- Denny Hamlin (second) was the highest finishing Camry driver in Saturdays NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
- Camry drivers Kyle Busch (third) and Joey Logano (sixth) also recorded top-10 finishes on the 1.5-mile track.
- Logano led three times for a total of 26 laps (of 200) after starting from the pole at the North Carolina race track. Camry driver Jason Bowles also led one lap in the event.
- Other Toyota drivers in the field included Mike Bliss (12th), Tayler Malsam (20th), Travis Pastrana (24th), Joe Nemechek (29th), Brian Scott (31st), Jeff Green (32nd), Jason Bowles (33rd) and Kevin Lepage (43rd).
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2ndHow was your race today?
Its a good points day -- the owners points for these guys. Just fought this car all day long. Fought everything about it -- the entry, the center and the exit and the motor. Just didnt have that great of a car. We were able to get it good enough at the end to run those guys down. Proud of our effort. This is a great run for this Sport Clips Toyota. I want to get these guys a win. I keep talking about it because we keep finishing second, but eventually well knock down the door.
What happened with the motor?
I complained about the motor early -- just didnt feel like it ran at the end of the straightaway for some odd reason. Ive been wondering where our speed was all weekend. We tried to change the carburetors and that didnt fix it. Just got stuck 14th or so for a while until we got the handling until it was at least drivable and then we were able to make our move to the front. We were good on long runs -- just didnt have a lot of front line speed. I have to get better at our race day adjustments -- I just feel like Im sending our crew chief off in the wrong direction at the start of these races.
How do you recover and prepare for tomorrows 600-mile race?
Theres certain meals you can take that keep fluids in your body a little bit better. Theres different fluids you can take that keeps your hydration level up. Ive been testing stuff like that for the last three or four years -- taking my heart rate from like 160 on average during a race to like 130 just trying different fluids and different meals. Weve scienced that out a little bit and I feel like I have a good team around me to help with the hydration stuff. All is good as far as thats concerned.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 3rd Does this finish help the confidence of your race team?
It was a really good race for us -- coming home third is pretty good for our Monster Energy Camry. The guys have worked really hard at trying to make our program better and getting it to where it needs to be. I thought we were gaining on the 22 (Brad Keselowski) there and then all of the sudden my right front (tire) went away. I just used it too hard and pushed it too much there. It was a solid effort -- cant say enough about Mike Beam (crew chief) and all these guys. They have done a nice job at getting these cars better and better each and every week. This is a top-three for us at a mile-and-a-half, so cant be too mad about that.
How did your car handle?
Our Monster Energy Camry was fast and through the early stages of the race it just seemed like wed really struggle with too tight up off the corners and as the run would go along it would really get bad. The last run of the race, we came down pit road for fuel only there after we had just taken rights (tires) so our lefts were pretty old and we made some adjustments -- track bar and wedge and really seemed to work for us. Brought the car to running up front like that and had some faster lap times and kept the right front tire on it longer at least and we could run with the leader. I just wasted too much time with Kasey Kahne there -- he was running me hard and trying to hold us off there at the end for the start of the last run. The leader got too far away and cut about half the distance out and was never able to close much more than that. I just burned the right front off like I had all race long. At least it was later in this run. Were making gains on it. Well just keep working hard and getting it to where we need to be.
Do you think you could have gone as far as the 22 car on fuel?
No, theres no way our stuff would have done that. Thats definitely different, but I guess anything is possible sometimes. Maybe they saved really hard under cautions and everything. I dont think we could have pushed it like that.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 18 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th What happened with your tire strategy?
It didnt play out the way it was supposed to. It didnt play out right according to a sixth-place finish. We were just talking -- maybe had a third-place car. Its just we tried to -- we tried a little different strategy and when youre up front there its kind of hard to know what everyone else is doing. We did fuel only and then we -- if the run went more than 10 laps, we would have been alright. It went 10 laps, so then we took four tires and we went back to 12th or 15th or whatever it was. We had to work our way back up, so just needed a longer race to recover from what we screwed up with in the beginning. Overall got a pole today, so thats good. Just wish we were a little bit faster. We werent quite quick enough to win the race anyways, but I feel like we had a third place car for sure. Are you pleased with your finish?
Well still take it for sure, but I just felt like we were faster than that. We knew we were a third-place car all day. We led some laps -- we were up front there for a while. Just strategy got us. We had the wrong strategy. It bit us and we went back to 15th and we had to work our way back up there with only 50 (laps) to go -- didnt have enough time. It felt like a long enough race, but didnt have time still. Its hard to recover in short Nationwide races. If you make a mistake, you cant recover quick enough -- theres not enough time. Its kind of part of our sport.
MIKE BLISS, No. 44 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 12th
TAYLER MALSAM, No. 19 G-Oil Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 20th
TRAVIS PASTRANA, No. 99 Boost Mobile Toyota Camry, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard
Finishing Position: 24th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 29th
BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 31st How was your race car before the accident?
We had a really strong Dollar General Camry today. We just got our last pit stop done and we were good on fuel. I was trying to get everything I could on the restart, but they just didnt do a very good job cleaning the track. I saw the oil right before I hit it. As soon as I hit it the car just went sideways on me and washed out. Unfortunately, we wrecked a fast race car. We had a car capable of running in the top-five and maybe with one more adjustment and a set of tires we could have contended for a win. Now were done.
JEFF GREEN, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 32nd
JASON BOWLES, No. 81 American Majority Toyota Camry, MacDonald Motorsports
Finishing Position: 33rd
KEVIN LEPAGE, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 43rd
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