Toyota MENCS Martinsville Speedway Post-Race Recap

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Chocolate Bar Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

Do you think you could have run the race differently at the end to catch Brad Keselowski?

“I had a nose underneath the 2 (Brad Keselowski) there in the middle of (turns) three and four and he just chopped my nose off. Normally when you hit a guy, they move out of the way. Instead, it seemed like my car had to move out of the way and then the 9 (Chase Elliott) got by me so we ended up finishing third. That was a lot better day then we probably should have had and we made the most of our opportunity with our M&M’s Camry.”

Does your third-place finish say more about you or your team today?

“It’s definitely the team. I could only do so much there for a while when I was out there with my hands full at the mid-point of the race running 12th. It’s about communication. I have a hand in that and being able to talk to my crew chief. I’m thankful to have Adam Stevens on the box and he made some smart changes for the second half of the race. It got us way better. The pit crew was awesome today too. I think we picked up like 12 spots on pit road today so that was a huge help because you couldn’t pass on the race track.”

What more did you need from you Camry toward the end of the race?

“More raw speed. We were just kind of off a little bit. We didn’t qualify good and I didn’t think we were very good in practice. Not as good as we typically are here. Just lacking a little bit of something. From where we ran midway point of the race to where we finished there, that was a really good turnaround. I’m thankful to have Adam Stevens and all of my guys that work so hard for me and give me everything I need here for this M&M’s Camry to stay up front and be up front and come home with a top five again here at Martinsville.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

How do you assess today’s race at Martinsville Speedway?

“It’s pretty normal. It’s just one of those days where one guy hit it and was just a little bit better than everyone else, and everyone else was chasing. It seemed like we were the next car in line after the 9 (Chase Elliott), so probably a third-place car. We just finished fifth because we lost there on pit road. We have a lot of races where we always have to battle back from the back of the pack, but certainly another top five and overall steady day. We just needed a little bit more speed and a little bit more handling to run with the 2 (Brad Keselowski).

How frustrated were you with the pit road mistake today?

“We’ve got to get better. We know that. We’re struggling a little bit right now for sure, but certainly, it’s a team thing. Last week I had a speeding penalty so it all equals out. If you’re not going to be the best car, you have to execute perfectly. The best car didn’t falter so it wouldn’t have made a difference either way but certainly cost us maybe one or two spots today. Nothing to hang our heads about. Overall a good day.”

Tell us how your day unfolded for you.

“We had a really good car. I thought kind of the second to fourth place car depending on the scenario. I lost some spots on pit road and then we had that uncontrolled tire and had to go to the back. We came back to a few spots short of where I thought we should have been, but overall not a bad day. We need to get our car a little bit better to contend with the 2 (Brad Keselowski) there.

Was this a traditional Martinsville race or different than races past?

“I thought it was relatively the same to what it has been in the past. Traffic is just a little bit tougher with the big blades on the back of the car. It certainly is just a little bit harder. Overall it was a status quo day at Martinsville where one guy hits it and the rest are all chasing him.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 19 SiriusXM Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 8th

How was your race today?

“It was tough. We started ninth and finished eighth. It sounds pretty simple. Actually, we started eighth. A lot of stuff we worked on in between. Just really could never get the handle all day long. Too loose off the corner. I couldn’t get forward drive. No matter what we did it seemed like we couldn’t get it. We struggled a little bit. I thought we were going to be better than that today. Good job by the guys. A nice consistent day. We just didn’t have anything special.”

Did your teammates find other things in the race today and you didn’t?

“No. This track is pretty temperamental. It’s pretty sensitive. A new setup with the car and obviously new aero stuff. We just missed it a little bit. We were really good yesterday in practice. Martinsville is a weird place. You can be the best car in practice and finish 20th in the race. We were too good yesterday I guess. Just fought one thing all day, a terminal problem, and really couldn’t do anything to get it better.”