Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS)
Dover International Speedway
Race 5 of 23 – 200 miles, 200 laps
May 3, 2019
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Johnny Sauter*
2nd, Brett Moffitt*
3rd, HARRISON BURTON
4th, Grant Enfinger*
5th, Matt Crafton*
7th, AUSTIN HILL
8th, DEREK KRAUS
9th, TYLER ANKRUM
11th, RAPHAËL LESSARD
13th, BRANDON JONES
15th, TODD GILLILAND
17th, NATALIE DECKER
23th, BRENNAN POOLE
30th, KORBIN FORRISTER
*non-Toyota driver
Tundra driver Harrison Burton scored his best finish of the season and tied his career-best result.
Tundra driver Derek Kraus earned his second top 10 finish in three career starts.
TOYOTA QUOTES
HARRISON BURTON, No. 18 Safelite Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 3rd
How was the race today?
“It was an up and down day for sure. We had a really good Tundra in the second-half of the race and had a chance to win. Made some moves that put us in position to win, but it just never panned out. I got in second behind Ben Rhodes there that last little bit. Just couldn’t get by him. I should have tried the top, but I ran the bottom thinking he would slip up on two tires, but he never did. He stayed committed to the bottom and I got passed on the top. We lost track position there and that put us in the hole for the finish. Always a learning experience. I thought this was a good race for us to rebound from Texas. Come out of here with good stage points and a good finish and move on to Kansas, which is one of my favorite race tracks.”
What was it like going three-wide at Dover?
“It’s fun. I had an up and down kind of day and was trying to make up for some mistakes in the past. I think that if anyone had the run that I did, they would try it and if not, then I don’t think they should be out here. It’s kind of what race car drivers do, we do things that probably aren’t smart, but they’re fun. I enjoy that and enjoy that opportunity to have a truck good enough to get runs like that and put it three-wide.”
Did you get any tips from Kyle Busch on the radio today?
“Kyle (Busch, team owner) was on our radio a lot today and helping me with restarts and stuff. I guess I should listen to him more, the more he talked it seemed the better we got. That’s something that was really helpful today was to have Kyle on our radio helping us and kind of coaching me along. That was definitely a good thing.”
AUSTIN HILL, No. 16 TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing Enterprises
Finishing Position: 7th
Talk about your race today; another solid top ten finish.
“We were just too loose all day. I thought as the rubber got put on it would tighten up, so the first pit stop we did not make that many adjustments. As the run went, the track just got looser and looser and we just didn’t keep up with it very well. We took a big swing at it after the second stage was over and it put a dent in it. Whenever we had that caution after the long green flag run, we pitted and made a big swing at it. When we pitted that time, I sped on pit road. I have to go back and think about it. I didn’t think I sped. I was right on my lights. I guess it could have bumped up there a little bit right there. All-in-all it was a good day. Coming from the back, it did not seem like many people could pass and we were able to drive back from 20th and get back up to seventh. I think after those adjustments we had a top five truck. It was just so hard to pass once we got up to seventh. I knew we were better than the 99. He was just holding a tight line on the bottom, and I kept getting tight. The aero game here is so huge. I can’t thank HRE, Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) enough, along with Jack (Irving, TRD) and Tyler (Gibbs, TRD) with everything they have done with the Toyota program. It has been awesome. We will just go back to the drawing board and go from there. Seventh’s not bad but we want to win.”
DEREK KRAUS, No. 19 ENEOS/NAPA FILTERS Toyota Tundra, Bill McAnally Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
How was the race for you today?
“Track position was huge. We fell back to outside the top-15 at one point and made our way back up. Then finished eighth at the end of the race. Track position was big and with the aero, you had to stay behind someone or get out in front of someone else’s air. That was definitely big. Dover is definitely it’s own animal – when they say this place is Bristol on steroids, they mean it. It’s a fast track and feels like a gorilla is on your back pushing down in the corners.”
