HAMLIN TAKES TOYOTA TO THE WIN IN HOMESTEAD
Denny Hamlin earns his 40th Cup Series victory
HOMESTEAD, Florida (June 14, 2020) – Denny Hamlin won the first two stages and drove his Camry to the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday evening. It was the third win of the year for Hamlin (Daytona International Speedway – February, Darlington Raceway – May) and the 40th for his NCS career. Toyota won its fourth NCS event of this season and took the victory in three of the four races contested at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. Christopher Bell (eighth) also scored a career-best finish.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 12 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, Chase Elliott*
3rd, Ryan Blaney*
4th, Tyler Reddick*
5th, Aric Almirola*
6th, KYLE BUSCH
8th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
12th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
21st, ERIK JONES
31st, DANIEL SUÁREZ
34th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
You stated on the radio that this is a championship-winning team performance. How important is this win with Chris Gabehart back on the pitbox?
“Definitely. Our car was really good. This is a setup based off of what we had in the fall here last year going for the championship. Had a strong car all day. Obviously with the laps led and was able to get around Chase (Elliott) there at the end. This whole FedEx team has just done a phenomenal job. This Camry is real special. Have to thank Coca-Cola, Jordan Brand, FedEx and all of our partners. Everyone at JGR for putting together great race cars and keep digging to make ourselves a little bit better.”
Did you feel patience would pay off and Chase Elliott would come back to you after the last pit stop?
“I didn’t know. It seems like the end of these races are Chase’s best suit. I knew that if I was just patient and ran the pace that I wanted and the pace I was comfortable with, we were going to be hard to beat in the long run.”
Describe the last segment and the racing with Chase Elliott.
“I knew with three runs to go, my crew chief (Chris Gabehart) was giving me lap times and saying that the 9 (Chase Elliott) had good stuff going when we had that big lead. Really, I think our strong suit was being able to run a good lap time no matter where we were on the track. He was able to short pit us there. I wasn’t able to come to pit road, I kind of missed pit road there and he was able to get us on that cycle. I just knew if I ran the pace I knew I needed to save the tires that I was going to be good in the long run.”
How important was this win to bounce back after Martinsville?
“This team fights for sure. My crew chief and myself had an hour-and-a-half phone call after Martinsville talking about how we’re going to go to work and keep fighting. This is a good response to a week like that.”
How do you feel about where your team stands looking at the big picture of a championship?
“We’re obviously in great position. We gained seven bonus points for the Playoffs. The driver gave away one at Bristol or else we would have four wins right now. I’ll take every win I can, let’s just keep piling them up.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 95 Rheem/Smurfit Kappa Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
You had a tough draw in qualifying, and then just continued to move forward all evening. Talk about your career-best run.
“Our Rheem Camry was really, really loose to start the night and then Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) did a great job adjusting on it got it pretty close to where I was happy and then we were able to pick our way though there. The races are so long – there are so many yellows – that I really wasn’t worried about our starting position. I knew that if we had a car that was good; we were going to get up front.”
What has changed at LFR over the last couple of races? The finishes have been solid and you seem to be marching forward.
“I think that it’s all just coming together. There was a lot of adjustment over the off season with Jason coming on board, the new partnership with (Joe) Gibbs, so it was just tough to get on the same page. I’m not going to say that we’re ready to make the next step, but at least we are being competitive the majority of weeks and we just have to keep it up.”
With another top 10 in the books, how do you feel about going to Talladega next weekend?
“Talladega’s not my favorite style of racing. You have to take that one with a grain of salt, and get back to work going into Pocono.”
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About Toyota
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