TOYOTA NASCAR NSCS, NXS & NCWTS

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 22, 2015) -- Camry driver Denny Hamlin finished fourth in the 57th running of the Daytona 500, the season-opening event for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, on Sunday. In total, Toyota drivers tallied six top-10 finishes across three NASCAR national touring series races at the famed, 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway over the weekend.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Hamlin started the race-ending, green-white-checkered finish in the Daytona 500 from the inside of the front row, but was shuffled back and finished fourth in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 11 FedEx Express Camry at the historic Florida speedway. The Virginia native started 42nd, but worked his way to the front of the pack where he led the field on three occasions for four laps. In addition to Hamlin’s finish, his Toyota teammate Clint Bowyer finished seventh in the 203-lap event.

Matt Crafton, the two-time defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, filled in for Kyle Busch in the No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry for JGR and finished 19th in his first NSCS start. Busch missed the season-opening event after sustaining injuries in a crash in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona.

The NSCS returns to action next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 1.

Select Toyota NSCS Driver Quotes:

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Did you like your chances for the final restart?
“You know, you’ve got a 50-50 shot of winning it when you’re on the green-white-checkered on the front row. Our line didn’t form up and it’s typically whatever line gets organized the most usually goes forward on these green-white checkers and we just – inside line didn’t get going. We came up a little short again.”

Why did you have radio issues again?
“We just didn’t have – I had communication, but it was just staticy and there was something we’ve been fighting for really a couple years.”

Was Joey Logano that much faster than everyone else?
“I didn’t think he (Joey Logano) was that much better than everyone else. He got the pushes and cleared when he needed it. I had an opportunity – just once you get the lead, you really have got a good advantage. Every time I held it, I got shuffled right away. It was as good fight for our FedEx team. Proud of everyone at Toyota and TRD for the efforts they put in this weekend. Just wish I could get one for Joe (Gibbs, team owner).

How did the track feel today?
“The track was a ton different. We saw handling issues that we haven’t seen all week. The cars just drove totally different. It was a different race than what we’ve had these last 10 days.”

Did you have a chance if the final caution didn’t come out?
“I felt okay. Of course, I didn’t want to be fourth, but I thought for sure if the wreck was in the back we were going to come back to the line and we had kind of a four-car breakaway, so I thought the front two – the second and third, (Kevin) Harvick and (Dale Earnhardt) Jr., were going to do something and I was going to hope to capitalize on that move. From fourth, it would have been hard to win it. My chance was really on that restart.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Could you have done anything different during the final restart?
“I don’t know what I could have done different. I have to go back and look at it. Just you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t there. I had them stacked up – some pretty good cars there behind me and I knew they were going to shuffle me out. I was kind of the lone wolf in the whole group other than the 22 (Joey Logano) and he happened to be leading. Once they got me in the middle, three-wide, I just didn’t really have – I was stuck and screwed.”

MATT CRAFTON, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What was this race and experience like for you?
“It was a learning curve. The first half we just rode around and tried to learn, learn, learn. I made a mistake – I had a pretty good surge up top and I tried the bottom and shuffled myself all the way to the back. I should have had a little better finish there at the end, but it is what it is.”

What did you fight with the car?
“I fought tight and just kept freeing it up and freeing it up – they haven’t seen any temperatures this hot the whole time they’ve been here, so I think everybody fought the same thing. Trying to learn it all at the same time – it’s a pretty gnarly learning curve.”

How difficult was it to jump into a car with no practice?
“Pretty gnarly – it was very, very tough, but that’s what we get paid to do – drive race cars and figure it out quick. I felt fine, just my back from being in that seat hurt. Under yellows I would loosen up the belts as much as I could and just try to bow myself up in the seat just because my back was just cramped so unbelievable bad. We made it.”

