KANSAS CITY, Kansas (October 18, 2015) – Toyota drivers earned two top-five finishes in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race – including a runner-up result by Denny Hamlin and a fifth-place showing by Kyle Busch – and Busch was victorious in the NASCAR XFINITY Series event on Saturday at Kansas Speedway.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Camry driver Denny Hamlin finished second as the top Toyota at Kansas Speedway in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race, which was won by Joey Logano.
Hamlin started fifth and picked up his seventh top-five result in the last nine NSCS races.
Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Kyle Busch (fifth) also secured a top-five finish and Carl Edwards (eighth) earned a top-10 at the 1.5-mile race track.
Matt Kenseth (14th) dominated much of the race, leading a race-high 153 laps (of 269), but finished deep in the field after contact from race-winner Logano in the closing laps while leading the race.
After five of 10 Chase races, Camry drivers Hamlin (second, 3082 points), Edwards (fourth, 3076), Busch (ninth, 3064) and Kenseth (12th, 3035) rank among the top-12 drivers competing for the NSCS championship. Hamlin trails leader Logano by 13 points.
The NSCS next competes at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, Oct. 25 for the sixth race of the Chase championship playoff. The Talladega race marks the third and final event in the ‘Contender 12’ which is the second of three eliminator rounds in NASCAR’s 10-race postseason.
Select Toyota NSCS Driver Quotes:
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How was your race overall?
“It was an interesting day for sure. We definitely fought our car early today, just couldn’t do anything and battled back our track position. It’s so hard to pass, we just fought the car and made it better and had some good restarts. The pit crew picked us up a few spots and next thing you know we are trying to battle for a win. It was a great day for our FedEx Express Camry. I’ve never been so disappointed to be second at Kansas, I would have taken second and ran with it before this weekend started.”
What was the final restart like from your vantage point?
“The 22 (Joey Logano) went early, right at the beginning of the zone. I had a hunch that he was going to go a little early. The gearing wasn’t quite good enough to get me a launch there and the 22 was able to clear us and that was pretty much it.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How were you able to recover from early race issues for a top-five finish?
“We just kept fighting, kept trying to persevere through everything that was thrown at us. The guys did a great job today. I was trying to run the top like those guys and make speed up there like they were and I slipped in the oil that was off turn two, I just didn’t get enough off the corner. I can’t say enough about everyone, this M&M’s Camry was awesome today. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and the guys did a really good job repairing the right side and gave us really good adjustments all day. About got us behind there, but late in the going I must have had an exhaust issue or something and just started laying down the power. I was hoping it would go green and we’d salvage a seventh, but with the restarts there we were able to get a fifth out of the thing. Real proud of a top-five at Kansas. In case everyone wasn’t sure, Halloween is coming up and you can grab your M&M’s product for Halloween and give out to all the little ones out there. I’m looking forward to my first Halloween with my son Brexton.”
How was your race?
“We had a lot going on there. We had the exhaust crack and I got up in the wall in turn two – I was trying to run the high side like those guys were and make time up there and I just didn’t cut my exit enough I guess and brushed the wall off of turn two and my guys had to repair it. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and my guys kept working and made really good adjustments all day. They put this M&M’s Camry in position. I thought we could come home with a seventh-place finish with all those late restarts there and we’d be happy with that, but we got a fifth out of it. I can’t say enough about everyone here.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 SportClips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
How tough was it to get track position?
“I don’t think the slow pit stop was really the worse thing. We had a car that was struggling in the center-corner and really tight. The guys did a really good job and made up for whatever the problem was on pit road because they just killed it the last two stops. A decent finish. I can’t thank SportClips enough, they came on board for us. I wish we would have ran a little better than that. Just the way it goes, my guys never gave up. Hopefully we’ll go to Talladega and put a Toyota in victory lane.”
What has the consistency meant these last few races as you head to Talladega?
“I’m surrounded by really good people and they work really hard and never quit. My spotter (Jason Hedlesky), my crew chief Darian (Grubb) and my pit crew guys and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and everybody. We’ll just go to Talladega and do what we normally do, we’ll be alright. There’s nothing normal about Talladega, so we’ll see what happens.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
What happened between yourself and Joey Logano in the closing laps?
“It’s hard to drive a car with the rear tires off the ground. I was moving around the best I could, Joey (Logano) was a lot tighter, a lot faster on the short run, but we were so much better on the long run. I could still kind of get up to the top and get a run and get around him. We caught those two lapped cars, ‘Crazy’ (spotter) told me I was clear and I was, I pulled up in front of him and he just lifted my tires off the ground and he wrecked us.”
What will you talk to Joey Logano about after the incident?
