Martin Truex Jr. (sixth) led Toyota with a top-10 finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday evening. Truex was leading on the final caution period when he spun off the nose of a competitor’s car entering his pit stall on pit road. Denny Hamlin (seventh) continued his strong Playoff performance with a top-10 finish. Hamlin has scored seven top-10 finishes in eight Playoff races and heads into Martinsville just five points below the Playoff cut line. Christopher Bell (11th) just missed the top-10 and faces a likely must-win in Martinsville as he is 33 points below the final Championship 4 berth.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 34 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Ross Chastain*
3rd, AJ Allmendinger*
4th, Austin Dillon*
5th, Brad Keselowski*
6th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
7th, DENNY HAMLIN
9th, KYLE BUSCH
11th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
22nd, TY GIBBS
27th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Did you feel you got spun by Kyle Larson or were you close to missing your pit box?
“It was definitely a little bit of both of that. It was really hard to see through these windshields right now with the sun like that and all the stuff covering it. I did see my box late for sure. So I slowed down before I turned out of the way of the 5 (Kyle Larson) there. Obviously, partly on me. I didn’t expect to get turned around. Glad nobody got hurt there. Overall, just disappointing. To have a good day going like that and have a shot at winning and couldn’t close the deal. Hate it for my team. It’s been one of those years. Thanks to Bass Bro, Tracker, Cabela’s, Toyota, everybody that supports us and all our fans. We’re going to keep digging and win a bunch of races once we get through this rough patch.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
What was your day like in the car?
“It was just slow on the short run. We got the position – the track position – we were able to get the lead there, and then get second, and we just couldn’t hold it. I just didn’t have a car that would go on the short run.”
What are your thoughts going into Martinsville?
“My thoughts are we have to get a little better on the short run. It’s going to be super important how important track position is at Martinsville. We have to qualify well. Yeah, just go and try to be better.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem-WATTS Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
Where is your head right now?
“I’m fine. I’m disappointed with our performance today, but at least that is in our hands. Last week, I was emotional about it because it was out of our hands, and we were performing well. Today, it was in our hands, and we just didn’t step up to the bat and do what we needed to do. That was disappointing but we will move to Martinsville – we ran well in the spring. I definitely feel better about winning there than I did at the Charlotte road course.”
Toyota Racing PR