ADAM STEVENS, crew chief, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What is your opinion of how Matt Crafton did filling in for Kyle Busch?
“First and foremost, I hope my buddy Kyle (Busch) gets healed up soon and hope he was listening and watching today. I know he texted me a bunch of times – my phone was blowing up. Matt (Crafton) did a good job. It’s a lot to ask of a guy to not practice a car and come and race it. We kind of took the strategy of just letting him ride around the first part of the race and letting him work up to it. Everything was going fine, but you know how these speedway races end and sure enough it ended like we thought it would. We ran all the laps and it was a good effort – proud of his effort and proud of the team -- something to build on going forward.”

What was the moral like with the race team today?
“Everybody is in high spirits to start this season – we got the wind taken out of our sails yesterday, but we’ve all been in communications with Kyle and we know that he’s a strong person and he’s going to come back stronger than ever. Whatever the doctors tell him, he’s probably going to shave about three or four weeks off of that and be beating on our door. I’m sure he’ll be in my office sometime next week talking about how we’re going to make this happen.”

CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How strong was the race car?
“Actually had a very strong car and I had a lot of fun. I just didn’t pick the right lines there at the end – it just didn’t work. We got far enough back that it made it kind of hard to get back to the front. I had fun – I really did. Had a great car and we didn’t tear anything up – just had a good time.”

Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions -- at Daytona International Speedway
1st, Joey Logano
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
7th, CLINT BOWYER
18th, JOHNNY SAUTER
19th, MATT CRAFTON
24th, CARL EDWARDS
25th, MICHAEL WALTRIP
35th, MATT KENSETH
36th, MIKE WALLACE
40th, JJ YELEY

Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings -- following Daytona International Speedway*
4th, DENNY HAMLIN 41 points (six points behind leader Joey Logano)
7th, CLINT BOWYER 37 points
24th, CARL EDWARDS 22 points
25th, MICHAEL WALTRIP 18 points
35th, MATT KENSETH 9 points
*unofficial point standings

2015 Toyota NSCS WINS: 0

Overall Toyota NSCS WINS (since 2007): 65

NASCAR XFINITY Series
David Starr (sixth) was the highest finishing Camry in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race as the series kicked off the 2015 season at Daytona International Speedway. Kyle Busch led a race-high 27 (of 120) laps at the 2.5-mile speedway, but he was involved in a vicious accident on lap 111. Busch suffered a compound fracture of his lower right leg in the accident, as well as a fracture in his left foot, and underwent a successful surgery on his right leg late that evening.

The NXS returns to action next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, February 28.

Toyota NXS Driver Finishing Positions -- at Daytona International Speedway
1st, Ryan Reed
6th, DAVID STARR
13th, MIKE WALLACE
17th, ERIC MCCLURE
18th, ERIK JONES
20th, BLAKE KOCH
26th, KYLE BUSCH
27th, JJ YELEY
30th, CALE CONLEY
34th, JUSTIN MARKS
37th, SCOTT LAGASSE JR.
39th, DANIEL SUAREZ

Toyota Drivers in NXS Point Standings -- following Daytona International Speedway*
4th, DAVID STARR 38 points (nine points behind leader Ryan Reed)
11th, ERIC MCCLURE 27 points
13th, BLAKE KOCH 24 points
22nd, CALE CONLEY 14 points
29th, DANIEL SUAREZ 5 points
*unofficial point standings

2015 Toyota NXS WINS: 0

Overall Toyota NXS WINS (since 2007): 98

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Erik Jones started seventh in the Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota and was the first Tundra to cross the finish line with a second-place finish behind race-winner Tyler Reddick. Jones battled within the top-five for much of the race, but was unable to get a run on the race-winner before the 100-lap race took the checkered flag. Tundra drivers Matt Crafton (eighth), Daniel Suarez (ninth) and Johnny Sauter (10th) also earned top-10 finishes in the season-opening race at the famed Daytona International Speedway.

The NCWTS returns to action next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, February 28.

