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  • Champion Brands Partners With MB Motorsports For Rest Of 2016 Season

    Champion Brands Partners With MB Motorsports For Rest Of 2016 Season

    Heritage Missouri Company Joins Only Missouri Based NASCAR Team

    Wright City, MO- Champion Brands, LLC (ChampionBrands.com), a globally recognized industry leader in specialty lubricants for over 60 years, has partnered with MB Motorsports, the sole surviving original NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team, for the rest of the 2016 season.

    Mike Mittler, owner of MB Motorsports, is excited to be working with Champion Brands. “It’s great to work with another Missouri based company, especially one that has a reputation for excellence like Champion Brands.  We’re very excited about working with everyone at Champion.”

    Founded by Ralph Lowe in 1956, Champion Brands has been a globally recognized industry leader in specialty lubricants for over 60 years. Champion produces and blends more than 300 products including fuel, brake fluid, oil and engine additives and lubricants for the automotive, heavy truck, agricultural and specialty markets.

    “Champion Racing Oil is proud to support MB Motorsports,” says Karl Dedolph, Director of Champion Racing and Performance Products. “Since the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debuted in 1995, MB Motorsports is the only team that has competed in every season. Being selected by this true professional race team is a great tribute to our “Purpose Built” lubricant technology formulated for ultimate protection and performance.”

    “We’re looking forward to having the folks from Champion brands join us at Kansas Speedway ,” adds Mittler.  “It will be a great way to launch this new partnership.”

    FoxSports1 will broadcast the Toyota Tundra 250 live from Kansas Speedway on Friday, May 6th.
    Champion Brands: Champion Brands, LLC was founded by Ralph Lowe in 1956 and has become a globally recognized industry leader in specialty lubricants for over 60 years. Champion also produces and blends more than 300 products including fuel, brake fluid, oil and engine additives and lubricants for the automotive, heavy truck, agricultural and specialty markets.

    Champion Brands understands the complexities of doing business in today’s market and is always looking for new and better ways to make your company more efficient and increase your bottom line. Quality products are more than a commitment at Champion; our high standards define the way we do business.Champion’s headquarters, located in Clinton, Missouri, just 75 miles southeast of Kansas City, is ideal for timely, cost-effective service and distribution. Champion’s 450,000 square foot plant accommodates more than one million gallons of bulk storage with convenient rail siding.

    Good people are the heart of Champion Brands. Passion, dedication, knowledge and a can-do attitude drive the growth of our company and assure you that you can always count on us.

    About MB Motorsports:
    MB Motorsports is the sole surviving original team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, having competed in every season since the series debuted in 1995.  The team has given many young drivers their start in NASCAR, including Sprint Cup Series winners Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski and Regan Smith.

    For more information on MB Motorsports and its marketing partners, visit www.mbracing.net or follow them on Twitter @MBMotorsports or Facebook, MB Motorsports

    For more information on Champion Brands, visit www.championbrands.com or follow them on Twitter @ChampionOil or Facebook, Champion Brands, LLC Hi-Tech Lubricants

  • Martinsville in the Rear-View

    Martinsville in the Rear-View

    It’s time we put a nice little bow on the events of the Virginia paperclip from this past weekend.

    I’ll be honest. Yesterday’s STP 500 was average for a race at Martinsville Speedway. It certainly wasn’t bad or one that I would include in my list of most disappointing races of 2016 (yet), but there wasn’t much of the action or bumping and banging we have come to expect. The rubber wasn’t laying down like Goodyear expected. From what I’ve been told, it was the cold temperatures that contributed to that. I think it’ll be different when we go back to Martinsville in October.

    Kyle Busch finally earned his first grandfather clock this weekend after winning Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 Camping World Truck Series race. He said after the race that he would put that clock in the foyer to see how long it would take Brexton to figure put how it chimes. He then followed that up by winning the Cup race and earning a second grandfather clock. When asked, he said he doesn’t know where he’ll put No. 2.

    It was nothing short of a dominant performance by the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this entire weekend. He led 123 of the 255 laps on Saturday and 352 of the 500 yesterday. That means of the 755 laps run this weekend, Busch led 475 of them (62.91 percent). Just to add to his performance yesterday, he had a 148.2 driver rating. That’s less than two-points short of a perfect rating.