“I won’t talk to Joey (Logano), I don’t have anything to talk to him about really. You make decisions every day, you make decisions every minute behind the wheel. To me strategically, that doesn’t seem like such a great decision for him, but it’s the one he made and that’s how he wanted to win. I’m one of the only guys that I think hasn’t been into yet with Joey and I’ve always raced him with a ton of respect, I’ve actually been one of his biggest fans – I’m certainly not anymore, but I always was. It’s a shame, I’m glad the cars not wrecked, we’ll just go onto Talladega and race them there.”
From your standpoint, what happened with Joey Logano?
“It was really cut and dry, he (Joey Logano) picked my rear tires off the ground and wrecked me so there’s no debate about that one. We had a great Dollar General Camry today – he was a little bit tighter on that short run than I was and I couldn’t get away from him. All day we had him pretty good. I still thought I was going to be able to stay in front of him and saw those lapped cars coming and tried getting a couple runs off the top there and I was plenty clear, got up in front of him and he just decided to take us out.”
How will you approach Talladega?
“It’s the same, there’s some things you can control and some things you can’t. I thought we did an excellent job this weekend of controlling the things we could control. We didn’t qualify as well as we wanted, but we were good in practice, made great race adjustments, had a really fast car today, really fast pit stops – they stepped it up when we needed it. We did everything as a team to win the race, just couldn’t get away enough to keep him (Joey Logano) from pulling that move on me there at the end.”
Was there something that happened earlier in the race that might have caused the incident?
“No, he (Joey Logano) just plain wrecked me. He cries on his radio a lot I guess about blocking or moving around, but man, you’re leading the race and you can pick whatever lane you want. It’s not like he was alongside of me. To wreck somebody for being in a lane that you wanted to be in seems kind of risky and not very smart. That was a decision he made.”
Were you surprised that Joey Logano would get into you and spin you out for the victory?
“I don’t know surprised, I’m really disappointed. I’ve probably been one of his (Joey Logano) biggest supporters. It was an awkward thing obviously taking his ride and I was excited for him when he started winning at Penske and when he got that ride and even found him today and congratulated him about racing against each other for a championship. I thought that I was very disappointed that he would do that, especially he was already in – didn’t run into him. Yeah, I was running the lane he wanted to run in, but my goodness isn’t this racing? Strategically I think it wasn’t the smartest move on his part. He’ll probably sleep good tonight, I hope he enjoys that one. It’s not what I would have done, but he had a decision to make and that’s the one he made.”
How will you race Joey Logano moving forward?
“That’s hard to say, you always race people like you’d like to be raced, that’s what I try to do until that changes and then you race them how they race you. I don’t know, that’s all hypothetical so I’m not going to worry about that. I’m just going to go onto Talladega and try to do what we can there and then after that we’ll go to the next one and do what we can there.”
Were you worried about Joey Logano on the final restart?
“He (Joey Logano) was the one I was the most worried about on that restart, he’s very good at getting through the gears and getting good restarts and he would fire off pretty good, he would fire off tighter than me. I was back behind him and passed him that one time, I was better actually when I was behind him, as soon as I got in front of him I was too loose for the short run. We could wear them out bad after 15 or 20 laps, but that first 20 was tough. My fault, I should have called for the adjustment to get the thing tightened up some to make sure we could get away.”
Do you feel Joey Logano intentionally wrecked you?
“Absolutely, 100 percent.”
How do you describe what happened with Joey Logano?
“I can’t think of any appropriate words to be honest with you, just disappointing really. We raced hard for the lead another time and then I finally got by him and being that early in the race and everything he was doing to try to keep me behind him. It’s the end of the race and I was trying to stay in front of him the best I could and I was in front of him, I didn’t do anything wrong to him. The race track is 80 or 100 feet wide down there and I was in front of him, he just chose to spin me out because he wanted to be in the top groove instead of going left and trying to race me for the win the way a man should do it really.”
How did you expect Joey Logano to race you in those closing laps?
“I expect him to race me hard, honestly Joey (Logano) and I have really never had any problems, I’ve probably been one of his biggest supporters and fans and he just lost a fan and supporter, but I’ve always kind of been in his corner. It was a difficult situation getting let go out of this ride and getting his new ride and being so successful. I was happy for him, but I definitely lost any respect I had for him before today, that’s for sure.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 40th
How are you feeling after hitting the wall?
“Good, I was following (Jeff) Gordon there and I started to catch him back. I went in and he kind of took my line away and I tried to pull down and as soon as my headlight got out and got some air in it, man it turned me. I probably should have just spun to the inside, but I thought I could save it. Guess I didn’t save it. Man it hit hard.”
