JOLIET, Ill. (September 20, 2015) – Camry driver Denny Hamlin claimed the first Chase race victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Chicagoland Speedway. The top four spots in the NSCS driver standings are held by the four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota drivers. Toyota driver Kyle Busch won Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Chicagoland while Tundra driver Timothy Peters earned a third-place finish in Saturday’s rain-postponed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Toyota driver Denny Hamlin was victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Chicagoland Speedway.
The victory marked Toyota’s 12th victory this year, 77th win in NSCS competition and was Hamlin’s second of the season. Hamlin started 29th and spun early in the race, but recovered to lead the field twice for nine laps (of 267) en route to a victory in the first of 10 Chase races. With the win, Hamlin is now locked into the next round (Challenger 12) of the Chase playoff.
Fellow Camry drivers Carl Edwards (second), Matt Kenseth (fifth) and Kyle Busch (ninth) also earned top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track.
Four of the five Camry drivers competing in the Chase – all four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers – are ranked first through fourth in the point standings after the first of 10 playoff races. Hamlin leads by two points over second-place Hamlin with Edwards (third) and Busch (fourth) also among the top-five. Clint Bowyer sits 15th after Chicagoland..
The Chase for the Sprint Cup continues next weekend with the ‘Challenger’ round at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next Sunday, Sept. 27.
Select Toyota NSCS Driver Quotes:
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
What was going through your mind on the final restart with all the cars with fresh tires behind you?
“It was 50-50 – I was going to get in there and hope that everything worked out. I want to thank this FedEx Ground team. This is unbelievable. Our Camry was so fast today. I told them when they changed it – they changed it to FedEx Ground just for this race because we needed consistency and reliability and that’s what FedEx Ground is and that’s what we were today. Coming back from a lap down – we had a fast car. We were running under green over and over and over and I thought we would never get back on the lead lap. Thanks to all of our partners at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) for building a fast race car. Everyone that helps support this. Can’t thank Sprint and the fans enough – this was a great race to start the Chase.”
How was your team able to recover from the spin and get you the win?
“We were passing the eighth-place car and we started in the back on that first green flag run, before I crashed so I knew there couldn’t be a lot of cars on the lead lap. Luckily, that one caution came out that allowed us to get the wave around and get back on the lead lap. We had a fast car and that was the most important thing. We stretched out there at the end even with no tires. I’m proud of this effort. The pit crew did a phenomenal job again and now we’re looking forward to the next round.”
How will you approach the next two races before the next round begins?
“It feels great and we’ll go have fun the next couple weeks, but the stress never ends of this Chase. You still have a long way to go.”
What did you think about the move you made to take the lead on the final restart?
“It was ballsy, but I’d been stuck so many times three-wide in the middle. The front cars almost have a disadvantage to the back cars the way it all plays out. We got a great restart and I just held it wide open through (turns) one and two and it stuck. We were able to get in that clean air and take off.”
Did you ever think you could be in victory lane after starting from the 29th position?
“I knew it was possible – we passed 10 cars before I went in there and spun out. This car was so fast today. Can’t say enough about this team, especially on the long runs where we were extremely fast. It’s great to have runs like this.”
Did you feel you would have a shot at the win when Dave Rogers told you to stay out on the final caution?
“I thought that if we could stay out on the front row we would have a great shot. The second row with tires on the outside, I wasn’t sure about our shot. You just have to make a move and hope it sticks.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How would you describe the first race of the Chase?
“We fought back. We did a good job. Everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) is working together. This is cool, an awesome day for everybody — just unbelievable. Denny (Hamlin) hung on tough at the end. I thought I had him. Great race with Kurt (Busch) — that was fun. I don’t think we could be more aggressive there. I just couldn’t clear him. I thought I was going to get him. Thanks to Stanley – all these sponsors – ARRIS, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Toyota, Sport Clips. I spent some time at the track this week that was great. I was having fun – this is great – it’s a good way to start.”
Were you concerned early in the race with the speeding penalty?
“I was really concerned. Darian (Grubb, crew chief) did a great job on the box. Everybody stayed cool and had fast pit stops. I have to thank Sprint for putting on this show – this is going to be a good Chase. That was a pretty racy race track. The crew did a good job and I had a good time.”
