Toyota MENCS ISM Raceway Post-Race Recap

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
ISM Raceway
Race 35 of 36 – 312 miles, 312 laps
November 11, 2018

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, KYLE BUSCH

2nd, Brad Keselowski*

3rd, Kyle Larson*

4th, Aric Almirola*

5th, Kevin Harvick*

13th, DENNY HAMLIN

14th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

17th, ERIK JONES

31st, TANNER BERRYHILL

36th, DANIEL SUÁREZ

39th, TIMMY HILL

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**

2nd, KYLE BUSCH                         5000 points

3rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR               5000 points

11th, DENNY HAMLIN                2252 points

15th, ERIK JONES                         2207 points

20th, DANIEL SUÁREZ                   667 points

**unofficial point standings

 

·
Camry driver Kyle Busch won Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) Playoffs race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix and automatically advanced to the Champion 4
at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week.

·
The win was Busch’s 51st MENCS win of his career and first win at the one-mile Arizona since 2005.

·
Busch would led a race-high 117 (of 312) laps in the MENCS Playoffs cutoff race in Phoenix.

·
The win marked Busch’s eighth this season – matching career-high wins in a season the Toyota driver set in 2008.

·
The win also secured a Toyota NASCAR race weekend sweep at ISM Raceway with Brett Moffit winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday and Christopher
Bell winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday.

·
It was the sixth Toyota NASCAR race weekend sweep in 2018.

·
Toyota MENCS Playoffs driver Martin Truex Jr. advanced to the Championship 4 for the second-consecutive season after finishing 14th on Sunday.

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 1st

How special was this win and did you think you had a car capable of winning today?

“It’s an awesome team and awesome group of guys. Can’t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. All the men and women there that work so hard to prepare such great race cars that I get to drive. M&M’s and Toyota – and it’s Veteran’s
Day. I want to say thank you to all the veterans out there for everything that you all have sacrificed for us and done for our freedom in this country. Cool to race on Veteran’s Day. This is a sport that everybody loves to come out and participate in and be
a part of whether it’s the military, whether it’s the fans that support the military – it’s awesome to have all that here in NASCAR.”

How much momentum does this give you for Homestead?

“I’d like to think it gives us a lot, but I don’t know – talk is cheap. We’ve got to be able to go out there and perform and just do what we need to do. Being able to do what we did here today was certainly beneficial. I didn’t think we
were the best car, but we survived and we did what we needed to do today. It’s just about getting to next week and once we were locked in, it was ‘all  bets are off and it’s time to go.’ That’s what our partners like to see and like to hear out of us – Interstate
Batteries, NOS Energy Drink, Cessna, Stanley, Rheem, DVX Eyewear, Black Clover and of course Rowdy Nation – all the fans, we have some right down here in front of victory lane and some over there, they’re everywhere and I see yellow all over the place. It’s
awesome to celebrate like this and we were the first ones in the Richmond victory lane and we’re the first ones in the Phoenix victory lane and I called my shot a few months ago because they had the 48 on the map showing everyone where things are at and I
said, ‘That ain’t right, that’s going to be us.’ I’m glad I could be a man of my word.”

Can you talk about the move that you made on the earlier restart?

“I don’t remember that far back – I guess I went to the bottom, that’s where I went. The restarts here are just crazy, they’re hectic. You just try to go where they’re not and the opportunity presented itself there being able to go to the
low side in three and four. Picked off a few guys there and I think they got mixed up in some of the speedy-dry that was down there and with guys running on top of each other, it’s close door-to-door and it kind of messes you up in that regard as well too.
Just a great day for us though. I can’t say enough about this whole team and everyone on this M&M’s Toyota – they did an awesome job for me. Each and every weekend they do that for me and it’s awesome to be able to come out here and perform and put ourselves
in victory lane. To do that in front of these fans on the west coast, love being able to come out here to Phoenix and love being able to have an opportunity to win here. This is my second and it’s been a long time since the first one here so it’s nice to be
back in victory lane at Phoenix.”

What adjustments did you have to make to the race car today?

“We just kept tuning on it and just kept working on it. These guys, they never give up, they never quit on me and I never quit on them. We had to keep scrounging and figure out some other things that could help the grip in this race car.
It was loose, it was tight and it was all over the place today – it was a handful, that’s for sure. There at the end it was just fast enough to hold off that 2 (Brad Keselowski) car and he was charging fast.”

How much weight do you put in momentum and the battle coming up at Homestead?

