Toyota NASCAR Phoenix Summary

MAR 15, 2015

AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 15, 2015) – Camry drivers Matt Kenseth and Erik Jones tallied a pair of top-five finishes in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Phoenix International Raceway over the weekend and Carl Edwards and Kenseth logged top-20 results in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Edwards recorded a 13th-place result in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Phoenix International Raceway behind race-winner Kevin Harvick.

Fellow Camry driver and Edwards’ Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Kenseth (16th) also logged a top-20 finish at the one-mile Arizona oval.

The NSCS returns to action next weekend at Southern California’s Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, March 22.

Select Toyota NSCS Driver Quotes:

CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 13th
What challenges did you fight with the car today?
“We fought a lot of things. We were a little tight in the middle of the corner and when we would get in dirty air our car seemed to be more affected than other people. We just have to work on that. Overall we just got lucky a couple times not to tear something up. This is a better finish than we’ve had so I’ll just move on to California. We had a lot of folks from Stanley here and just wanted to make sure we had a good effort for them and I feel like we did a great job never quitting. I’m proud of my guys for that.”

How do you feel about the outcome of today’s race?
“This is the kind of run, even though it’s not great, this is the kind of run we needed just to have a little bit more of a solid run. We made the most of what we had today and I think we ended up 13th or something like that. I feel like we had about a 15th-place car and we didn’t do worse than that.”

Was there one particular issue you battled with the car?
“For us, it was a matter of the air. I don’t know what the other drivers had trouble with, but once I got about 10 car lengths behind another car that was it and I couldn’t do much. It seems like some other guys could do better. It might just be me, but that’s the problem we had.”

DAVID RAGAN, No. 18 Snickers Xtreme Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 21st
How was the car in today’s race?
“We had a top-15 Snickers Xtreme Camry I think. Real proud of my guys and the way we started the race, but just had a really tough last third of the race. I didn’t have a great restart with about 100 (laps) to go and lost some track position. I think we still would have been in good shape if we would have had a few more cautions in the last 50 or 60 laps. We certainly didn’t have a winning car by any means and I’m a little disappointed that we can’t put an entire race together, but all in all our team did a good job and our team rebounded and picked up a few spots there at the end, which was important. We’ll go back and look at it and learn when we go back to another short track.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 41st
What happened in the accident?
“I have no idea. I would love to see the replay. It’s a shame because this Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry was really good in practice and I felt really good about the first lap. Last I heard I was coming out of (turn) four and I heard I was all clear and I was against the wall and then I just got drilled from behind and turned into the wall. It seems kind of early to be using the bumper, but I need to see a replay.”

Did you get hit from behind and put into the wall?
“I don’t know. I came out of turn four and my spotter said, ‘All clear.’ I went up to the wall and all of the sudden I got hit from behind. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if Jimmie (Johnson) was outside and if he was then I was told I was all clear and if he wasn’t outside or if he was outside by an inch then it seems kind of early to wreck someone on lap one. I don’t know whose fault it was, I just know I got hit from behind and I was against the wall and my spotter said, ‘All clear.’ That’s pretty much all the information I’ve got.”

Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions -- at Phoenix International Raceway
1st, Kevin Harvick
13th, CARL EDWARDS
16th, MATT KENSETH
21st, DAVID RAGAN
23rd, DENNY HAMLIN
24th, CLINT BOWYER
31st, JJ YELEY
34th, JEB BURTON
35th, MATT DIBENEDETTO
41st, BRIAN VICKERS

Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings -- following Phoenix International Raceway*
10th, MATT KENSETH 113 points (69 points behind leader Kevin Harvick)
13th, DENNY HAMLIN 108 points
15th, CLINT BOWYER 101 points
18th, DAVID RAGAN 98 points
21st, CARL EDWARDS 88 points
35th, BRIAN VICKERS 32 points
*unofficial point standings

2015 Toyota NSCS WINS: 0

Overall Toyota NSCS WINS (since 2007): 65

NASCAR XFINITY Series

Matt Kenseth (second) was the highest-finishing Camry in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Phoenix International Raceway. Kenseth started fourth and led 14 laps (of 200) en route to recording the top-Toyota finish in the event.

Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate, Erik Jones, earned his first career NXS top-five finish in Saturday afternoon’s 200-mile race. Jones was driving the No. 54 Monster Energy Camry subbing for Kyle Busch who is still recovering from injuries sustained in Daytona.

The NXS returns to action next weekend at Southern California’s Auto Club Speedway on Saturday, March 21.

Select Toyota NXS Driver Quotes:

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Reser’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How was the car on the final run?
“For whatever reason after our last pit stop we just didn’t fire off as fast and I had way less grip than every other pit stop and I was even in the lead there just for a minute. I knew that was probably not going to be good for me. He (Joey Logano) got away pretty good and then when I was just kind of trying to save my tires and then when it was time to go I just got tight running him down with all the lapped cars. Just couldn’t quite get there, but Wheels (Mike Wheeler, crew chief) did a great job on this Reser’s Camry. I thought we had a car that could have won, I just couldn’t get there and couldn’t get it done.”