    I don’t know what they hit on this weekend, but they nailed their car this weekend and nobody was going to beat him.

    AJ Allmendinger scored his best finish of the season with a runner-up in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.

    He said that he “was hoping for one more spot for a culmination,” but that it was cool that he “passed Jimmie Johnson like five times at Martinsville.”

    His performance caught me off guard because he just quietly stayed in the top-10 all day and made a great finish out of it. But then again, it’s been said that Martinsville is rhythm racing, like road course racing, and he’s pretty good when it comes to the road courses.

    So far in 2016, he’s amassed two top-10 finishes and sits 12th in points.

    Coming off a nasty wreck at Auto Club Speedway two weeks ago and going to a track where he never finished better than 19th, Kyle Larson surprised everyone with a podium finish in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

    “In the past, it’s (Martinsville) been my worst racetrack on the schedule, so to get a top‑three finish here feels great, feels like a win, to be honest, and hopefully, this is a good momentum shift that we need,” Larson said. “We’ve been struggling all year long so far and been working hard, but it hasn’t paid off.”

    While I not sure how much a good run at Martinsville will translate to a good run at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, it’s great for Larson after his lackluster season so far.

    Austin Dillon continued his strong run of great drives this season with a fourth-place finish. In addition, teammates Paul Menard finished eighth and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-10. More and more, I’m seeing Richard Childress Racing starting to resurge into possibly a winning organization again.

    I’ll conclude this by addressing those people who threw beer cans onto the track after the race. Normally, I’d save this for “The White Zone,” but I already did one of those when I talked about those who did this same thing last fall at Talladega. But just like then, there’s no justification to throw objects on track. There are two main reasons: One, you run the risk of injuring someone with a full can of beer. Finally, you should never waste perfectly good beer. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, so I’ll end it here.

    That about sums up the events of this weekend. Next up for the Sprint Cup Series is the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    *The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author. They may or may not be shared by SpeedwayMedia.com.

  • Resilent Effort Vaults Tyler Young to Fourth in Points at Martinsville

    Resilent Effort Vaults Tyler Young to Fourth in Points at Martinsville

    Tyler Young, No. 02 Randco / Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet Silverado
    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
    Martinsville (Va.) Speedway – Alpha Energy Solutions 250
    Post Race Report
    Race No. 3 of 23

    Stats:
    Started: 13th
    Finished: 13th
    Laps: 255 / 255
    Status: Running

    Driver Points: Fourth (-16 from first)
    Owner Points: Fourth (+1 position)

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. – When NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) driver Tyler Young was involved in a late race caution in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250, any hopes of a solid recovery looked impossible. However, a resilient effort by the driver of the No. 02 Randco / Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet Silverado hustled when he needed to most earning a 13th place finish in the third race of the 2016 season.

    Overall, it was a strong weekend for the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team – unloading strong in practice on Friday and then muscling to a solid qualifying effort on Saturday morning – giving the team the much embraced track position in anticipation of the 250-lap slugfest.

    When the green flag flew, the beating and banging soon began. While, Young do his best to persevere his position, early race contact shuffled him from the bottom of the groove.

    Beginning his march back towards the front, the first caution of the day waived leaving Young 21st in the running order. Crew chief Andrew Abbott elected to bring his driver down pit road for tires, fuel and a wedge and tire pressure adjustment. Restarting 18th Young settled into a rhythm allowing laps to click away, while he stayed out of trouble.

    The second caution flag flew for a crash on the track, sending the teams back down pit road where Young received tires, fuel and another round of adjustments.

    By the halfway point, Young had wrestled his way to 13th, reporting to Abbott that his truck was loose in the entrances of the corner. When another yellow flag waived with about 85 laps remaining, the Young’s Motorsports team brought their driver in for what they hoped would be their last pit stop.

    Armed with tires, fuel and a slight chassis adjustment to help with the loose condition, Young was sent back onto the race track ready to do battle.

    When racing resumed, the Midland, Texas native took advantage of the fresh rubber to slice and dice his way through the field, while multiple cautions would jockey the track position for the No. 02 team, nearing the end of the race Young found himself in contention for his second top-10 finish of the season.

