Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes — Martinsville

Denny Hamlin and teammate Matt Kenseth remain in contention for the Sprint Cup Series championship.

TOYOTA TIDBITS

CAMRY CHASERS: Two Camry drivers have advanced to the 'Eliminator' round of this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship playoff. With the points reset for this three-race stint, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth each have an equal chance to contend for the title. This round consists of races on the half-mile Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, the 1.5-mile oval of Texas Motor Speedway and the one-mile flat track of Phoenix International Raceway — before another four drivers will be cut from contention prior this year's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

MARTINSVILLE MAGIC: Toyota has had a great deal of success at the half-mile Martinsville Speedway in both the NSCS and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). In NSCS competition, Martinsville is second only to another Virginia track — Richmond International Raceway — for the total number of NSCS wins by Camry drivers since 2007. All four of the Cup wins belong to Virginia-native Hamlin (March 2008, Oct. 2009, March 2010 and Oct. 2010).

Denny Hamlin celebrates a Martinsville Truck Series win in 2011.

Tundra drivers have earned 11 wins at the track since Toyota entered the Truck Series in 2004, which ranks second to the 12 victories that Tundra drivers have earned at Texas. Tundra drivers who have visited Martinsville's victory lane include Hamlin (Oct. 2011 and 2012), David Starr (March 2006), Jack Sprague (Oct. 2006), Mike Skinner (March and Oct. 2007), Johnny Benson (Oct. 2008), Timothy Peters (Oct. 2009), Johnny Sauter (March 2013), Darrell Wallace Jr. (Oct. 2013) and most recently Matt Crafton (March 2014).

Darrell Wallace Jr., celebrates his first career NCTWS victory last year at Martinsville.

HALL OF FAME HONOR: Tundra driver Wallace earned his first-career NCWTS victory at Martinsville last October. Wallace became just the second African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series event — and the first in over 50 years — joining NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Wendell Scott. The 21-year-old Mobile, Ala.-native started third and led a race-high 96 laps (of 200) en route to victory lane. One year later, Wallace will honor Scott's induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame by racing the No. 34 Tundra — Scott's number from his NASCAR career — with a special paint scheme to recognize Scott.

TOYOTA'S 10 YEARS IN NASCAR: Toyota is celebrating its 10th anniversary in NASCAR this year. Here is another highlight from Toyota's first 10 years in the sport. Tundra driver Wallace Jr. earns his first-career NCWTS victory when he finishes first at Martinsville Speedway (October 26, 2013).

NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Along with his four Martinsville victories, Chesterfield, Va.-native Denny Hamlin has earned two poles for Toyota at Martinsville — Oct. 2010 and Oct. 2013… His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and fellow Chase contender Kenseth finished second last fall at Martinsville and sixth earlier this spring … Last fall's race was only the second time in his 29 starts at the Virginia half-mile where Kenseth finished runner-up … Kenseth led 202 laps (of 500) that day at Martinsville — more laps than he had led in his 27 previous starts.

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

How do you think the 'Eliminator' round sets up for the team?

A fifth Martinsville win would come at a very opportune time for Hamlin.

"I have said all year that if we made it to the final eight, to this 'Eliminator' round, that we suddenly had a good shot at this championship. This round has three tracks that our FedEx team has had a lot of success at over the years, obviously starting with Martinsville. We didn't have a great race there in the spring, but we have made some gains on our short track program, and I'm confident we can go there and compete for the win this weekend. Winning on Sunday is our ultimate goal and would be great to put ourselves in position to battle for the championship at Homestead."

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Did you expect to make it to the 'Eliminator' round of the Chase?

After back-to-back tumultuous weeks at Talladega and Charlotte, Matt Kenseth is happy to be going to Martinsville.

"You hope so. I really didn't know. The first round we ran okay. Obviously, we had all those problems at Charlotte when we got wrecked, all that kind of stuff. I knew we had our work cut out for us. There were some other guys that didn't have particularly good luck as well that were behind. You never know what's going to happen at Talladega. It's one of those places I feel like you could win just as easily as you could finish 35th. I feel like my team is more than capable, but our performance hasn't been as good as the top three or four guys. It's nice to have our points back and hopefully we can go to Martinsville and run the way we know we're capable of."

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS): Camry drivers Elliott Sadler (fourth) and James Buescher (10th) are currently in the top-10 in the NNS point standings following 30 of 33 races this season … The Nationwide Series returns to action at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, Nov. 1.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra drivers Matt Crafton (first), Darrell Wallace Jr. (third), Johnny Sauter (fourth), Timothy Peters (fifth), German Quiroga (seventh) and Jeb Burton (ninth) rank in the top-10 of the NCWTS point standings after 18 of 22 races this season … Tundra driver have registered 14 victories this year.

DARRELL WALLACE JR., No. 34 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Are you looking forward to Martinsville one year after your victory?
"It's huge and I'm excited to get back to Martinsville with our No. 34 Toyota Tundra. It's going to be an exciting weekend for sure — huge media hit for us. Coming back to keep the title going — we need to win us another grandfather clock and win us another race. We should have had a couple more before this. I'm excited — the colors look good with the blue and white Toyota Tundra and the No. 34 will be different for sure. I'm excited to carry on the Wendell Scott banner and represent their family and his legacy for that weekend. It's going to be an exciting weekend — we know we're fast. If we unload with what we've had in the past few races then we'll be okay."

Timothy Peters celebrating his win at Talladega.

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing

What is the team's momentum like following the win at Talladega?

"Our team has great momentum going to Martinsville (Speedway) after taking home the win at Talladega (Superspeedway). I'm so excited to go back to a track where I have so much history, and to race there with Marcus (Richmond) as my crew chief means so much. He and I have a long history together at Martinsville, and hopefully we can take home that checkered flag again this weekend."

TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Martinsville Speedway (NSCS & NCWTS)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
Alex Bowman, No. 23 Camry
Cole Whitt, No. 26 Camry
Brian Vickers, No. 55 Camry
Mike Wallace, No. 66 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 83 Camry

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

John Wes Townley, No. 05 Tundra
John H. Nemechek, No. 8 Tundra
Jeb Burton, No. 13 Tundra
Timothy Peters, No. 17 Tundra
Erik Jones, No. 51 Tundra
Darrell Wallace Jr., No. 34 Tundra
German Quiroga, No. 77 Tundra
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Tundra
Johnny Sauter, No. 98 Tundra

Toyota Racing