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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series news and information

MB Motorsports #63 Preview: UNOH 200 At Bristol Motor Speedway

JUSTIN JENNINGS RETURNS TO THE MITTLER BROTHERS MACHINE & TOOL CHEVY; TRIP BRUCE MARKS ONE YEAR AS CREW CHIEF WITH TEAM

Driver: Justin Jennings
Crew Chief: Trip Bruce
Twitter: @MBMotorsports, @JJenningsRacing

After having spent many weeks in the shop, helping build MB Motorsports’ trucks, Justin Jennings returns to drive the #63 Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool / Excel Bottling Ski Soda Chevy at Bristol Motor Speedway in the UNOH 200.

“I can’t wait to get back in the 63 truck,” says Jennings. “In my previous race there, we came home 16th. We’ve put a lot of effort into getting this truck ready for the UNOH 200, so I’m really looking forward to Wednesday night.”

Wednesday’s race marks crew chief Trip Bruce’s one year anniversary with the team. “Trip is an all around good guy,” notes team owner Mike Mittler. “He’s very knowledgeable of the race truck, how to set it up and what kind of adjustments it needs. He can communicate that information very well and he has the respect of everyone on the team. Trip has been a huge asset for us. ”

“I’ve really enjoyed working with Mike and the team this past year,” states Bruce. “These guys are hard working, dedicated racers. Together, we have been able to improve our consistency and bring home better finishes. And we have fun at the track. It doesn’t get better than that.”

The UNOH 200 will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1, MRN Radio and Sirius Channel 90 Wednesday August 19 at 8:30 pm ET. Final Practice will be broadcast on Fox Sports 2 at 11:30 am ET Wednesday, with Qualifying following at 4:30 pm ET on Fox Sports 1.

FAST FACTS:
• Justin Jennings will be making his second start at Bristol Motor Speedway when he slides behind the wheel of the #63 Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool Chevy.
• The UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway will be Jennings’ third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in the 63 truck this season.
• Jennings started 24th and finished 16th in his first outing at Bristol Motor Speedway.

MB Motorsports Marketing Partners:
• The black #63 Chevy Silverado features Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool and Excel Bottling / Ski Soda this weekend at Bristol. Joining them are LG Seeds, WIX Filters, eTape16, and Eagle Rock Camp.

Eagle Rock Camp:
• MB Motorsports continues its support of Eagle Rock Camp, which helps military families dealing with both the visible and invisible wounds of war. Visit eaglerockcamp.org /@eaglerockcampWW

Tune-in:
• The UNOH 200 will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1, MRN Radio and Sirius Channel 90 Wednesday August 19 at 8:30 pm ET. Final Practice will be broadcast on Fox Sports 2 at 11:30 am ET Wednesday, with Qualifying following at 4:30 pm ET on Fox Sports 1.

QUOTE:
Justin Jennings on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway:
“I can’t wait to get back in the 63 truck. Bristol is such a great track. In my previous race there, we came home 16th. We’ve put a lot of effort into getting this truck ready for the UNOH 200, so I’m really looking forward to Wednesday night.”

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

August 18, 2015
Kyle Busch Rallies For Second Straight Truck Series Win

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Not even a pit road speeding penalty could keep Kyle Busch from his appointed rounds on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

With drafting help from Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Erik Jones entering Turn 1, Busch regained the lead from Ryan Blaney on Lap 97 of 100 in the Careers for Veterans 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and held on to win by .157 seconds.

Blaney held the second spot, and Jones finished third, followed by Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon. Two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton battled a buckling windshield, a penalty for pitting too soon to correct it and a late spin after contact from John Wes Townley’s Chevrolet to finish sixth.

Crafton gained three points on series leader Tyler Reddick, who ran ninth, and now trails by eight. Jones is third in the standings, nine points back.

The victory was Busch’s first at MIS after four runner-up finishes in the series, and it was his second in two starts since returning from an injury that sidelined the driver of the No. 51 Toyota from all racing activity from Feb. 21 through mid-May.

“First win for me, first win for KBM here,” said Busch, who won for the 44th time in the Truck Series. “I loved racing with those guys up there—Jones, Blaney and Dillon. It was pretty hectic on how all that was going to shape up and play out…

“Just cool to finally get that monkey off my back here in the Truck Series and notch another race track where I’ve won in all three divisions here at Michigan.”

Under caution on Lap 27, Busch was penalized for speeding while entering pit road and restarted at the back of the field on Lap 31. By Lap 51, Busch had worked his way back to fifth in the running order, and after an exchange of green-flag pit stops, he regained the lead on Lap 69.

“We were trying something new with our tach settings, and it didn’t really work,” Busch said of the speeding infraction.

Drivers gauge pit road speeds with their tachometers and a series of lights on the dashboard. In essence, Busch was seeing two sets of lights at the same time, calibrated to different settings, and that led directly to the speeding penalty.

Once Busch passed Blaney with fewer than four laps left, Blaney—without a teammate to help—was resigned to a second-place finish.

“When we got the lead (after a Lap 95 restart), I knew it was going to be hard to keep him behind us, because he can lay back to the 4 (Jones) and just get a big run and get by you,” Blaney said. “There’s nothing, as the leader, that you can do about it.

“You’re wide open. You can break the draft all you want, but when he’s got a partner, it’s just like speedway racing—he can go by you.”

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – Careers for Veterans 200 Presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
Saturday, August 15, 2015

               1. (10) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 100, $43447.

               2. (12) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 100, $36614.

               3. (7) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 100, $26735.

               4. (9) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 100, $20254.

               5. (3) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 100, $15653.

               6. (1) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 100, $19792.

               7. (2) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 100, $16325.

               8. (5) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 100, $16241.

               9. (11) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 100, $16185.

               10. (6) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 100, $17107.

               11. (16) Alex Bowman(i), Chevrolet, 100, $13852.

               12. (17) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 100, $15934.

               13. (23) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 100, $15850.

               14. (19) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 100, $15795.

               15. (13) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 100, $16138.

               16. (14) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, Accident, 99, $15711.

               17. (8) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 99, $15799.

               18. (20) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 98, $15572.

               19. (28) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 98, $15515.

               20. (18) Cody Coughlin, Toyota, 96, $15988.

               21. (15) Chad Finley, Ford, 96, $13210.

               22. (27) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, 95, $15404.

               23. (30) Wendell Chavous #, Chevrolet, 95, $15376.

               24. (22) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, Accident, 87, $14099.

               25. (4) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, Accident, 82, $14220.

               26. (21) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 66, $13042.

               27. (31) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 40, $12987.

               28. (25) Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, Vibration, 19, $12747.

