Toyota Racing Post-Qualifying Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Darlington Raceway – September 1, 2018
TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, Kyle Larson*
3rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
4th, Alex Bowman*
5th, Kyle BUSCH
7th, ERIK JONES
16th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
36th, TIMMY HILL
39th, JOEY GASE
40th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Throwback Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Qualifying Position: 1st
How significant is this pole as you look to defend your Southern 500 title from last year?
“The number one pit stall is obviously very important here. I’m excited about that. Really, the team has done a great job with the car all weekend, so pretty optimistic and you know hopeful that we have a good smooth race on Sunday and continue to build some momentum here over the next few weeks.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 78 Bass Pro Shops / 5-hour Energy Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
Qualifying Position: 3rd
Talk about your qualifying effort.
“Yeah, you know this place is hard on tires, so you try not to abuse them too much. We were able to put together a solid lap in those first two rounds – enough to move us on and then it was really all about just trying to get all I could. We weren’t the fastest car by any means, but we were the most consistent and that’s what got us a good starting spot. Guys did a good job and it’s a good place to start for here and we’ll go get them tomorrow night.”
DANIEL SUÁREZ, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Qualifying Position: 16th
How happy were you with your lap in the second round?
“That was all I got. Fortunately, we were pretty off the first time out – we were really loose and that made us make an adjustment and we went back out. One lap at Darlington is a huge give up on tires, so I knew we were going to be at a disadvantage. I’m very curious to see what kind of lap times they’re running the last round and if they run around a 50, that means that we have a pretty good piece. We just messed it up the first time out and the second and third time out, I feel like that was pretty much what we had. Like I said, we’re at a disadvantage with one more lap. We just have to learn from this and move to the race tomorrow.”
How much are you looking forward to tomorrow and getting redemption here after last year?
“Definitely need to stay away from the wall. Last year was a little bit difficult for us. Hopefully we can move into the right direction here. I feel like the 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry is pretty good. It’s not driving very comfortable, but speed-wise, it’s not bad. Hopefully we can show that tomorrow night.”