    On a restart with single laps remaining, two trucks tangled ahead of Young – while the driver did a masterful job of avoiding the spinning trucks ahead of him, typical Martinsville short track chain-reaction happened behind him, when the No. 02 was hit from behind, dropping him from eighth to 22nd.

    Setting up for NASCAR overtime, Young found himself in a two lap battle to try and recover as many of the positions he could. Using the bumper to his advantage, he cleverly mastered through the field rising from 18th to 13th when the checkered flag flew.

    The 25-year-old’s third consecutive top-15 finish propelled him to fourth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings heading into another month break. The series returns to action at Kansas Speedway on Fri. May 6.

     

    Quote:

    “I’m really proud of this Young’s Motorsports team for never giving up. We were in good position to earn our second top-10 finish of the season and then we got hit from behind. One of those Martinsville things. We didn’t know how we could get back there at the end, but Rocky (Ryan, spotter) did a good job getting me through the holes. While we didn’t get a top-10 finish, the truck is in good shape and we had a good points day, so we’re happy.

    “The truck was strong from when we unloaded. Andrew (Abbott) made some good calls throughout the weekend and we were able to get the truck stronger and we’ll just build on this and focus on Kansas.”

     

    Event Notes:

    • Tyler Young finished 13th in the Alpha Energy Solutions 250, matching a career-best in six NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at the 0.526-mile speedway.
    • Young ran as high as eighth and as low as 24th, but earned an Average Running Position (ARP) of 16.96 in the 255-lap race. He also carried a 62.4 driver rating.
    • Young made his 59th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at Martinsville, earning his 19th top-15 finish in series competition. Young has a career-best finish of sixth in the 2016 edition of the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
    • Kyle Busch won the 18th annual Alpha Energy Resources 250 followed by John Hunter Nemechek (second), William Byron (third), Kyle Larson (fourth) and Timothy Peters (fifth).

     

    Next Race: Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway on Fri., May 6.

    For more on Tyler Young, please visit YoungsMotorsports.com or click on his Facebook page.

    Young is also active on Twitter. You can follow and tweet with him @TylerYoung02.

  • Kyle Larson Martinsville Speedway Race Recap

    Kyle Larson Martinsville Speedway Race Recap

    Kyle Larson
    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
    Alpha Energy Solutions 250 – Martinsville Speedway

    Start: 5th
    Finish: 4th
    Laps Led: 79

    Larson Locks Up Top-Five Finish in First NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Start at Martinsville

    Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 24 McDonald’s Chevrolet Silverado, led 79 laps in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The 23-year-old finished in the fourth position in his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start at the 0.526-mile short track.

    Larson started the 250-lap race from the fifth position. When the first caution occurred on lap 43, he reported to crew chief Joey Cohen that the No. 24 was beginning to tighten up on entry into the corners. Cohen brought the McDonald’s Chevrolet to pit road for tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Larson took the race lead for the first time on lap 62 and led for 32 laps before the second caution of the race on lap 93. Still battling a slightly loose condition, Larson came to pit road on lap 94 for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. He restarted from the third position on lap 101 and retook the lead on lap 105. With 145 laps of racing left, Cohen urged his driver to take care of his brakes, suspecting there would be several more cautions before the checkered flag. After six additional cautions and two red flag periods, Larson lined up fifth for a three-lap shoot-out in overtime. The McDonald’s Chevrolet crossed the start-finish line in the fourth position.

    KYLE LARSON QUOTE:
    “Today was a solid day for the No. 24 McDonald’s Chevrolet. I was able to log laps at a track that hasn’t been considered my best and come out of here with a top-five finish. GMS Racing did a great job preparing the truck and I wish I could have gotten a win for them, but I’m thankful for the opportunity we had here today.”

    ABOUT GMS RACING, LLC:
    GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Johnny Sauter, Spencer Gallagher, Grant Enfinger and Kaz Grala. GMS Racing also competes in the NASCAR XFINITY Series with Spencer Gallagher. Formerly based out of Las Vegas, Nevada, GMS Racing is now housed in a 100,000 square-foot state-of-the-art campus in Statesville, North Carolina.

    SOCIAL MEDIA:
    To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat at GMSRacingLLC.