               29. (32) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, Clutch, 16, $12692.

               30. (26) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Electrical, 15, $12192.

               31. (29) Todd Peck, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 12, $10692.

               32. (24) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, Handling, 6, $9692.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.94 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 33 Mins, 04 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.157 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 26 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:    0; D. Hemric # 1-4; A. Dillon(i) 5-6; K. Busch(i) 7-26; A. Dillon(i) 27; E. Jones # 28-34; R. Blaney(i) 35; E. Jones # 36-44; J. Sauter 45-68; K. Busch(i) 69-76; R. Blaney(i) 77-81; K. Busch(i) 82-89; A. Dillon(i) 90; K. Busch(i) 91-94; R. Blaney(i) 95-96; K. Busch(i) 97-100.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Busch(i) 5 times for 44 laps; J. Sauter 1 time for 24 laps; E. Jones # 2 times for 16 laps; R. Blaney(i) 3 times for 8 laps; A. Dillon(i) 3 times for 4 laps; D. Hemric # 1 time for 4 laps.

Top 10 in Points: T. Reddick – 514; M. Crafton – 506; E. Jones # – 505; J. Sauter – 461; C. Hayley # – 425; D. Hemric # – 420; T. Peters – 416; J. Townley – 414; S. Gallagher # – 394; B. Kennedy – 381.

August 15, 2015
Kyle Busch Drives to Victory Lane in the Careers for Veterans 200

BROOKLYN, Mich. (Aug. 15, 2015) — It doesn’t matter quite as much if you get caught speeding in your truck if your truck is the fastest one in the race.

That was the situation for Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Camping World Series Careers for Veterans 200 presented by The Cooper Standard Foundation and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation at Michigan International Speedway.

There were 31 green flag passes for the lead in the race, which tied a track record in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The last race to have 31 was in 2011.

Busch dominated early in the race, but got caught for speeding on pit road during a yellow caution period while leading. He was penalized by starting at the end of the lead lap, which was 19th, but fought back through a series of late-race restarts following cautions. Busch captured his first NASCAR Truck Series race at MIS and his 44th victory overall in 127 NASCAR Truck Series races.

Busch will attempt to remain on the comeback trail tomorrow when he will start at the back of the NASCAR Sprint Cup field for the Pure Michigan 400 after wrecking his primary car during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice earlier in the day.

Busch had all he could handle to hold off the likes of Ryan Blaney, teammate and Byron, Michigan native Erik Jones, Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon over the final 24 laps of the race that saw four caution periods that necessitated the same number of nail-biting restarts.

It was Blaney who offered the final challenge to Busch with six laps remaining. Blaney took the lead on the restart, but Busch passed him with four laps to go. Busch hung on to win by just over 15 hundredths of a second. It was Busch’s second NASCAR Truck Series win in two attempts this season.

For Blaney it was the first top-10 finish in three races at MIS and third of the season.

Busch is now just seven wins away from tying Ron Hornaday, Jr., for the all-time series wins lead. Busch’s best previous finish in the truck series at MIS was second, four times.

“It’s was a really a fun race,” Busch added. “I really enjoyed racing with those guys up there in front. It was pretty hectic in regard to how that was going to shape up.”

Blaney explained that Busch got a very big push on the last restart from Jones which gave Busch the momentum he needed to pass Blaney with four laps remaining for the victory.

“When you get a huge run like that, I just couldn’t get him,” Blaney added. “I just couldn’t get anyone behind me to help do the same thing to him that he did to me.”

Next up Sunday is the Pure Michigan 400. Tickets are available by phone at 800-354-1010.

August 15, 2015
Toyota NCWTS Michigan Post-Race Notes & Quotes
- Tundra driver Kyle Busch earned his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) victory at Michigan International Speedway in Saturday’s race.
- This is Busch’s second NCWTS win of 2015 and 44 of his career.
- Busch has now won in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series at 11 race tracks.
- Tundra drivers have won eight NCWTS races in 2015 and 138 since entering the series in 2004.
- Michigan-native Erik Jones (third) earned his eighth top-five finish this season.
- Johnny Sauter (fourth), Matt Crafton (sixth), Timothy Peters (eighth) and Cameron Hayley (10th) also earned top-10 finishes for Toyota.
- Crafton currently sits second (-8 points) in the unofficial NCWTS standings behind leader Tyler Reddick following Michigan. Tundra drivers Jones (third), Sauter (fourth), Hayley (fifth), Peters (seventh) and Ben Kennedy (10th) are also in the top-10 in the point standings after 13 of the 23 events in 2015.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 1st
How special is it to finally get to victory lane at Michigan in the Truck Series?

“First win for me, first win for KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) here. I can’t thank Dollar General enough, M&M’s and everybody on that program. Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and these guys at KBM, they do an awesome job. It’s really fun to race my trucks, I really enjoy it. This Camping World Truck Series is pretty fun – I love racing with those guys up there, (Erik) Jones and (Ryan) Blaney and (Austin) Dillon, it was pretty hectic on how all that was going to shape up and play out. This Joe Gibbs Racing engine was strong there with those last restarts and our KBM chassis was awesome all day. It just drove really, really good. That one set of tires, I don’t know why, but it got real, real loose and we put some of the changes back and went another direction and it was really good from there on out. Can’t say enough about this Toyota Tundra and TRD (Toyota Racing Development). Just cool to finally get that monkey off my back here in the Truck Series and notch another race track where I’ve won in all three divisions here at Michigan.”

Were you worried about Erik Jones helping Ryan Blaney in the closing laps?
“I was, I came over the radio and I was like, ‘Tell the 4 (Erik Jones) to either pass him (Ryan Blaney) or stop pushing him back to me.’ I know Jones was trying to fight for second, it looked like he was a little tight back there. Overall, a great day for KBM. We almost had a one, two finish there and thank Cody Coughlin and the JEGS folks for being with us here this weekend. Hopefully, we can maybe move on with that. Just enjoy running with these guys and this team. Everyone at Kyle Busch Motorsports obviously trucks you can do it on a heck of a lot smaller budget than you would an Xfinity program or something like that. These guys do a great job with what I’m able to provide and what Toyota gives us to work with. Thank all the fans too, everybody here, everybody on TV – I thought it was a good show. I wish there wasn’t that many cautions there at the end and we could have raced it out and put on a better show, but it was still nail biting, let’s put it that way.”