How important is it to start the Chase with a second-place finish?
“It’s good. I just can’t say enough about JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and everybody who puts all the work into this. I think I had some sort of engine happen at the beginning of the race, but that’s a Toyota for you, it got me home and the guys have been doing a great job. It’s a cool team effort. We’ve really rallied and we’re going to be tough.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How was your race?
“We didn’t run well today, really all weekend. We never were able to make it drive like we wanted it to and never found the speed that we wanted to. We were very, very fortunate to come home fifth. We had about a 15th-place car all day.”
How were you able to recover with a top-five finish?
“The last restart, we were on the bottom and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) made some good adjustments. They got all bottled up in turn one and I think I passed about eight of them on the first corner. It turned pretty good on that restart and starting on the bottom was an advantage for us. I slipped up the hill trying to drive Brad (Keselowski) or maybe we could have got one or two more, but can’t complain about that – way more than we should have.”
What was the handling of your Camry in the closing laps?
“We just couldn’t get the balance right all weekend.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
ADAM STEVENS, Crew Chief, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How was the race for the No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Camry team?
“We weren’t that great in practice. We had a pretty good M&M’s Crispy Camry the first part of the race and it got away from us a little bit. Probably a second or third place car. Certainly the second-to-last run we fell off a little bit in (turns) one and two and the 24 (Jeff Gordon) got around us. We caught the late caution and wanted some tires on it since we weren’t very good and just didn’t get a good restart and got passed by some cars. All-in-all it was a good points day. It showed we had speed and still got a top-10 out of it. These first three races in the first round – that’s what you need.”
Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions — at Chicagoland Speedway
1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, CARL EDWARDS
5th, MATT KENSETH
9th, KYLE BUSCH
15th, DAVID RAGAN
19th, CLINT BOWYER
35th, JJ YELEY
38th, JEB BURTON
39th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings — following Chicagoland Speedway*
1st, MATT KENSETH 2,052 points##
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN 2,050 points##
3rd, CARL EDWARDS 2,049 points##
4th, KYLE BUSCH 2,049 points##
15th, CLINT BOWYER 2,025 points##
25th, DAVID RAGAN 551 points
##competing in the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship
2015 Toyota NSCS WINS: 12 Busch – 4 (Indianapolis – 7.26.15, New Hampshire – 7.19.15, Kentucky – 7.11.15, Sonoma — 6.28.15); Kenseth – 4 (Bristol – 4.19.15, Pocono-2 – 8.2.15, Michigan-2 – 8.16.15, Richmond – 9.12.15); Edwards – 2 (Charlotte — 5.24.15, Darlington 9.6.15); Hamlin – 2 (Martinsville – 3.29.15, Chicagoland – 9.20.15)
Overall Toyota NSCS WINS (since 2007): 77
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Busch was victorious in Saturday night’s NASCAR XFINTY Series (NXS) race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Busch started from the pole position in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 54 Camry and led the field five times for 102 laps (of 200) to record his 74th career NXS win, continuing his series record. It was his 63rd series victory in a Toyota.
Camry driver Kenseth finished second and led the race five times for 84 laps after starting alongside Busch. Daniel Suarez also earned a top-10 with a sixth-place finish and led two laps.
Six Camry drivers are currently in the top-20 in the unofficial NXS point standings – Suarez (seventh), JJ Yeley (13th), David Starr (16th), Blake Koch (17th), Cale Conley (19th) and Eric McClure (20th).
The NXS returns to action next weekend at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Select Toyota NXS Driver Quotes:
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How was the battle for the win with Matt Kenseth?
“We had a very fast Camry here. Can’t say enough about Chris Gayle (crew chief). All the adjustments we made all night long to make the car better and better. That battle with Matt Kenseth, I don’t know. I thought when I got to him and I got clear of him and I drove away by a second-plus it was over and I can breathe a little bit and I tried to go back up to the top and I was loose up there. I just had to battle through that and try to beat him – he was right there.”
Did you think Matt Kenseth was going to challenge you for the win on the final lap?
