’re out there dominating like this, you know your car is not very good on restarts for a couple laps. Caution for a guy that shouldn’t even be out there is kind of ridiculous. I don’t know. I don’t really know what to say about all that. It’s unfortunate the way the race ended. I’m madder about the caution than Denny getting into us. We talked. I know he didn’t do it on purpose. He jumped on the brakes, got on the splitter. Gave him room, but he was aggressive on the brakes. That stuff happens. Really upset about the caution. One to go, it sucks. Two weeks in a row to be leading right at the end and lose it. That’s the way it goes. That’s racing. Good news is we’re fast and we’re doing everything right. We got to work on our pit road a little bit. The last couple weeks has been a little slow. I don’t know. It’s tough to lose ’em like that.”
The positive is very clear from tonight, because this has not been your best racetrack, yet you dominated the race.
“Yeah, I mean, we worked hard. We had a game plan coming here. We worked hard on it. The guys did a great job. I felt good about our changes yesterday in practice. I felt like we were going the right direction. We were getting that balance that I’ve been looking here for so many years. Tonight throughout the race we just kept getting it a little bit better each pit stop. The last 150, 200 laps, it was lights out. Nobody could touch us after 10 laps in a run. A little bit disappointed obviously again that the caution came out at the end. Nothing we can do about those things. I don’t know what you do, throw away your long run setup and try to be good for a lap for these restarts that always seem to happen.
I don’t know. It’s a tough deal. Just thankful for everybody on my team, all the guys back in Denver at the shop that give me such good racecars, Barney and everybody. Just try to keep going. 10 to go. See if we can keep the momentum going.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Hurricane Relief Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
What happened there coming to pit road?
“Well we were all just kind of coming to pit road and I saw an ambulance sitting there and so I looked left of the ambulance at the same time (Jason) Hedlesky (spotter) yelled at everyone to stop there was an ambulance just sitting there. It was an accordion effect and I just couldn’t get stopped. Not really sure why pit road was open with an ambulance parked there, but everybody stopped and I didn’t see it in time and ran into the car in front of me.”
Could you think of a more frustrating end to the race?
“We’re not out there to end the race so that was frustrating. We were pretty decent early on and kind of lost the handle again kind of like the last race once we got back in traffic. I shouldn’t have been back there to start with and maybe I wouldn’t have gotten in a wreck.”
How would you explain what happened?
“We were all getting on pit road and I didn’t feel like I was going that fast and there’s an ambulance parked out there, so everybody stopped. I just couldn’t get stopped in time.”
Will you watch the rest of the race now to see if you get in?
“Well, I’ll watch it. I don’t have anything else to do. Can’t go home until it’s over, so, yeah, I mean obviously I hope we get in. Ran good early on, didn’t run as good that run and I got ourselves behind to get us in that spot to start with, so hopefully we’ll make it in, but if we don’t there’s still 10 weeks left and we’re going to go out and get some wins.”
Why has there been a safety vehicle impacting pit stops at Richmond two races in a row?
“Well, I mean I don’t think they should open pit road if there’s an ambulance parked there. It’s a very narrow entry. Pit road speed is pretty fast – 45 miles an hour or something – and, you know, still I shouldn’t have hit the car in front of me, but I can’t say I was expecting to see an ambulance blocking me, so by the time I looked up and saw him parked there and they were stopping in front of me, I tried the best I could to stop and couldn’t.”
What do you do now to get to the championship race?
“Well, you got a few rounds to get through first. You take it one race at a time, one round at a time. The first round I feel like we go to some good tracks for us. Should perform well there hopefully. Hopefully we won’t have any trouble and we can get some finishes and hopefully move on to the second round. I think it’s always a little bit of a moving target. I think that first one, to get three solid runs, typically you’re okay. Then after that, the way the points work, you carry them over and everything, certainly you’re probably going to need wins to get to Homestead.”
Does it matter to you that you don’t have a ride for next year? Is there more pressure on the Playoffs?
“No, it really doesn’t. Thanks for asking, though. But, no, that doesn’t really matter to me. That’s pretty far from my mind. I’ve been racing for a long time. Certainly could do a lot better job controlling a lot of things. Even tonight, there was an ambulance parked in our way, but I still should have been able to somehow anticipate that better. I was trying to get better. Not worried about next year at all. Worried about the next 10 weeks. Got a great race team, great opportunity. We haven’t been able to win races yet this year, which has been disappointing. But I really do feel even though we’re coming off a DNF, we’re hitting our stride. Our guys on pit road have been unbelievably good the last three weeks, probably the best three weeks probably since I’ve been there. The car has been faster. Jason has been doing a good job. I feel like we’re actually kind of hitting our stride. I’m excited for the next 10 weeks.”
Prior to the incident on the track that took you out of the race, was the car where you thought it would be?
“No, we didn’t win. We ran similar to the spring. It was weird. We ran good the first half of the race, then got a little behind on that last restart. Kind of got in the splitter in one, got down a few spots. Once we got shuffled back, it was hard for me to make ground and go forward. Still a little bit of work to do there. Certainly was nice to have the speed, nice to be on pole, nice to lead a little bit.”
