Category: NASCAR Cup PR

AVONDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 10, 2019) – In the debut for Mazola Corn Oil on Ryan Newman’s No. 6 Ford, the 2017 Phoenix winner crossed the line 18th Sunday afternoon at ISM Raceway.

Newman, the spring event winner two years ago, lined up 20th on the grid for the 312-lap race. Throughout the opening stage he reported he was tight in the center of turns one and two, and loose into three.

The first caution flag of the day would wave at lap 65 with Newman running 18th, before he pitted for adjustments to help the handling. He went on to record a 17th-place finish in the stage after a three-lap shootout.

After firing off 16th for the second stage, Newman reported the handling was improving as he finished 14th in the second stage, which ran caution-free to lap 150. Following another stop for service under the break, Newman lined back up 12th to begin the final segment. He advanced as high as 11th by lap 185 and was the first car to hit pit road under green at lap 230. He was caught speeding, forcing him to serve a pass through penalty.

Once stops cycled he ran 19th just a lap off pace, before the caution flew one final time with nine laps to go. He would take the wave around to restart the final three laps, before going on to finish 18th.

Newman and the No. 6 team head to Homestead next weekend for the season finale, which is set for 1 p.m. ET on NBC. Coverage can also be heard on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.

The No. 21 Menards/Maytag team went into the Bluegreen Vacations 500 weekend at ISM Raceway planning to give Paul Menard a fast Ford Mustang for his final start at the track just outside Phoenix.

The team left Phoenix feeling good about their efforts as Menard raced his way forward from his 19th starting spot to 12th at the finish on a day in which passing was difficult and track position was key.

Menard spent most of the first two 75-lap Stages running just inside the top 20, but after some adjustments at the end of the second stage, he began his drive forward.

By Lap 175, he’d cracked the top 15 and raced there for the remainder of a race that saw just two caution flags in the final half of the race.

In the latter portions of the race, there were as few as eight drivers on the lead lap at one point, but Menard wound up being among the 15 who finished the 312-lap race on the lead lap.

It took some heads-up driving by Menard, good pit strategy from crew chief Greg Erwin and fast stops by the over-the-wall crew to make that happen.

“Paul did a really good job,” Eddie Wood said. “The crew had some stops in the 12-second range, and Greg made some good calls and good adjustments.

“We had to take the wave-around a couple of times and didn’t have the best track position, but overall it was a good day for us.

“And Paul was able to pass two drivers for position on the last lap, which was impressive.”

Menard and the No. 21 team now head to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season-ending Ford Championship Weekend.

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Menards

A family owned company started in 1958, Menards is headquartered in Eau Claire, WI. Menards has more than 300 retail stores located throughout the Midwest in the states of IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI and WY. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader. It’s famous slogan “Save Big Money at Menards” is widely known and easy to remember. For more information, visit Menards.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Paul Menard in the famous No. 21 racer.

Denny Hamlin Punches His Ticket to Miami with an Arizona Victory
Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Advance to the Championship 4

AVONDALE, Arizona. (November 10, 2019) – Denny Hamlin proved he’s a championship contender by winning the NASCAR Cup Series race at ISM Raceway. Hamlin, along with Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., advance to the NASCAR Championship 4, giving Toyota three drivers in the four driver winner take all event next week. Sunday’s win also secures Toyota the manufacturer title for the third time.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
ISM Raceway
Race 35 of 36 – 312 miles, 312 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, DENNY HAMLIN
2nd, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, Ryan Blaney*
4th, Kyle Larson*
5th, Kevin Harvick*
6th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
7th, ERIK JONES
13th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
*non-Toyota driver

· Denny Hamlin led 143 laps, won the first stage, and was victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Seires race at Arizona’s ISM Raceway, which advances him to the Championship 4.

· Kyle Busch (second place) started from the pole position and led 69 laps (of 312) to secure a place in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend.

· Martin Truex Jr. (sixth), who previously secured a final four position with his Martinsville victory, along with Busch and Hamlin’s Championship 4 appearances will give Toyota three of the four drivers contending for the championship next Sunday.

· Today’s Phoenix victory was the 18th for Toyota this season, a single-season record for the manufacturer and enabled Toyota to secure the Cup Series manufacturer’s championship with one race to go.

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

FInishing Position: 1st

How does it feel to win the race to advance to the final four?

“The caution was the most nervous moment. I was counting down, I have a clock inside the car and I was looking at the clock and thinking, 20 more minutes of laps, 10 more minutes of laps, five more minutes of laps. I knew it was enevetable. I’ve been through so much at this race track. Obviously in 2010 and the downfall of our championship run there to get it all back 10 years later, this is special to me.”

What did you think coming to the restart after only taking two tires?

“I was nervous. I knew the 4 (Kevin Harvick) was going to be a big deal. My teammates, the 18 (Kyle Busch) was the closest one to us but we got a really good push from Martin (Truex Jr.) there on that final restart. I think he went to go three wide and I went to block and I think he knew I was probably going to wreck if I didn’t win this race. We just did everything we could, did everything right and unfortunate we had to be put in a crazy situation there at the end.”

Best drive of your career, Denny.

“One of the best cars of my career, I can tell you that. Fast car. But, yeah, I pushed for all I had. I mean, that’s all I got. Once we got the big lead there, a little over 10 seconds, I just kind of sat there. I got to thinking about if the caution does come out, I want to lap as many as I can. That’s all we had. So proud of this whole FedEx racing team, proud of Toyota for locking up the manufacturer’s championship this week. Toyota, the Jordan Brand, Little Big Burger, the entire FedEx group for an unbelievable team.”

Were the nerves there understanding how big this moment was for your career?

“Yeah, I mean, I try not to put too much into it. There’s still work to be done. Doesn’t guarantee a championship. Gives us a chance. Live to fight another day. That’s all you can ask for.”

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

Finishing Position: 2nd

How big of a swing did the car and everything else take once you lost that clean air out front?

“Yeah, little bit, I guess. Just didn’t quite have enough. I knew the 11 was the best car in practice. I knew we were going to be about third to fifth. We were second. Guys did a great job, this M&M Camry was good. Thanks to everybody at JGR, Stanley, Toyota, TRD. It’s cool to have a chance to go race for a championship. Just keep coming up short.”

