Toyota Notes & Quotes heading to Dover

The five Gibbs drivers are 8/1 or less to win at Dover.

CHASE CUTOFF RACE: The Dover International Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race is the final event in the ‘Round of 16’ before the first cutoff in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship and all five Camry drivers currently rank within the top-12. Mayetta, N.J. native Martin Truex Jr. will automatically advance to the second round with his win at Chicagoland Speedway two weeks ago, while Camry drivers Kyle Busch (third), Matt Kenseth (fourth), Denny Hamlin(seventh) and Carl Edwards (10th) will look for solid runs on Sunday to stay within the cutoff and advance to the ‘Round of 12’ beginning at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 8.

DELIVERING AT DOVER: Camry drivers have scored three NSCS victories at Dover, including two wins by Busch in June 2008 and May 2010 and most recently Kenseth visited victory lane at the ‘Monster Mile’ in May. Kenseth was also victorious in Delaware in 2006 and 2011 before joining Joe Gibbs Racing and Truex earned his first-career NSCS victory at the concrete track in 2007.

BYRON ADVANCES TO ‘ROUND OF 6’: Tundra driver William Byron was victorious at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the first-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Chase race last Saturday.

Byron led 161 laps (of 175) en route to his sixth victory of the 2016 season in his rookie campaign and automatically advances to the ‘Round of 6’ with his New Hampshire win. Byron is the third Tundra driver to win six or more races in a single NCWTS season, joining Kyle Busch (2009, 2010, 2011, 2014) and Matt Crafton (2015) having also won six or more Truck Series events in a year.

NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry drivers Martin Truex Jr. (second), Kyle Busch (third), Matt Kenseth (fourth), Denny Hamlin (seventh) and Carl Edwards (10th) rank in the top-16 in the unofficial point standings among drivers competing in the NSCS Chase for the Championship … Toyota currently leads the NSCS manufacturer point standings by 28 marks over Chevrolet with 1,156 points … Camry drivers have won 14 races this season, tying the most wins in a single season by the manufacturer … Toyota also won 14 races in 2013 and again in 2015.

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

How do you feel with a 33-point cushion heading into Dover International Speedway?
“We’ve seen that anything can happen in this business, but it’s certainly better than having a one-point cushion. There are pluses and minuses in this business, but anything can happen. We saw it with the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) last year – they had issues at Dover. We’ve had issues before and we’ve been able to make our way through, or we’ve been knocked out like in years prior. You just have to go and fight it out and try to keep track of that big picture and do what you need to do to move on to the next round with our M&M’S Camry after this weekend.”

CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS SURFboard Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What is your mindset going into Dover with it being the first elimination race of the Chase?
“The first two races of this round haven’t gone quite as well as we had hoped, so unfortunately we need a pretty good finish. Fortunately, Dover is one of my favorite race tracks. It’s a place we’ve run very well at and had a great run in the spring. We head to Dover with our ARRIS Camry very confident in our ability to do what it takes to make it to the next round. It’s a really fast race track though and a lot can happen there. I respect how difficult that place could be. The spring race is a good example and a good lesson for us. We are focused and we know we can run well and we also know if you lose your focus for a split second that place can ruin your day. We are very optimistic going there, but we understand that we’ve really got to dig deep and we can’t make any mistakes. It should be fun. We’d love to put ARRIS in victory lane. If you win at Dover you feel like you have done something.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What is your confidence level going into Dover after having won there in the spring and your performance last week?
“I feel good. I feel like our performance is good. You never know what’s going to happen in these races. You never know where you’re going to finish, but certainly I feel like as a group our performance has been really, really strong all year. We’ve just got to execute and get the finishes, try to finish as good as we’re running. We were strong in Chicago. I thought we had a top‑five car and I made a mistake there and we got ourselves a little bit behind and finished ninth. I thought we had a solid second‑place car (at New Hampshire), and then they gave me a shot to win and I didn’t hang on for it, but they did a good job of putting me in position to win and came home second. I feel like our performance was good. We’ve just got to get the finishes every week.”

- Toyota