Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Richmond International Raceway
Race 9 of 36 – 300 miles, 400 laps
April 30, 2017
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Joey Logano*
2nd, Brad Keselowski*
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
4th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*
5th, Kevin Harvick*
10th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
12th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
16th, KYLE BUSCH
23rd, MATT KENSETH
31st, GRAY GAULDING
32nd, COREY LaJOIE
38th, ERIK JONES
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, Kyle Larson 398 points*
2nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 358 points
10th, KYLE BUSCH 235 points
11th, DENNY HAMLIN 231 points
16th, ERIK JONES 193 points
18th, MATT KENSETH 192 points
22nd, DANIEL SUÁREZ 169 points
34th, COREY LaJOIE 57 points
37th, GRAY GAULDING 31 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
· Toyota driver Denny Hamlin (third) had the highest-finishing Camry in Sunday afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Richmond International Raceway, the Toyota Owner’s 400, an event won by Joey Logano.
· Hamlin led the field for 59 laps (of 400) en route to his fourth top-10 finish of the season.
· Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. (10th) also tallied a top-10 result on the 0.75-mile track in Virginia.
· Kenseth won the opening stage of the race, marking his first stage win of the 2017 season, and led 164 laps, while Kyle Busch (16th) led one circuit.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How was the race today?
“We were competitive and our car drove really good. We were just missing some of the speed from the 2 (Brad Keselowski) and the 22 (Joey Logano) – they run a little more sideways than what we run and just they have more grip. I think we optimized our day for the most part and that’s about as good as we could do.”
How did you feel the overall race track progressed during the event?
“I thought the lines moved around and there was a lot of racing all over most of the day and it was good all around.”
Did you have anything for the two Penske cars in the closing laps?
“We couldn’t beat the 2 (Keselowski) and 22 (Logano) straight up, so it’s different and you just keep coming in and pitting for tires to try steal one even though we were a third place car. The strategy got all mixed up there and we were luckily able to get back up there and finish where we should have.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
What’s your take on the penalty and your run today?
“Well my take is I knew I was really pushing the issue there but the field got all jammed there because of that safety vehicle on the race track and I had to go outside around that thing and when I knew – I knew pit road was open and we were pitting and I’m sure I could jerk that thing left as hard as I could and get to pit road without crashing the 41 (Kurt Busch) who was on my left side and I guess my right sides were on the box but not completely under. I thought the rule was two on or under the box, but obviously the call was that we were illegal and had to get a penalty so I don’t know what the deal is there. They changed the rule I think last week on how it is and I still thought it was if you had four at least on or under the box you were good but I don’t know. It is what it is. We were going to finish about tenth either way. We just weren’t that good today. Just one of those days where you battle all day and hope to get a top 10 and we barely did that. Got some work to do for next time but all in all it’s a – wish we were better.”
DANIEL SUÁREZ, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
Talk about finishing 12th after being three laps down earlier during the race.
“I think it was okay. The first half of the race it was very tough. In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, it’s just so difficult. You get behind one or two adjustments and then you get a lap down or two laps down and it’s very difficult to recover that. Luckily we got a lot of cautions right there at the end and I was able to overcome those laps down that I was down. Very proud of the team. They never give up. They were working hard on the race to try to make it better. I just feel like we have to work hard in the first third – first half – of the race to try to stay with the rest of the guys.”
How did you feel about Joe Gibbs Racing’s performance here today?
“I think we’re getting better as an organization. The 11 (Denny Hamlin), the 20 (Matt Kenseth), they show a lot of speed. My car was actually very, very strong in the short run, but then in the long run I was giving up and normally we have a lot of long runs here, but definitely good. We go back home to keep working but definitely we are looking at some improvements right here at the race track so that’s very good.”
ERIK JONES, No. 77 GameStop Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
Can you walk us through what happened?
“Well, we got three-wide right on the start and then the 5 (Kasey Kahne) ran us up into the fence. I was trying not to wreck everybody and we got run into the wall by the 5 and then a couple laps later we cut a left front, so it’s really unfortunate. We only made five laps, 10 laps of the race and we’re already out, so it’s just really a heartbreaking day. It’s not what we wanted, but we’ll just have to come back next week, bring another fast race car and try to run up front again.”
Do you know what caused Kasey Kahne to get into you?
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened. I guess they were three-wide. I was on top and just got ran into the fence right on lap one and that’s unfortunate. I mean, it’s 400 laps – I just wish there was a little bit more patience at times. It’s frustrating – I was just trying to get this race going and work. We’re racing hard, so it’s a bummer, you know? We cut a left front, couple of laps later out in the wall and our day is over. Those guys get to keep racing, so sucks, but we just have to move on.”
Does this hurt considering you’ve had some good runs of late?
“Yeah, it sucks. We’ve been getting a lot of stage points and been running up front and should have had a lot of good finishes and I think we had another good race car today – one that definitely could have got up into the top-10, got us some more stage points and got a good finish out of it, but the guys got to – there’s got to be more respect showing. I mean, we’re lap one and we’re three-wide running people into the wall. It’s just really frustrating.
