TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES Week of May 30 – June 5, 2011
TOYOTA TIDBITS TOYOTA TOP-10s: Camry drivers Joey Logano(third), David Reutimann(ninth) and Denny Hamlin(10th) recorded top-10 results in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
It marked the fourth consecutive points race where three Camry drivers have finished together in the top-10, and the sixth time overall in 2011.
Hamlin was contending for a top-five finish after replacing a carburetor mid-race, but his Camry ran out of fuel on the final lap. Kasey Kahne took the lead on the final restart after opting not to pit during the final caution, however his No. 4 Red Bull Camry also ran out of fuel and he finished 22nd.
Toyota drivers combined to lead 108 (of 402) laps during the 600-mile event, including Busch (55 laps), Kahne (28), Hamlin (24) and Casey Mears (one).
NNS RACE REWIND: Busch was the first Camry driver to the finish line with a third-place result in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Charlotte. It marked the seventh top-three finish for Busch in 11 series starts this season.
The 26-year-old Las Vegas native will not compete at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend, but instead will wait a few weeks before attempting to tie Mark Martin’s all-time NNS win record of 49. He currently has 48 career NNS wins in 213 starts. Steve Wallace (seventh) and Brian Scott (eighth) also posted top-10 finishes in Saturday’s 300-mile race at Charlotte. Scott’s eighth-place result was a season-best finish.
CONTINUING ON TO KANSAS: The NSCS will travel to Kansas Speedway for the first of two races this season. Camry drivers have won races at 18 of the 22 facilities on the 2011 NSCS schedule, however Kansas is one of only four tracks where Camry racers have not crossed the finish line first. Other NSCS tracks where Camry drivers are still looking to visit victory lane include California’s Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.
CAMRY AT CHICAGOLAND: Toyota NNS drivers will compete in the first of two races at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend. Toyota drivers have recorded three victories at Chicagoland. Busch has two wins at the 1.5-mile race track (2008 and 2010) and Logano has one triumph in 2009. Last year, Camry drivers swept the top five positions for the first time at Chicagoland — Busch (first), Logano (second), Scott (third), Reutimann (fourth) and Jason Leffler (fifth).
WINNING WAYS: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will also compete at Kansas Speedway this weekend. Tundra drivers have won six of the first seven NCWTS events this season, with five of those wins coming from Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM). Busch has won four times (Phoenix, Nashville, Dover and Charlotte), Kahne earned one win in a KBM Tundra at Darlington, and Michael Waltrip won the season-opening race at Daytona with Vision Aviation Racing. Tundra drivers have earned 86 total wins since joining series competition in 2004, including two wins at Kansas Speedway with Todd Bodine (July 2005) and most recently Mike Skinner (April 2009).
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NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS NASCARSprintCupSeries(NSCS): Since the start of the 2011 season, Toyota drivers have combined for two victories, 12 top-five results, 27 top-10 finishes and have led 1,335 laps … After 12 races, Kyle Busch is fifth in the NSCS point standings, trailing leader Carl Edwards by 53 points … Denny Hamlin (12th) and Kasey Kahne (19th) are also in the top-20 in the standings … Hamlin has earned three top-10 finishes in the last four races to move up five spots into the top-12 in points … Hamlin will make his 200th career NSCS start this weekend at Kansas … Michael Waltrip Racing will collect donations for tornado victims of Joplin, Mo., at two locations in the Kansas City area Thursday evening from 6-8 PM CT … Bobby Labonte and David Reutimann, along with No. 00 and No. 47 team members, will host collections at the Aaron’s store in Shawnee, Kan. … Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 56 team will do the same at the Bass Pro Shop in Olathe, Kan. … Fans that make donations will be able to meet, take pictures and collect autographs from the drivers and crew members at both locations … Michael Waltrip will also stop by both events.
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How similar is the Kansas track to Chicagoland Speedway, where you won the NSCS race last year? “They say in theory — they look the same and there’s a lot of things that resemble. They drive like completely different race tracks other than the fact that they are both a mile-and-a-half. You can take setups that are somewhat similar, but it’s unrealistic to think that you can unload with the same stuff that you ran well with at one track and have it transfer over. There are some things that transfer over, but you just have to fine tune each setup to each individual race track.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Is Kansas a race track you enjoy? “Kansas was the place really where I got my first mile-and-a-half victory in the Nationwide Series. It’s a very flat track. We’ve not always hit the perfect setup there in the Cup car before. It’s a track that I’m glad we were going to twice, especially knowing that it’s a Chase race. That’s a place where we need to improve. We’re going to use this time around to hopefully build a setup in which we can be competitive when we go back for the Chase.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What are the challenges of racing at Kansas? “Kansas is an interesting race track. It’s one of those places, kind of like California, where seams (in the track) affect the car a lot through the turns and all. It’s a good race track. I’ve been really good there in a Nationwide car the previous two times. The Cup car — we’ve haven’t been up to where we would want to be yet. We’re trying to find a little bit more speed there. It’s a good race track and I enjoy it. You move around and can go about anywhere you want so that’s cool.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing What are you doing with your team to help tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri? “Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Joplin, Missouri. To see the aftermath of the tornado is just devastating. It breaks my heart to see what happened and what all those folks continue to go through just to get back on their feet. All of Michael Waltrip Racing’s partners are getting involved to help out. NAPA and Bass Pro Shops have teamed up and I will be heading with my crew to Olathe, Kansas, on Thursday night. We’ll be at the Bass Pro Shops store. For the first 200 people who stop by and make a donation — whether it is items like canned food, toiletries or money, whatever they can bring — I will personally autograph a No. 56 NAPA die cast. I’m also going to auction off my firesuit, racing gloves, shoes and the hood of my NAPA Toyota from the Kansas Speedway race to help raise money. I encourage fans that cannot come out and see us to go to NASCAR.com/unites to place a bid or find out how they can help.” N
ASCAR Nationwide Series(NNS): Since the start of the 2011 season, Toyota drivers have combined for six wins, 17 top- five results, 33 top-10 finishes and have led 1,114 laps … Kenny Wallace (seventh) is the top Toyota driver in the NNS point standings … Steve Wallace (eighth), Brian Scott (ninth), Michael Annett (11th ) and Joe Nemechek (12th) are also in the top-15 in the standings… Kelly Bires will make his second start in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Camry Saturday at Chicagoland … Ken Adams, transport driver of the No. 62 team, is originally from the Southside of Chicago, and shares driving duties with his wife Lori as the only husband-wife driving team on the circuit.
BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 Shore Lodge Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Are you looking forward to racing at Chicagoland after earning a top-five there last year? “Chicago treated me really well there last year. I’m looking forward to going back and going back with the (Joe) Gibbs (Racing) organization. With these new cars, it will be a little different around there, but I’m confident that we’ll have good speed off the trailer and we’ll make improvements on it during the practice. Hopefully, have a good race like we had last year and get another top-five.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series(NCWTS): Since the start of the 2011 NCWTS season, Tundra drivers have registered six wins, 12 top-five results, 20 top-10 finishes and have led 614 laps … Timothy Peters (sixth), Max Papis (10th), Todd Bodine (11th), Brendan Gaughan (12th) and David Starr (14th) are currently in the top-15 in the point standings … Kyle Busch has recorded wins in three consecutive NCWTS races (Nashville, Dover, Charlotte) … Peters will assist with the Harvesters’ BackSnack program at New Stanley Elementary in Kansas City on Thursday, where he will hand out backpacks filled with food to underprivileged youth … Germain Racing teammates Bodine, Gaughan and Justin Lofton will visit soldiers at Fort Riley in Northeast Kansas on Thursday … They will spend the day meeting soldiers and signing autographs … Lofton will run a special paint scheme on the hood of his No. 77 Tundra at Kansas to honor soldiers at Fort Riley.
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Do you enjoy racing at Kansas Speedway? “Last year we had a really good run going. We had been in the top-five all day, but a mechanical issue late in the race ha d us on and off of pit road. I’m not sure why Kansas has been such a hard track for me to wrap my arms around. I feel really confident heading into this weekend’s race. I feel like we have a good package and will run really well.”
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Are you looking forward to racing at Kansas Speedway? “Kansas is a track where I’ve always run well. It’s one of those tracks that originally everyone called a ‘cookie cutter’ track, but those are the tracks where I do well. Kansas is different from the Texas and Charlotte types of tracks where drivers like to work the higher groove. Everyone is nervous to go high at Kansas, which means there will be less people in my preferred groove. I’ve said it from the get-go — this is part of the season where I think Germain Racing can win and I feel we can win at Kansas.”
TOYOTA 2011 NASCAR STATISTICS Series Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led NSCS 12 144 (18) 2 12 27 1 95 1,335 NNS 13 105 (19) 6 17 33 2 58 1,114 NCWTS 7 91 (21) 6 12 20 2 25 614
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Kansas Speedway & Chicagoland Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series David Reutimann, No. 00 TUMS Camry Kasey Kahne, No. 4 Red Bull Camry Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Camry Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’s Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Clorox-Kleenex Camry T.J. Bell, No. 50 Green Smoke Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Camry Mike Skinner, No. 60 Big Red Camry Michael McDowell, No. 66 Victory Junction Camry Brian Vickers, No. 83 Red Bull Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry NASCAR Nationwide Series Kenny Wallace, No. 09 Family Farmers Camry Brian Scott, No. 11 Sandvik Camry Kelly Bires, No. 18 Heil Heating and Cooling Products Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Sandvik Camry Michael Annett, No. 62 Pilot/Flying J Camry Steve Wallace, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry Ryan Truex, No. 99 Pastrana-Waltrip Racing Camry NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Travis Kvapil, No. 5 Int’l Truck Monaco RV Tundra Butch Miller, No. 07 Tundra Miguel Paludo, No. 7 Stemco Duroline Tundra Max Papis, No. 9 GEICO Tundra Timothy Peters, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Tundra Kyle Busch, No. 18 Dollar General Tundra Johanna Long, No. 20 Panhandle Grading Tundra Todd Bodine, No. 30 Germain.com Tundra Craig Goess Jr., No. 46 Greenville Toyota Tundra Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Hotel Tundra Justin Lofton, No. 77 Lofton Cattle Tundra David Starr, No. 81 Zachry Tundra
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE Sat., June 4 — NCWTS @ Kansas Speedway — 1:00 PM (CT), SPEED — Race 8 of 25 Sat., June 4 — NNS @ Chicagoland Speedway — 7:00 PM (CT), ESPN2 — Race 14 of 34 Sun., June 5 — NSCS @ Kansas Speedway — 12:00 PM (CT), FOX — Race 13 of 36