How do you go to Miami and do what this team hasn’t been able to do in the last 21 races?

“Yeah, thanks for the reminder. Fight as hard as we can, do the best job we can, exactly what we did today. Today we just weren’t good enough. Next week we’ll just have to make sure that we are. Somehow, some way, if it works out, it was meant to be. If it doesn’t, then it’s not. Hopefully the sun will come up for another day.”

Did you have anything for Denny Hamlin at the end?

“No, I guess if I would have, I would have been a little closer. We gave it everything we had today. The M&M’s Camry was good out front and then we lost the lead and could never get it back. Kind of seemed that way for a few guys, I guess the 22 (Joey Logano) most notably. We were a little bit slower than the 11 (Denny Hamlin) all weekend long. We kind of saw it in practice just a little bit. They had a really good car, did a really good car and they executed well and took two tires there at the end. It’s funny, two tires can overdo four. I have yet to understand that, again. But, must be an aero package thing. So, we’ll just go on to Homestead with a chance to race for a championship and give it our best.”

What was going through your mind when the late caution came out with so much on the line?

“Doesn’t surprise me. Just come on down and get a chance with my guys to put four tires on my car and make some adjustments and try to go out there and out race him in a shootout. Denny (Hamlin) was so far ahead of us on rolling on pit road that we just weren’t going to have a shot to beat him off pit road. Overall though, the guys did a great job. Our M&M’s Camry was good this weekend, just not great. The 11 (Denny Hamlin) was definitely better than us all weekend and they showed it and executed it again today. We get to go race for a championship now, so we’ll focus on next week.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 6th

# # #

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit ToyotaNewsroom.com.

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ISM RACEWAY
BLUEGREEN VACATIONS 500
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
NOVEMBER 10, 2019

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER (* = Playoff Contender)
4th *Kyle Larson, No. 42 Clover Camaro ZL1
11th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1
14th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
16th Chris Buescher, No. 37 Maxwell House Camaro ZL1
17th William Byron, No. 24 Hertz Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER (* = Chevy Playoff Contender)
1st Denny Hamlin (Toyota
2nd Kyle Busch (Toyota)
3rd Ryan Blaney (Ford)
4th *Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
5th Kevin Harvick (Ford)

UNOFFICIAL CURRENT PLAYOFF RANK (Following Round 9 of 10)
POS. DRIVER (* = Chevy Contender)
1. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
2. Kevin Harvick (Ford)
3. Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota)
4. Kyle Busch (Toyota)
5. Joey Logano (Ford)
6. Ryan Blaney (Ford)
7. *Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
8. *Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford EcoBoost 400 on Sunday, November 17 at 3:00 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, NBC Sports Gold, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CLOVER CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th
YOU WERE GOOD TODAY, BUT NOT GREAT. IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF HAVING TO BE GREAT TODAY.
“Yeah, the 11 (Denny Hamlin) had an amazing race car there. So, he would have had been tough to beat. But obviously with that final restart there, everybody felt like they had another chance to try and beat him. I just felt like if I could have lined up on the outside row, I would have had a really good shot. Had I lined up sixth or eighth even, I felt like I would have been in a much better position than starting seventh. It didn’t work out. I restarted on the bottom every time but one today, so that was unfortunate. It’s still a good year for us. It was a little rough in the beginning of the season, but we have rebounded from that, worked hard, got our cars better and our team better. We were battling for a championship. We’ll go to Homestead next week, race and try to get a win.”

YOU TOOK FOUR TIRES THERE ON THE LAST PIT STOP. WAS THERE ANY DISCUSSION TO TAKE NO TIRES OR TWO TIRES?
“Maybe it ran across my mind, but I felt like my best shot would have been on four tires. So, I was happy with that. Like I said, I just wanted four tires and be on the outside lane. But I got half of what I wanted.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EMOTIONS? ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED OR IS THIS A GOOD STEPPING-STONE FOR NEXT YEAR? WHAT’S GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND?
“I would like to battle for a championship next week. We did a good job in the Playoffs; I feel like we’ve learned a lot. We stayed consistent, didn’t get too anxious at times and got good finishes. I think we’ve ran in around the top-10 in every race, but Talladega. It was good. We finished top-10 at Martinsville in the Playoffs, so that was an improvement. We’ll try and be better for next year; get our cars a little bit better for these short tracks and have a better shot.”

INAUDIBLE
“I don’t know. I mean I don’t know what to do exactly for the package. They tried to put the traction compound down and, honestly, to me for at least my car, the other people could make it work. But, for me, it felt like oil up there on the long run. I was not good at all in that. So, I don’t know if it would have been better to just have it normal or what. There’s definitely less passing this year at Phoenix than there has been in previous races.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 11th
“Just battled with a loose handling car all day. We just couldn’t find the balance that we needed to be competitive. I got penalized for speeding on pit road and that just put us way behind. With no cautions, it was hard to make adjustments or recover the lost track position.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTOCARE CENTER CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined from an accident on lap 166; Finished 39th
IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU ARE OK, AT LEAST PHYSICALLY, I DON’T KNOW ABOUT EMOTIONALLY. EVERYTHING THAT COULD GO WRONG FOR YOU DURING THIS PLAYOFF ROUND DID. HOW TOUGH IS THIS ONE TO SWOLLOW?
“Yeah, it’s just a continuation of our first two weeks, unfortunately. I hate it for our NAPA group. We had a decent NAPA Chevy today. It was really tough in traffic to catch guys and then pass and whatnot. But I feel like we were in a good position to run solid. I’m not sure why we had a tire go down. I think that’s what happened, at least; it seemed like it. It’s unfortunate. Like I said, these last three weeks have been pretty rough. So, hopefully Homestead goes better and we can get prepared good for next season and get a good notebook for next year.”

CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INSIGHT OF THE RACE? IT SEEMED LIKE TRACK POSITION WAS KEY TODAY.
“It certainly seemed that way. You’re racing really hard and it’s like slow motion. It’s just hard to make a lot happen in a little amount of time. You really just have to think about what’s coming and where lapped cars ahead of you are running and where the person in front of you is running if you’re better than he. It’s definitely tough. It was a tough race to that point. I enjoyed racing there towards the end of that stage. I thought we were racing hard. You never want to have a round go like that.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sunday, November 10, 2019
EVENT: Bluegreen Vacations 500

Ford Finishing Results:
3rd – Ryan Blaney
5th – Kevin Harvick
8th – Clint Bowyer
9th – Joey Logano
10th – Brad Keselowski
12th – Paul Menard
15th – Daniel Suarez
18th – Ryan Newman
19th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
22nd – Aric Almirola
27th – John Hunter Nemechek
30th – Michael McDowell
35th – Corey LaJoie
36th – David Ragan

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR CAR IN THAT ONE STRETCH? “I don’t know. I have no idea. It went from a really good car to a car that couldn’t stay on the lead lap with changing tires and a half pound of air. A lot of things don’t line up there. That doesn’t make any sense. The car shouldn’t do that, but it did and once we put tires back on it we got to where we could run competitive at least again, but we were so far back and I was running so hard trying to get back to the 11 that we ended up using it up again. We just needed a caution at the right time and we didn’t get it to try to get back up there. It stinks. We did the first half of the race really well. We had a fast car. We scored a ton of stage points and to the point that we could tie the 18 and all I had to do was finish in front of him, which was the goal, and it went bad from there. I don’t get it, but it just wasn’t our year I guess. I don’t know what to say. You’re up there wishing that somebody gets up there and passes him, but the 18 wasn’t gonna pass him. He could have, but wasn’t going to obviously to have all of their cars in, so it is what it is. We’ll move forward.”

HOW DISAPPOINTING NOT TO GET TO DEFEND YOUR TITLE? “It stinks. I don’t know how disappointing it is, put a number on it. It hurts. It’s not what you fight all year for to fight for fifth now, but we will. That’s what we’ll do next week and we’ll try to maximize our day again and try to end the season on a win.”

WHEN DID YOU REALIZE THERE WAS SOMETHING BAD WITH THE CAR? “It wasn’t five or six laps in that I realized I was quite a bit tighter than what I was and I just was relying on clean air, and then it just got tighter, tighter and tighter. Once you start abusing the right-front tire with a car that’s tight it just drops off in a hurry and got to a point where I couldn’t pass the lapped cars out there because I was one. I noticed it pretty quick, but there’s not much you can do about it when it’s green out there and you have a risk of going down a few laps I guess.”

THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE HAD SOMETHING WEIRD MECHANICAL HAPPEN. DOES IT FEEL LIKE IT FINALLY CAUGHT UP TO YOU IN THE PLAYOFFS? “We scratched and clawed and made a race out of it with a lot of adversity throughout these playoffs. We’ve had a pretty ugly run. We’ve had some good cars, but something has happened every single race, so it is what it is. It stinks. I don’t have the answer of what happened. I wish I did. I really what to know, but no one has it right now.”

IS THERE ANYTHING THEY CAN DO TO MAKE THIS CAR MORE COMPETITIVE WHEN WE COME BACK NEXT YEAR? “I thought the PJ1 helped a little bit. It’s just a challenging place to pass. It’s a really hard track to pass and there’s fall off, but it’s not like a ton of fall off to where there are comers and goers. It just seems like a lot of times, and being in the lead is such an advantage. These spoilers on the car, you get behind another one and it’s tough, real tough, so that’s the reason why. I thought the race track got pretty wide. It got to the point that you can get pretty wide, but you couldn’t overcome the advantage of clean air.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE THE DAY? “I’d say about like I thought it was gonna go. The Gibbs cars were strong and we were probably about where we finished, about a fifth-place car. I’m just really proud of everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford for battling through the day and we’ll see what happens next week in Homestead.”

DID YOU LOOK AT THIS WEEK AS A TEST FOR NEXT YEAR’S CHAMPIONSHIP? “That’s what I said on Friday in my media availability and that’s what we did. We learned that we have some work to do.”

YOU’RE THE ONLY NON-GIBBS CAR IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO? “Beat three Gibbs cars. Go faster than them.”

IS THERE SOMETHING YOU’VE DONE THIS YEAR OR FEEL YOU NEED TO DO TO BE FASTER THAN THEM? “We’re going to do everything just like we’ve done all year.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Mustang – “I don’t know if I had anything for the 11 or 18. I didn’t really get a chance to run around them on equal tires, but I felt like we were a top three or four car at least and lost a cylinder at the end. I felt lucky to bring home 10th.”

CAN YOU BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION AT HOMESTEAD? “We’re gonna sure try, I can promise you that. The tracks where tires fall off and the short tracks the Gibbs cars have been lights out, so we certainly have some room to be better and hopefully we can show it at Homestead.”

WHEN JOEY HAD TROUBLE DID YOU TRY TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED? “I don’t know. I just saw that he slowed down.”

CAN YOU BRING BACK SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR THE SPORT TO HAVE A BETTER CHAMPIONSHIP RACE? “Yeah, I think there’s a lot of ideas out there and we’ll see. I don’t get to make the decisions, but I think there’s always ways to be better.”

ANY SPECIFIC IDEAS? “I feel like this is a tough track for this type of car, but you look at the tires today and I think at Martinsville we could have ran 2,000 laps. I don’t know if we could have gone 2,000 laps on a set of tires here, but maybe half of that at least. That really changes the dynamics because you get some guys that put a lot of camber in the car and take off on the short run and fall off on a long run. You get some guys that drive really hard on soft tires and wear them out and that creates comers and goers, but when you have such a hard tire, one that doesn’t fall off like these do, you’re not gonna see that.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang – WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT JUST WENT DOWN? “We ran third. I thought we got better all day. I thought we did a good job of getting better on long runs all day and the short runs too. We just got overall better, and then passed a couple cars we were behind the first couple runs, but nowhere near in the league, especially the 11, but in the 18 and the 19 were in. We’ve got to do our homework. We’ve got to start working on that. I’m really proud of the whole group for today, but the whole playoffs as well. It stinks that you miss it, but a solid day.”