“Once he lost his (Matt Kenseth) momentum off of (turn) four it was over. I can’t – that dive-bomb, that was crazy. I heard inside and was like, ‘Is that the 25 (John Wes Townley)?’ And I saw a black car and was like, ‘Oh, we’ll see how this goes.’ It was like that ole Carl Edwards move at Kansas on Jimmie Johnson there towards the end. I just got enough cut through the center of the corner that he was going to stop and block to get a run. That was some fun racing.”
What is it about you and Chicagoland Speedway that mixes so well?
“I don’t know. I wasn’t sure I was going to win this thing earlier with the way that 20 car (Matt Kenseth) was running, that Reser’s Camry was just flying. I told (Chris) Gayle (crew chief), they’re kicking our butt right now, we have to go to work and fix this thing. He did, he gave me some real good adjustments and got us an opportunity to race with the 20. That last run, he checked out about a second on me and I had nothing to lose so I tried something and went to the top and started to make the top work. Man, we were flying around this place in these things. The throttle – if I had an in car camera, it’s unbelievable what I have to do to get around this place. It’s a little scary, a little unnerving.”
How were you able to work the lap traffic on the closing laps?
“That was crazy. I didn’t know if I’d be able to beat Matt (Kenseth) tonight. That guy was so strong and really, really fast – that Reser’s Camry was quick. Early on in the night I told Chris Gayle (crew chief) that we had to go to work on our Monster Camry and get as good as theirs was. We made some good adjustments to it. We got a good opportunity there towards the middle of the race to battle with him a little bit to kind of show them we had a race going. That last run of the race, he got clear of traffic before I did. I brought him back down but couldn’t keep up with him in the groove. He was running and I just went to the top and gave it everything I had up there and made it work – I got by him and I checked out by a little bit. I thought I could breathe a little bit but he came back and started running the top like I was and got back to our rear bumper there. Crazy race there at the end – it was a lot of fun.”
Did you need to save fuel at the end of the race?
“I’m going to go with 50-50. We were saving (fuel) for sure to make sure we made it to the end because we were running some really, really fast high line that was a lot of throttle on time and sucking a lot of fuel there. The opportunity for us to run out of fuel was greater than it had been the rest of the night, but there towards the end Matt (Kenseth) made some ground back on me. I just kept working and trying to get that top groove going again when he started catching me. There at the end he got close and tried that old slide job. He made it a little too big I think, but I’m glad we didn’t crash both cars racing for the win.”
Did you get aggressive on pit road with adjustments during the race?
“We got aggressive on pit road, but we probably didn’t get aggressive enough before the race in order to make our car tight enough so we didn’t have to get as aggressive during the race. We had a fast car – this Monster Energy Camry was really good and really stout – we just needed to make sure it was right for me to drive.”
How was the battle with Matt Kenseth in the closing laps?
“When we all came and got tires with about 60 laps to go, obviously we weren’t clear to go to the end on fuel, so when we came down to top on fuel only to try to save that last set (of tires) in case you have a restart with 20 to go or so, but it never came. On that long run there of the race, (Matt) Kenseth got away from me a little bit – he was really fast. I just tried to move around – I went middle, I went high and finally up high was what worked best for me in my Monster Energy Camry. I was able to get some momentum running around the top and found some speed up there. I was able to run (Matt) Kenseth down, he had some trouble with lapped traffic a couple times and we were able to make the move by him. Once we got by him I gapped him by about a second and I thought we had this and could breathe. Then all of a sudden there with about 10 (laps) to go, he starts pushing again and coming to me. We were trying to save a little bit of fuel just to make sure we could make it to the end for as long as that was and for as fast as we were going with the amount of throttle on time we had around the top – it was pretty crazy. All in all, great race. Lot of fun racing Matt there. We battled hard there side-by-side racing on the front stretch, back stretch and we weren’t giving much room it didn’t seem. It was a battle to the end, especially with Matt coming with one (lap) to go through (turns) three and four he made a bold move and tried to do that slide job and just didn’t quite work. It was fun to see and race back and forth like that – hopefully it was a good show.”
CHRIS GAYLE, Crew Chief, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How important is fuel strategy?