How intense were the restarts?
“Really those last restarts I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out and what was going to go on. I wanted a friendly person behind me pushing me – a fellow Toyota guy, but we didn’t quite get that. Austin (Dillon) pushed me on the second-to-last restart and then made a bold move down the back and got the lead almost. That was pretty exciting and I wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen on that last one there. (Ryan) Blaney and that inside lane got going and my outside lane didn’t – I had Johnny Sauter behind me and those guys just did a better job of getting together and pushing and of course got by us. Our truck was so strong and I just knew that if I could bide my time and if I had enough laps and before the time would run out I could get back to him and fortunately we were able to do that. I got that lead just before that last caution came out and there again, just too many yellows there at the end. I hate it for the fans to not be able to put on a better show, but this Camping World Truck Series is awesome, it’s a lot of fun and I enjoy it. I can’t thank Dollar General, M&M’s, Toyota – this TRD (Toyota Racing Development) truck was awesome. The KBM chassis was flawless and there on those last restarts the JGR engine really pulled through the gears. Real proud of my guys, everyone here – Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and this team, they do a good job with not a lot and we’re able to do some good things.”

What happened on the speeding penalty early in the race?
“We were trying something new today with our tach settings and it just didn’t quite work. Busted early, but we just lined back up and we were able to restart and try to come back through and that run of the race was actually really hairy for us – we were really loose and super loose getting into the corners. I was barely hanging on there a few times, but thankfully these trucks tend to put on a good show. You can kind of draft back up on guys and use the bottom, use the top, kind of work around a little bit. Our truck was really good on the long runs when things would kind of single file out, we were really good – the Dollar General Tundra was fast and had good feel and good speed on long runs. That’s what I was kind of hoping for when we pitted there on that last pit stop that the thing would go green. We had a good lead, but we had a lot of cautions. I don’t think we ran but one complete lap until there on that final restart we were actually able to run five or six there. We just wanted to get back racing and get back green and hammer it out. (Austin) Dillon was strong and (Ryan) Blaney was strong – those guys were good for short stints, but that’s the way the race played out there at the end and Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) and these guys fixed my truck there on that last pit stop and made it really good for me. It was good to drive.”

What exactly was happening with the tachometer?
“Essentially, that’s what we had, we had two different sets of lights going on – one set was kind of over powering another set. Basically, it’s kind of like when we ran or if you ran pit road speed lights from a Bristol versus a Michigan, they’re entirely different and they were kind of bleeding over one another. We’ll have to make sure we get that fixed before next week.”

What has it been like having Logan Fairbanks as a guest here at Michigan?
“It was really neat to just be able to reach out to him and his Dad and invite them to come on out to the speedway and see if they were wanting to. Low and behold they took our invite and they came on out here today and so far, so good. They had a good time here hanging out with Samantha, she toured them around. They did some hauler tours and they were in our pit box for the whole race and just kind of hung out. It was nice to be able to win a race and get him in victory lane and show that there are nice people in this world. That was fun to do and to see and just to have him kind of laid back and enjoying things for today. We’re going to have him with us tomorrow – he’ll get a full days’ worth again tomorrow if he wants to. Come out early and go through Interstate Batteries hospitality and just kind of hang out there with some folks and have a nice time and be with us for the start of the race and everything. Glad him and his Dad decided to come on out, they’re really nice and really cool to hang out with and just talk to and see what they’re interests are all about. Logan is not much of a NASCAR fan, we’re trying to turn him into one. He says he’s watched a few races before, but never really paid much attention. We’ll see if I can become his favorite driver or if somebody else will.”

How are the trucks able to put on such a great race here at Michigan?
“These are just naturally boxy and draggy and you’re trying to manufacture something with the car that you just can’t do, you just can’t make it happen. If you wanted the same affect, you’d have to stand the noses straight up and down and the windshield up probably 40 degrees. It’s just a matter of what these trucks are and how they’re build. The truck race still was a little dicey, there were times where there at the end, the leader, myself would go into the corner and run your line and the guy behind you would always run a little left of you or a little below you to stay out of your wake and he’d be okay doing that. Anytime you go off into the corner as the leader and you just want to be like, ‘Ha ha, watch this,’ and you would turn the wheel left and cut in front of that guy and he’s in your wake and you gain three or four lengths on a guy right then and there. The thing about the draft is it doesn’t take long for them to recover from messing up. The 29 (Ryan Blaney) there with two to go, when him and the 4 (Erik Jones) kind of got close together, they drafted right back to me. I don’t know if it was within a straightaway, but it was definitely within two straightaways and they were back on my bumper. You’re just able to recover so much faster with a truck.”

What has it been like to watch Erik Jones develop as a driver?
“He’s (Erik Jones) done a great job, he’s done anything and everything that’s been asked of him. I think that he’s still young, he still has a lot of experience to gain. He’s not too far off from reaching the Sprint Cup Series level, but once you do reach that level and you run a couple years you definitely tend to become a way better racer and like me, you can go run Xfinity or Truck and look really good I guess. Jones, he’s come up through the ranks really fast. He’s not been in race cars for very many years, but he’s done a great job with what he’s had. He’s been in decent equipment, some family equipment to start with and won in that and then we took him in at KBM and Toyota, have to thank Toyota a ton for that and their support in helping him further his career through the trucks this year. We’re hoping he can bring home a championship.”

Do you take a sense of pride in discovering Erik Jones?
“I wouldn’t say I take a sense of pride in that, if I did I’d have an agency and I’d have him under my management firm. That’s for the birds, been there, done that. He’s on his own in that respect. It’s just a matter of him doing the job that he’s set out to do and he’s been excelling at that.”

Will you take a more conservative approach in tomorrow’s race having to start at the rear of the field?
“Oh yeah, for sure. We were originally anyways and I had a really good race car, but that first run in final practice I was running fine and everything was good and then through (turns) one and two the car felt good, stuck good and was wide open and carried it down into turn three and four and started getting a little free. When it did I was like, it’s not that big of a deal, but it just kept carrying, it never stopped getting sideways and finally it was just too late to try to save it so I just wanted to drive through it and not do what I did in the spring and kill it on the outside wall. Low and behold I kill it in the grass. That was unfortunate and I hate it for my guys, they’re still over there working on it, the backup car to get ready for tomorrow. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably not as good, it didn’t feel as good as the primary car, but we were kind of a long ways off when we went out there just to shake it down and get some laps on it. Starting in the back, we’ll definitely tighten up a heck of a lot more than we were planning on doing to start the race just being in that much traffic and then just try to work our way through as best we can. If top-20 is it, then that’s it. It doesn’t matter, Michigan’s not a place I had circled on the list to go win at so let’s just make it through tomorrow and carry on.”