Was that a hard hit?
“Very, I hit a wall. Pretty damn hard. I couldn’t believe how fast it snapped. You usually can ride it along, but that thing came out from underneath of me so fast. (Jeff) Gordon pulled up and did a good job of taking my line away and I tried to pull it down in a bad spot of the corner. As soon as that headlight got some air in it, boy that baby bit and turned me around pretty quick.”
Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions – at Kansas Speedway
1st, Joey Logano
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, KYLE BUSCH
8th, CARL EDWARDS
14th, MATT KENSETH
25th, DAVID RAGAN
30th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
37th, JEB BURTON
40th, CLINT BOWYER
42nd, JJ YELEY
Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings — following Kansas Speedway*
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN 3082 points##
4th, CARL EDWARDS 3076 points##
9th, KYLE BUSCH 3064 points##
12th, MATT KENSETH 3035 points##
16th, CLINT BOWYER 2086 points
28th, DAVID RAGAN 602 points
##competing in the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship
*unofficial point standings
2015 Toyota NSCS WINS: 13 Kenseth – 5 (Bristol – 4.19.15, Pocono-2 – 8.2.15, Michigan-2 – 8.16.15, Richmond – 9.12.15, New Hampshire 9.27.15); Busch – 4 (Indianapolis – 7.26.15, New Hampshire – 7.19.15, Kentucky – 7.11.15, Sonoma — 6.28.15); 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): 78
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Camry driver Kyle Busch was victorious in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Kansas Speedway. It was his 200th NXS Toyota start, 64th NXS Toyota win and record 75th series triumph. Toyota drivers have now won six of the last eight NXS races at the 1.5-mile Kansas track.
Jones started third and raced with the leaders through the event, as did his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate, Daniel Suarez, who finished fourth on the 1.5-mile track. Suarez started seventh and led the field for one lap (of 200).
Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Matt Kenseth (second), also tallied a top-five finish – his fourth straight second-place result in the series. He started from the pole position.
Busch (56 laps) and Kenseth (148 laps) combined to lead all 204 laps at Kansas Speedway.
In addition, Daniel Suarez (ninth) earned his 15th top-10 finish of the season.
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 (18th) and Eric McClure (20th).
The NXS races next at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, November 7.
Select Toyota NXS Driver Quotes:
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How were you able to hold off Matt Kenseth in the last quarter of the race?
“It looked like Matt (Kenseth) was just really loose that last run. Chris Gayle (crew chief) did an awesome job tuning me in and getting my car really, really good that last run. I couldn’t ask for it to be any better. I think our balance overcame them and was able to put us in victory lane. Can’t say enough about everyone from Monster Energy and Toyota, this Toyota Camry was fast today. I thank the XFINITY bunch of guys to put on our show that we enjoy on Saturdays and of course the fans for coming out and supporting us too. This was a good day for us and something to kind of build off of hopefully and see what we can do tomorrow.”
How hard were you battling with Matt Kenseth?
“My tongue was hanging out man, I can’t imagine what Matt (Kenseth) felt like. He was driving way harder than I was. When you have two really good race cars like that, you just better bring them home without tearing something up. He raced me really, really hard on the straightaways and through the corner my car was really good in the middle part of the race track and Matt, I could see him and he was trying to move around, he just couldn’t really find anything that would tighten up his car enough to be able to put the gas down and I had plenty of that.”
Were you worried about the damage to the car when you found out about the hole in the brake duct?
“I was nervous a little bit at how big the hole was and if we could get it repaired and how good the repair would have been. Obviously ‘Heavy Duty’ did a great job there at putting it back together for me and getting a good patch on there. Restarting seventh I was like, ‘Man, we just threw it away,’ I didn’t think we were going to be able to come from that far back, but we got a really good restart and the outside lane didn’t and I got up to the outside getting into turn one there and then that was pretty much our race. I just chased down Matt (Kenseth) after that and again, it was just a hard fought battle there with Matt. We were really running really, really hard and this place is so, so fast for the XFINITY cars, you’re barely out of the gas if at all any. Those last two laps there at the end of the race with that green-white-checkered finish, I was wide open the whole time. I was just praying it was going to stick and it was going to be good enough to win.”
How strong was the car in the race?
“It was, I wasn’t sure we had enough for that 20 (Matt Kenseth) car today, but there at the end of the race the track was cooling down and certainly getting freer and it looked like Kenseth just was too loose and I was able to really get the gas down and drive real hard and had a good car to stick through the corner. This Monster Energy Camry was awesome, Chris Gayle (crew chief) and the guys did a fantastic job for me and getting me a really good piece there at the end to be able to battle with Matt and it’s cool to end up in victory lane any day, but I appreciate XFINITY and the fans and everybody coming out here. That was a good show I thought from my driver’s seat anyways on battling with Matt. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get the pass done, but fortunately, finally there I was able to do it.”