  • Kaz Grala Martinsville Speedway Race Recap

    Kaz Grala Martinsville Speedway Race Recap

    Kaz Grala
    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
    Alpha Energy Solutions 250 – Martinsville Speedway

    Start: 19th
    Finish: 31st
    Laps Led: 0
    Owner Points Position: 18th

    Grala Gains Experience in Martinsville Debut

    Kaz Grala, driver of the No. 33 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet Silverado, brought home a 31st-place finish in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Grala started the 250-lap event from the 19th position for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) debut.

    Grala reported to crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz that he was experiencing loose chassis conditions to start the event. When the first caution occurred on lap 42, Grala came to pit road, where the GMS Racing crew provided four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to help tighten the loose-handling conditions and restarted in the 15th position. Grala made his way up to the 12th position but on lap 93, the heat radiating off the brakes caused the right front tire to go down, sending Grala into the wall. The No. 33 Allegiant Travel team was unable to make repairs that would enable Grala to rejoin the race resulting in a 31st-place finish.

    KAZ GRALA QUOTE:
    “I had a really fast Chevy this weekend. Unfortunately it didn’t end the way that we all wanted it to. I was battling a loose condition at the beginning of the race. Jeff (Stankiewicz, crew chief) made a great call with the wedge adjustment during the first stop, but not long after that the right front tire went down. This was a great opportunity to gain experience and I’m looking forward to working with the team again.”

    ABOUT GMS RACING, LLC:
    GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Johnny Sauter, Spencer Gallagher, Grant Enfinger and Kaz Grala. GMS Racing also competes in the NASCAR XFINITY Series with Spencer Gallagher. Formerly based out of Las Vegas, Nevada, GMS Racing is now housed in a 100,000 square-foot state-of-the-art campus in Statesville, North Carolina.

    SOCIAL MEDIA:
    To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat at GMSRacingLLC.

  • Johnny Sauter Martinsville Speedway Race Recap

    Johnny Sauter Martinsville Speedway Race Recap

    Johnny Sauter
    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
    Alpha Energy Solutions 250 – Martinsville Speedway

    Start: 3rd
    Finish: 32nd
    Laps Led: 0
    Points Position: 18th

    Bad Luck Bites Sauter at Martinsville Speedway

    Johnny Sauter started from the third position in the No. 21 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet for Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The Necedah, Wis., native ran in the top five until an incident on lap 43 concluded the No. 21 team’s day.

    Running in the second position, Sauter reported on lap 29 that the No. 21 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet was beginning to get tight. Crew chief Marcus Richmond reminded Sauter to stay patient and go easy on his brakes early in the event. After completing 43 laps in the 250-lap event, a blown right front tire sent Sauter into the outside wall. The GMS Racing team determined that there was too much damage to the No. 21 to return to the track, ending Sauter’s hope for a third-career Martinsville Speedway victory.

    By virtue of winning the season opener at Daytona International Raceway, Sauter is all but guaranteed a spot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series chase. He is currently 18th in the point standings.

    Johnny Sauter Quote:
    “We just lost a right front tire and it took off up the track. I didn’t feel it coming and it’s unfortunate that our day ended this way, but that’s short track racing. We had a really fast Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet. Marcus (Richmond, crew chief) did a great job finding speed and we knew we had a shot at a win.”

    Next Race:
    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to action on Friday, May 6 at Kansas Speedway.

    About GMS Racing, LLC:
    GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Johnny Sauter, Spencer Gallagher, Grant Enfinger and Kaz Grala. GMS Racing also competes in the NASCAR XFINITY Series with Spencer Gallagher. Formerly based out of Las Vegas, Nevada, GMS Racing is now housed in a 100,000 square-foot state-of-the-art campus in Statesville, North Carolina.

    Social Media:
    To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat at GMSRacingLLC.

  • Spencer Gallagher Martinsville Speedway Race Recap

    Spencer Gallagher Martinsville Speedway Race Recap

    Spencer Gallagher
    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
    Alpha Energy Solutions 250 – Martinsville Speedway

    Start: 11th
    Finish: 6th
    Laps Led: 0
    Points Position: 9th

    Spencer Gallagher Battles Back for a Top-Ten Finish at Martinsville

    Spencer Gallagher, driver of the No. 23 Alamo Rent-A-Car Chevrolet Silverado, brought home a 6th-place finish in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Gallagher advanced through all three rounds of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) qualifying on Saturday morning to earn an 11th-place starting position.