JERRY BAXTER, crew chief, No. 51 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Were you confident in how strong the Tundra would be in today’s race?
“Coming in today, we knew we didn’t have any single truck speed and it showed in qualifying. Once the race got going and even after yesterday, I saw we had good speed in traffic. With the drafting the way it is around here, I was just thankful I had Kyle (Busch) in the seat. The 33 (Austin Dillon) was really good out there and there were quite a few of them that were really good out there. I was getting a little stressed out, but this time it wasn’t because of fuel so that’s a good thing.”

What affect did the speeding penalty have on the race strategy?
“It did have a little bit of an affect, we were able to on the one to go lap, come back down pit road so we essentially ended up with two more laps of fuel in the truck than anybody else. Not knowing if the race was to have two or three green-white-checkers at the end. That gave us a little bit of confidence there and knowing that the draft is so effective here, we pretty much thought we could get back up toward the front. That’s kind of what changed it up for us.”

ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 3rd
How was the race today?
“We were just a little off all day unfortunately. We had to work pretty hard to get it back to where we needed it to be and had to pit there with like 25 (laps) to go or so and loosen it way up. It wasn’t quite enough of an adjustment of what we needed, but it got us close and we were able to make some good moves on restarts and get back up to third. That’s a good point’s day for us, we’re only nine (points) back and that’s really nice to say, really nice to feel for the first time this year – we’re back in it. We just have to keep doing the same thing and keep having these good weeks and keep having good trucks. We’ll have our Tundra up there before too long.”

How was your race?
“We just missed it a little bit from yesterday to today. We were so free in practice yesterday and kind of worked our way to get it tighter and better in traffic and it turned out we went a little bit too far on a set of tires yesterday and kind of threw us off – just missed it, was too tight all day and ended up having to really fight with the truck most of the day getting adjustments. Pitted there late with 25 (laps) or so to go and got us back in contention to run with the 51 (Kyle Busch) and 29 (Ryan Blaney), but not quite good enough to run with those two really for the win. If we could have got a run or something maybe, but they were definitely the class of the field. Nice having a good comeback and get ourselves another good, solid finish.”

What did you think about your first Michigan race?
“It was exciting, I felt like we learned a lot throughout the day, not only my team, but myself about how to get around this place and felt like maybe next time we’ll have the truck a little bit better with practice next time. It was a learning day overall and enjoyed the race – it’s definitely chaotic at times on restarts. Just makes it exciting when you’re on the offense trying to come back through the field, just a tough race track, honestly with the racing is with the trucks as close to wide open as we are you really have to get yourself into the right spot at the right time and that’s not always the easiest thing to do.”

JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Nextant/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How strong was the truck today and what happened on the extended pit stop under green?
“We had a great Tundra. I don’t know what happened on that pit stop, I guess the shock wouldn’t come out or something. They just couldn’t get the tire off I guess, I don’t know why. All in all a good day and a decent finish. I thought we had the best truck. I thought we could have raced with Kyle (Busch), but those restarts are just a little crazy. I wasn’t very strong on restarts, I needed a couple laps to get separation and then I could pick them off one at a time, but still a decent day.”

What happened on the track and how were you able to battle back to a top-five?
“Our Nextant Toyota Tundra was good. I have to thank everyone at ThorSport Racing. I was there at the shop in Sandusky, Ohio and the truck was really good there. For whatever reason, had trouble getting the right front to come off in that pit stop I guess is what they told me. To drive like we did, I think we started ninth and drove to the front and came out of the pits there early, had the same problem and drove right back to the lead. We just ran wide open the whole time and felt really good about it and decided to take four (tires) because we had the lead and then just had trouble getting the front off. All in all a good day for us. Not exactly what we wanted because we’ve been having kind of a bad year, but a top-five is decent.”

MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
What happened on the race track with your windshield?
“That was pretty amazing because how often do you see a windshield break in half. The left side windshield broke in front of me and it would completely cave in on me going down the front straightaway when I was in dirty air and it actually started breaking loose from the roof and I said, ‘Hey folks, this is going to be huge when it comes in, it’s going to come in on me.’ It was pretty amazing what those guys did – that was good little piece of bare bond stuck on the windshield and it kind of went just in the right spot, was kind of like a blind spot because it was hard to see with all of it stuck on the windshield. Then felt really good and the yellow came out and it almost fell out because the air was kind of holding it in at that point. Very trying day and to come out with a top-10 after we had to go from the back to the front, back to the front and then the green-white-checkered finish.”

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 8th

CAMERON HAYLEY, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 10th

CODY COUGHLIN, No. 54 JEGS Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 20th

BEN KENNEDY, No. 11 Local Motors Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 25th
August 15, 2015
Toyota NCWTS Michigan Erik Jones Notes & Quotes

ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Are you looking forward to your first NCWTS race at your home track of Michigan?
“I stayed in my own house last night and I’ll stay there tonight, it’s only an hour-and-a-half down the road for me. Pretty cool to be making my first start here at a place I’ve wanted to run at for a long time. Not only myself who has watched a lot of races here, but my whole family – from my grandparents, to my parents – it’s just a pretty special place for me. It’s exciting anytime you get to a new track, but especially when it’s your home track that you grow up so close to. I’m excited about all the friends and family that are going to be here and hopefully put on a good show for them.”

How do you prepare for tracks that you haven’t been to before?
“I don’t do a lot of the simulator stuff. I don’t think it’s close enough. I watch a lot of videos of past races as much as I can and check out what people did last year and who was the guy that won – why did he do that and what got him up front. Basically that kind of thing. I watched last year and if I have time, the year before and just see what the guys that were fast, what they did differently than everybody and just see if I can get a general idea of line and if the line moved around throughout the day. Obviously here, we’re pretty much wide-open around the track so it’s a pretty big drafting situation for us. It was interesting to see that and see how it played out. I think you can pick a few things up from watching some of the guys and see how to manipulate the draft a little bit better.”

How often did you come to Michigan International Speedway growing up?
“Not every summer, but I think I was here a couple times growing up. Honestly we couldn’t make it every summer because I was racing a lot of the time, quarter-midgets at the time. It was the place we’d come to a few times and watch races. That home track feel I think for any driver or in any sport really, when they get to go home and playing for their hometown fans, that’s really the same feel here. Every driver looks forward to getting to their home track, especially at this level where in the NASCAR series, obviously I’ve raced at a lot of short tracks around my home and been able to win at those, it’s just a little different feel when you come to a place like this and you’re at home and racing in front of people. Kind of a place for me growing up that you watch and always looked at as, ‘I hope I get the chance to race there one day.’ And this was one that was pretty high on my list of just getting to run at.”