How were you able to go from seventh to second on the restart?
“The inside lane got a good restart, all of us were bumping each other and pushing and we all stayed in line thankfully and the outside lane was kind of spinning tires or whatever and kind of bogging up, falling back a little bit. As soon as I saw just enough of a gap, I kind of shot the middle there getting into turn one to the outside and I was able to pass the 88 (Kevin Harvick) and then the 18 (Daniel Suarez) down the backstretch and then set my sights on the 20 (Matt Kenseth).”
Do you expect the track to widen out in tomorrow’s race like today?
“No doubt, tomorrow we’re going to be up running the fence tomorrow. We were last fall, I don’t think the XFINITY race got quite that high here last year, but obviously seeing the tapes everybody kind of found that out and they moved it up. Tomorrow we’ll be up running around the wall, it will be a good race and hopefully it’s good where you can make some time on the bottom if you need to or through the middle or even on the top side. Last year the race was won up there on the top and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
Would there be a chance to take two tires in tomorrow’s race?
“Possibly, I think if you had a short enough amount of laps on tires you might have that ability to be able to do something like that. Let’s say everybody gets four and you go 10 or 15 laps and you’re kind of within a fuel window then you need to come and take two for track position and you can take the rights or the lefts, just kind of depends on where you’re at in the race and how many to go. Like (Chris) Gayle (crew chief) said, it depends on strategy and what you feel is going to be left it the race. He took the lefts because he thought the next time down everybody was just going to take rights and we were going to be on the same tire cycle. It turned out to work well and it could happen tomorrow, but probably not.”
Does the win here today help your confidence for tomorrow?
“To win here in the Xfinity Series, it does bode your confidence a little bit, it gives you a little bit of good feeling for going into tomorrow’s race. Our Cup car was really not very good all day today and we kind of struggled with it and we’ve got our work cut out for us tomorrow, but I’m sure the things I talked with Adam (Stevens, NSCS crew chief) after practice and stuff, hopefully he can fix those things. If he fixes my problems then I think we’ll have a decent day. It’s just a matter – this place is so fast that we saw it here last year, it was hard to pass for the lead. I think I did it on somebody and then again today I had to do it on (Matt) Kenseth, but that was only because Kenseth didn’t have the balance in his race car at that point, but the Cup race man, it was a race up top and it was between (Joey) Logano and (Kyle) Larson and I was third. It’s so hard to pass, there’s so much speed up on the topside of the race track with throttle on time and momentum down the straightaways that it becomes a race that even though the track is really wide and you can go wherever you want, it’s just when you go low you make time up on entry and center, but then the center exit that top lane really works all the way down the straightaways so hard to make passes sometimes.”
What do you remember about your first NXS victory of your career?
“My first win was in the Busch Series and it was Richmond and it was the week before my birthday or two weeks before my birthday, I don’t remember how the schedule worked out that year. I should have won a couple before that, but didn’t. I won at Richmond then I won again at Charlotte a couple weeks later. We’re at 75 now, I don’t know if you get to 100 and call it good or what you do. Fortunately I’ve been in a good situation with Joe (Gibbs) and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing to race in the Xfinity Series and if we’ve got sponsors that continue to want to be on my race car and to go out there and to put a good show on then I’ll continue to do it. It’s a job, it’s a paycheck for these guys and it’s fun for me to be able to do and to collect trophies and also just kind of set that mark a little bit higher, hopefully nobody will get it.”
When you ran your first Busch Series race did you expect to get to 75 wins in the series?
“I don’t think I ever would have said I’d get to 75. I think I remember Mark Martin at that time was around 40 or 42 when I started and I was like, ‘That’s a lot of wins.’ Now it’s 75. I’m stretching it, I’m trying to put it out there where it may never be reached again, but if it is ever reached again then I’m sure that driver will be hated just as much as I am.”
CHRIS GAYLE, crew chief, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How was the team able to come back from the adversity of the pit road penalty and the damage from the debris?
