Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 7 of 36 – 501 miles, 334 laps
March 31, 2019
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, Clint Bowyer*
3rd, Daniel Suarez*
4th, ERIK JONES
5th, Jimmie Johnson*
10th, KYLE BUSCH
12th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
26th, MATT DIBENEDETTO
27th, PARKER KLIGERMAN
38th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS
1st, KYLE BUSCH 310 points
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN 302 points
3rd, Kevin Harvick* 277 points
4th, Joey Logano* 275 points
5th, Aric Almirola* 245 points
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR 232 points
16th, ERIK JONES 173 points
24th, MATT DIBENEDETTO 104 points
*no-Toyota driver
Camry driver Denny Hamlin was victorious in Sunday afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) event at Texas Motor Speedway.
Hamlin led three times for 45 laps (of 334) en route to his second win of the season after winning the Daytona 500 in February.
The win marks Hamlin’s third-career victory at Texas and the seventh Cup Series victory for Toyota at the 1.5-mile track.
Camry drivers have won four of the first seven MENCS races to start the season.
Fellow Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Erik Jones (fourth), Kyle Busch (10th) and Martin Truex Jr. (12th) also earned top-12 finishes at Texas.
In addition to Hamlin, Busch led a race-high 66 laps, while Jones was out front of the field for 30 laps and Truex led 10 laps, placing all Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys out front during the 500-mile event.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How were you able to get the win today at Texas?
“Just a fast car. Gave me a fast car, a car that could really pass anyone in the field. That means a lot. Definitely was a different type of race here, trying to draft, trying to get out of everyone’s wake. Proud of this whole FedEx Office team here, Toyota, Coca‑Cola, the Jordan Brand, Little Big Burger, everyone who helps put this race car on the race track. Joe Gibbs, J.D. Gibbs, still thinking about him and his legacy. Have to say hi to Jordan and the kids at home. Hopefully we have some fun tonight.”
How did you pull off the win today?
“Our car was really, really fast. We obviously saw that. Once we got out front, we were actually able to pull away from the pack a little bit. Just got a little bit loose right there when we were racing our teammates with the 18 (Kyle Busch) and the 20 (Erik Jones), so I wasn’t able to be as aggressive as I was earlier in the race. We had a super-fast car and that’s why we won. I missed pit road under green, that cost us three or four seconds as well. We tried every way we could to just give it away and we found a way to do it with this FedEx Camry.”
How did you overcome all the adversity today with the pit road penalties?
“I told them when I was making my way through the pack, I know this really sucks because we’re probably not going to win with the fastest car. It was fun passing all those cars, it really was. We had a fast FedEx Camry and we just took advantage of the cards that were given to us. We had to get a little off sequence there with all the penalties that we had and then I missed pit road under green. That cost us three or four seconds. I don’t know, we had such a fast car and that’s how we were able to make up time there at the end.”
How are you assessing your season to date?
“We’ve been fast all year, this is not surprising for us. We know we’ve been fast all year and I’m sure we’re probably leading the points now. We’re on a roll. We just have to keep it going.”
ERIK JONES, No. 20 Craftsman Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How would you access your race today?
“It was good. We had a really good Craftsman Camry, but I put us behind there at the start getting myself in trouble spinning out. I was in a weird spot with fuel and what we needed to do. We needed to take more fuel than everybody else and ended up losing the lead there on that green flag cycle. It’s a good day, but it’s disappointing at the same time. We knew we had a car that could’ve won and to not capitalize on that is frustrating, but it’s also nice to get on track and have some good runs again.”
Did you think it was your opportunity to win the race when Kyle Busch fell back?
“Yeah, he (Kyle Busch) was really good. I thought we were pretty equal depending kind of who was out front. I think we could both run pretty much wide open out front and both of us were having to lift a little bit behind each other. I knew he was loose, and I was just hoping if I kept the pressure on him, he’d make a mistake and fortunately he did. I knew we were in a good spot. The 11 (Denny Hamlin) was fast, but I thought we had a good enough car to keep it up there, but it just didn’t play out for us.”
How was the VHT on the outside?
“I thought it was really a good edition. It was a lot better than previous races here since the repave. You could go up there. I made some passes on the outside of (turns) one and two today and (turns) three and four. So, I thought it was good. I hope we can continue that.”
Did you feel that was the run your team needed today?
“Yeah, it was. We had a rough few weeks from really Las Vegas on, so it’s just nice to get back on track and have a good run. It’s good and it’s frustrating at the same time. We had a car that probably had a shot at the win, and I put us in a hole early. We’ll keep going, though. We learned a lot today. It was our first really good race with this package on a mile-and-a-half so that’s a positive.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
What happened to make you lose the lead late in the race?
“We actually made an adjustment to tighten up the car in order to have it be a little bit more under control for the end of the race there and it just busted loose on me. I was just trying to hustle and keep the lap time going and keep the distance to those guys behind me, and it just didn’t work out. It just snapped on me. Luckily, we caught it and was able to get back rolling again, and then just fighting it there behind those guys in dirty air and I got in the wall off of (turn) two. I hate it for all of my guys and everybody that works so hard. They deserve to win, they should’ve won and threw it away.”
How different is the handling of the car in the dirty air?
“It’s pretty different. Just as hard as you’re hustling through the corners and you’re trying to run as close to wide open as you can, and sometimes your car needs that downforce and it needs that air to be on top of it in order to make sure you have that grip. We just didn’t have it there a couple of times.”
Did the car just come out from under you when you were leading?
“It just broke loose. I kind of felt it getting a little bit freer as we were going there, and you’re still trying to hustle as hard as you can and get all you can through the corners in order to keep your lap time going…and it just busted loose on me, and I had to catch it and make sure we didn’t crash. First and foremost, we did that, and then I got back inline and got rolling and started gaining back on those guys in front of us, but the looseness was still there, and then I had to chase it on exit of (turn) two one time behind the 10 (Aric Almirola) and just knocked the fence down. I hate it for my guys. We made an adjustment there to tighten it up going into that run, and we got looser. Just something to learn from there. Overall, thanks to Interstate Batteries and M&M’s. We’ll get them next week.”
