Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes Sonoma June 2015

TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
June 22-28, 2015

TOYOTA TIDBITS

JONES JUBILEE: Toyota driver Erik Jones swept both the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway and Iowa Speedway, respectively. The victories marked his fifth NCWTS victory and second win in the NXS – for a total of seven NASCAR triumphs. It was Jones’ first weekend sweep – a feat his mentor and team owner Kyle Busch has done 10 times – and Jones is now the youngest driver in NASCAR to complete a weekend sweep.

CAMRY SONOMA VICTORIES:  Toyota drivers have won three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) events at Northern California’s Sonoma Raceway, including two by Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) drivers and one by a Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver. In 2008, Camry driver Busch swept both of the season’s road course races with victories at Sonoma Raceway and New York’s Watkins Glen International. In 2012, Clint Bowyer drove his Camry to victory lane at the 11-turn, 1.99-mile road course, while former MWR Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. was victorious in 2013.

TOYOTA AT SONOMA:  This will be the ninth year Toyota is co-sponsoring the NSCS race at Sonoma Raceway with Save Mart Supermarkets. The Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, will pace Sunday’s race after making its debut in Richmond in April and can go the race distance as it has a 300 mile fuel window. Toyota PitPass, an interactive fan display, will be setup behind the main grandstand where there will be Toyota driver appearances and the new 2016 Toyota Mirai will be on display.

NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS):  Camry drivers Matt Kenseth (eighth), Denny Hamlin (13th), Carl Edwards (14th) and Clint Bowyer (17th) currently rank in the top-20 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) point standings … Denny Hamlin’s best Sonoma finish is fifth in 2009 … First year  Camry driver Carl Edwards won last year’s NSCS race at Sonoma.

CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Do you enjoy racing at Sonoma?

“I love Sonoma. Sonoma is so much fun – you’re sliding around, you’re going uphill and downhill, over the curbs. You have to have perfect pit strategy and you have to have great restarts. You definitely have to have a car that will run on the long run. It’s such a cool race track. It’s probably the most fun that we have all year in a race car.”

What is the most challenging aspect of Sonoma?

“The toughest part of Sonoma is that it changes and it depends on your car. I’ve had cars that brake really well there and thought, ‘Man, what are all these other guys having trouble with?’ Then I’ve gone back the next year and just been terrible in the braking zones. You have to get that balance of being able to brake hard, being fast in the slow corners, get your gearing right, your fuel mileage has to be right. You have to have luck. Last year with our win, the caution came out just when we needed it and that really put us in position to win. It’s tough to get it all right.”

What is your favorite part about the Sonoma race track?

“My favorite part of Sonoma – it’s tough to say, there’s two parts I really like. After you start across the start-finish line there, that turn up the hill, it’s so fast and you’re cars all bound up and then you have to decide how late you can go and still get stopped – that’s fun. Then I like the esses back there. It’s so much fun to crest that to the right and then go back to the left and then drive down in there turning into (turn) 10.”

What do you like to do in the Sonoma area?

“That area in Napa Valley is so beautiful. Just driving to the airport is fun there. There are a bunch of different things you can do. I’ve gone bicycling and we’ve gone hiking over the Bay and see the ships come in and it’s just a cool place to be.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Are you comfortable at road courses and what are the challenges of Sonoma?

“I’ve always been comfortable at road courses, but you have to have the car right and give the right feedback to have your crew get the car right. You have to have track position and you have to have your car handling good and able to hold that track position. There’s a lot of things that go into it. You can’t group the road courses together – Sonoma is very different from Watkins Glen – it’s like night and day. When you run good there, you can enjoy it just like anywhere. I like the challenge of going out there. There’s been times when we’ve qualified really well there and there’s times I’ve been really fast during a race there. I just haven’t had a lot of races that we’ve been able to put the whole thing together and get the finish and have it right at the end and do everything right.”