“That’s really big and I think if you really look at it, obviously the pit road speeding penalty we had to go to the back there and came back and took left side tires and you basically start all over again. I think Kyle (Busch) did a great job of once you do that, he’s going as hard as he can and we kind of looked at the fuel situation we’re in and it kind of changes your focus at that point. You can be pretty aggressive on strategy, whatever it takes to try and get back to the lead and if it doesn’t work, guess what, you’re going to be in a better situation than you were. It let us change focus a little bit there and when we were able to take those left side tires, get caught up on fuel with everybody kind of knowing that everybody is going to come back in and at most take right sides again and then we would be even on tires then we were able to get the lead again. Kyle did a great job of holding off Matt (Kenseth) and the 2 (Brian Scott) car there for those laps and that was the difference. Then we think everything is in position and get that caution and then run over that piece of debris, knock a hole in the right side nose and it’s like, ‘Oh man, I have to get this fixed, it’s a big hole in the nose,’ but you don’t want to give up the lead and you know coming off pit road there that could be the end of the race. Then we fell back to seventh trying to fix the nose, thankfully Kyle stuck with it, gave it everything he had and the great restart was the difference. Then the balance was close enough to finish it off.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Reser’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What was the difference at the end of the race?
“We just got too free there at the end. I think (Kyle Busch) got his car better and I just couldn’t hold on. We were really loose. I fought as hard as I could, but he got by me. It was a heck of a recovery – I’m still trying to figure out how he went from eighth on the restart and out of turn two in second. I have no idea how he did that. At the end of the day, he beat us.”
How was your race with another runner up result?
“It’s frustrating to get beat again. We were out front in Chicago and had the better car, but second is the best place to finish I guess. Kind of aggravating when you get beat, but we were too free at the end. I didn’t give Wheels (Mike Wheeler, crew chief) good enough information on the tires. I did everything I could to hold off except for wreck. Just couldn’t do it.”
Is it better or worse to finish second to a teammate?
“As much as I love Kyle (Busch) and he’s a teammate and we play into the success. On TV it gets aggravating to watch him win all the time. It’s even more to get beat by him. I thought we had a shot today with our Reser’s Camry. This is our last XFINITY Series start for a long time, so I was hoping to get a win for them.”
How was the battle with your teammate Kyle Busch for the win?
“I thought most of the day we had the best car and at the end there we got too loose there at the end. Kyle (Busch) even though he put himself in the back twice, he figured out how to make it happen again. That was kind of aggravating. It was a good day for us. I think we’ve ran five races this year and that was our fourth second (place) in a row. It’s good, but it’s also aggravating – I would have liked to go out of the season with a win for sure. We just couldn’t hold off Kyle and got too free. I tried everything, held him off longer than I thought I could, just couldn’t make it happen.”
Can you transfer anything from the XFINITY race to Sunday’s Cup race?
“Not really, I feel like every time you drive a race car you’re learning something. You either learn what not to do, or what to do and pick up a little bit here or there. The cars are a fair amount different, same race track, same tire, same conditions. You always like to think you learn something, but I couldn’t tell you exactly what right now.”
What was the turning point of the race?
“I think the first time Kyle (Busch) sped and got two tires and got in front of me, even when you have the best car but get behind somebody, it’s not the best car. Most of the day I led that whole part, but because you’re driving away from everyone you think you have the best car, but when you put it in the back, that might not be the case. Earlier in the day I could get away from Kyle pretty good. I could pretty much dictate how hard I wanted to run and lead, not easily, but as the day went on it got harder and harder for us to do that.”
Did you think any other drivers would challenge for the win?
“Really just Kyle (Busch), but you never know what’s going to happen on a restart. Some people get push in these cars, unlike the Cup cars you can bump draft more going up through the gears you’re so low on power, so somebody can always get a good run. NASCAR’s been doing a good job making sure people can’t lay back real far. I was really concerned about getting rolling good and hoping Ty (Dillon) could push me a little bit and get alongside Kyle, but Kyle got rolling and almost cleared me right away and Ty couldn’t quite get to my rear bumper. When Kyle was in front of me going into turn one, it was pretty much over.”
Toyota NXS Driver Finishing Positions — at Kansas Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, MATT KENSETH
9th, DANIEL SUAREZ
21st, JJ YELEY
22nd, DAVID STARR
25th, BLAKE KOCH
26th, ERIC McCLURE
36th, TJ BELL
40th, JEFF GREEN
30th, CALE CONLEY
Toyota Drivers in NXS Point Standings — following Kansas Speedway*
7th, DANIEL SUAREZ 962 points (131 points behind leader Chris Buescher)
13th, JJ YELEY 732 points
16th, DAVID STARR 652 points
17th, BLAKE KOCH 573 points
19th, CALE CONLEY 561 points
20th, ERIC MCCLURE 516 points
*unofficial point standings
2015 Toyota NXS WINS: 10 Busch – 5 (Michigan – 6.13.15, Indianapolis – 7.25.15, Bristol – 8.21.15, Chicagoland – 9.19.15, Kansas – 10.17.15); 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): 108