Was Jeff Gordon on of your racing heroes and what do you think of him making his final Michigan start?
“For me, really Jeff (Gordon) was the guy I looked up to growing up and tried to model myself after a little bit. My career path, I looked at him when he started racing quarter-midgets at seven and that made me want to start racing quarter-midgets at seven just from seeing that. I’d say, for me it was always Jeff and seeing him race and seeing him retire – it’s kind of odd. Obviously I didn’t see Jeff from the very beginning of his career, but I saw most of it and it’s just a little bit strange for our sport. It’s going to be weird without him out there next year. At some point everybody has to retire and I have a lot of respect for him to want to retire at this point in his career when he’s still competitive and can still win races. It’s not easy for any athlete to go out when they are still on the top of their game and the fact that he’s been able to make that choice and do it is pretty cool. An athlete can go out and they’re still performing at a high level.”

Do you feel pressure to perform well at your home track in front of your hometown crowd?
“I don’t think there is any extra pressure. I think it’s more of I’d really like to win just because everyone is here. I think it’s just pretty cool that everyone is here. I’ve had to give out more hot passes and get tickets for more people – way more than any other track. It’s just nice to have all these people here supporting you. They watch on TV and it’s nice when they can get out to a race and see it in person. It’s just another feel for them. Obviously they went to a lot of short track races growing up, but it’s harder to get to some of these NASCAR races at the locations they are. They don’t get to many, so when they get a chance to go when we’re this close to home, it’s cool to see them down in the pits.”

What did Kyle Busch say to you when you beat him in the Snowball Derby a few years ago?
“I can remember it pretty well. Obviously it is a vivid memory for me, really kind of congratulated me and talked about the race. At that point I wasn’t thinking about implications of what would happen after and if I’d get an opportunity at that point in the Truck Series. I was just excited that I won that race in its own right, but that I ran with Kyle (Busch) for it. It was pretty cool to see him in victory lane and hear from him, talk about the race. As hard as we raced, and as clean as we raced, it is always cool when you get to talk with a driver about that. I think any driver really loves to see a good hard, clean race and that day, that’s what we had.”

How do you feel knowing Kyle Busch is going to be racing against you in the NCWTS or NXS races?
“I think we all, as a team collectively like it. It’s kind of a good benchmark for us to see where we really are and see where our whole program is. Anytime Kyle (Busch) is in a race, we get excited to have the chance to run the race with Kyle. Not only myself, but the rest of the field gets excited to race against Kyle as well. We had a fun time at Pocono for a lot of the race going back and forth and hopefully here we’ll be able to do the same thing if we have a fast enough truck to keep up with him. That’s the only thing you hope you can keep up with him because if you don’t, he’s going to say his stuff is faster and you’re not giving it your all. It’s just fun to race him and it’s really good for us as a whole team when he can get in and really show us where our stuff is.”

Do you have any plans to run additional Cup races this season?
“Not this year. JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) is working on a lot of things, a lot of things I honestly don’t know. I’m kind of waiting to see how the rest of the year progresses. I do know that I’ll be racing XFINITY next year, but I don’t know sponsor, number or any kind of information like that. No plans this year, but I hope I get another shot soon. It was fun.”

How do you contend with a proven champion like Matt Crafton?
“It’s not easy. At the beginning of the year, I thought we would have been on sheer speed good enough to beat him (Matt Crafton) on the track. Unfortunately as the year has went on with mishaps and things, and not going our way, we’ve had the speed but not really the finishes and he’s so consistent every week that those poor finishes or mistakes are amplified, especially in a points situation. I think the biggest thing for us now is kind of maximizing our bad days than our good days. We have really good stuff and we’re able to go out and run out front, but on those days when we aren’t any good, we have to go out and make sure we don’t make any mistakes and are in a place like Eldora – we did a really good job of being there and being consistent at the end of the race where we finished ahead of the 88 (Matt Crafton). Any week we can finish ahead of him, that’s obviously a good points week for us. That’s the biggest thing, some weekends it’s not going to be there to win as much as we’d love to win, it’s just not going to play out and we need to make the best of those days it’s not going to play out.”

Anything special you get to be able to do since you’re home this weekend for the race?
“I was home, actually I went home last Tuesday. I had last weekend off, I wasn’t in Watkins Glen and spent the whole time at home. I went and hung out with friends and did some go karting, some golf and it was nice. Nice to be home, nice to have a week off and nice to kind of sit back and relax and get a little bit of sleep and get ready for this weekend.”

August 14, 2015
Trump Truck Returns to Michigan

August 14, 2015
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Michigan and Mid-Ohio

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series will compete this week at Michigan International Speedway while the NASCAR XFINITY Series travels to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. All Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series practices, qualifying sessions and races can be seen on NBC Sports Live Extra. The Camping World Truck Series events will be televised on FOX Sports 1. The full schedule is listed below.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, August 14:

On Track – Michigan:

11 a.m.-1:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
1:30-2:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice – FOX Sports 1
3-4:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice (Will be shown on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)
5:05 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra

On Track – Mid-Ohio:

1:30-2:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
3-4:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – RSN/Live Extra

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

9:45 a.m.: Greg Biffle
10 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
10:15 a.m.: Tyler Reddick
10:30 a.m.: Erik Jones
3:15 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
6 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying

Saturday, August 15:

On Track – Michigan:

8:30-9:25 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – CNBC/Live Extra
9:40 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 1
11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – CNBC/Live Extra
12:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup – FOX Sports 1
1 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Careers for Veterans 200 presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation – (100 laps, 200 miles) – FOX Sports 1

On Track – Mid-Ohio:

11:15 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – Live Extra
3 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green – NBCSN
3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio (75 laps, 169.35 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

2:30 p.m.: (approx.): Post-Camping World Truck Series Race

Sunday, August 16:

On Track – Michigan:

11:30 a.m.: NASCAR RaceDay: Michigan – FOX Sports 1
1:30 p.m.: NASCAR America Sunday – NBCSN
2 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Countdown to Green – NBCSN
2:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 (200 laps, 400 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra
5:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Post-Race Show – NBCSN
11 p.m.: NASCAR Victory Lap – NBCSN
Midnight: NASCAR Victory Lane – FOX Sports 1

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

11 a.m.: MIS President Roger Curtis and Consumers Energy VP and Chief Customer Officer Garrick J. Rochow
11:30 a.m.: Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Steve Arwood, Travel Michigan Vice President Dave Lorenz and grand marshal Michael Harris
5:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-Sprint Cup Series race

August 13, 2015
Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes Michigan Mid-Ohio August 2015

TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
August 10 – 16, 2015

TOYOTA TIDBITS

RACING FOR THE CHASE: Four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) races remain before the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins and five Camry drivers currently stand to secure one of 16 entries into the championship hunt. Matt Kenseth (wins at Bristol and Pocono), Carl Edwards (Charlotte) and Denny Hamlin (Martinsville) have each clinched a spot by virtue of regular season race wins. Kyle Busch, despite missing the first 11 races of the season, has won four races (Sonoma, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Indianapolis) and climbed his way into the top-30 – a position he will need to maintain to assure his Chase berth. Clint Bowyer has three consecutive top-10 finishes and must maintain or improve his current 14th position in driver standings – of which 10 points separate 11th to 14th place – or win to remain in the Chase field.