“It was a pretty easy call when I think we had five green flag laps on our tires so to use the last set of tires and everybody knew it could go green and you’d have to come in and top off. We did that. I probably almost sent him (Kyle Busch) a little too early. It was right there and I thought we were good. I thought we were good on fuel to the end, but I saw him up top and they were so fast and had so much on throttle time that once we got to a second and second and a half gap, I was like, ‘Okay, let’s just maintain and do what we can to save fuel.” The last thing you want to do is to lead the thing by a second and a half and run him out of fuel when you could have saved some. That’s all we were trying to do was save towards the end in case we were using more fuel than expected.”
How much does JGR NXS programs share information from one team to another in house?
“We have a complete open book policy. I know exactly what they have, they know exactly what I have on the car to start the race. We keep up with adjustments that we make during the race. Exactly what they have might not be exactly what Kyle Busch needs and not what Denny Hamlin needs, so you’re still adjusting on it for what your driver needs that night.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Reser’s Main Street Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What did you have for your teammate Kyle Busch at the end of the NXS race?
“I just couldn’t get it all to work right, but I was trying. Thanks to Chase (Elliott) for giving us a lane at the end to race for the win there. The best car didn’t win tonight, but Kyle (Busch) did better driving than I did. We had a great Resers Camry, I just took too long trying to get to the top to make that work. I guess we got beat. These guys bring the fastest cars every week and we have one more shot to win at Kansas.”
Was it difficult to fight for the lead with Kyle Busch and lap traffic?
“The 9 (Chase Elliott) gave us a lane there, so I was getting it rolling there at the top and I chickened out. He just stayed right there in the way, which he has every right to race too, but it was hard to race for the win with him there, too. I did everything I could. I thought we had the best car, but Kyle (Busch) just did a better job driving than I did.”
Did the balance change when the sun went down?
“It changed quite a bit on the last stop. Doing fuel only changed our balance a little and that was – I was just too late to adapt and try the very top. We were so fast earlier and once the handle went away with 25 laps to go, I needed to get up there sooner. It takes a few laps to build that momentum and confidence to get some lap times but by the time I got there it was too late.”
How strong was the race car?
“I thought we had the best car all night. Kyle (Busch) was better on the short run than we typically were. We’d be better on the long run, but when the track got dark it changed a little bit. I was real aggressive on that restart and got the lead and I got a second on him and he was just better on the long run once it got to be nighttime and I was way too slow to adapt and try to get to the top, which he was making work to catch me. By the time I got up there and got my rhythm and got it moving a little bit, it was too late and he was already by me. I guess that’s it. Just had a great car again and Wheels (Mike Wheeler, crew chief) has been doing a great job with that 20 team and we’ve had the best cars. We just got beat by a better driver tonight. That’s disappointing, but we’ve had some fast cars and it’s been fun to drive.”
Did you learn anything that can be applied for tomorrow night?
“A little bit, except for tomorrow is a day race. The track changed a lot when it got to be nighttime. Maybe learned a little bit, but nothing major.”
How difficult was the lapped traffic in the closing laps?
“It would have been nice if they would have gotten the heck out of the way, I’ll tell you that. Chase (Elliott) was very courteous, he was already a lap down and he moved down and gave us the top because he knew that’s where we were racing and needed to be to make the run. Clyde Torkel (Stroker Ace movie reference), he just stuck it right between us and I got around him once and he passed me back when I was trying to race Kyle (Busch) for the win and that was disappointing. He might never be in that position, but if he ever is he’ll hope nobody races him like that, I know that for sure.”
How much does this track change year to year?
“The track changes, it’s a fair amount different, but the rules change and the cars change and your setups change so it’s hard to compare from year to year when you only come here once. Track’s definitely different. It’s been a little more sensitive than I recall. The first practice I thought was a lot different than the second practice. Hopefully, we’ll hit it right tomorrow.”
