TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
November 9 – 15, 2015
TOYOTA TIDBITS
LAST RACE OF THE ELIMINATOR: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) now moves to Phoenix International Raceway for the final event of the ‘Eliminator 8’ round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship playoff. After Phoenix, only four racers will remain to compete for the NSCS championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 22. Camry drivers Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards currently rank second and fifth, respectively, in the NSCS point standings as they enter Phoenix where they have a combined 16 wins across NASCAR’s three national touring series. In the most-recent NSCS contest at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch finished fourth and Edwards took home fifth.
THREE’S A MAGIC NUMBER: Camry driver Erik Jones will again substitute drive for Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Camry in the NSCS – in addition to his scheduled starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) – and Phoenix will mark Jones’ second-consecutive weekend competing in all three NASCAR national series. In Texas, Jones finished 12th in just his second NSCS start, won in the NCWTS and finished fourth in the NXS. The 19-year-old driver won the last two Phoenix NCWTS races and returns to the one-mile oval with the Truck Series points lead. Jones also finished sixth and fifth, respectively, at Phoenix in the previous two NXS events at the Arizona track.
TEST DRIVING A TUNDRA: Current NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion William Byron will make his NCWTS debut at Phoenix as Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) fields four Tundras on the one-mile circuit. KBM recently announced the 17-year-old driver will compete full-time for the team in 2016. After competing in online racing as a youth, Byron began competing on race tracks in 2012 and ascended to the NASCAR national ranks in just three calendar years. KBM drivers have won the last four NCWTS races at Phoenix and the team will field Tundras for Byron, Jones, Daniel Suarez and Matt Tifft this weekend
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry drivers have won 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) races this season … Toyota needs one more victory in 2015 to tie its most wins in a single NSCS season (14 victories in 2013) … Toyota drivers have two NSCS victories at Phoenix International Raceway (Denny Hamlin in March 2012 and Kasey Kahne in Nov. 2011).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How confident are you as the series heads to Phoenix International Raceway?
“Being in this position, it’s obviously good, but I’ve been in a really good position before and had stuff happen and been knocked out. We don’t need to have any of that. We just need to go out in Phoenix and have a good, solid day. That place hasn’t been the best for our company over the last few years, but I’m looking forward to getting out there and hoping that we’ve got a really good piece in order to carry M&M’s and myself and everybody on this JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) team to Chase contention going to Homestead.”
Does being second in point impact your strategy for Phoenix?
“It will go into our strategy a little bit. If we’re running fifth to 10th, that’s what we need to do. If we’re running 15th, there’s a guy behind us who if he passes us he’s going to knock himself in and us out, so you’re going to have a heck of a lot harder race on your hands. We just don’t need to run like that. We need to go out there and perform, do what we’ve done this round and that’s to finish top-five. If we can top-five it this week, that’s going to help our situation and roll us right on to Homestead. In a perfect world, we’ll sit on the pole, win the race and take a win on into Homestead with some good momentum and looking like a real contender.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What is the mindset at Joe Gibbs Racing right now?
“Everybody is just blazing forward to win a championship. As a group, we feel like we have a shot to win this championship – that’s what my 19 team is working on. I talked to Darian (Grubb, crew chief) a little bit about it as we were going to lunch – we have a fourth team that we started, we’ve never worked together and here we are with a shot at this and we have fast cars and need to keep working on that.”
Why do you enjoy racing at Phoenix?
“Phoenix is one of my favorite race tracks. It’s the first place I’ve ever raced on pavement. It was a really big deal for me in the Copper World Classic in 2001. That place is special for me. I’ve had some really great races there – struggled a little bit lately. The 20 (Matt Kenseth) had a good test out there and we feel it could be a good race for us. As that place ages, it changes a lot. Just like anything, every time you come back, you come back with better stuff and different strategy and different setups, so you just don’t know until after that first practice sessions what you have.”
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS): Camry drivers Daniel Suarez (seventh) and JJ Yeley (13th) currently rank in the top-15 in the NXS point standings … Suarez leads the NXS Rookie of the Year standings by 36 points over Darrell Wallace Jr. with two races remaining … Ross Kenseth, the son of NSCS Camry driver Matt Kenseth, will make his second-career NXS start on Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway in the No. 80 Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing … The 22-year-old driver started second and finished sixth in his NXS debut at Chicago in June.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra drivers Erik Jones (first), Matt Crafton (second), Johnny Sauter (fourth), Timothy Peters (fifth), Cameron Hayley (sixth) and Ben Kennedy (ninth) are in the top-10 in the NCWTS point standings … Jones currently holds a 17-point advantage with just two races remaining … Toyota leads the NCWTS manufacturer standings by 66 points entering the penultimate event of the season at Phoenix International Raceway … Toyota will clinch the title if a Tundra driver finishes 14th or better at the Arizona oval.
ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Is the Phoenix International Raceway race somewhat unpredictable?
“For us, I don’t think Phoenix is too big of a wild card knowing that we’ve been so fast there the last two years and picking up my first truck win there in 2013 and then winning again last year. That’s probably the one of the last two I’m most looking forward to – I think Homestead is more of a wild card for me just because I’ve never been there and don’t really have any experience at that place, but the situation is going to differ so much depending on where the points are and how everything shakes out. If we were to go into Homestead with a 20 point lead, it would be a pretty easy day – just don’t wreck. We’ll see how that all shakes out, but I think Phoenix for us is one we’re all looking forward to.”
WILLIAM BYRON, No. 009 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Have you talked to your teammates about what to expect in your first Truck Series race?
“I have talked to Kyle (Busch, team owner) a little bit about what to expect when I get into a truck for the first time, so I feel well prepared and ready to go. I’m sure they will all be great resources once we get to the track. Now it’s just about getting in the Liberty University Tundra and seeing what I can do.”
TOYOTA 2015 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led
NSCS 34 298 (17) 13 46 80 10 180 2,545
NXS 31 328 (35) 10 41 63 15 111 2,126
NCWTS 21 185 (20) 12 54 110 10 131 2,090
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Texas Motor Speedway (NSCS, NXS and NCWTS)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Carl Edwards, No. 19 Camry
Erik Jones, No. 20 Camry
Jeb Burton, No. 23 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 26 Camry
David Ragan, No. 55 Camry
Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Camry
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Blake Koch, No. 8 Camry
Carl Long, No. 13 Camry
Daniel Suarez, No. 18 Camry
Jeff Green, No. 19 Camry
Erik Jones, No. 20 Camry
Eric McClure, No. 24 Camry
TJ Bell, No. 26 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 28 Camry
David Starr, No. 44 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 54 Camry
Ross Kenseth, No. 80 Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Erik Jones, No. 4 Tundra
Dalton Sargeant, No. 5 Tundra
William Byron, No. 009 Tundra
Ben Kennedy, No. 11 Tundra
Cameron Hayley, No. 13 Tundra
Timothy Peters, No. 17 Tundra
Daniel Suarez, No. 51 Tundra
Matt Tifft, No. 54 Tundra
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Tundra
Johnny Sauter, No. 98 Tundra
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