Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race 13 of 36 – 600 miles, 400 laps
May 26, 2019
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, MARTIN TRUEX JR
2nd, Joey Logano*
3rd, KYLE BUSCH
4th, Chase Elliott*
5th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*
17th, DENNY HAMLIN
26th, PARKER KLIGERMAN
32nd, JOEY GASE
39th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
40th, ERIK JONES
*non-Toyota driver
Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. tallied his third victory of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season in the longest race of the season – the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Truex led 116 laps (of 400) on the way to his second 600-mile race victory at Charlotte.
Toyota driver Kyle Busch also claimed a top-five finish with a third-place result.
The win marks the eighth victory for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota in the 2019 Cup Series season – Truex (three wins), Denny Hamlin (two wins) and Busch (three wins).
TOYOTA QUOTES
MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker / USO Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
You’re a two-time winner of the longest race of the year. You really earned this one today, didn’t you?
“I don’t know how we did it honestly. I blew that right-front tire earlier and hit the fence off (Turn) 4. I thought man, that’s not good. I know this car is pretty banged up. We just fought back from it. We kept working on the car and kept adjusting on the car. What a rocket ship this Bass Pro Toyota was this weekend. I felt good about it in practice, but you just don’t know and these mile-and-a-halfs have been tough on us this year – kind of scratching and clawing trying to find something. Kansas a few weeks ago was really a reality check for us. It’s one of our best tracks and we really struggled there and knew we had to get to work. Just hats off to the guys for listening to my input and what I had to say. We had a pretty good car at the All-Star race last weekend, but we knew it wasn’t good enough. They went to work this week and made it better. I’m just really proud, really happy for everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) back in the shop, Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Auto Owners, everybody that helps us here. The TRD (Toyota Racing Development, U.S.A.) engine was unbelievable tonight. We overheated early when we had that damage and it held together. I don’t know what else to say. Just an awesome team. I’m blessed to drive for JGR. Thanks to Coach (Gibbs) and everybody. It’s been awesome.”
A special celebration for Coach Joe Gibbs being selected for the Hall of Fame this week as well.
“It’s unbelievable to think a guy can be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. It just tells you how special he is. I’m super honored to drive for him and for his team and what he’s built there. Hopefully I can continue to deliver what he hired me for.”
What does this race mean to you being held on Memorial Day weekend?
“(Chief Petty Officer) Nicholas Null, the armed service member that lost his life, he’s on our car. Really special. I got to meet some of his family today and they were just so honored that the teams and NASCAR did this. Just what a special day. What a special weekend. That’s really what it’s all about. This victory is just a little bit extra special.”
Is there a more special weekend to win?
“I don’t know. This is just a special race. The longest race of the year. So much history. What this weekend means for all the soldiers and all those that have given the ultimate sacrifice so we can even be here. The Null Family that’s on my car – Chief Petty Officer (Nicholas) Null. I met his family this weekend and they were so appreciative of NASCAR and teams and everybody for doing this. I can’t wait to see them here. They said we were going to win and now we get to have a cold beer and celebrate. Just appreciate everybody on this weekend. It’s definitely a special one. Kudos to NASCAR and all the teams for putting it all together.”
At what point did you feel like you had a car that could win?
“Before I hit the fence the first time – before I blew a tire there. Early I was like man, this thing is unbelievable and then it was really tight. We had to just keep freeing it up and then we got too loose and then we just went back on an adjustment. Thanks to Cole (Pearn, crew chief) and all the guys. James (Small, engineer) and just everybody back in the shop. The TRD (Toyota Racing Development, U.S.A) engines are just incredible. We’re gaining on it. Just really thankful. I have to say hi to Sherry (Pollex). She stayed home taking care of our dog. He’s been a little bit sick. Love you babe. See you in a little bit.”
Did you feel Joey Logano on your bumper there on the final restart?
“I did feel the rear tires on the ground, I’ll tell you that much. Just trying to hold it straight and not let him get on my outside going into (Turn) 1. That’s just kind of what I was trying to do. What a race. Up and down. You never know what can happen in these things. We were so good early on, blew that tire, hit the fence and I’m like we’re done. How are we going to fix this thing? I didn’t know how bad it was. The guys worked hard and fixed it up. Bass Pro Shops, Auto Owners, TRD (Toyota Racing Development, U.S.A), Toyota, everybody, thanks to them to make this happen. This guy (Johnny Morris) is really special to me – Johnny Morris. Without him I wouldn’t be here.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Red, White and Blue Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Describe the final restart with five laps to go.
“I don’t really know what all went down. Just trying to find holes and trying to make room and trying to make ground on guys that we were around. I thought we had a second-place car tonight. If we would have gotten in behind the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.), I never would have passed him. I thought I could get the 22 (Joey Logano), but the 22 was fast at the end. I don’t know. Frustrating for how challenging it is. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining about that, but overall our M&M’s Camry was fast. It had good speed, just not the 19-car speed. I don’t know what the 19 had different than us, but they were way faster.”
What did you feel like you were missing here tonight?
“I don’t know. I thought that through much of the race we had a fast car. We were there. We led some laps. We ran around – the 4 (Kevin Harvick) was fast, 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) was fast. The 19 was the fastest car. I’m not sure what they had different than us. Obviously we were just off a little bit. Otherwise, I felt like we had a race-winning car capable of at least running second. Overall, the red white and blue M&M’s Camry was fast. We brought it home where we should have – close anyways I think. If you want to support the USO go get some red, white and blue M&M’s bags made through August. We’re going to be donating money and the proceeds go to the USO.”
Do you take away any trends on the race?
“Loose in the daylight, still loose in the darkness. Finally we got it tightened up there. For some reason with this package for me it’s way too loose or too tight. I can’t find a happy medium of where I need to be and I can’t make up time when I’m either too loose or too tight. I can run laps with those guys and obviously when you’re backing it in the fence, that’s a lot harder to control than pushing up to it.”
ERIK JONES, No. 20 Reser’s Main Street Bistro Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 40th
What happened to take you out of the race?
“We just blew a right-front. There was no real warning. It’s unfortunate. We had a pretty good car. The Reser’s Camry was moving forward and driving really well. I was trying to get some track position and work my way to the front. It sucks. It’s a long race and we are obviously out of it early.”
Talk about what happened to you out there.
“We had a really good Reser’s Camry. I think we were in a really good position to work our way forward and just lost a tire. That hasn’t happened to me in a long time so it’s just unfortunate. I don’t know if we ran something over. It’s a bummer, you don’t want to be out of the 600 this early and we had a car that could have contended today. Just have to go back to work and go get them next week.”