IT SEEMS LIKE A GIBBS YEAR. WHAT DOES THE FIELD NEED TO DO NEXT YEAR? “You’ve got to figure something out, right? It’s gonna be the same car next year, so everyone will spend the offseason trying to figure out the most efficient way to build these cars and everything like that, and we talk all the time about how this sport goes in cycles and they’re obviously on a really high one all year, which is really impressive, but I’ve got faith in the whole Penske group to really find some stuff and hopefully we have a decent run at Homestead and that leads into next year.”

ANY IDEAS FOR WHAT NASCAR AND THE TEAM CAN WORK TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT FOR THE FINALE NEXT YEAR? “I don’t know. It was tough for sure out there. I thought the PJ1 did a little bit, not much. You could at least go up there and get small runs, but they weren’t big enough. They’ve got to figure out something for this race because it’s gonna be a letdown if it’s like that and it’s the championship race. Hopefully, they can figure something out. I thought it was a start. They just need to keep doing their homework on it.”

DID YOU FEEL TWO TIRES WAS THE RIGHT CALL THERE? “What did we have to lose? We had to win the race. You don’t know if everyone is gonna do four and if you do two you’re gonna get the lead and be on the top on the restart and hold some guys down and be controlling of it. I didn’t even think second was an awful place on two tires. It’s hard restarting on the bottom, especially with guys on four behind you, but it’s a shot.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Saturday, November 9, 2019
EVENT: Bluegreen Vacations 500 (Qualifying)

Ford Qualifying Results:
2nd – Joey Logano
7th – Kevin Harvick
10th – Ryan Blaney
11th – Aric Almirola
12th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Clint Bowyer
15th – Daniel Suarez
19th – Paul Menard
20th – Ryan Newman
21st – Michael McDowell
24th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
26th – John Hunter Nemecheck
30th – David Ragan
31st – Corey LaJoie

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Mustang – WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT ROGER BUYING IMS? “It came out of left field. I had no idea it was coming. I knew he was working on something big when he wasn’t at Martinsville or Texas. I’ve learned RP and when he’s not at moments like that, something really big is about to go down. I didn’t know what it was, it could have been a number of things, but that was not on my list of things that I thought it could be.”

ARE YOU HOPING TO BE CONSULTED AND TALK TO HIM ABOUT SOME IDEAS? “I think he’s gonna be here this weekend, I’m not entirely sure, but if he is I’m sure he’ll ask us a few of those questions and I’ve got a few ideas to put together, so we’ll see.”

DOES THE BRICKYARD HAVE A FUTURE IN NASCAR? “I don’t see how it’s not, especially knowing that he’s gonna put a lot of money and heart into the track to make it the best it can be.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE DIFFERENT THERE? “I can tell you what you’re not gonna see, I’m not gonna wear a yellow shirt. I might wear a yellow uniform, so I’ve got to be careful, but not a yellow shirt. I imagine you’ll see some of his touches. Every race track he’s built and you go to even to this day you can still see his touches. You go to California and Michigan you see the areas that he worked on and the areas that someone else worked on and you have a pretty big difference, so I’m very confident he’ll put his touches in it. I thought it was interesting in his comments about bringing a Formula 1 race back. I think that would be incredible, but I’m sure there are some other ideas that are even bigger than I can imagine at the moment.”

WILL YOU WEAR A YELLOW UNIFORM IN AN OPEN WHEEL CAR? “No, that ship has sailed. That was a dream from afar.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – HOW ARE YOU LOOKING AT THIS RACE GIVEN YOUR QUALIFYING? “The same way I looked at it yesterday for the championship race, trying to get a good start on some of the ground that we feel we need to make up on these style race tracks, so that was a little better than I thought it was gonna be.”

WHEN DID YOU LEARN NOT TO GET INVOLVED IN SOME OF THESE CONTROVERSIES LIKE WHAT’S BEING TALKED ABOUT THIS WEEKEND WITH THE INTENTIONAL CAUTIONS? “I think, for me, the cars are running well. The team is running well. You’re in the championship race. If you need a story or you need something stirred up that’s fine, but for us we need it to be as quiet as possible and just concentrate on our jobs.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Eckrich Ford Mustang – “I think we’re close. We felt pretty good about what we had in race trim, but wasn’t really sure what we would have in qualifying trim. That turned out to be a decent lap for us. It’s close. It’s really, really close here, so I’m proud of all the effort. We’re trying to close out the year here on a strong note and a good start at Phoenix has helped.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 One Cure Ford Mustang – “I was really worried about qualifying. Obviously, there are some fast cars coming, but we were slipping and sliding around pretty bad yesterday in practice in qualifying trim and Mike made some good adjustments there because I felt like our grip level was a lot better, especially with as hot as it is versus what it was yesterday. We’ll see where it holds on and race them hard tomorrow.”

PAUL MENARD, No. 21 Menards/Maytag Ford Mustang – WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT ROGER PENSKE BUYING IMS? “It’s great. Obviously, Indy means the world to Roger. That’s how he got started and in the racing business, so he’s a fan and he’s a great guy to be around and very inspirational and smart. I obviously hate to see the Hulman family go, but I’m sure they’ll still be around to some degree and Roger does it right, so the Hulman family has brought it to this level and maybe Roger can bring it to the next.”

THOUGHTS ON A POSSIBLE INDY CAR/NASCAR WEEKEND? “Indy is not suited for stock cars very well, but I think NASCAR has a place at Indianapolis, just being the premier North American motorsports series. It deserves to go to the premier race track in the world probably, so I’m sure Roger is not gonna bail on the Brickyard 400. He’s gonna improve on it and make it better.”

HOW WAS QUALIYFING? “It was a pick up. It didn’t drive great, but when we did our mock run yesterday it was a little bit hotter out and the track had a little bit more grip. We made some adjustments in the right direction. I wish it drove a little bit better, but we’ll see how it holds on.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – DID YOU GET EVERYTHING OUT OF IT? “Pretty much. I’m still shaking a little bit. It seems to happen during qualifying when you’re trying to get everything you can get. It’s close and we’re doing what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to run up front. We got to start up front and stay up there all day. I’m proud of the effort. It’s not first, but we’re not bad.”