“You just have to have things kind of fall into place and kind of go your way. Not everything has to, but just a little bit. We’ve had an awesome year and the way that we’ve been able to perform and how we’ve been able to do things in this
Playoff, it  hasn’t quite been pretty all the time, but we did what we needed to do in key moments. Last week was a tough week for us, but we’ve got this week now and if momentum is anything, obviously we’re ready to go. We’ll rock and roll into Homestead
and it feels pretty good.”

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

Finishing Position: 13th

What happened between yourself and Kurt Busch?

“We had an opportunity there and I think the 20 (Erik Jones) got together there and going into the corner I got underneath and it looked like I got loose, I thought I got hit, but nobody was near me. I got loose and I chased it up the race
track and he (Kurt Busch) was right there. Then it looked like he hit the wall and I was up there and kind of pinched him and then hit the wall again. It was not going to be good. He kind of turned us then, but I can’t blame him, Kurt’s been fair to me in
so many years of racing. I’ve never had one incident with him, he’s been as fair to me as anyone out there and I hate it for him because trust me, I was rooting for him – all of today I was rooting for the 41 to be the guy that got in there. Ultimately we
have to go out there to try to race to win and we were battling hard off the corner. Just ran out of real estate for sure.”

Are you saying Kurt put you into the wall?

“Nothing was his fault. Maybe the very tailend of it while we crashed, but understandably he was probably frustrated. I can’t blame him for anything to be honest with you. He was on the outside there it looked like and literally right even
with me just enough and you could see my car bobbling and I got sideways there. I just chased it up the track and he was there and to me, it’s just a racing thing, obviously nothing intentional as a huge Kurt Busch fan.”

Were you aware that Chase Elliott was also taken out of contention in the accident?

“It’s the unfortunate part about it, you have these races that have been may lays for eight weeks at the end of them. Just unfortunate. We had a race-winning car, we passed the 18 (Kyle Busch) today. Just kind of the synopsis of our year
to be honest with you, we’ve run well and kind of got off a little bit there and we just try to battle back and we saw an opportunity right there to try to get the lead and it was a good opportunity, but obviously some beating and banging there racing for
the lead.”

Were you loose due to having older tires?

“Maybe a little bit with older tires, but I only had 18 laps on mine and they had just a little less or more laps actually on theirs. Obviously, I knew I had guys with fresh tires right behind me so I had to make hay while I could. Crappy
deal for all involved and the difference is that everyone is out there still racing for their own particular race and obviously that was the last person I wanted to get into.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 78 Bass Pro Shops / 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing

Finishing Position: 14th

How challenging was this race today?

“It was a tough one. We didn’t have the greatest car, but we battled hard and we had a little bit of good fortune. Made good calls, good strategy and good adjustments on the car. We got it to where it was pretty decent. The short runs just
really killed us today. It would take 40 or 50 laps for the car to come in and then a caution would come out. All in all, I’m just really proud of everybody, everybody back in Denver at the shop for continuing to bring good race cars and stay focused. We had
1300 names on the hood today from Auto Owner’s with people that go together to help raise money for our foundation. It’s Veteran’s Day and so many cool things today that were really special. We’re going to Miami. Just happy and thankful for our team and everybody
that supports this Toyota, TRD, Bass Pro Shops, 5-hour ENERGY and everybody that makes this possible. Cole (Pearn, crew chief) and all the guys, it’s an unbelievable group. One last hoorah next week and we’ll go give them all we’ve got.”

What does it mean to give Barney Visser and this team one more shot at a defending the championship next weekend?

“It gives me chills honestly. I’m really happy for him (Barney Visser, owner) and we had a good conversation this morning before the race. I told him that I’m glad he’s here and I’m glad he’s going to Homestead and he’s done so much for
all of us and so much for all of our careers – so many people in Denver that moved out there 12 years ago to come to work. It’s been an unbelievable place to work and he’s been a great boss, a great friend to all of us and we’re going to try to do all we can
to get him to go out on top.”

How do you feel heading into Homestead next weekend?

“Homestead is a tough track, it’s a long race and anything can happen. We saw last year that we were really good on short runs and the 18 (Kyle Busch) was good on long runs and at the end it came down to a short run and we were able to
hold him off. You have to have a little bit of luck on your side, you have to have a good race car and you have to have things play out the way you need them to suit your setup and suit what you’re doing. For us, we’ve got a lot of confidence and we really
don’t have a lot of pressure on us. We’re going to go down there and all you can do is give it your best. We haven’t been the fastest car this year by any means, but when we hit it right we can beat anybody. If we can go down there and hit it right, we’re
going to have some fun.”

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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