    In the early laps of the 250-lap event, Gallagher reported to crew chief Jeff Hensley that he was battling a loose-handling chassis. Hensley brought Gallagher to pit road during each of the first two cautions for adjustments to alleviate the handling issues. The third caution period of the race occurred when Gallagher took a spin. With no damage to the No. 23 Alamo Rent-A-Car Chevrolet, Gallagher pitted for tires and fuel and returned to the field in the 19th position. Henlsey called for Gallagher to stay out when the field returned to yellow-flag conditions for the fourth time, gaining track position to restart in fourth place. Gallagher spun for a second time on lap 171 and came to pit road for repair work on the chassis, four tires and fuel. The Las Vegas, Nev., native battled his way into the top 10 with 15 laps remaining to cross the start-finish line in the sixth position. The top-10 finish marks Gallagher’s career-best finish at Martinsville Speedway and highest finish in the 2016 season.

    Spencer Gallagher Quote:
    “I was fighting a loose-handling chassis majority of the race. Jeff (Henlsey, crew chief) called me to pit road multiple times for adjustments and we found a pretty good balance. There were a couple of instances where I got turned around, but we recovered quite well. Overall, it was a great weekend for the No. 23 Alamo Rent-A-Car Chevrolet. Thank you to my GMS Racing crew and all of their hard work this weekend, they built one fast bullet.”

    Upcoming Race:
    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to action on Friday, May 6 at Kansas Speedway. Next up for Gallagher is the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, April 23.

    About GMS Racing, LLC:
    GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Johnny Sauter, Spencer Gallagher, Grant Enfinger and Kaz Grala. GMS Racing also competes in the NASCAR XFINITY Series with Spencer Gallagher. Formerly based out of Las Vegas, Nevada, GMS Racing is now housed in a 100,000 square-foot state-of-the-art campus in Statesville, North Carolina.

    Social Media:
    To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat at GMSRacingLLC.

  • Kyle Busch Victorious in Trucks at Martinsville

    Kyle Busch Victorious in Trucks at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va.– Kyle Busch can now say he owns a Martinsville grandfather clock after scoring the Truck victory at the Virginia paperclip.

    The driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota led 123 of the 255 laps on his way to scoring the win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway. It’s his 45th career victory in the series and first at Martinsville in any series.

    Busch spoke about the significance of the win.

    “I’ve got a couple owner’s ones (grandfather clock trophies), but never one of my own, so this is just a day that we’ve been looking for for a long, long time. We just haven’t never necessarily had all the pieces go together like they should have and I didn’t know that the pieces we’re going to go together today either the way all them cautions were kind of playing out, the way tire strategy was playing out, when to pit, when not to pit, how to do all of that. Wes (Ward, crew chief) and I we both leaned on each other and we both had no idea, so we just dumbed into this I think, but it all worked out, so this Toyota Tundra was awesome.

    “All the guys at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), KBM chassis, NOS, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Joe Gibbs Racing Engines – appreciate them – Camping World, of course, the fans – it’s neat to win here at Martinsville. I love when they do it up here on the front stretch for everyone to be up close and personal.”

    John Hunter Nemechek finished runner-up in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Busch’s teammate, William Byron, finished third in his No. 9 KBM Toyota.

    “I was able to hang tough on the outside,” Nemechek said, “get around William (Byron) there at the end. That was the big key for us to finish second — if not we were probably going to lose a couple spots.

    “Those restarts were hectic at the end. I just kept spinning the tires on the restarts. We’ve got to go back and look at some things. I could never get to Kyle.”

    Nemechek leaves Martinsville with a three-point lead over Parker Kligerman, who finished in eighth place.

    Kyle Larson led 79 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet while Timothy Peters rounded out the top-five in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota.

    Spencer Gallagher finished sixth in his No. 23 GMSR Chevrolet followed by Matt Crafton who finished seventh in his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota and Parker Kligerman in eighth in his No. 92 Ricky Benton Racing Ford. Cameron Hayley led 11 laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 13 TSR Toyota and Rico Abreu rounded out the top-10 in his No. 98 TSR Toyota.