DOES TODD HAVE THE HOMESTEAD CAR READY FOR NEXT WEEK? “I’m sure it’s not ready yet. They usually massage on those things until the last second, so I hope it’s not ready yet. Hopefully, they keep working on the thing as long as possible.”

DO YOU HAVE A WINNING CAR FOR TOMORROW? “Yeah, I do. I’m in the hunt. I feel like my car was pretty good in practice yesterday. I feel like we made some gains on it throughout practice, found some areas we didn’t like, so that’s OK and from there I think we’re close. We know what we’ve got to do. The facts are, and it’s not a surprise, the cars that we’re racing are all up there because they’re there for a reason and this is for everyone involved anything close to that cut line this is the championship race for them, and us in this case, so if you don’t win this championship you don’t win Miami, so that’s why this race is so important.”

DOES HAVING BLANEY IN THE MIX COMPLICATE THINGS? “It doesn’t really complicate things. We kind of know what it is. The best-case scenario is he wins and we finish second and score enough points to knock the 18 out. That’s the best-case scenario and then we have two bullets in the chamber when we get to Miami ready to go to try to win a championship. How great would that be? But it’s one step at a time. That’s a perfect world. The chances of all that coming together is pretty tough, but I’ve also got to worry about what my car is doing and make sure that we get at least one of them in. That’s the goal and I can only control my car.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang – “I was very loose. I thought I got a lot out of it, but when you’re loose you feel like that. You feel like Superman, but a lot of times you’re not going anywhere. I was really happy with our Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang yesterday in first practice. We lost our way a little bit in happy hour. I feel like we got back to where we were, but I don’t know how it will stack up. This is the best I have been at ISM Raceway in practice in a long time.”

DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 Mannington Commercial Ford Mustang – “That’s about what we ran yesterday in practice and the car felt about the same. You always hope to improve from your practice runs and we made some adjustments for race trim. We always shoot for the top 15 to top 20 and that’s not gonna be there, so we’ve just got to hope that the adjustments we made will help some on the long run and we’ll have some cars to pass on Sunday.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – “I think it was OK. I think I left a little bit on the table, probably a tenth or a half-a-tenth. We’re all there very tight together, so I felt like I left a little on the table, but it wasn’t too bad. I felt like I could have done a little better job, but it’s pretty tight anyway.”

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ISM RACEWAY
BLUEGREEN VACATIONS 500
TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
NOVEMBER 9, 2019

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
5th Kyle Larson, No. 42 Clover Camaro ZL1
6th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Autocare Center Camaro ZL1
8th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1
14th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1
17th Chris Buescher, No. 37 Maxwell House Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Busch (Toyota)
2nd Joey Logano (Ford)
3rd Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
4th Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
5th Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)

NBC will telecast the Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway live at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, November 10th. The NBC Sports Gold app will stream the race and live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CLOVER CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 5th
DO YOU HAVE A CAR CAPABLE OF WINNING HERE THIS WEEKEND?
“There’s definitely guys that are faster than I am. I feel like I’m a bit like a fifth to seventh place car after practice. I felt like the 11 (Denny Hamlin) was, by far, the best. But I almost won here in 2017 and I had a third to fifth place car. We just had some restarts there late and lined up in the right position. Anything can happen, so we’ll see. I’m hopeful.”

COULD YOU TELL WHERE THEY REAPPLIED THE TRACTION COMPOUND?
“I think it’s good for me if it ever does come in. I still think they need to make it quite a bit lower in three and four. It’s just so fast around the bottom and I don’t think we could get that high. In the one and two end, I think it could come down another few feet and make a better difference. We’ll see how this Xfinity race goes. Maybe those guys will get up there and burn a lane in. All of us Cup guys will see that and try it tomorrow.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTOCARE CENTER CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 6th
“We were sixth best, I guess. We’ll go to work tomorrow and try to move forward.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS AS FAR AS THE CAR AND HOW YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO STRATIGIZE DURING THIS EVENT?
“About like any other race. We’ll try to have good pit stops, get our car driving the best we can, and hope that it’s good enough to move forward from where we’re at.”

IF YOU DON’T WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP, WILL YOU CONSIDER THE SEASON A SUCCESS?
“It was nice to get a few wins. We still have an opportunity to get two more and it’s not over with. So, ask me after next week.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 8th
“I felt like the car had a good bit of grip out there in the qualifying trim for our first time. We didn’t do a qualifying trim run yesterday and I didn’t want to overstep the slip limits, push too hard, and have a chance of losing it. To be top-10 and with the lap times being in the 90’s, that was decent, but we needed to be in the low 80’s if we were going to have a shot at it. Then, my little brother (Kyle Busch) just shattered it; he was in the 60’s. Congrats to the little brother on the pole; he’s got a run for the championship. Kyle Larson out-qualified us, which was good, and he’s got a run as well for the championship. He needs a good run tomorrow.

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 14th
“I always put a lot of pressure on myself to run well here. We’ve all see how our short track program has been this year. Obviously, we’ve worked on it really hard and came here with something different that we hoped would work. We’ve just kind of struggled since we unloaded. I got to go have dinner at my brother’s house last night, so that’s the highlight of my weekend so far. Hopefully, it gets a little better.”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE HERE TO PULL ONE OFF?
“It’s hard because obviously we’ve been really strong here in the past. That weekend that we were really good the car was just easy to drive and it would do whatever I wanted it to. We made zero changes in final practice; it was just good. It’s hard, it’s such a compromise here between how secure you are in and off the corners, and then being able to rotate the center. We unloaded really loose, so not a lot of rear grip in the car. We maintained that really through practice and everything we did just killed the center. It’s frustrating. We were really tight there in qualifying, so hopefully we aren’t too tight in the race. We definitely have work to do.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 MAXWELL HOUSE CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 17th
“Phoenix is not my favorite race track, but we did have a really good spring race. So, I’m being a little bit more optimistic this time around. We found some stuff then that has helped us in practice with our Maxwell House Camaro ZL1, so we are excited about that. Our qualifying run yesterday wasn’t real good, but for this year, we haven’t really been after that out-right qualifying speed and let the race judge our weekend. If we could get a little bit more qualifying speed with it, that would be great and we’d love to go qualify really well here. But the race is definitely what we’re worried about and what we’ve been trying to work towards.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 18th
HOW IS YOUR CAR HANDLING TODAY?
“We’re just not very fast. We don’t really know why, we’ve kind of been on both sides of the fence for the balance. But there in qualifying, it felt like the car was just a tick snug, but it wasn’t really anything major. It was a little bit free off, but that was just kind of what we had.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 22nd
“My car was way better. I was a little too aggressive in one and two I guess it is now. My guys did a really nice job of putting speed in the car, so I’m excited about that.”

