Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes New Hampshire/Kentucky Sept. 2014

TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
Sept. 15 – Sept. 21, 2014

TOYOTA TIDBITS

CHASE TRIO TOP-10s:  Camry Chase drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth all finished in the top-10 in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Chicagoland Speedway — the first of 10 races that will decide the 2014 NSCS champion.  Hamlin finished sixth, Busch was seventh and led 46 laps (of 267) during the race while Kenseth crossed the finish line 10th at the 1.5-mile oval.  Each Toyota Chase driver ranks in those respective positions in the current point standings going into the second race of the championship playoff this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

A LOOK BACK TO JULY:  Four Camry drivers finished together in the top-10 in the July NSCS race at New Hampshire — including this year’s three Toyota Chase drivers.  Busch (second), Kenseth (fourth), Clint Bowyer (sixth) and Hamlin (eighth) earned top-10 finishes and combined to lead 130 laps (of 305) with Busch starting from the pole position at the one-mile New England race track.

SWEEP IN NEW ENGLAND:  Last year, Camry drivers swept the two NSCS races at New Hampshire.  Brian Vickers picked up the first-place trophy in July at the New England track and Kenseth crossed the finish line first in September.  Hamlin was also victorious at New Hampshire in Sept. 2012 in a Camry while former Toyota driver Joey Logano visited victory lane at the New England track in July 2009.

TUNDRAS RETURN TO NEW ENGLAND:  The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will make its return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the first time since 2011.  Tundra drivers have visited victory lane five times in Loudon, N.H.  Busch, who will relinquish driving duties to Erik Jones in the NCWTS event at New Hampshire, has won the past three events in 2009, 2010 and 2011.  Former Tundra drivers Johnny Benson (2006) and Travis Kvapil (2004) also earned victories at the one-mile track.

TOYOTA’S 10 YEARS IN NASCAR:  Toyota is celebrating its 10th anniversary in NASCAR this year.  Here is another highlight from Toyota’s first 10 years in the sport.  Toyota driver Matt Kenseth wins the second race of the 2013 Chase with a victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in his 500th career NSCS start (Sept. 22, 2013).
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS):  Dave Blaney earned the inaugural NSCS pole position for Toyota in June 2007 at New Hampshire … The pole came in Toyota’s 17th NSCS race and was the second of Blaney’s career … Dave Rogers, crew chief for the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 18 Camry, is a native of nearby Marshfield, Vt. … Rogers joined JGR in 1998 and served as an engineer until the end of 2005 when he became crew chief for JGR’s No. 20 NNS team, and took over crew chief duties for Busch in 2009 … Jason Shapiro, the car chief for Kenseth’s No. 20 Camry, is a native of Essex, Conn.

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Is there strategy involved to move through this Chase format?
“When you look at the first round, they’re going to drop four people out and let’s just assume that a Chase driver wins the three races and let’s assume it’s a different one.  There are still nine drivers that get in by points.  As you go on, obviously the way it would have worked last year when you get to that last round, three of those spots would have been filled by winners and one person by points.  Then obviously you want to be one of those winners, but you want to be a winner every week.  The fact is that there’s only one winner and 42 that aren’t.  I am a one week at a time guy.  I feel like for all the talk and all the different strategies and how everything is laid out and everything like that, I always think that ever since the beginning of time when they counted points, the strategy is really simple to try to get to the championship — you go out with the idea of trying to win.  If you can win every race then you’re going to win the championship.  If you can’t win on a given day then you want to finish as high as you can no matter what happens.  Hope the results are good enough.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Will you take the same approach to Loudon that you did there in July to finish second?
“I think you’ll see some of the other teams take the same approach there that we did in July in order to finish second.  We were essentially an eighth-place car but we were able to stay out on fuel over the last couple of cautions while other guys had to dip in to top off on fuel and we jumped them on cycle and we were able to finish second.”

Why have you been so successful at New Hampshire?
“I think it’s just optimism that we can run well there with our M&M’s Camry.  It’s a tough place to pass and can be really aggravating at times.  You want to be able to pass that guy in front of you because you know that you are faster than them, but the way the air works and it being one groove, it makes it tough.  It makes it hard for a guy to makes moves and get up to the front where they think they should be.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Do you have more confidence about this Chase format?
“You don’t want to draw too much attention to yourself, but I believe that as soon as I saw this grid and how it all worked out and the Chase tracks I was like, ‘Wow, this is like tailor-made for us.’  It really is, we just have to get to that eliminator eight or whatever it’s called and that’s when we get into the wheelhouse of our race tracks that we’ve performed at in the past. I think that if we can make it to Homestead and have a shot, we go from being the extreme underdogs going into this probably to the favorite being that we’ve won there over the last couple years.  Who knows how it all plays out.  You have to get there first and you can’t look that far ahead.  You have to be consistent I believe these first two rounds and get yourself in position for those last four races.”

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS):  Camry drivers Elliott Sadler (fourth) and James Buescher (10th) are currently in the top-10 in the NNS point standings following 26 of 33 races this season … Justin Boston will make his first career NNS start in Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 20 Camry … Sam Hornish Jr. will be behind the wheel of the JGR No. 54 Camry for the eighth time this season … Hornish has earned one win, two pole positions and four top-five finishes this year … Hornish’s crew chief Adam Stevens hails from Portsmouth, Ohio and is looking for his first victory on the 1.5-mile track only a short drive (about 140 miles) from his hometown … Former Camry driver Joey Logano earned three consecutive NNS wins for Toyota at Kentucky Speedway (2008 to 2010).

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS):  Tundra drivers Matt Crafton (first), Johnny Sauter (second), Darrell Wallace Jr. (fourth), German Quiroga (fifth), Timothy Peters (eighth) and Jeb Burton (10th) rank in the top-10 of the NCWTS point standings after 15 of 22 races this season … Tundra drivers have 12 victories this season, including a win by Kyle Busch on Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway.

TOYOTA 2014 NASCAR STATISTICS

Series Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led
NSCS 27 252 (20) 2 29 57 5 116 1,157
NNS 26 251 (39) 6 36 63 9 91 1,958
NCWTS 15 157 (19) 12 42 80 6 97 1,683

TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NSCS & NCWTS), Kentucky Speedway (NNS)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
Alex Bowman, No. 23 Camry
Cole Whitt, No. 26 Camry
Brian Vickers, No. 55 Camry

Joe Nemechek, No. 66 Camry
Ryan Truex, No. 83 Camry

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Jeff Green, No. 10 Camry
Elliott Sadler, No. 11 Camry
Eric McClure, No. 14 Camry
Mike Bliss, No. 19 Camry
Justin Boston, No. 20 Camry
Blake Koch, No. 44 Camry
Sam Hornish Jr., No. 54 Camry
Ross Chastain, No. 80 Camry
James Buescher, No. 99 Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

John Wes Townley, No. 05 Tundra
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 8 Tundra
Jeb Burton, No. 13 Tundra
Timothy Peters, No. 17 Tundra
Mason Mingus, No. 35 Tundra
Erik Jones, No. 51 Tundra
Darrell Wallace Jr., No. 54 Tundra

German Quiroga, No. 77 Tundra
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Tundra
Johnny Sauter, No. 98 Tundra

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