Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Martinsville Speedway
Race 6 of 36 – 263 miles, 500 laps
March 26, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Clint Bowyer*
2nd, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, Ryan Blaney*
4th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
5th, Kevin Harvick*
12th, DENNY HAMLIN
17th, ERIK JONES
18th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
28th, DJ KENNINGTON
37th, GRAY GAULDING
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, KYLE BUSCH 257 points
2nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 249 points
6th, DENNY HAMLIN 217 points
12th, ERIK JONES 152 points
22nd, DANIEL SUÁREZ 100 points
**unofficial point standings
· Camry driver Kyle Busch was the highest-finishing Toyota in Monday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Martinsville Speedway after a runner-up result.
· The second-place finish was Busch’s third runner-up in his last four MENCS races.
· Martin Truex Jr. wheeled his Camry to a fourth-place finish in Monday’s MENCS race – giving him five-consecutive top-fives.
· Camry driver Denny Hamlin jumped out to an early lead at Martinsville – leading 111 laps on his way to his first stage win of 2018 after capturing Stage 1. He would go on to finish 12th.
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What’s the positive you take from running upfront week after week?
“I am not sure. I guess the fact that we’re a championship-caliber team with myself, Adam (Stevens, crew chief) of course and my guys. We have to keep executing and doing a good job. That’s what we’re doing right now, it’s just not working our way. The M&M’s Caramel Camry was really close today. It wasn’t as good in practice. I thought we were better today than we were in practice, so that’s an improvement. For some of the guys that were there and kind of left, I was not expecting the 14 (Clint Bowyer) as one of those guys that was going to stay there and be one we had to race for the win. It’s funny. All of our finishes, for as good as we are in second place, as far ahead as we are of third, the leader is that far ahead of us. It seems like we’re kind of on our own island but then we get beat by somebody else on their own island. All is good, we just have to keep going.”
Take us through your run today.
“There was a lot of things kind of going on there all throughout the day. A lot of guys that were there at the beginning that we expected to be there in the beginning that we were racing with and the 14 kind of pops up there and never saw him, never expected him from yesterday’s practice. You know those guys were good when it counted obviously and able to keep it out front like that. Tried to make sure that I saved enough stuff and then tried to go get him there at the end when he got the lapped traffic and there was just nothing to go with. We’re close. We’re right there each and every week, you know (crew chief) Adam (Stevens) and myself and all these guys. We keep executing, we keep doing a good job, but it’s not good enough. It’s very frustrating. I’m about half my career total of wins with second-place finishes so that’s pretty discouraging. Guess for as often as I win, I lose more.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What is like to see a guy like Clint Bowyer end a winless streak?
“It’s just so cool to see. He’s (Bowyer) worked so hard through a lot and has had a couple of tough seasons. And now he’s obviously with a great team. They have started the year off strong. He’s always been strong here at Martinsville. I know this place is special to him and it’s really cool to see him win today. Hopefully I will be able to swing by and see him and congratulate him. It’s cool to see him win with his kid here and everything. I couldn’t imagine the emotion he has right now.”
Take us through your day today.
“It was really down for a while there. We started off the race and we were pretty fast on the short runs. Just the long run was eating us up and I couldn’t keep the rear tires at all in the long run. We had to make some really big adjustments in Stage 2 and luckily we were able to drive back through the field. And the last two runs of the race, we were really strong. Particularly, the one right before the end, right before the last caution. We were really fast that whole run. Luckily, I was able to make some gains on it there and drive through the field and get some track position at the end. Just one of those deals. But for a while there, we were 17th, 15th, 16th or something like that and dropping like a rock. And I am like, this is going to be a long day. I am proud of the guys for sticking with it. All of us put our heads together and didn’t give up on it. Just kept working on it. So, proud of that and we’ll get that short-track win sooner or later. This is probably our worst out of all of them, so fourth isn’t too bad.”
How ‘up and down’ was your race today?