Select Toyota NCWTS Driver Quotes

ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
How was your run?
“I wish we could have won the race – that’s first off. Second is a great start to the season and we did what we wanted to. We came in here and didn’t get wrecked and put ourselves in a position not to be making up all year. Had a fast Tundra. I tried to lay back through (turns) three and four thinking maybe if the – the 29 (Austin Theriault) I think was in second – if he made a move on the 19 (Tyler Reddick), hopefully it would break them up and I could pull off both of them and try to pass them all. It worked up to second, but just couldn’t quite get to the lead. Just thankful to be running full time thanks to Toyota. It’s going to be a fun year.”

Is it difficult to be patient at Daytona?
“It’s tough. I didn’t really think we had anybody in front – I didn’t know if the 20 (Scott Lagasse Jr.) could go and make it happen on the top. He just had too much nose damage, but awesome Tundra. It was fast. I just wish we could have had – man, I wish we could have won. Second’s always no fun, but it’s good to start the season off strong. It will be nice to go into Atlanta with such a strong start and not having to makeup all year. Just thankful for Toyota for this opportunity to run full time. It’s going to be a fun year. Really looking forward – like I said – to Atlanta, getting back to the track and seeing what our mile-and-half program is all about.”

What did you learn tonight?
“Patience. Patience. Its 100 laps here. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a long way. I learned more about the draft – second superspeedway race, so still just trying to figure everything out on that front. Excited to go back tomorrow and run the Xfinity race for GameStop. Just looking forward to getting the rest of this weekend going and getting the rest of the year going.”

MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 DampRid/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
How was the race tonight?
“Definitely wasn’t what we wanted. Usually the outside line you can make it work and you can kind of stay stable – you can’t usually clear the first three guys, but you can stay fifth on back and you can ride right there on the outside. If you shuffle the outside and you have three or four good trucks – I beat the rear bumper off the 92 (David Gilliland) and could not go anywhere. I was trying and trying and that was terrible. I hate it because we usually put on such a good show here, but whoever rode on the yellow line and had the lead was going to win the race.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 51 ARRIS Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
How was the race tonight?
“It was good – we learned a lot again. In the first half of the race everyone was crazy and I was taking care of the truck, kind of in the second part of the field. In the end, we were in pretty decent shape in seventh and then in the last lap I felt like I had a pretty good run. I tried to do something and I went to the back. Nobody followed me. It was good. To be honest, this Tundra was a winning truck and we were just in the wrong position. We ended up in a decent position in the top-10.”

Was it difficult to pass tonight?
“It was way, way more difficult in the ARCA stuff, but without help it’s impossible. Definitely, that’s maybe the biggest thing is if nobody follows you, you won’t go anywhere.”

JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Smokey Mountain-Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
What happened in the accident?
“I have no idea, I thought I was in good shape and at that point was just happy to ride and knew that the guys in front of me were all running single file and a bunch of them had to pit. That’s why I was kind of laying back and then I ended up driving right into a wreck. That’s a good night though for everything that we fought with the hood flying open and everything else. Whatever, never give up.”

How strong was your Tundra?
“This is the best truck I’ve had down here in a long time. I hate that we got damage because I thought we could have done some damage. It’s just Daytona and you never know what to do or where to be and that’s part of it.”

CAMERON HAYLEY, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing:
What happened to cause the accident?
“I wish I knew. All I could see in the front of me was – I was following the 05 of John Wes Townley and all I saw was smoke. Just white smoke and I tried to go to the outside and just couldn’t get there and next thing you know my hood is crunched and I was sideways.”

What did you learn tonight?
“A lot less than I wanted to learn. I learned a ton though just about staying in the draft. My spotter, Eddie D’Hondt, helped me a lot with that. I mean, I didn’t know what to say. Our Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra was amazing and I think we had a really good shot to win it, but just didn’t work out.”