ARE YOU FEELING OPTIMISITIC ABOUT SUNDAY?
“I got two laps, so it’s tough to tell. It’s tough to really understand what was going on yesterday. The first practice session was cut short for us because we didn’t pass tech last week. The track was just coming in and rubbering in, so the first practice was kind of a wash. The second one went by so fast; we knew we were off, but we didn’t know where to attack. So, after working really hard on things overnight, the guys did a great job of putting more speed in the car. I’m optimistic, but I won’t know until we get in there and start the race.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 8 CAT LARGE DOZERS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 27th
“It’s been a little bit of a struggle for everyone on this Cat Large Dozers Camaro ZL1. We’ve changed a lot of stuff since we were here in the spring, but we didn’t hit the balance right. We came back and have had a very similar things going on. So, it’s a little frustrating. But good thing it’s a long race. The track temp is going to be hot and that’s going to allow for guys to have good short run cars and long run cars. Hopefully, we can be one of those long run cars because we haven’t had the short run speed that we’ve wanted or needed all weekend. Hopefully, the track comes to us so we can go to work tomorrow.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 28th
THOUGHTS ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN.
“Loose. I just didn’t have enough grip. I felt like my car was really good yesterday, but obviously didn’t have the right grip in the car today for qualifying. But we’ll go get them tomorrow. I feel like we have a race car that’s capable of running well.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

MENCS Post-Qualifying Report – ISM Raceway
Defending Arizona Race Winner Kyle Busch to Start Sunday’s Race from Pole Position

AVONDALE, Arizona (November 9, 2019) – Kyle Busch earned his first pole position of the season and will lead the field to the green in Sunday’s Cup Series race at ISM Raceway, a track he’s won the last two races at. All three Toyota Playoff drivers will start the 312 lap race from the first two rows.

Toyota Racing Post-Qualifying Report
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
ISM Raceway – November 9, 2019

TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, Joey Logano*
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
4th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
5th, Kyle Larson*
9th, ERIK JONES
16th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
38th, JOEY GASE
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Starting Position: 1st

How does starting on the pole help your quest to make the Championship 4?

“It’s obviously a really good starting spot for us and track position is a big deal here. Obviously, it gives us number one pit selection as well, so lots of things that can certainly help us to fire off here to start. Those guys behind us, we know are going to be awfully hungry as well. We just have to see how the race plays out. It puts us in the best possible spot to start off and we’ve got 312 laps to figure it out.”

Why was this the first mock run in practive you’ve made this season?

“Honestly, you would have to ask Adam (Stevens, crew chief). I would assume just trying to figure everything out, trying to get a little acclimated to that fast of a lap time and what it takes to make that fast of a lap time. Then also for the guys to adjust on just a few things to make sure our balance was good for qualifying to get the best spot possible. I could say that we made or kind of attemped qualifying runs at speedway races – you try to set your heights and everything for that as well too. That doesn’t matter anyways because we’re always about 30th. Better day today.”

Do you feel traffic will be a factor during the race?

“No question, traffic is a big deal. We saw it yesterday in practice. There were times yesterday where I would get stuck behind a couple guys I was following. (Joey) Logano fired off in practice right behind us in the first session and was really good and caught up to us and got by us. He starts right there with us, but I think our car is way better than it was when we unloaded. We made some good adjustments through practice and got the M&M’s Camry hopefully tuned up.”

Do you have concerns about possibly being the second place car starting in Homestead after the pole car didn’t get started in the Truck race last night and there was a penalty?

“I guess you always have those scenarios. You try to do the best job you can and be as clean as you can and focus on what you need to do. Playing games is not necessarily one of my strong suits so we just try to go out there and do our job.”

What does it say that this is your first pole this season?

“A couple years ago, we had the most poles when speed in your race car was what it was for the weekend and now you have no idea what speed is in your race car until you get in the races. I think the short tracks though are a little more towards a true tell as to what’s going to happen. The mile-and-a-half stuff is not even close. Good to get a pole obviously and have one in another season and be able to keep going.”

Do you think the penalty issued to Bubba Wallace today will impact what drivers do with a flat tire?

“No.”

How do you feel about green-white-checkered restarts at ISM Raceway compared to other tracks?

“I think every place is different and I can go down all sorts of different scenarios based off what track you’re at. Here at Phoenix, if you can get a good launch out of the restart zone and get yourself clear by turn one, I would say you have a pretty good opportunity of the race being over. Speedway races, they can end that way too, but they can also develop energy runs from behind and guys can catch up and make moves. Like we saw at Kansas for instance, Denny (Hamlin) was on the inside, I was on the outside and I didn’t get enough push from behind to stay alongside Denny and Denny got clear and it was over by turn one. Nothing else was going to happen. I think that’s kind of what you see with this package a little bit.”

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

Starting Position: 3rd

How was your car earlier in practice?

“Pretty straight forward. We made a mock (qualifying) run in first practice and I think we were second. I think I’m happy somewhere in the top six is a good goal.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Starting Position: 4th

How do you feel about your starting position?

“It will be a good starting spot for sure. I felt okay about our car yesterday. Thought we made some gains on it, and made some more changes on it last night. We’ll see what we can come up with. Looking forward to it.”