MAGIC MICHIGAN MOMENT: Soon after Toyota entered NASCAR competition in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) in 2004, the manufacturer captured its first victory only 13 races into the inaugural season when Travis Kvapil’s Tundra took the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway. Since then, Toyota drivers have captured five driver’s championships – Todd Bodine in 2006 and 2010, Johnny Benson in 2008 and defending back-to-back series champion Matt Crafton (2013 and 2014). Tundra drivers have also won 137 races and six manufacturer’s championships (2006-2010, 2014) since 2004.

JONES JOURNEY: There’s no doubt it has been a magical journey for Michigan-native Erik Jones as he’s ascended the NASCAR ranks in a short time. In less than three years, the now 19-year old has gone from winning his first Snowball Derby to collecting seven NASCAR victories. With five NCWTS wins to his racing resume, including a win at Iowa this season, Jones is currently third in the series point standings and just 16 points out of first. He has also found himself behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Camry in 17 of 19 races this season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) where he has also captured two first-place trophies (Texas and Chicagoland). If that weren’t enough, Jones made his official NSCS debut at Kansas this year subbing for then injured Busch after also pinch hitting for Hamlin after a significant rain delay at Bristol.

GIBBS SEEKING FIRST OHIO WIN: With the NXS making its third appearance at Mid-Ohio, JGR is seeking its first win at the 2.258-mile circuit. In the first two NXS races in Ohio, JGR Camrys tallied four top-10 results, including a best finish of second by Michael McDowell in 2013. The Gibbs organization has six NXS wins in 2015 and the three-Camry team has combined for 11 top-10 results in the last five races. JGR will field Camrys for Daniel Suarez (No. 18), Kenny Habul (No. 20) and Boris Said (No. 54) at Mid-Ohio.

NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry drivers Matt Kenseth (seventh), Denny Hamlin (10th), Clint Bowyer (14th) and Carl Edwards (15th) currently rank in the top-15 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) point standings … Camry drivers have four NSCS wins at Michigan … Brian Vickers won at the track in August 2009 … Camry driver Hamlin claimed two Sprint Cup Series wins (June 2010 and 2011) in Michigan, while Busch has one victory (August 2011) at the two-mile speedway … The Toyota Technical Center (TTC) is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. … For more than 35 years, TTC has been the driving force behind Toyota’s North American Engineering and Research and Development activities … TTC oversees the design and development of vehicles, including the design of both the 2015 production Camry and Camry race car.

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

What should we expect at Michigan with the new rules package?

“I think it depends a lot on the cautions and if the track widens out much or not. It started to widen out last time we had all of that rain. I thought it was going to be a good race this time around but with this new package it’s hard to tell. They’re very treacherous in traffic at Indy, so this track is much bigger, much wider and it might be better.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What type of racing will be seen at Michigan with the new aero package?

“You will see single car, but if you’re going to be drafting and utilizing the draft and being able to roll out of the throttle and stuff, it’s going to change a lot during the race. It’s going to be quite drastic. From being by yourself in practice to then being in the race, it’s going to be way different. But we saw some of that at Indy – we ran up front. We ran by ourselves in practice and then we kind of ran up front and we ran within some other guys and drafted a little bit and whatnot, so we were able to learn probably what fuel‑mileage numbers look like a little bit there to somewhat prepare ourselves for Michigan.”

NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS): Camry drivers Daniel Suarez (seventh) and JJ Yeley (13th) currently rank in the top-15 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) point standings … Over the last 10 years, Boris Said has one victory (2010 in Montreal) and five top-10 results in 21 starts in the NXS, including a fourth-place result at Watkins Glen last weekend.

BORIS SAID, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How does it feel to take the No. 54 Monster Energy Camry to a track like Mid-Ohio that you’re familiar with?

“Watkins Glen was a blast. Man, these Toyota cars are fast and I have to repeat myself – this Joe Gibbs Racing organization is top notch. The way they prepare and approach the whole weekend is really impressive. I’m privileged to have another weekend with the (No.) 54 team and Chris (Gayle, crew chief). Fortunately, Mid-Ohio is a racetrack I have some time on and I’m really excited to get there and go again with hopefully an even better result this week.”

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra drivers Matt Crafton (second), Erik Jones (third), Johnny Sauter (fourth), Cameron Hayley (fifth), Timothy Peters (eighth) and Ben Kennedy (10th) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) point standings … Tundra drivers have four Michigan victories – Travis Kvapil (2004), Johnny Benson (2006), Aric Almirola (2010) and Johnny Sauter (2014) … Last year, Sauter won after Toyota drivers led 90 laps (of 100) at Michigan … ThorSport Racing is the only NASCAR team based in Ohio and is headquartered in Sandusky … ThorSport has run the full NCWTS schedule since 1998 and currently fields three Tundras – Crafton, Sauter and Hayley.

CAMERON HAYLEY, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing

How do you approach a track like Michigan that you haven’t raced at before?

“Michigan will be another first for me, but I do know it’s a real fast race track. These trucks are so big and they punch such a big hole in the air that we don’t have the ability to run by ourselves, so drafting will be a huge thing for us. I think it will be a cross-breed between a normal mile-and-a-half and Daytona. Obviously, being a two-mile track, it’s a little bigger than a mile-and-a-half, so it will be wide open and the best truck will be the one that’s aero tight – they will win the race.”