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
What happened to cause the accident?
“I have no idea – next thing I know I was looking underneath someone else’s truck. We unloaded our Tundra yesterday and it was really good and then today just seemed to come all to pieces. We had (truck number) 140 – we started in the back and kind of took it easy for a little while and it just goes to show you that anything can happen here regardless of where you’re at. Testament goes to the guys here for getting our No. 17 Red Horse Racing Tundra backup as good as our primary and getting it on the line. We showed it today. It is what it is – it would be worse if we were riding in the back and it happened running 30th, but at least we were running top-10 so I can brag about that.”

Why did you hang back in the opening laps of the race?
“Being the first laps on the race track, even though we copied our primary, we wanted to get our travels just right. We wanted to ride until the first caution just to make sure our splitter wasn’t on the ground and just make sure everything was in working order.”

BEN KENNEDY, No. 11 Local Motors Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
What did you see during the big accident?
“I guess the first incident going into Turn One the guy had me – just lost his left rear tire. I knew it before I even got into him and I hit him and I was okay until whoever was behind me hit me, spun me sideways and we got hit pretty hard on the left front. Went back out there and through the corners we had something rubbing on the tire. We came in and we thought we fixed it and went back out and blew a tire on the back straightaway and it was either wreck it into the pack or wreck it into the wall and we had pretty much wreck it into the wall at that point. Stinks for these guys, it stinks for Local Motors and that’s not the best way to start the season, but we’ll get them from here.”

How was your race before the accident?
“The Tundra was really good. We were running alright. I think we were getting the outside line going a little bit. It took a little time, but once we got out there we were running pretty good.”

JUSTIN BOSTON, No. 54 BitPay Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
What happened in your incident?
“Well, I can definitely sit here and tell you how much this sucks and how much it’s out of your control, but this is what we work our entire lives to come to a stage like this race. It’s really unfortunate for everybody on the 54. They worked their asses off in the off-season to get us a good piece to come here. The BitPay Toyota Tundra was fast and we didn’t qualify the way we wanted to, so we thought it’d be a good idea to sit in the back with the 88 (Matt Crafton) and our teammate Daniel (Suarez) and just bide our time and missed the first wreck because we knew there was going to be some variance of speed with some guys that qualified up there. It’s unfortunate that we got tagged there. I’m not really sure what happened yet. I haven’t seen the replay, but it’s just really unfortunate and I was for sure that I was going to miss that wreck and we were playing it safe and out of nowhere I think the 1 (Donnie Neuenberger) came and tagged me and just killed our day, you know? We spent three or four times trying to get the toe fixed on our race car and it’s just really a shame and I could barely get around the race track and I was trying to get back to my guys in a timely fashion so we could try and repair our truck and something finally broke on me coming around and I was trying to get to the garage actually and we never made it there. It’s really unfortunate. It sucks. I’m looking forward to next week in Atlanta. We’ll go kick their asses there.”

What did you learn from tonight?
“Not much. There’s so much of an element you can’t control here. We just knew there was going to be a wreck pretty early just from seeing where the trucks were and how everyone qualified. Just sucks. You think you can control your own destiny somewhat by sticking in the back and you can’t.”

Toyota NCWTS Driver Finishing Positions -- at Daytona International Speedway
1st, Tyler Reddick
8th, MATT CRAFTON
9th, DANIEL SUAREZ
10th, JOHNNY SAUTER
19th, MATT TIFFT
23rd, CAMERON HAYLEY
24th, TIMOTHY PETERS
25th, CHRIS FONTAINE
28th, BEN KENNEDY
29th, JUSTIN BOSTON
32nd, JUSTIN MARKS

Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings -- following Daytona International Speedway*
2nd, ERIK JONES 42 points (6 points behind leader Tyler Reddick)
6th, MATT CRAFTON 37 points
7th, JOHNNY SAUTER 34 points
15th, MATT TIFFT 25 points
19th, CAMERON HAYLEY 21 points
20th, TIMOTHY PETERS 20 points
23rd, BEN KENNEDY 16 points
24th, JUSTIN BOSTON 15 points
*unofficial point standings

2015 Toyota NCWTS WINS: 0

Overall Toyota NCWTS WINS (since 2007): 130