Did you have anything for Joey Logano in the closing laps?
“We didn’t fire off real fast, but in the long run we seemed to be a little bit better than the 22 (Joey Logano) was most of the day, but it was just a little bit. With about 30 (laps) to go, we decided it was time to try to get rolling and get a run at him and just with all the lapped cars and the way these cars are, just got in dirty air and started getting my car tight and I couldn’t get any closer to him.”

How does the car feel for tomorrow’s race and is it strong enough to challenge Kevin Harvick?
“One lap isn’t 312 obviously, but I felt like we did a lot of good things in practice and felt like we learned a lot. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) really worked hard at trying some stuff outside of our box at least. Felt like we made some gains and some things were better, some things were worse. I’m sure Kevin (Harvick) is going to be the guy to beat, he has been the last few years here and there were some other guys that were real fast in practice too. Hopefully we will get a good balance tomorrow and we’ll have a good day.”

Are the XFINITY cars similar enough to the Sprint Cup cars to learn from today’s race?
“They are more similar than what they were, but there is still a fair amount of difference. Maybe learned a little bit about the track and the tires and things like that. Still the setups and the cars are enough different to where I don’t think there was really a lot of setup information that translates, but you always learn something when you’re out there racing. Learn about the track and running the same tires so hopefully you can pick up little bits and pieces.”

ERIK JONES, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How was the car today?
“We had a good Monster Energy Camry, just not quite where we wanted it to be. Just a trying day all day. We made some good adjustments and I felt like at the beginning and then kind of got behind, got too free and kind of went back on some of the stuff and lost some track position. Definitely a good day of learning. I think we all learned a lot and we’re going to get better and be better the next time we go to the race track.”

What does it mean to get this top-five finish?
“It’s nice to finally get the finishes that I thought we deserved. We struggled with getting caught up in other people’s messes early on and just nice to run up front and get that finish that I thought we deserved.”

How was the car from practice to the race?
“We were pretty good all weekend I felt like and just kind of lost a little bit from practice to the race. We just weren’t quite where I thought we were kind of all day in practice – top two or three car instead of a top-five car. Good to bring home a top-five. The Monster Energy Camry was fast – just got behind on adjustments all day. We were tight early and freed it up and just got too free. On the last stop we wanted to go back and make sure it was going to be snug enough because on those restarts you have to try to get so much and when you’re free you just can’t make anything happen. Happy with the outcome – it’s nice to finally get a finish after having a couple rough weeks and then come back and hopefully give us some momentum going into Fontana next weekend.”

Has there been any issue with consistency in between the cars each weekend?
“Not right now, we’ve been fortunate enough to run every race. So far, it’s been easy going and the only road block would be switching between the 54 and the 20, which really hasn’t been too big of a deal. Two great race teams so when you go back and forth it definitely makes it easy when your cars are fast. Phoenix, it was a place that I felt confident coming into and just felt like we had a good weekend. I think we did and it was a good building weekend and I think me and Chris (Gayle, crew chief), it was our second race together and we learned a lot about working with each other more and more. Just kind of being in the heat of battle more so than we were at Atlanta. Excited to be running with him again at Richmond this year, but also looking forward to next weekend at Fontana to do a little better.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 18 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
How was the race?
“We improved a lot. I think I made a lot of mistakes last weekend in Las Vegas and I was really focused on those mistakes and listened to people. We did a way, way better job with this track. I think we were a top-10 car the whole race long. In the long run with two tires it was pretty good the first however long and then in the second run I wasn’t that fast, but again it was a full day of learning. We have to keep learning and keep working and I think we are going to be there.”

Did you have more confidence coming to Phoenix having raced previously in the NASCAR Mexico Series?
“A few days ago I really felt like the race here in Phoenix is like a home track for me seeing as we are not racing in Mexico. This is a pretty good track for me in a personal way. This was the first track that we have come to in 2015 so far where I have a little bit of experience in different race cars. My confidence was a little bit higher. We keep learning and we have a long way to go. We have to keep working and hopefully we can keep building on those top-10s for the next few weeks.”

Toyota NXS Driver Finishing Positions -- at Phoenix International Raceway
1st, Joey Logano
2nd, MATT KENSETH
5th, ERIK JONES
11th, DANIEL SUAREZ
20th, MIKE BLISS
21st, DAVID STARR
22nd, CALE CONLEY
24th, JJ YELEY
25th, BLAKE KOCH
29th, ERIC MCCLURE
40th, JEFF GREEN

Toyota Drivers in NXS Point Standings -- following Phoenix International Raceway*
9th, DAVID STARR 106 points (51 points behind leader Ty Dillon)
10th, DANIEL SUAREZ 103 points
15th, JJ YELEY 90 points
16th, ERIC MCCLURE 79 points
18th, BLAKE KOCH 74 points
20th, CALE CONLEY 64 points
*unofficial point standings

2015 Toyota NXS WINS: 0

Overall Toyota NXS WINS (since 2007): 98