Toyota Racing Post-Qualifying Report
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Chicagoland Speedway – June 29, 2019
TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
1st, Austin Dillon*
2nd, Kevin Harvick*
3rd, Daniel Hemric*
4th, Jimmie Johnson*
5th, Kurt Busch*
9th, DENNY HAMLIN
17th, KYLE BUSCH
18th, MARTIN TRUEX JR
21st, ERIK JONES
30th, MATT DIBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver
NOTE: Qualifying positions are tentative based on Sunday morning technical inspection.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Qualifying Position: 9th
What are your expectations for tomorrow’s race?
“We’re pretty happy with the car. Overall, we’re pretty happy with it and we’ll race from where we qualify, but certainly happy with how we practiced today and the adjustments we made.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Qualifying Position: 18th
How is the race car for tomorrow?
“I really don’t know to be honest. We had a weird practice where we were on one side of the fence and kept working on it. We didn’t really get to where we wanted to go and then all of the sudden we made one change and it went to the other side. It was kind of a weird day, hard to explain so not sure what we have. It seemed like the laps we did have that were decent, we had decent speed. We just have to get the balance right for tomorrow and I think we’ll be okay in the long run.”
Do you expect the high groove or low groove to be more competitive tomorrow?
“Little bit of everything. I think wherever the guy in front of you is not. Pick your spots like we’ve been trying to figure out with this package. I feel like the best car will probably win the race on the bottom. To get there is going to take a lot of different lanes. We’ll just have to see how it all plays out.”
ERIK JONES, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Qualifying Position: 21st
How does your car feel for tomorrow’s race?
“It was good. Overall, qualifying at the mile-and-a-halves now is kind of dry. It felt good, drove good. We kind of ended up qualifying where we thought we would in practice. We struggled with it a little bit. I think our DeWalt Camry ended up being pretty close and just a couple adjustments away. We came a long way in a short time. It was a positive and I think we’ll race good tomorrow in the heat.”
Do you expect the high line or the low line to be more competitive tomorrow?
“I don’t know, it’s tough to say. With this package, it’s hard to get a feel for it in practice. I think you’ll see some guys up there and I think you’ll see the dominant guys probably being on the bottom and making their cars work down there.”