    The race lasted two hours, 10 minutes and 12 seconds at an average speed of 61.811 mph. There were eight lead changes among four different drivers and 11 cautions for 66 laps. There were two red flags for a total of 13 minutes and 12 seconds. Nemechek leaves with a three-point lead over Kligerman in the points standings.

    Complete Finishing Order – NCWTS Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway

    Martinsville NCWTS Race Finishing Order 04-02-16

     

  • Toyota NCWTS Martinsville Post-Race Notes & Quotes

    Toyota NCWTS Martinsville Post-Race Notes & Quotes

    Toyota NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes
    Martinsville Speedway
    Race 3 of 24 – 134.13 miles, 255 laps
    Saturday, April 2, 2016

    TOYOTA NCWTS DRIVER FINISHING POSITIONS at Martinsville Speedway
    1st, KYLE BUSCH
    3rd, WILLIAM BYRON
    5th, TIMOTHY PETERS
    7th, MATT CRAFTON
    9th, CAMERON HAYLEY
    10th, RICO ABREU
    11th, BEN KENNEDY
    12th, RYAN TRUEX
    16th, BEN RHODES
    17th, SHANE LEE
    18th, DANIEL SUAREZ
    19th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
    26th, JUSTIN HAYLEY

    TOYOTA DRIVER NCWTS POINT STANDINGS following Martinsville Speedway (race 3 of 24)*
    3rd, TIMOTHY PETERS 77 points
    5th, CAMERON HAYLEY 66 points
    6th, RYAN TRUEX 66 points
    10th, BEN RHODES 61 points
    11th, MATT CRAFTON 55 points
    12th, WILLIAM BYRON 51 points
    13th, BEN KENNEDY 50 points
    14th, RICO ABREU 49 points
    22nd, CHRISTOPHER BELL 39 points
    *unofficial point standings

    TOYOTA NOTES
    · Toyota driver Kyle Busch was victorious in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway.
    · Busch led the field four times for 123 laps (of 255) in a race that extended into overtime to claim the win in his first NCWTS start of 2016
    · The victory was Busch’s first in any NASCAR series at Martinsville.
    · In addition to Busch’s finish, Tundra drivers William Byron (third) and Timothy Peters (fifth) also finished in the top-five on the 0.526-mile short track.
    · Tundra drivers Cameron Hayley (ninth) and Ben Rhodes (16th) also led laps at Martinsville with Hayley leading the field once for 11 circuits and Rhodes pacing the field one time for 42 laps.

    TOYOTA QUOTES

    KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
    Finishing Position: 1st
    Do you know where you’re going to put the grandfather clock trophy?
    “I’m sure my wife (Samantha Busch) will figure it out, but I’ve got a couple owner’s ones, but never one of my own, so this is just a day that we’ve been looking for for a long, long time. We just haven’t never necessarily had all the pieces go together like they should have and I didn’t know that the pieces we’re going to go together today either the way all them cautions were kind of playing out, the way tire strategy was playing out, when to pit, when not to pit, how to do all of that. Wes (Ward, crew chief) and I we both leaned on each other and we both had no idea, so we just dumbed into this I think, but it all worked out, so this Toyota Tundra was awesome. All the guys at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), KBM chassis, NOS, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Joe Gibbs Racing Engines – appreciate them – Camping World of course, the fans – it’s neat to win here at Martinsville. I love when they do it up here on the front stretch for everyone to be up close and personal.”

    What made the difference on the restarts?
    “I’m not sure exactly. We had some pretty good turn through the center of the corner, but we had really good launch up off the corner and we fought that a little bit actually earlier in the race. That’s why those were better than us early on, but the couple adjustments that Wes (Ward, crew chief) made on pit road were really good for us. This Tundra was awesome, so again I just can’t say enough about everyone KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports). This is a fourth effort. It’s hard for us to get this thing to come out here. It’s obviously a great opportunity for me and for the team to continue to showcase we’ve got great stuff and that it’s a matter of time before William (Byron) and Christopher (Bell) will be in victory lane too, so good run for the Liberty University Tundra. The JBL truck I saw had trouble. ARRIS truck I think had trouble and looking forward to seeing the JEGS truck back on the track next week.”

