TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
September 5 – September 11, 2016
TOYOTA TIDBITS
CAMRY CAPTURES CROWN JEWELS: Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. won Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to capture his second marquee win of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season after also winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Truex’s win gave Toyota a sweep of the 2016 ‘crown jewel’ races, including: Denny Hamlin’s and Toyota’s first-ever Daytona 500 victory in February; a repeat win for Kyle Busch in July’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway; and wins by Truex at Charlotte and Darlington. Last season, Camry drivers won three-of-the-four ‘jewel’ events with Carl Edwards crossing the finish line first in the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500, and Busch’s Brickyard 400 victory, to give Toyota a streak of seven-straight ‘crown jewel’ victories since last May.
HAMLIN HEATING UP: Hamlin, who started the year off by winning his first career Daytona 500, has registered seven-consecutive, top-10 finishes in as many starts, dating back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. With his fourth-place result at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, the Chesterfield, Virginia native matches his longest streak of top-10 finishes, which he has done twice during his 11-year career, including 2009 and his rookie season in 2006. Hamlin has improved his points position from 11th in early July to fifth during this two-month stretch leading up to his home track race in Richmond this weekend where he has recorded two victories and 11 top-10 finishes in 20 career starts at the Virginia short track.
CAMRYS COMPETING IN CHASE – Five Camry Sprint Cup Series drivers are locked into the Chase heading into this weekend’s final regular season event at Richmond International Raceway with at least two wins a piece during the 2016 season. In total, Camry drivers have registered 12 wins in 25 NSCS races this season. Defending NSCS champion Busch is tied for a series-best four wins this year, while Edwards, Hamlin, Kenseth and Truex have each visited victory lane twice this season to give all five Toyota drivers bonus points heading to the 10-race Chase at Chicagoland next weekend.
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry drivers Carl Edwards (fourth), Denny Hamlin (fifth), Kyle Busch (seventh), Martin Truex Jr. (eighth) and Matt Kenseth (ninth) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) point standings … Toyota currently leads the NSCS manufacturer point standings by 23 marks over Chevrolet with 1,028 points … Richmond will mark the 350th NSCS race for Toyota … Five Camry drivers have combined for nine Toyota victories at Richmond, including four-consecutive spring race wins by Busch (2009 – 2012), two victories for Hamlin (2009 and 2010), triumphs by Kenseth (Sept. 2015) and former Camry driver Clint Bowyer (Sept. 2013), and the most-recent Camry win by Carl Edwards in April … TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) president David Wilson is a graduate of Virginia Tech.
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Tanger Outlets Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Would you consider this a great season after winning two of NASCAR’s biggest events?
“It’s been a good season. It’s got potential to be a really great season. I think that based on the team we have and the way we’ve been running, we could honestly be sitting here with seven, eight, nine wins if things had gone a little different here and there. But with that being said, we’ve got two and I really feel like we’ve got a legitimate shot at this championship. It’s been a good season, but it definitely could be a great season and until Homestead is done and gone, we won’t know. Just looking forward to that opportunity to work with this team and trying to go after our first championship. We had a shot at it last year and didn’t really have the performance at the end of the season that we needed in our race cars and I feel like this year with the speed we’ve had in our Toyotas that we can go to Homestead and really have a shot at this thing.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s 75th Anniversary Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Does it take some pressure off of you and your team getting a win early in the season?
“Once you win early on in the season in any year, it gives you a sense of relief and relaxation almost that you can be focused on what the Chase is going to be. We kind of race the rest of the year, but we all look towards Chicago as to what is the next focus point that we need to be ready for. The rest of the races are just filler races for us and to be able to win more times to get our Chase seeding higher and have those bonus points for the first round.”
What does it take to get around Richmond International Raceway?
“Richmond is getting a little trickier it seems like just with the asphalt kind of getting older and the way the cars are, and the tire hasn’t really changed there in the last few years. We may be due for an update on that. The consensus at Richmond is just trying to get your car to turn, but also having really good forward bite. You have to be able to get off the corners at Richmond. You have to have good brakes as well and be able to turn the center. All of it correlates. Everything you want as a race car driver, you’ve got to have most all of it and, if you don’t, then you better hope you have more forward bite than the rest of them. That’s sort of the equation of Richmond. It’s a fun place to race – it’s really cool. As a driver, you wish it could widen out and give you more options of being able to run around in different grooves, but it hasn’t shown us that the last couple of years.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS SURFboard Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Are you looking forward to returning to Richmond International Raceway after your win there in the spring?
“We had a blast racing in the spring at Richmond. We want to go back there and have another great race. Richmond is always a fun race track and the way this down force package and the tires work together, I mean you are driving your guts out there especially toward the end of the run. I am really looking forward to this race – it is pure fun and it would be neat to go into the Chase with another victory if we can get to victory lane. It’s just a really good time – looking forward to it.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Is it a relief for a driver to get a win early in the season and know you are in the Chase?
“You want to run good every week. You want to try to win every week. I drive for one of the best teams in the sport. I really don’t spend time thinking about getting qualified for the Chase. If you get down to the wire, obviously you’re on the bubble because you had a bad year and you probably start thinking about it. I’ve tried to focus on getting better and be where we need to be on the performance level we need to be when we get to the Chase.”
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS): Camry drivers Daniel Suarez (second) and Erik Jones (sixth) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) point standings … Suarez is 54 points behind points leader Elliott Sadler after 24 races … Toyota currently leads the NXS manufacturer point standings by three marks over Chevrolet with 983 points … Joe Gibbs Racing has tied its own single-season record with 17 NXS pole positions in 2017 and will look to break their own record Friday at Richmond … Camry drivers have seven wins in the NXS at Richmond with triumphs by Kyle Busch (three), Denny Hamlin (three) and one by former Toyota driver Kurt Busch.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra drivers William Byron (first), Matt Crafton (fourth), Timothy Peters (fifth), Christopher Bell (seventh) and Cameron Hayley (10th) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) point standings … Toyota currently leads the NCWTS manufacturer point standings by 45 marks over Chevrolet with 521 points … The NCWTS enjoys a weekend off before returning to action at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday, Sept. 16 … The Chicagoland event is the last race before the inaugural NCWTS Chase begins Sept. 24 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway … Currently four Tundra drivers are in the top-eight of the Chase standings … Byron, Crafton and Bell have all won races and Peters is currently within the top-eight with his points standings with one race remaining to qualify for the ‘Round of 8.’
TOYOTA 2016 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series
Races
Starts (Drivers)
Wins
Top-5s
Top-10s
Poles
Times Led
Laps Led
NSCS
25
186 (13)
12
35
67
10
187
3,742
NXS
24
198 (30)
13
37
52
17
97
2,199
NCWTS
15
172 (26)
10
40
74
3
92
1,492
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Richmond International Raceway (NSCS & NXS)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Carl Edwards, No. 19 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
David Ragan, No. 23 Camry
Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Camry
Dylan Lupton, No. 83 Camry
Matt DiBenedetto, No. 93 Camry
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Matt DiBenedetto, No. 10 Camry
Hermie Sadler III, No. 14 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Daniel Suarez, No. 19 Camry
Erik Jones, No. 20 Camry
Dakoda Armstrong, No. 28 Camry
Timmy Hill, No. 40 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 44 Camry
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