Toyota NXS Driver Finishing Positions — at Chicagoland Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, MATT KENSETH
6th, DANIEL SUAREZ
19th, JJ YELEY
21st, BLAKE KOCH
23rd, DAVID STARR
27th, ERIC McCLURE
33rd, CALE CONLEY
36th, BENNY GORDON
38th, TJ BELL
40th, JEFF GREEN
Toyota Drivers in NXS Point Standings — following Chicagoland Speedway*
7th, DANIEL SUAREZ 830 points (115 points behind leader Chris Buescher)
13th, JJ YELEY 622 points
16th, DAVID STARR 561 points
17th, BLAKE KOCH 518 points
19th, CALE CONLEY 486 points
20th, ERIC MCCLURE 445 points
*unofficial point standings
2015 Toyota NXS WINS: 9 Busch – 4 (Michigan – 6.13.15, Indianapolis – 7.25.15, Bristol – 8.21.15, Chicagoland – 9.19.15); Hamlin – 3 (Richmond – 4.24.15, New Hampshire – 7.18.15, Darlington – 9.6.15); Jones – 2 (Texas – 4.10.15, Chicagoland – 6.21.15)
Overall Toyota NXS WINS (since 2007): 107
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Tundra driver Timothy Peters (third) was the top-finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s rain-postponed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Chicagoland Speedway. John Hunter Nemechek won the postponed event, rescheduled from Friday night due to rain.
Peters started from the fifth position and raced with the leaders to earn his ninth top-10 finish of the season.
Tundra drivers Suarez (fourth), Johnny Sauter (fifth), Erik Jones (sixth) and Matt Tifft (ninth) also recorded top-10 results at Chicagoland.
Tundra drivers led 96 laps (of 150) at the 1.5-mile oval with Peters (41 laps), Suarez (3 laps) and Sauter (52 laps) all taking turns in the front of the field.
Jones currently leads the unofficial NCWTS point standings by 10 points over second-place Tyler Reddick following Chicagoland. Tundra drivers Matt Crafton (third), Sauter (fourth), Cameron Hayley (sixth), Peters (seventh) and Ben Kennedy (10th) are also in the top-10 in the point standings after 16 of the 23 events in 2015.
The NCWTS returns to action next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Select Toyota NCWTS Driver Quotes:
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How strong was the truck today?
“Definitely a great Red Horse Tundra here today. When we came down pit road under the green flag and the caution came out, it was the right call to go through so we didn’t get caught a lap down. This is what this team is about right here, we’ve really worked hard and we’re coming into our own right now. Just proud of Marcus (Richmond, crew chief) and all the guys on this crew did an awesome job. Not a bad day for us.”
What was going through your mind when the team wanted you to conserve fuel?
“It’s just the way the trucks are built. You can’t change it unless a caution comes out. I saw rain – whatever I could see I was radioing back in. It was a great run for our Tundra today. Thanks to the guys back at the shop and Triad motors and all the guys here – pit road was awesome. This is what this team is all about. We’ve been hit or miss but I feel like we came into our zone. We’ll get on a roll and we have seven more opportunities to go to victory lane.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 51 ARRIS Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 4th
How difficult is it to conserve fuel in the closing laps when you’re so close to your first career NASCAR win?
“It was a difficult race overall. Too many issues with the radio and communication. Everyone did a great job to come back and fix everything, all the problems. For me, it’s pretty crazy that we started with the race with one helmet and we finished with another one. The same situation with the radio. My truck, I feel like I had the fastest truck out there. We made more passes than everyone else. We had a lot of fun. We led some laps and we were strong. That’s the most important thing. In the end, I wish we could have gambled a little bit more with the fuel, but when they were telling me to save, I wasn’t saving because we didn’t have perfect communication right there because of the radio. I feel like Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) made the right call and we survived with a top-five.”
How will you prepare for the XFINITY race later this afternoon?
“Eat, I think that is the most important thing is to try to get some food. Try to get a little rest if I can and if I can do that then I will be fine. I really feel like we are going to be good if I can take care of my food time and get a little bit of rest. Everything is good. I feel like I have an advantage actually because now I know how everything is going to work out with the NASCAR XFINITY race. Let’s see how everything happens and hopefully it can work out to our advantage.”
What did you learn from today’s race that you can use for the XFINITY race?
“My XFINITY car is really good – I’m very happy with the way that my team has been working on my ARRIS Toyota Camry. It’s strong and it’s fast on the short run and the long runs so hopefully we can keep it up. I thought the same thing about my truck and I felt like we did a pretty good job. We were fast and we were running in the front and it was good. I felt like we learned some good stuff about the race track and how it’s going to change during the race, which line is going to work out better, how you’re going to be able to make some passes. Let’s see how everything works out and for now, take some food and move forward for qualifying.”
