Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Kansas Speedway
Race 12 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
May 12, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kevin Harvick*
2nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
3rd, Joey Logano*
4th, Kyle Larson*
5th, DENNY HAMLIN
7th, ERIK JONES
10th, KYLE BUSCH
28th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
29th, GRAY GAULDING
32nd, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, KYLE BUSCH 503 points
7th, DENNY HAMLIN 380 points
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 376 points
13th, ERIK JONES 285 points
21st, DANIEL SUÁREZ 223 points
**unofficial point standings
· Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. (second) was the top-finishing Toyota in Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Kansas Speedway.
· The top-five finish was Truex’ seventh of the 2018 season through 12 races in the No. 78 Camry.
· Toyota had four Camry drivers place in the top-10 at Kansas, including Truex (second), Denny Hamlin (fifth), Erik Jones (seventh) and Kyle Busch (10th).
· Jones’ seventh-place triumph was his best Kansas Speedway finish in the Cup Series in four career races at the 1.5-mile track.
TOYOTA QUOTES
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Were tires by the winner the deciding factor at the end of the race?
“I thought we were going to be alright there. Like three or four to go, my car just got real tight and I chattered the right front off of turn four, and I was like, ‘Oh boy, that’s not good.’ We had been so tight all night and I didn’t know where to go once he was getting there. If I go to the top, he’s just going to catch me on the bottom. I might as well run where I feel I can run the fastest, and I did and it just wasn’t enough. Good strategy call by Cole (Pearn, crew chief) and overall, just a hell of an effort by everybody on our team. We had to fight hard, we were awful at the start of the race. We’re missing something right now, just can’t get the thing turned, so we felt tight all night long. Got better for sure the last three or four runs of the race, but still have to find some turns. We’ll get to work on that. Thanks to everybody back in Denver and everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Bass Pro, 5-hour ENERGY and my friends from Garmin are here tonight, hope they had a good time, wish I could have got to victory lane for them. It’s been a good fun night, we definitely overachieved, so that’s always good.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How was your race tonight?
“I thought it was average. It felt balanced on the short-run and I lost the balance there towards the middle and end of the race. We optimized our finish. I certainly don’t think we had a fifth-place car but we just did a good job with the track position there got a good finish out of it.”
ERIK JONES, No. 20 Reser’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How did it feel to get your best finish at Kansas?
“We had a really good car. Our Reser’s Camry was about a seventh-place car and that’s where we ended up. We have to keep working. We’re getting close. There are some other teams that have some more speed right now and we’re trying to close the gap on them. We have to keep working on that and hopefully find our way to get there sooner rather than later.”