TOYOTA 2015 NASCAR STATISTICS

Series

Races

Starts (Drivers)

Wins

Top-5s

Top-10s

Poles

Times Led

Laps Led

NSCS

22

191 (16)

8

23

46

6

96

1,097

NXS

20

212 (32)

6

24

38

9

61

1,087

NCWTS

12

105 (17)

7

32

61

4

79

1,342

TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Michigan International Speedway (NSCS & NCWTS) & Mid-Ohio (NXS)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry

Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Carl Edwards, No. 19 Camry

Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry

JJ Yeley, No. 23 Camry

Jeb Burton, No. 26 Camry

David Ragan, No. 55 Camry

Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Camry

NASCAR XFINITY Series

Blake Koch, No. 8 Camry

Cale Conley, No. 14 Camry

Daniel Suarez, No. 18 Camry

Jeff Green, No. 19 Camry

Kenny Habul, No. 20 Camry

Eric McClure, No. 24 Camry

Tomy Drissi, No. 26 Camry

JJ Yeley, No. 28 Camry

David Starr, No. 44 Camry

Boris Said, No. 54 Camry

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Erik Jones, No. 4 Tundra

Ben Kennedy, No. 11 Tundra

Cameron Hayley, No. 13 Tundra

Timothy Peters, No. 17 Tundra

Kyle Busch, No. 51 Tundra

Cody Coughlin, No. 54 Tundra

Matt Crafton, No. 88 Tundra

Johnny Sauter, No. 98 Tundra

SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE

For NASCAR images visit: www.toyotaracingmedia.com. Social media: @ToyotaRacing, #LetsGoPlaces and www.facebook.com/toyotaracing.

August 12, 2015
Ray Black Jr. Under the Sea and On the Race Track

It is not often that a NASCAR driver marries his passion for racing with a passion for scuba diving. But NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Ray Black Jr. has done just that, balancing his love for being on the track as well as under the sea.

“I grew up scuba diving,” the driver of the No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet for SS Green Light Racing said. “My father got me into it at a very young age. I was born in Alabama, but we moved to Florida when I was about ten years old.”

“I got into scuba diving then. I had a good time, enjoyed it and stuck with it. I ended up having my own business from it, like inspections on boats and salvage too. So, I still do some of that when I can.”

While Black has thoroughly enjoyed his life underwater, he was also bitten by the racing bug in his early teenage years.

“I just like going fast in just about anything,” Black said. “I started watching racing on TV and got hooked on it.”

“I got my Dad to get me a race car. It took me awhile to convince him, but he finally did, and we were good at it. We started winning a little bit here and there and he turned the reins over.”

“I was young and 14 years old. So, he thought it was just a phase. It took a while to convince him but then I think he saw the light.”

“I went to mini-Cups, a full-body quarter scale race car. I raced that at Orlando Speed World and other small tracks in Florida. I did that for two or three years and then went straight to Pro-Trucks and late models.”

Although Black loved going fast, he actually took a calculated step away from the sport, regrouping to focus on diving and to assess his career goals.

“When I turned 18 years old, I stopped racing for two years to focus on diving,” Black said. “I just kept tearing things up and being irresponsible.”

“So, I’m glad that I had to stop but then had the opportunity to get back into it. My Dad told me if I would learn diving, become an instructor for scuba and commercial, and pay my dues, he would look back into racing if I still wanted to do it.”

“And then two years later, I turned 22 and he asked me if I wanted to get back into it. And I did. We started doing late models and I started doing a lot better at it.”

“I definitely felt that I had matured, was more focused and was not taking it for granted,” Black said. “I got a second chance and it’s really rewarding. You start realizing that you can’t tear things up all the time. You start seeing the other side of things and have more respect for it all.”

Black also feels that he and his team have really come together this year. He is, however, a bit harder on himself as a driver, feeling that he still has room to grow.

“As a team, I would give us an A grade or maybe an A-minus,” Black said. “The team chemistry is awesome. We have one of the most lively teams out here. We bring a lot of people who go to all the races. They pump everybody up and get everyone going.”

“We just have fun and make sure that no one is too serious. We’re all here to have fun. Once you make it too serious, it is not enjoyable and it kind of wears on you. I think everyone is having a good time. We like them and they like us. I think we’ve bonded really well.”

“As a driver, I’m probably a B-plus. I’m not exactly where I want to be, especially because I haven’t been to most of the tracks. It’s a learning curve.”

One of Black’s major goals is to get into the top-10 in the point standings.

“I think we’re doing a great job. We’re fighting for a top-10 in points and we’re on the verge of it,” Black said. “There are some circumstances that have held us back. I’m not making excuses but we have blown two motors and you can’t fight those.”

“You kind of plan for a few bad races but to have those things happen, now we can’t have any mistakes. Other than that, we’re having a good season. Once we get in the top-10 in points, I’ll feel a lot better about it.”

Unfortunately, Black did not have the race he wanted at Pocono Raceway this weekend. He wrecked trying to avoid the No. 94 of Wendell Chavous. The impact from the inside wall locked up his transmission, preventing him from being able to re-fire and finish the race.

And while he finished a disappointing 24^th, he still maintained his 11^th place position in the point standings and will go on to Michigan seeking further movement forward.

Until then, Black will continue to balance his racing and his scuba diving, believing that the two sports are definitely complementary and synergistic.

“When you’re under water, you are by yourself,” Black said. “You have a good team above you to help you out but you have to make the final decisions. At the end of the day, it is all you by yourself under the water.”

“So, that’s like racing where you give all the feedback you can and you let them set you up the best they can. But at the end of the day, you have to perform, make sure you stay out of trouble and finish.”

“It’s just all focus, mental preparedness and physicality in both sports. Most of it is just staying calm under pressure. So, there are a lot of things that transpire to make it is what it is. And I love it.”

“It’s cool to be at the helm on the track and underwater,” Black continued. “If there is a mistake, it’s hard to blame anyone but yourself.”

“You have to step up to the plate and that makes you that much more of a better person.”

August 2, 2015
Toyota NCWTS Pocono Post-Race Notes & Quotes
- Toyota driver Kyle Busch was victorious in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Pocono Raceway.
- Busch, making his first series start of the season, started second and led the field twice for 53 laps (of 69) en route to his 43rd career NCWTS victory.
- The win also marks the first NCWTS victory for Toyota at Pocono Raceway and Busch’s first triumph at the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track.
- Busch has won five of the last six NASCAR national series races he’s competed in, including four consecutive victories (New Hampshire-NSCS, Indianapolis-NXS and NSCS, Pocono-NCWTS) and will start from the pole position in Sunday’s NSCS race at Pocono.
- Tundra driver Cameron Hayley recorded a career best fourth-place finish in Saturday’s race.
- Johnny Sauter (sixth), Timothy Peters (seventh), Matt Tifft (eighth) and Erik Jones (10th) also earned top-10 finishes for Toyota.
- Crafton fell to second-place in the NCWTS point standings, trailing leader Tyler Reddick by 11 points following an early accident at Pocono. Tundra drivers Jones (third), Johnny Sauter (fourth), Hayley (fifth), Timothy Peters (eighth) and Ben Kennedy (10th) are also in the top-10 in the point standings after 12 of the 23 events in 2015.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 1st
How thrilled are you to be back in victory lane again?
“This is really, really cool. I just can’t say enough about everyone from Dollar General and everyone there that does such an awesome job helping us out and sponsoring us. M&M’s – they’re a great part of that program too. This Toyota Tundra was awesome today so I thank Toyota of Scranton for helping us out. It’s certainly fun to win here for them and great to win and put Toyota in victory lane for the first time in the Truck Series here and my first Pocono win as well so that was really cool. KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) chassis was great today with this Joe Gibbs Racing engine. I just can’t say enough about Camping World and the fans. Thank you guys very much. I appreciate you being here.”