    How did you get so good at restarts?
    “I’m not sure exactly. I think it was just something I developed as a kid back at the Bullring in Vegas working on restarts with my dad, working on them in Legends cars, modifieds, late models, everything and knowing that that’s an important part of the game. It’s not just racing and it’s not just running around there and being with all the competitors. It’s a matter of every single element, so it just kind of came to us. I’ve obviously got some really good guys at the shop too. They give us some good transmissions ratios that work well and the things that we can do there in order to make sure that we do have those good restarts, so I got really good launches today and even in getting there on the last one seemed to be pretty good.”

    WILLIAM BYRON, No. 9 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
    Finishing Position: 3rd

    TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
    Finishing Position: 5th

    MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
    Finishing Position: 7th
    Did you have a Tundra that could contend for the win?
    “It was survival and I think we had a truck that could have contended for a win and I just tried to pace myself all race and I think we could have possibly ran with Kyle (Busch) – we definitely could have ran second or third worst case, but we came in and pitted right there and just didn’t have enough time to get back through them and some of these kids absolutely have no idea how to race. They’d just rather run into you than try to pass you.”

    CAMERON HAYLEY, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
    Finishing Position: 9th
    How was your race?
    “It started off really good. Our Cabinets by Hayley Tundra was really strong at the beginning of the race, led a bunch of laps there at the beginning and then the tire game started and we just made a pit strategy that we probably shouldn’t. Hard to tell in those situations, but we battled back from 18th there and top-10 – that’s all we could ask for.”

    RICO ABREU, No. 98 Safelite Auto Glass/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
    Finishing Position: 10th
    How does it feel to finish in the top-10 overall?
    “I’m definitely happy with our Safelite Auto Glass Toyota Tundra team. Just a solid run, put together a strong day and I started out slow, but worked our way to the front there at the end and had we had some restarts go our way, we could have finished a little better – just the difference between starting on the outside and the inside. Just really tried to pace myself and not wear myself out and this track is really tough and I’m glad everyone had a good finish.”

    BEN KENNEDY, No. 11 JACOB Companies Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
    Finishing Position: 11th

    RYAN TRUEX, No. 81 Toyota Osaka Parts Distribution Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing Enterprises
    Finishing Position: 12th

    BEN RHODES, No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
    Finishing Position: 16th
    How was your day?
    “Overall, it had its highs and lows for the Alpha Energy Solutions Tundra team, but I feel like we had an awesome truck going into the race. The guys did everything right. I got us in a little bit of a bad spot early on – right front fender was knocked in and I should have got a little bit more time on pit road to help assist the guys with how much repairs they had to do from the initial start, but overall it’s a 16th place – kind of disappointing with the truck that we had, but the good news going forward is we know that we have really good notes from the practice sessions, qualifying sessions and we can take that going forward to Kansas. We didn’t get the win here, but we’ll get it at Kansas.”

    SHANE LEE, No. 17 LeeBoy Toyota Tundra
    Finishing Position: 17th

    DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 51 ARRIS Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
    Finishing Position: 18th

    CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 4 JBL Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
    Finishing Position: 19th

    JUSTIN HALEY, No. 32 Braun Auto Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
    Finishing Position: 26th

  • Ben Rhodes on the Truck pole at Martinsville

    Ben Rhodes on the Truck pole at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va.– Ben Rhodes will lead the field to the green flag for today’s Camping World Truck Series race at the Virginia paperclip.

    The driver of the No. 41 ThorSport Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway after posting a time of 19.659 and a speed of 96.322 mph. It’s the first career pole for the 19 year old rookie from Louisville, Ky.

    Kyle Busch will start second in his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota after posting a time of 19.730 and a speed of 95.976 mph. Johnny Sauter will start third in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 19.753 and a speed of 95.864 mph. Cameron Hayley will start fourth in his No. 13 TSR Toyota. Kyle Larson will round out the top-five in his No. 24 GMSR Chevrolet after posting a time of 19.775 and a speed of 95.757 mph.

    Daniel Suárez will start sixth in his No. 51 KBM Toyota. William Byron will start seventh in his No. 9 KBM Toyota. John Hunter Nemechek will start eighth in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Tyler Reddick will start ninth in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Matt Crafton will round out the top-10 in his No. 88 TSR Toyota.

    Spencer Gallagher will start 11th in his No. 23 GMSR Chevrolet. Cole Custer will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    The field is set for today’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at 2:30 p.m. on FS1.