TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 23 of 36 – 266.5 miles, 500 laps
Sunday, August 21, 2016
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS — at Bristol Motor Speedway
1st, Kevin Harvick*
2nd, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
4th, Austin Dillon*
5th, Chris Buescher*
6th, CARL EDWARDS
17th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
21st, DAVID RAGAN
23rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
37th, MATT KENSETH
39th, KYLE BUSCH
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER IN NSCS POINT STANDINGS — following Bristol Motor Speedway**
1st, Kevin Harvick 762 points*
4th, KYLE BUSCH 689 points
6th, CARL EDWARDS 674 points
7th, DENNY HAMLIN 659 points
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 630 points
10th, MATT KENSETH 604 points
31st, DAVID RAGAN 315 points
35th, MATT DiBENEDETTO 234 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Denny Hamlin (third) was the top-finishing Toyota driver in Sunday’s rain delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway.
· Hamlin led the field twice for 19 laps (of 500) on the 0.533-mile short track.
· Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Carl Edwards (sixth), also finished in the top-10 in a race that was delayed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to inclement weather.
· Camry driver Kyle Busch (39th) led the field six times for a race-high 256 circuits, but finished back in the field after a part failure.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How was your race?
“Yeah, we had a great car. We definitely got it a lot better there at the end and proud that we’re able to come back from two laps down and get a good finish out of it, but still a good overall day for our FedEx Express Camry. Just came up a little short.”
How do you feel about your speeding penalty and loose tire?
“You’ve got to rebound from it. The good thing is there was enough attrition and enough cautions that we were able to get our lap back and that was key for us.”
Do you feel good or frustrated by what could have been?
“I feel good. We didn’t have a race-winning car today to be honest with you – our balance was off a little bit – so I think we maximized our day to be honest. I would have loved to race on straight up tires there, but we had to do some strategy there to get our track position back, so it was a very par day for us.”
Do you feel confident you can correct the mistakes your team has made going into the Chase?
“I feel pretty good about things to be honest with you. We hadn’t had a speeding penalty in probably five or six weeks and we hadn’t had a loose wheel maybe all year, so I mean those are small things. I sped. I knew I sped when I did it. In the playoffs, I’m not going to be that aggressive, but out here trying to get a win – a win or nothing attitude in the regular season – that’s when I push it.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your race?
“My guys did a great job. We didn’t quit and dodged some wrecks, but, man, just a really fun race. The first half – just racing up there for the lead with Kyle (Busch) and Kevin (Harvick) – that was the most fun I’ve had in a race car in a long time. That was really cool.”
What did you think of the two lines?
“I started on the outside once and I went from 10th to basically the lead, so outside was better to start, but you know what? A lot of guys made the bottom work, so I can’t whine about it.”
Should this rosin be used at other tracks?
“I’m not sure. I mean, I thought it was a lot more fun today, so more dynamic for sure. I mean, a lot more happening.”
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Cosmo Motors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 21st
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Hall of Fame Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
What did you see happen?
“I didn’t really see what happened except for there was cars wrecking up there and I slowed down as much as the guy in front of me. I couldn’t slow down any less than that or I would hit him. Chase (Elliott) bust out of nowhere, ran me over and 21 (Ryan Blaney) came through there wide open – I still don’t know if he’s lifted yet or not – and finished us off. As the wreck happened, you’ve got to slow down. Just not much I could do.”
What did you think of the two lines today?
“Well, I’m a bad guy to ask because I ran really bad – bad as we’ve ran here I think since I’ve been at JGR. We’re just way off today, but the track definitely seemed more competitive, seemed like you could hold your own position on restarts whether you’re on the top or the bottom, so it seemed like it was a plus.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s 75th Anniversary Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 39th
What broke to end your race?
“I don’t know. It’s a shame. The last few times we’ve been here, we’ve had really fast M&M’s Toyota Camrys and we haven’t been able to finish. We’ve been having parts failures here, so something we’ve got to address and fix. I’m really tired of losing races here with parts falling apart, so they’ll hear about it on Tuesday. But the person that’s really the biggest moron out there is the spotter of the 46 and the driver of the 46 (Justin Allgaier). I’ve been wrecking for half a lap and they just come on through and clean us out. That’s stupid, so I don’t know – frustrating day. Let’s go home.”
Did a part eventually break?
“It finally did break and it was breaking, but it finally did break and I couldn’t hold onto it there and it spun out and then spun out the wrong way and it’s frustrating. We’ve had really, really fast race cars here. The guys do a great job setting them up, but, man, we’ve got parts failures, you know? You can’t have parts failures in this business. That’s stupid. My Camrys have been fast. We’ve just got to stop making stupid mistakes that take us out of races and beyond that the 46 (Michael Annett) spotter needs fired and the damn driver too. He’s an idiot. I’ve been wrecking for half a lap and they come through and clean us out. I mean, there’s plenty of room to miss me. Everybody else seemed to be able to do a good job of it.”
What will you tell your team on Tuesday?
“They already know just by watching the race, but it’s frustrating because that’s like two or three or four races in a row here at Bristol that we’ve had problems. Yeah, maybe a couple of them were my doing, but we’ve also had parts failures here and we can’t be having that sort of stuff.”
Was the racing at Bristol better today?
“Today was better because you had an option to go down low. You could actually race around the bottom a little bit – try to make up some ground. It was fun to see the bottom kind of be there for a few laps and then go away and then you could back down there and use it again, so I’ve always been a strong suited driver for the bottom here – I’m not sure why – and today it was better for me, so that was really good and I don’t know. I wish we could have seen it play out all the way to the end. I know (Kevin) Harvick was fast, but I felt like our car was way better than there’s.”
Could this rosin be an option at other tracks to improve the racing?
“Yeah, it could be. You can name a track and you can probably figure out how to use it somewhat, but I definitely think there’s available options to be able to help out a little bit, but you’ve got to be smart with it too.”
