TOYOTA NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Canadian Tire Motorsports Park – August 30, 2015
· Tundra driver Erik Jones was victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP).
· Jones started second and led 19 laps (of 64) over five stints in Bowmanville, Ontario to capture the checkered flag.
· With his victory, Jones now leads the NCWTS point standings and has a three-point advantage over Tundra driver Matt Crafton, who finished second on the 2.5-mile circuit and led one lap.
· Toyota has now won at every active NCWTS track. With Jones’ victory, Kyle Busch Motorsports has won at each active NCWTS track except Atlanta Motor Speedway.
· Tundra driver Ben Kennedy finished third at CTMP to tie his career-best finish. Kennedy previously finished third at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway.
· In addition to the results by Jones, Crafton and Kennedy, Tundra drivers Johnny Sauter (sixth) and Cameron Hayley (seventh) also finished in the top-10 overall.
· Calgary, Alberta-native Hayley led 13 laps in his home country after starting seventh.
· Tundra driver Brian Wong recorded a 12th-place result in his NCWTS debut.
· Jones currently leads the unofficial NCWTS point standings with a three-point advantage over Crafton following CTMP. Tundra drivers Sauter (fourth), Cameron Hayley (sixth), Timothy Peters (seventh) and Ben Kennedy (10th) are also in the top-10 in the NCWTS point standings after 15 of the 23 events in 2015.
Finishing Position: 1st
How does it feel to win on a road course?
“It’s awesome – especially winning with (Alex) Tagliani here and all these guys. This is a good piece. We built it last year, improved on it for this year and pretty happy to get this KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) Toyota Tundra in victory lane. It’s just an awesome day. Joe Gibbs Racing Engines, Camping World, the fans – thank you. Just a great day. It’s awesome to get back in victory lane here again and hopefully get things rolling for the next few weeks.”
What were you thinking during the final restart?
“I knew we had to clear him (Alex Tagliani) in (turn) one and if we didn’t clear him in one that (turns) two and three were going to be tough and he was obviously wanting to win bad. We raced hard and hopefully we put on a good show. It was fun to be out there and have him chase you down. It’s nerve wracking and you’re doing all you can and wondering how he’s finding speed in some corners and you’re not. It’s just cool to see it play out like that and get the lead real late and be able to hold it off and bring home the win.”
Was it important to capture your second NCWTS win of the year?
“It’s nice. One win was great, but it’s always nice to get multiple wins in a season and hopefully we can get this Tundra back to victory lane a few more times before the season is out. Great day, a great truck and a great team. We brought such a good truck off the trailer that it really honestly made the whole weekend pretty easy. (Alex) Tagliani was fast all weekend and obviously was fast at the end. Just fun to race those guys. Joe Gibbs Racing Engines, Camping World, the fans – thank you all. What a day. So awesome to get a road course win. It’s only my second road course start, so just cool to be here and so happy to get another win for these guys.”
How have you become so talented on this road course so quickly?
“I did go to a school actually last year before I came here. I went to the Ron Fellows school and then this year I went to the Bondurant School with Chris Cook as well, so a couple of different mentalities between the two schools and just kind of merged together what I could pick up. I saw it as if, ‘Hey, if I can get a tenth each time I go to those schools, it’s worth it,’ and I feel like I did. Just kind of put all that together and came here for the first year and downloaded everything and tried to get a little bit better for this year and figure out where I needed to better and where I needed to improve and just kind of figured it out as I went I guess and it’s just fun. I just always enjoyed it from the start. It wasn’t something I went out and did and was like, ‘Oh, man, I don’t like this at all,’ so it’s just something that always was fun for me and I wanted to get good at.”
RUDY FUGLE, crew chief, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
What was your strategy today?
“It was sort of a conservative strategy with the points battle we were in – safe and good for tires and good fuel and making sure we were fine there. We just had all the speed all weekend that we needed to. We were right there with the 29 (Alex Tagliani) and depending on how things worked out, I knew we’d have a shot and the 00 (Cole Custer) was faster today than I thought he was going to be, so we had to deal with him. It all worked out and this is a great win up here.”
How do you prepare to be successful at a road course?
