BUSCH, HAMLIN DRIVE TO TOP-FIVE FINISHES IN FIRST POCONO EVENT
Kyle Busch scores two runner-up finishes at Pocono on Saturday
LONG POND, Pa. (June 26, 2021) – Kyle Busch (second) and Denny Hamlin (fourth) scored top-five finishes in the Pocono Organics CBD 325 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Pocono Raceway
Race 18 of 36 – 130 laps, 325 miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Alex Bowman*
2nd, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, William Bryon*
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, Ryan Blaney*
14th, BUBBA WALLACE
17th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
18th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
35th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Mini’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Second in the truck race, and second here. You had a good view of what happened in front of you, but what more did you need today?
“Just more front turn. Our cars kind of die tight in traffic, and just wasn’t able to turn as well as I needed too late in the going in order to get a run on them. I couldn’t even get any closer than I was. I was trying like hell to get there and get into that mix, but I couldn’t even get there. I was just hindered by traffic and dirty air, stuff like that. Ben (Beshore, crew chief) and the guys gave me a great piece. It was fast early on. We made minimal changes to it all day long, so when you are well-balanced, and your car is good – that’s as much as we have for them right now. Last week we saw that we were off just a little bit, and we got our ass kicked. We certainly have some work forward, and trying to find some more, but thanks to everyone on this M&M’s Minis Toyota Camry. The guys did a great job. Thanks to Rowdy Energy, Stanley, Interstate Batteries and Rheem. We will get back after them tomorrow.”
Once you lost track position, how hard was it to get it back?
“It was just impossible to pass. We were a tick – just a little bit – slower than (Kyle) Larson and we were able to hold him off. The 48 (Alex Bowman) held him off forever and finally the 5 (Kyle Larson) got by and got away by 20 lengths or so. I was just dying tight behind those guys. I just could not do anything in traffic. We were just struggling in traffic. We don’t have what we need to slice through traffic. Everybody’s hindered, but it seems like us a little bit more. Everybody on this M&M’s Mini Toyota Camry team did a good job. We made some good calls and had a fast car from the start. A good handling race car. It felt good. We made small adjustments to it all day long and that’s all we had to run with those Hendrick cars again. Best in class. Thanks to Rowdy Energy, Stanley, Interstate Batteries and Rheem. We will go get them again tomorrow.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What more did you need today Denny?
“Track position. We had the fastest car. Just that restart – I had the chance to start on the inside, but we just couldn’t accelerate on the restarts. I thought the smart move was to start on the outside in the third lane, so we could go, and it turns out we should have gone to the bottom. Our FedEx Camry wasn’t good on the restarts coming through the gears, so I don’t know that we would have got past the 18 (Kyle Busch) like the 48 (Alex Bowman) did, but I thought we had the fastest car, but we just could never really show it. We were running down that front pack big time, but it was a little bit too little, too late.”
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