Are you sending Blake home?

“Yeah, Blake (Harris, car chief) went home to get some work done. He’s getting the Homestead car prepped up and getting it ready.”

Is that something your team felt was worth it?

“Blake (Harris, car chief) was here for practice and stuff yesterday, got all his stuff done. From here, we could substitute someone, we couldn’t really substitute somebody for him yesterday. He was a big part of our team. Obviously, that’s why he is going back to work on our car.”

ERIK JONES, No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Starting Position: 9th

What can you do to ensure more longevity in the Playoffs next season?

“Just consistency. We had such a good run going into the Playoffs, winning Darlington. When the Playoffs started, we just had a lot of issues. Eliminating those and not making mistakes is the big thing for next year. Honestly, some of it has been our own doing, and some of it has been circumstantial and race track situations, cautions coming out at the wrong time, people wrecking and getting wrecked. You have to do what you can to prevent that, but at the same time, you have to have some things go your way. It’s just going to take a good year. I think next year, we’re in a spot to run really well. We’ll be on the same rules package and have some notes to go on. Hopefully, we can put the whole year together.”

Does this aero package suit your driving style?

“I don’t know, as a driver you kind of take every race car to it’s capability. I don’t know that it’s suited or doesn’t suit it. It’s just something different. It’s a different driving style than the old package, but I wouldn’t say it does or doesn’t suit it, just different.”

MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 95 Dumont Jets Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing

Starting Position: 16th

How was the car in qualifying?

“Fast, but couldn’t drive it. Thought we would have had a shot at qualiyfing up front or at least contending for the pole until I hit my first corner and realized I was an eight out of 10 loose.”

What are your expectations for the race?

“I think we have a really good race car and just missed it in qualifying really bad. I was pretty disappointed. As far as the race car, it was really good and I would say I would be disappointed if we don’t run in the top-10 all day.”

# # #

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

AVONDALE, Az. (November 8, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media at ISM Raceway:

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

How are you feeling?

“I’m feeling pretty good. Just going through the process and I feel like we have a pretty good car in the first practice. Still have some work to do to make it a race winning car, but overall, we’re in the hunt.”

Do you feel like you have to win to advance to the Championship 4?

“We don’t know that until after the first stage. I think after the first stage, you’ll have an idea of what you’ll need to do from that point on and it all really depends on everyone around us and what they do that first stage.”

Do you still see a sports psychologist during the season?

“No, I haven’t in a while. No, I haven’t. Just a text here and there, but no.”

How do you focus on a week like this?

“I treat it just like I have most every other week. I just give 100% effort, and do all the work I possibly can going into the weekend that way I know I’ve left no stone unturned as far as giving all the information that I need for that week.”

Are you treating this weekend like you have to win, or do you think you can run up front and get enough stage points?

“Yeah, I think we’re going to try to qualify as good as we can and try to stay up front. If you stay up front and are leading the race, leading laps, finish good in the first stage, the pressure will shift to other people to have to protect points. You do everything you can to be up front the first stage, and then you kind of analyze where you are from there. Are you a winning car, are you going to stay there, or are you going to have to switch your strategy for the second stage to set yourself up to be up front to win the race?”

What is so appealing to you about the Phoenix area?

“It’s great golfing for sure. It’s the weather, it’s everything about it. I was actually saying this morning – there’s a bunch of us that are sharing a house – I was like, ‘Normally three or four days away from home and I’m like (sigh), I’m ready to get back home. I could just stay here, I’m fine. It’s just I love the area and it is somewhere where I’d like to be more long term once the racing is finished with.”

Have you been out here all week and who’s staying at the house?

“Yeah. The whole group – same old band. (Kyle) Larson and (Ricky) Stenhouse, all those guys.”

Do you feel NASCAR needs to step in regarding people spinning intentionally?

“I think they can use judgment on that, for sure. I know we, a lot of us have got penalties by intentionally causing the caution in the past. I would say it should be no different now.”

Would it benefit drivers if NASCAR didn’t make a judgement call?

“I think it should play out naturally. I’m all for whatever is natural, not messing around with the cautions and getting them when you need them. Our sport is so different than others when it comes to that. When someone like in football fakes an injury and it slows the game down, or gets a time out, that’s not a game changer, right. However, a caution that is untimely for someone that has pitted versus someone who hasn’t, is a complete game changer. You can’t fake things no matter what the sport, but the stakes are higher in NASCAR because you can really screw people over.”

How do you feel about team orders?

“For as long as I’ve been in NASCAR, it’s been going on. You can always tell which teams play more shenanigans than others. That’s just things you don’t see, whether it be jamming up somebody on a restart, picking certain lanes to help or hurt, all that stuff.”

Would there be any scenario where you feel your team owner would tell you need to help your teammate to get to the next round?

“I honestly feel like I’ve only been with Gibbs, so I can’t really speak for other teams, but I know we really haven’t discussed any scenario in which we can do this and help each other out. We’re all out there just trying to win. I think we all want to do it the right way.”

How will the traction compound be here?

“It just took so long for it to come in at Texas. It has a shine to it that needs to be run in. We discussed after the Xfinity race with NASCAR to not reapply more because I think the Xfinity cars do a good job of bringing it in. It’s actually really, really good at that time. It raced good for us. I think they’re worried about it wearing off by the end of the race, but I told them that you’d have a better show from beginning to end if you didn’t do anything after the Xfinity race. Don’t reapply because it just keeps us from going up there. Like Texas, it took hundreds of laps to really get that thing going because reapplication is pretty slick.”

How do you handle the season you’ve had, but face the possibility of not being in the Championship 4?

“You adjust your expectations. No matter what, I will not consider this year any sort of a failure. We, as Mark Martin would say, we just didn’t score enough points. We had a great year, we won races, we led more laps than we have in a long time and more top fives than anybody in the series. It’s been a really good year and I’m just not going to let the outcome of this weekend, or last weekend, decide whether it’s a good season or not. I think you have to adjust that. One race, winner take all, or a three-race round – anything can happen, and it did for us.”

Do you think making the final 4 is a big deal, even if you don’t earn the championship?

