Toyota Racing Post-Qualifying Report
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sonoma Raceway – June 22, 2019
TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, William Bryon*
3rd, Joey Logano*
4th, Chase Elliott*
5th, Daniel Suarez*
6th, DENNY HAMLIN
7th, KYLE BUSCH
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR
19th, MATT DIBENEDETTO
29th, PARKER KLIGERMAN
32nd, ERIK JONES
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Qualifying Position: 6th
How did the new curb in turn five affect you?
“It didn’t affect me any. I wasn’t one of the guys that was getting off the track. I thought it was good, because obviously, when it gets down in the race, if you didn’t have that, you would just run in the dirt. It is unique for sure. We are going to use every bit of the racetrack. I didn’t really use it to begin with but I think it’s good that they can keep the track clean.”
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 95 Procore Thanks DW Throwback Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing
Qualifying Position: 19th
Decent qualifying position inside the top 20 to start Sunday.
“We ended up 19th. I missed it a little bit in turn seven and 11. Just missed my mark a hair. I think the best we could have been would have been on the bubble of the top 12. Our car is much better in race trim. It is really good in race pace yesterday, so it should be good come race time.”
Top five in practice yesterday; looks like you guys had great race pace.
“Yeah, because that was our race speed. We were good on average – 10 lap average, 15 lap average. So I think it will race really good, and I have learned in the past that forward drive here is so important. Even with the higher downforce, it is same old Sonoma. You are going to need to focus on that forward drive, and not going off course with the new track layout. That is going to be important.”
ERIK JONES, No. 20 Craftsman Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Qualifying Position: 32nd
Your tire went flat in qualifying. When did you know?
“I didn’t know it was a flat majority of the lap, and it finally blew coming down the frontstretch. It is pretty unfortunate; we had a top 15 car for qualifying and now we are starting 32nd. It is the story of the whole year. Nothing has really gone our way to this point, and I guess it’s not really changing this weekend yet. We will get it together for tomorrow and try to come through the field.