“First of all, setup stuff it starts back at the shop. It starts with Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) – all their support, all the tools that they have is why we’re as good as we are when we unload and get going. These races are won back at the shop and then once we get here, we see how things are going. I have a strategy and the team comes up with a strategy with my engineer and stuff and you just keep getting – you learn more, you learn what your fuel mileage is, you learn how the tires wear and you just take a guess at it and then there’s still a little bit of feel, you know? We almost missed the first pit stop with the caution coming out right when it did – it could have been way worse. It just worked out perfect where we didn’t get hurt. Some of that is just that race feel and experience and the difference there, but it’s definitely won at the shop –everybody back there and everybody back at Toyota.”
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Could you have passed the leaders with one more restart?
“Oh, I guarantee you we would have. It just would take our truck a lap or so to get going. I said the 4 (Erik Jones) and the 29 (Alex Tagliani) got away from me right there, but coming to the checkered it really starts coming to me and I felt like I could make a run at it then. I didn’t really want to see that last yellow, but I said it worked out and top-two finish – not too bad especially for where we were two years ago. Two years ago we were disgraced. I was pretty embarrassed. I knew I wasn’t that bad on a road course and Junior (Joiner, crew chief) and these guys worked so hard and brought something back a lot better last year and, like I said, they worked on it again and made it that much better again this year. Hats off to those guys for bringing these awesome trucks and I’m the lucky guy that gets to drive them.”
How does it feel to be just three points behind the NCWTS points leader?
“I’m not worried about that. Like I said, we’re straight taking it one race at a time and see if we can lead some more laps, win some more races.”
Will this momentum help moving forward?
“Oh, it’s very good to have momentum. We’ve been very fast each and every week. Junior (Joiner, crew chief) and these guys bring awesome trucks. I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive them. To finish second here just knowing how bad we were two years ago and what wasn’t the best last year, so to have that momentum going into this last stretch that we’re going into is definitely huge for us.”
BEN KENNEDY, No. 11 Local Motors Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How were you so fast all weekend long?
“Yeah, we really were. These guys – the Local Motors team did an awesome job and I’m really happy for us to kind of rebound like this after the whole season we’ve had. We struggled a little bit on the restarts in (turn) one. That outside line was definitely the preferred line. If you got your nose up there, you could carry it through (turn) two and usually clear them. Really happy to bring it home third. This is awesome for our team. It’s a big momentum shift for us and hopefully we can carry it on to Chicagoland.”
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Nextant/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
CAMERON HAYLEY, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley/Carolina Nut Company Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
Are you proud of your finish in a home race?
“We had great Cabinets by Hayley Tundra this weekend here in Canada. We got a little tight towards the end of the race and could never really gain much momentum on the leaders. It was great leading laps here in front of the hometown crowd. I love racing in Canada and the support I had all weekend from the great fans up here was fantastic.”
GRAY GAULDING, No. 54 Krispy Kreme Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 11th
What happened in the incident with Tyler Reddick?
“I felt like we had a pretty good Toyota Tundra. KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) gave me a great truck. I just – we were probably going to have a good top-five, top-six, top-seven. We just – the truck was just a little bit tight, but 19 (Tyler Reddick) just decided to crash us. It’s all good. It’s just how it goes sometimes. You’ve just got to roll with the punches and go on to the next one. I just hate the fact that we were going to have a good run and it just got thrown away by a stupid move for no reason. Me and him were both better than the trucks in front of us and we were probably going to pass them, still a few laps to go and something dumb like that happens. It’s unacceptable, but, hey, it’s racing. It’s how it goes and we’ll move on to Loudon (New Hampshire Motor Speedway).”
BRIAN WONG, No. 25 Momofuku/GT Channel Toyota Tundra, Venturini Motorsports
Finishing Position: 12th
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Gaunt Collision Centres Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 22nd
MATT TIFFT, No. 51 Rally for Kids with Cancer Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 23rd
How was your race?
“We had a good run going and we were knocking on the door and then just had contact with the 15 truck (Mason Mingus) going into turn one and it caused us to blow the left front tire going into (turn) three and that pretty much ended our day going into the barriers there. Had a good Tundra – just didn’t get to put it together today. Hope to come back strong in Chicago.”