“It was definitely a difficult day for us – we struggled early, the second stage we really, really got bad and fell backwards, dropped like a rock. I think we barely stayed on the lead lap at the end of that second segment. Just knew that we had to make some really big adjustments from there. We made a bunch of them and got better on the long run and made it back to the front of the field. The car was good on short runs early in the race, but it was just so bad on the long runs that we got murdered so we had to make some adjustments there. For the last two runs of the race, we were pretty good. The one before the last one, we were probably the best car, but we tried to make it better and we made it worse on the last stop. You never know how it’s going to go, but I’m proud of my guys for sticking with it. We were all pretty frustrated early on trying to figure it out, just kept our heads down and kept digging and came home with a great finish.”
Can you relate to how Clint Bowyer is feeling after breaking such a long winless streak?
“I know exactly what he (Clint Bowyer) feels right now. I don’t know that my streak was quite as long as his, but either way it’s so hard to win these races and come back from being in places that he was and I was with teams that weren’t as competitive. Climbing back in and digging your way out of them holes is tough. Really happy to see him back in victory lane, it’s pretty cool to see.”
How was this race for you overall?
“It was typical Martinsville race, just fight traffic and you fight your car on short runs, long runs – trying to keep the fenders on it. For us, we were good at the beginning of the race and on the long run we were awful. We fell way back in the field and we about got lapped at the end of stage two, had to do some big adjustments and we did. Got the car actually pretty good and drove all the way up to fifth there before that last run and then we were one of the fastest cars on the track. Tried to get it a little better for the last run and made it bad again, but all in all a good day for us.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
What happened with you and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) that lead to your damage?
“He (Harvick) just got to me and I think bumped me three or four times. And then I was just bumping him back and he brake-checked me. I probably shouldn’t have brake-checked him in the first place. They were just some light bumps here and then slammed on the brakes here. So, classy.”
Did you have a better car than anticipated today?
“We definitely made our car better from overnight to get more speed out of it. We still have to work on a few things but this is definitely a step in the right direction from where we’ve been in the past couple of races here. Really happy with the FedEx Camry. We didn’t get a good finish like we probably deserved but all-in-all, a decent day. No mistakes. We’ll keep building from this.”
What happened with the contact between yourself and Kevin Harvick?
“It’s short track racing, I was trying to give him (Kevin Harvick) a few taps back after he knocked me out of the way. No hard feelings, I’m not mad or anything. Definitely tore up our race car pretty good. When he bumps us, we just tried to keep our car under control. No hope after that unless we had a caution. I thought we had anywhere from a third to a sixth-place car – plenty of improvement from where we were over the last couple times we’ve been here. Overall, better, definitely better than we’ve been so I’m happy with that.”
Why were there so few cautions in today’s race?
“Once you get strung out here, there’s not a lot of attrition. Guys give each other room and when somebody is faster, somebody gives up the spot. It’s different racing now than what it used to be. I think that everyone is running the same speed. All of our cars, whether it be data sharing, setups that we’re sharing with each other and all that, everyone is getting their car to drive very, very similar. Even when I would come up on lapped cars, they were running a similar speed to what I was, but I was able to get through traffic better than they were. We’ve gotten the cars to where the drive is so similar so when everyone runs the same speed it’s hard to pass and with less passing there’s less chance for incidents. I thought it was still a good race, a lot of races have gone caution-free for a long time back in the day and Clint (Bowyer) really put a whipping on them.”
Were you surprised to see Clint Bowyer win the race?
“SHR (Stewart Haas Racing) hasn’t been lighting fast here lately – the 4 (Kevin Harvick) had a good finish in the fall if I remember right, but they’re making gains on it. Like I said, with all the data sharing and everything, you can steal people’s information nowadays. You can go right to a tablet and see how Brad’s (Keselowski) driving or how I’m driving or Kyle (Busch) or anyone. That can really change some things in the future and you’re starting to see now that the cars are running very, very similar.”
How popular is this win?
“He’s (Clint Bowyer) well liked within the race teams and the drivers and the fans and everything. It’s probably a great win for him and it’s been a very long time. Great job by his team.”