“I do, I certainly do. I think when you – I believe Brad (Keselowski) was talking on one of the shows how he values wins over championships because when you talk ranking in the top 50 drivers, it’s because winning the race never has changed. The person who wins the race doesn’t change based on the championship format that has been changed so many different times. We’ve seen, if the format was this, I’d have three championships. We all play by the same rules, we know what they are, and we know what the format is, but it doesn’t always work out for you. This is an extremely difficult to win one of these.”

If you are your generation’s Mark Martin, will that be enough for you?

“Yeah, it will. I think Mark Martin said it best, ‘You can still be respected and still have a really and successful career without winning a championship.’ I read that he thinks about now that he’s 60 years old, he looks back and thinks will a championship make any difference in my life right now? He says, ‘No, it wouldn’t.’ I’m at that point. I don’t feel like I have anything to prove. I know what I’m capable of, I think my competitors know what I’m capable of and I appreciate all the love the media has given me over the last two, three weeks. It’s been incredible. Probably not all of it deserved, but I also think we have to give some love to the other competitors too.”

# # #

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

AVONDALE, Az. (November 8, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media at ISM Raceway:

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

How do you approach each Playoff race?

“You just play it one race at a time and when you’re in the race, one lap at a time, one stage at a time and just try to figure out where you’re at and when it all comes down to the end, just figure out from there what you have to do.”

Are you surprised at your current standing in the Playoffs?

“No, not really. I look at our regular season and obviously it’s been beneficial, which is a good thing in this format. We ran strong in the beginning part of the season and came out of the gate hot. A lot of other guys have gotten better and certainly have caught up or surpassed us a little bit and we’re kind of playing catch up at this point in the year somewhat. There’s been a few times though where we’ve been real close or right on the verge of being able to break through or get to victory lane and it just hasn’t happened.”

Is there anything NASCAR can do in order to police the intentional cautions or do you want them to?

“I guess it’s another ball and strike call. There’s certainly times in which you know drivers are desperate and they’re going to do desperate things and you can only make a suspect call on that situation. I guess that suspect call would be a judgement call. I don’t know, there’s other things that you put in NASCAR’s – you do things to put yourself in NASCAR’s judgement calls and more times than not, they go against you. That could be determined the same way.”

What is your strategy for Homestead?

“You have to go in there and you have to plan on having a fast car and trying to win the race. We’ve done that the last four years and hopefully we have a chance to go after it for a fifth.”

How do you think the traction compound will come into play on Sunday?

“I have not run in it yet. I think the track will widen out and it will take until maybe halfway through the Xfinity race or probably halfway through the first stage of the Cup race before anybody gets in it and they’ll only get in it in one and two. Three and four is way too high.”

What is the balance between running this race and using this to thin about the championship race next year?

“There’s a little bit of that. You try to be good every single weekend and fortunately for us, with JGR, we’ve had good cars here at Phoenix the last few times. Hoping that trend continues and we can come out of here with a good, solid run and even if it’s not a win, that we’re up front, we’re contenders and we’re good at being able to put ourselves in a position to have a shot to win. We did the last two times here and if we can do that three times in a row then we’ll come back here next year and try to do it in the spring and setup for fall.”

Is there a conservative way to go for the win?

“You have to be conservative in your efforts and what you do here this weekend. You can’t put yourself in a bad spot. Probably about ever, even if you’re second and you’re racing for the win, you can’t dive bomb the leader if you already know that you’re in. If it’s a desperation move where the leader – I don’t even know if the leader could be the 22 (Joey Logano) and we would be out, I don’t think we can be out. Just have to see how it goes and play it lap by lap.”

Do you try to keep the same mentality for this race as every other weekend?

“You setup for it the same. You do all your weekly checks and making sure that you’re ready to go and prepared as best as you can be. Sometimes no matter how good you prepare, I remember 2015 for Homestead, I studied three years worth of notes and did all week long. I never took a second of break and I did the same thing last year and we ran horrible. We were going to run 14th. It doesn’t necessarily matter, you just have to do your same strokes and figure it out.”

How did you decide to race the Rolex 24?

“Toyota has asked me for a couple years if I wanted to do it and if I would give it some consideration so we went ahead and signed up for it for this year. It was pretty quick. They asked me Saturday and then it was announced on Monday. I just wish it was the top class, that’s all. Being in the GT3 class is okay, it’s fun and it’s nice to be able to go out there and do something different. Hopefully we can go out and win the division and take home a trophy.”

Is there any team discussion surrounding helping Denny Hamlin if the opportunity was there?

“Even if the 11 is going to win and we’re ahead of the 22 and they didn’t out-score enough stage points on us then we can finish second and be fine. It’s going to depend on what the stage points are. You can out ourselves in however many different scenarios, I’m going to give you a different answer on every scenario of what’s going to happen. You just have to let it play out.”

Is there irony that you could be a champion with a race package that you haven’t liked this season?

“That’s what I’m working towards. I’ve won races talking about it. We just haven’t quite been as good lately. There’s been times where we’ve still had speed and still been a consideration to win, but just haven’t gotten there.”

Do you break down all the scenarios in your head for a race weekend?

“I don’t break it down. I’ve thought about situations that can happen and what you would need to do in those moments.”

How did you come up with the pit stop code words with Adam Stevens?

“We did it. It’s fun. I can’t give anymore than that. We’ve got our abundance of words and know what they mean. It’s kind of funny. You make a call and it’s ‘oranges,’ and you kind of know what it is and what you have to do in that moment, what’s happening. It’s kind of fun that way and I enjoy it because it gives everybody else something to talk about and try to figure out. It’s not always the same.”

Are you happy this race will be the season finale in 2020?

“Not necessarily. Homestead is a good place for it. You can move around there, you can race around and it’s pretty wide. We’ll see how it goes. It could end up looking like a one lane race track if everybody is just fast around the wall next week with this package. Here at Phoenix, it’s very, very challenging and difficult to pass. Lapped cars can definitely influence a lot of different things and we saw that here in the spring when it came down towards the end. It’s going to be a hard-fought finish at this place next year.”

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