- Camry driver Carl Edwards was victorious in Sunday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
- The victory was the first for Edwards with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing. The win also marked the 300th points victory for Toyota across NASCAR’s three national touring series (NSCS – 68, NASCAR XFINITY Series – 100, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – 132), which took place on the evening of Toyota’s 300th NSCS start since joining the series in 2007.
- Edwards started third and led the field three times for 25 laps (of 400) en route to the triumph in the 600-mile race.
- With the victory, three Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Camry drivers – Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth – have won NSCS races in 2015 to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship playoff.
- All four JGR Camrys – Edwards (first), Kenseth (fourth), Hamlin (eighth) and Kyle Busch (11th) – finished in the top-11 overall on the 1.5-mile circuit.
- Busch’s 11th-place finish came in just his second race back – and first points race – after recovering from injuries sustained in an accident at Daytona International Speedway in the season-opening NXS race in February.
- Camry driver Hamlin led the field twice for 53 laps, while Kenseth led 26 laps over two segments.
- Four Camry drivers are currently in the top-20 in the unofficial NSCS point standings –Kenseth (seventh), Hamlin (15th), Edwards (16th) and Clint Bowyer (17th).
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How does it feel to win your first race with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing?
“JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) is back and these Toyotas are great. I was the slowest of the group tonight and I just had the best guys on the pit box here and did a great job. Subway – I will be having a Coke along with my sub sandwich this week and guacamole on that. ARRIS came on in a huge way to start this fourth team. Toyota took a chance on me – I went to Kentucky the other week and saw where these Camrys are built. TRD (Toyota Racing Development) has been behind me 100 percent. Sport Clips, Comcast, Sprint, all the fans – what a big day of racing. I can’t believe we won this race.”
Did Darian Grubb’s decision to stay out win the race?
“Well, I mean that’s what made the race for us. Darian (Grubb, crew chief) does such a good job and ever since Tony (Stewart) and I battled for that championship, I’ve wanted to work with him and now I can. That’s what he does on the box – he takes a mediocre day like that and he puts us in a good position. The 300th victory for Toyota – it’s huge. Hopefully all that back luck we’ve had got – I guess it got negated or equaled out by the good luck today. It’s just a great day and we had Lynn Thrasher on the car and I want to thank all the veterans. Our freedoms and liberties in this country are under attack from a million different angles and the people who defend that are my heroes.”
What was on your shoes early in the race and how did you manage to save fuel for 62 laps?
“So I do think it was funny that it was Coke syrup that was on my foot from pit road and my foot was stuck to the pedal. I couldn’t race very well there at the beginning. It was just unbelievable. I have to thank Subway and everybody that’s on board – ARRIS, Toyota and all the people that took a big chance and started this fourth team at Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s just so cool to get this win. We’ve had such bad luck. We were the slowest of the bunch tonight and had Darian (Grubb, crew chief) up on the box and made the right call. He put us in a position to win and it worked.”
Is it too early to enjoy Toyota’s 300th NASCAR win, getting into the Chase and the first win with JGR?
“It is too early. I have been stressed – you can ask the people close to me. I’m just so competitive and I’m not happy with how we’ve performed and the results we’ve had. I feel like this is a gift. As much as I’ve been frustrated, this is truly a gift and I’m going to take advantage of it and enjoy it and we’ll get better.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How was the race today?
“We got a good finish. Kind of got lucky – we were in the back right after that lucky dog and just pitted. Fortunately it went green from there to the end — just got fortunate. Glad the 19 (Carl Edwards) guys got it – have to take them any way you can get them. It’s good for them to get their first win. We got three of them in victory lane this year so that’s a good thing.”
What does it mean to have three of the four JGR Camrys locked into the Chase?
“I don’t know, the Chase is in September. In May I’m more worried about what’s coming up here in front of us. Obviously, we all want to be in it, that’s the goal. We want to have all four cars going to Homestead still in the Chase is the goal. It’s everybody’s goal.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
How are you feeling after visiting the infield care center after the race?
“A lot better now. I knew when my knee was sore afterwards that it was probably fluids. My off-day was 36 holes of golf and a full tennis match. Probably over did it a little bit this weekend. I think the dehydration led to a migraine and just felt nauseous the last 100 laps or so. Thank goodness, that didn’t cost us the win. Just the bad end of that strategy and what not, but still proud of our FedEx Office team for really giving me a car that could contend for a win. This is a good sign and congrats to Carl (Edwards), this is an awesome two weeks really for our organization.”
Was it difficult to finish the race feeling like you did?
“It’s tough, I was borderline throwing up trying to race for the lead. You just try to power through it and of course when you run well, you always feel a little bit better, but when the race is over and everything comes to a stop you realize how bad you feel. A lot better now with fluids and everything. It was directly related to hydration.”
Was it challenging to come back from the loose wheel?
“That part of it stunk a little bit, but the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) came back and passed us anyway. When he came back out, he had fresher air than what I did. I came out kind of middle of the pack and just couldn’t run the lap times I needed to. Those guys ended up on the bad end of the strategy anyway.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
How do you feel after 600 miles tonight?
“I feel pretty good. All in all, I felt like that was a great race for us. We ran really strong. We ran up front, and we showed we had some speed. You know, it certainly is frustrating to finish where we did. That’s disappointing. But sometimes you do win these things by fuel‑mileage races, so congratulations to our teammates, Carl (Edwards) and Matt (Kenseth). They finished up front there. But all in all, I can’t say enough about everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, everyone pulling for me and cheering for me and helping me get back into this race car, and to get out there and have a strong run means a lot. Real proud of my guys. Adam Stevens (crew chief) made some great calls tonight and got ourselves in some really good spots and up towards the front. We raced up towards the front. We battled side-by-side, door-to-door with guys for a little while. Felt good. I feel good, and I admit I’ve probably got a little left foot soreness, but other than that, everything is pretty hunky‑dory.”
Did you surprise yourself in the fact that you made it all the way?
“I’m a little surprised that I feel as good as I do, you know. I was expecting to be a little bit more beat up and tired, but honestly, I’m not. I don’t know if that’s ‑‑ there could be two sides to that. If you go week-to-week-to-week you could grind yourself out and you get tired, whereas I just took a three‑month vacation so my body feels pretty good and it’s only been beat up in the gym. Other than that, you know, I feel like this was a good night and a great accomplishment. I feel like coming back this quick, you know, was a huge task, but I can’t thank everyone enough, everyone at OrthoCarolina. I think those guys did a fantastic job helping me and pushing me and getting me to where I needed to be. Without them, I wouldn’t be here probably.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 20th
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 34th
JJ YELEY, No. 23 Hope for the Warriors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 41st
How was the car in the race?
“Really, really happy with our Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry when we started the race. I felt like the first 100 laps we really had a top-10 to 12 car. We got behind a little bit on pit sequence and lost some track position. Really just made a bad judgement call about halfway through the race and went the wrong way on an adjustment when the track was cooling down. Really took us two or three runs to get that adjustment back out of the race car. Feel like at the end we were back to decent lap times and we just needed to get back on the lead lap. We were fighting hard to get back on the lead lap and looks like something happened engine related – we got really, really hot and something happened internally. Disappointed that we had a lot better race car, but saw some encouraging signs that we had some speed in qualifying and the race as well, but we just need to put a race all together.”
