TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Watkins Glen International
Race 22 of 36 – 220.5 miles, 90 laps
Sunday, August 7, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Watkins Glen International
1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, Joey Logano
3rd, Brad Keselowski
4th, AJ Allmendinger
5th, Tony Stewart
6th, KYLE BUSCH
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
10th, MATT KENSETH
15th, CARL EDWARDS
28th, COLE WHITT
33rd, DAVID RAGAN
34th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Watkins Glen International**
1st, Brad Keselowski 727 points*
4th, KYLE BUSCH 670 points
5th, CARL EDWARDS 653 points
7th, DENNY HAMLIN 620 points
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 612 points
9th, MATT KENSETH 600 points
30th, DAVID RAGAN 295 points
36th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 210 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Toyota driver Denny Hamlin was victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Watkins Glen International.
· Hamlin led the last 10 laps (of 90) of the race in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 FedEx Camry en route to his first NSCS road course win.
· It marks Hamlin’s 25th career NSCS victory behind the wheel of a Camry and his 28th career NSCS win overall.
· Camry drivers Kyle Busch (sixth), Martin Truex Jr. (seventh) and Matt Kenseth (10th) also earned top-10 results.
· Carl Edwards earned the pole for Sunday’s race at the upstate New York road course.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Why are you walking gingerly?
“I just woke up with back spasms this morning. Just hits me every three or four months or so. I just wake up and can’t move. Really doubted being in the race car today to be honest with you, but can’t say enough about this whole FedEx Freight Toyota team. It’s just a – should’ve won both road courses which is something we never would’ve predicted going into the year. But, I’ve got to thank all of my partners – Toyota, FedEx especially but Sprint and Coke, Jordan Brand, The Greenbrier, Sport Clips and the fans. Sold out crowd, two years in a row, just this is a good time. I’ve finally won at all of the race tracks so it’s a great accomplishment for us.”
What does it mean to you now that you’ve won a road course race?
“It means a lot. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was we didn’t win the first one. I just tried the best I could and overshot the corner and I didn’t want to do it this time and so I probably under drove and let those guys be a little closer than I should’ve. But, hated to see the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) turned around down there. They’ve been great Toyota teammates of ours and thanks to all of our teammates who tested here and obviously gave us a good baseline setup and a fast car.”
How were you able to go the distance on fuel after last getting gas on lap 49?
“Cautions. I just felt like this has always trended to be a lot of cautions at the end and I felt confident that we were going to get the caution laps that we needed to make it on fuel and we did.”
What were those closing laps and restarts like?
“Hectic. Really, I didn’t do anything special. It was just the front two cars, the 2 (Brad Keselowski) and the 18 (Kyle Busch) just overshot the corner in that one restart and gave us an opportunity. And, then it was just about hitting my marks and making sure that I didn’t give those guys a chance like I gave Tony (Stewart) a chance at Sonoma. You know, really proud of this effort. This is a great sign of things to come. I feel like we’ll be a good threat in the Chase.”
What made the difference of you being able to hold off Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski?
“Well, I was probably driving a little bit more conservative there after my last lap shenanigans at Sonoma I thought look don’t overshoot the corner and it probably lent itself for them getting closer than they probably should’ve. Just can’t thank my Toyota teammates enough. They came here and tested and gave us a good baseline setup and allowed us to have a car that could win today.”
What happened with your car post-race and why did you limp in?
“I’ve just got back issues today and really over the last few years it’s gotten a lot better. Sometimes I just wake up bad and it will not go away and today is just one of those days that the spasms hit and it’s been a pain today.”
How much fuel did you have to safe after you last came in on lap 49?
“We needed some cautions and I think we got at least that much. All was good and we’ve still got more fuel in the car, I just burnt the transmission out.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Crisper Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
What are your thoughts on the last lap of the race and what happened with Brad Keselowski?
“Yeah, definitely unfortunate. I wish we could’ve seen what would’ve happened when we got to the start finish line. I felt like I maybe had the 11 (Denny Hamlin) squared up a little bit off (turn) 11 and maybe could’ve drag raced him to the line but it’d have been fun to see but it was all not to be with getting hit in the left rear. It’s unfortunate, but hard racing at the end, all of us going for a win and all of us locked in the Chase it’s – I guess he (Brad Keselowski) kind of races with that mentality that hey, it doesn’t really matter where we finish or if we finish so just have to be mindful of that when we’re around him for the rest of the time. All in all a good day for us. We had a good race car. Had a battle all day long to get from 14th to the front and got a shot at winning at the end. That’s all you can ask for.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 15th
COLE WHITT, No. 98 RTICcoolers.com Toyota Camry, Premium Motorsports
Finishing Position: 28th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 33rd
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 34th
