Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Charlotte Motor Speedway – All-Star
May 19, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kevin Harvick*
2nd, DANIEL SUÁREZ
3rd, Joey Logano*
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, Chase Elliott*
9th, KYLE BUSCH
17th, MARTIN TRUEX, JR.
*non-Toyota driver
· Daniel Suárez was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Saturday night’s All-Star race, capturing a second-place finish after racing his way into the All-Star race with a Stage 2 win in the Open.
· Also finishing in the top-10 were Camry drivers Denny Hamlin (fourth) and Kyle Busch (ninth) who led seven and 19 laps, respectively.
· Martin Truex Jr. led 17 laps before being relegated to a 17th-place finish after an accident in the third stage.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DANIEL SUÁREZ, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joes Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
You restarted on the front row with two laps to go, what was the difference in those final two laps?
“I felt like we had a car actually capable to win the race. We were very strong, competitive. For whatever reason restarts, my car was taking like one lap to go and those guys, when two Fords were connected, they were pretty strong. We just – I needed a little bit more right there. The 11 (Denny Hamlin) got disconnected with myself a little bit. I tried to side draft the 4 (Kevin Harvick), but it was just tough. After that it was pretty much game over because I started racing the 22 (Joey Logano) instead of the 4, but proud of my guys. We’ve been racing really in the All-Star twice already, two times, so that’s not bad. It hurts to be close and to not get it.”
Talk about racing for the win in the final two laps.
“It was close. The 11 (Denny Hamlin) was doing a very good job as much as he could to push me. For whatever reason he just disconnected a little bit and I couldn’t keep the run and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and the 22 (Joey Logano), they stayed connected for the entire corner and after that I knew it was gonna be tough. After that, I started just playing defense. I tried to slow them down and I just didn’t do a good job or I just couldn’t do it enough.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Where were you struggling during the race and how was your car?
“I think in general our cars were just too slow to be up front. Once we did get the lead, it was complete defense mode. It looked like when the 18 (Kyle Busch) and the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) were up front as well, it was just constant defense where when the 4 (Kevin Harvick) got up front, he could just kind of run his line. Hard to overcome that seven tenths that we were off from speed, especially in a drafting type race. Still, we did a good job there. Tried to get the 19 (Daniel Suarez) free of the 4 there on the bottom, I just came off his bumper there just slightly there and he wasn’t able to get us free of the 4.”
Did this package feel like a superspeedway race or an intermediate track type of race?
“I thought it was more similar to a normal open race – mile-and-a-half, but you had to be smart like you would at a superspeedway. It was a mix of the both and obviously I thought it was a great show and I thought the racing was fun to watch and be a part of. We’ll see where it takes us in the future.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing, cont.
Is this a package that could work on select race tracks?
“I think every track has a different characteristics and different things that can work for it. Obviously you don’t want to put restrictor plates on anything that we already – a mile or less – that would just really kill the racing. I think there could be a fight there with the car owners wanting to have simpler rules for all the race tracks. It’s tough to say, obviously we want the best race for the fans and that’s the most important thing. Whatever they want us to do, we’ll do.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 5-Hour Energy/Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
What happened to take you out of the race?
“Yeah, just not a whole lot of room going into (turn) three. You know we were four-wide on the restart there and just trying to get into three without getting crashed. I knew if we had a shot with 10 to go, we had a shot to win that thing and if I’d have lifted there, we would have never won it. That’s the way it works.”
What did you think of this race package tonight and what happened?
“This was the first time running this package and we had to gamble a little bit. We had to roll the dice a little bit and we were off when we came in. Had a lot to learn today and we used it well. The guys did a really good job with our car – pit stops were really good tonight again. We had a lot to be proud of, just sucks that we couldn’t finish it off. We had a really strong race car and felt like we maybe had a shot to win it, just four wide going into three there we all just ran out of room. The 17 (Ricky Stenhouse), I had him squeezed down so low, I just don’t know that he could hold it down there. I was trying to keep the 14 (Clint Bowyer) to my outside and just one those deals at the end of the race. I knew we had to get through that green-white-checkered to have a shot to win, but I also knew if I lifted there I would have been the only one that lifted and the others would have went on and passed me and we wouldn’t’ have won this thing, I hate it for everybody – all our guys and everybody back in Denver, thanks for a great race car – 5-hour Energy, Bass Pro and everybody that supports us. We put on a hell of a show at least while it lasted, that’s all I can say.”