What happened on pit road with so many penalties today?
“We were too fast I guess. We’re just trying to push the limits so hard and when you play the game sometimes you can lose. That’s exactly what happened a couple times for us. The first time we came to pit road I was pretty much at the limit and I saw the 00 (Kyle Larson), he was a little faster than me so I felt like I was safe and he should be speeding and looks like we were both speeding. Definitely wasn’t what we wanted, but after that we had some issues and we had to come back to pit road to fix some communication. Overall, we were very lucky that we had a super-fast truck, maybe the fastest one I believe. We were able to make some ground back.”
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Smokey Mountain/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How wild of a race was it out there?
“The race track was eventful as always and the groove moved around. This place has obviously developed a lot of character over the years. What a great Nextant Aerospace Toyota today. I’m so proud of these guys at ThorSport. Just a great truck. We ran out of fuel on pit road about halfway down on caution and we obviously lost a lot of track position and just couldn’t get it back. We got back to second and lost a little bit, I got a little bit too tight. Shame on me for not trying to keep up with the race I guess. It was a solid day and I’m proud of these guys. It’s an okay thing with a top-five finish, but I felt like we had the truck to beat yesterday after practice and tried to manage expectations and it just didn’t go our way today. We just have to be a little bit sharper.”
ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 6th
What made it so difficult to pass in the race?
“It’s just this tire. We struggled with it and it’s a shame, it just doesn’t put on a great show. You saw that if you got out front, it was kind of that you stayed there and ran out front. It’s just a product of the tire and what it did at Texas earlier this year. Our Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra was good, we just missed it a little bit. We just missed that piece that would have made us better – just a little bit out of the race track all day and never could quite get it to where we wanted it to be. It’s interesting when it’s fuel mileage. It takes a lot of fuel and a lot of luck to win one of these things. I’m happy for John Hunter (Nemechek), that’s pretty cool to see for him. We’ll go on to the next one.”
How frustrating was it to have to pit for fuel knowing how strong the truck was in the closing laps?
“It was just an interesting day to say the least. Kind of went back and forth on setup stuff and ended up getting a speeding penalty there, obviously my fault and we went to the back. I fought back from that and ended up sixth today so that’s a decent day for us. Need to keep running top-10, top-five and we’ll be alright. It’s a shame we weren’t a little bit better, wish we could have contended there. I think if we had one more stop where we could have put tires on and been up front on that restart then we might have been able to get a little bit better. Just the way it played out and we’ll go onto the next one.”
MATT TIFFT, No. 54 NASCAR ’15 Victory Edition Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 9th
How was the race overall today?
“Had to go to the back because we changed a motor – we wanted to be precautious with the water in there that we found last night so that was a good call. Had to start from the back and there on that first run, we had some communication problems with the radio, but we got that fixed by the first caution and came in and made some really good adjustments. The second run, the long run we picked up a lot of spots. We got to the end and it was just kind of weird pit strategy going on and fuel mileage strategy. Worked out to get a top-10 – just a very strange strategy ending there for sure.”
Toyota NCWTS Driver Finishing Positions — at Chicagoland Speedway
1st, John H. Nemecheck
3rd, TIMOTHY PETERS
4th, DANIEL SUAREZ
5th, JOHNNY SAUTER
6th, ERIK JONES
9th, MATT TIFFT
12th, BEN KENNEDY
14th, MATT CRAFTON
16th, CAMERON HAYLEY
30th, JESSE LITTLE
Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings — following Chicagoland Speedway*
1st, ERIK JONES 628 points (10 points ahead of second-place Tyler Reddick)
3rd, MATT CRAFTON 617 points
4th, JOHNNY SAUTER 576 points
6th, CAMERON HAYLEY 517 points
7th, TIMOTHY PETERS 512 points
10th, BEN KENNEDY 483 points
*unofficial point standings
WINS: 9 Crafton (4) – Atlanta (Feb. 28), Kansas (May 8), Texas (June 5), Kentucky (July 9); Jones (2) – Iowa (June 19), Canadian Tire (Aug. 30); Bell (1) – Eldora (July 22); Busch (2) – Pocono (Aug. 1), Michigan (Aug. 15)
Overall Toyota NCWTS WINS (since 2007): 139