What were the restarts like down the stretch?
“Well, they weren’t too bad from my seat but it looked like from beyond me it was crazy back there so I’m glad we were in a really good position. I hate it that (Erik) Jones kind of got washed out on that one restart with a couple to go and I felt like he was definitely the second best truck. Maybe even the first best truck, I don’t know if I could’ve passed him if he was leading. The restarts just didn’t go his way today. Restarting on that outside lane was a benefit I think for at least getting down into Turn 1. Past that it was good to be single file for us and we didn’t have to battle with too many guys there back behind us.”

What were some tricks that you were able to do to keep enough fuel in your gas tank?
“One of the biggest things I think is just under yellows you’re able to just shut the engine off and it doesn’t even run at all. Typically your street car varying what kind of street car you have are going to go about 25 to 30 miles to the gallon right? These things here they are only about five. The more you can shut the engine off because them things are gas guzzlers then the better off your going to be.”

How did it feel to get back to victory lane in your Tundra?
“Yeah, it was really fun. I had a great Dollar General Tundra today. It was really awesome. All of these guys – Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and all of these guys at Kyle Busch Motorsports do a really good job of producing some really good stuff. It was just wanted to get back out there and get my feet wet and just kind of see exactly where we were at. I had fun today. Of course, I guess you always do when you run upfront and you win. Pocono has kind of been one of those places that hasn’t been all so great for us in the past but today it was a lot different than that. I enjoyed it. I like obviously going to victory lane, but it was certainly really cool to win a trophy like that. Hopefully tomorrow we can win the bigger one.”

How important was it to get back in your Tundra today and get a win?
“It wasn’t all that important but to me of course any time I get in a vehicle I want to go to victory lane. Just getting back in the Trucks this year I knew I wanted to race a few of them. My first one was supposed to be Charlotte but it just wasn’t going to be a smart one just after my return to the Cup car so I had to put Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) on the back burner a little bit longer until we got here at Pocono. It’s been fun though to be on the sidelines and watch our team. We’ve had some really fast trucks this year, we’ve just had a lot of bad luck. Erik Jones again today had some bad luck. It was good to see Christopher Bell win a race, Jones has won a race. So, all three teams have won a race again this year but we’d certainly like to make it more of a weekly occurrence.”

Why did you continue to choose the outside line for the restarts?
“I chose the outside just because it seemed like these trucks get really loose when you are on the inside of somebody else so I never wanted to have that opportunity of somebody getting a better start than I did and being off into turn 1 and having them on my right side door so I just kept choosing the outside no matter who was there to get the push. Really, nobody pushed a whole lot on those restarts. It seemed like we kind of would accelerate and there would be a gap that developed real quick, but as we got down closer into turn 1 the gap would kind of close up. I know (Erik) Jones had to throw a block a couple times, I’m not sure it really worked. He I guess got crossed up on one of those restarts and got spun out on turn 2 which was really unfortunate for the 4 truck for them for points. The 88 (Matt Crafton) had a bad day today so that helped things on that regard. There at the end on that last restart I just tried to get a good one, tried to accelerate cleanly without spinning my tires and I knew (Kevin) Harvick was behind me so he would be really good too. But, again, he never really got to my back bumper to push me at all, but that inside lane it seems to disintegrate as you get closer to turn 1 because people want to try and dive-bomb each other and make moves to make passes and the outside lane tends to always keep the momentum rolling a little better.”

What has this successful stretch been like for you with all of the wins?
“It’s been unreal. Those are the words to put on it. It’s unbelievable, remarkable, unreal and anything in the Thesaurus that works in that regard. It’s fun. I tell you, you just try to enjoy it as much as you can and working with my guys here Jerry Baxter (NCWTS crew chief), and of course Adam Stevens (NSCS crew chief) and Chris Gayle (NXS crew chief) on the XFINITY side. You enjoy it and just try to celebrate as a team and enjoy it as a team, not just me as an individual or anything like that. Certainly the accolades maybe in my name later on for years to come, but it takes a lot of good people around you. Just trying to continue that. Just gotta try to have some more fun and keep it rolling tomorrow. I certainly gave it my best shot to screw up tomorrow, but my guys prevailed there in final practice and got my car back out on the track and my car was fast when we did. That was good.”

What kind of advice can you give to Erik Jones to help him grow as a driver?
“It’s a matter of listening and when I was 19 I wasn’t listening to anybody. I was smarter than everyone. (Erik) Jones and I have had those talks and we’ve had a few others as well and he’s obviously really good and I think he’s with the right team. Being with Joe Gibbs – Joe is a huge asset for me coming up through the years the last nine I think it is and of course for Jones. He can lean on me all he wants and he does quite a bit. We talk a lot. We’ve gone to lunch and we’ve certainly discussed different things whether it’s racing or family or just people around him and just kind of what advice people are giving him. I’ve been there and have tried to help him. People might think that’s crazy because I’m not maybe one of the best at being able to do that, which I don’t think anybody is the best. I think everybody has their own approach. Certainly I can’t imagine – he wants to win and that’s where it all stems from. It’s just competition, it’s just drive. He wanted to win today. He wanted to beat the boss and he had the opportunity to do so. I don’t know if I could’ve passed him if he was leading, but it just didn’t quite work out for him today. And, that’s tough. Man, I’ve been there. I’ve hated it. You’re still trying to make it in this game and to make it in this game the best way to do that is to win races and show people you’re the best and to not settle for second. Hopefully his top-10 will still continue to help him out through the rest of the year. I’m sure he will still get some wins and we can see him as a champion at the end of the year.”

JERRY BAXTER, crew chief, No. 51 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
What was the fuel strategy during those final green-white-checkered restarts?
“I was a nervous wreck as you know. Good thing we had the Tundra today because Kyle (Busch) was saving a lot of fuel. Didn’t think it would ever end but coming to that last one they threw the white flag out and then pulled it right back in just before we got there and I was stressed out after that for sure.”

CAMERON HAYLEY, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley/Carolina Nut Co. Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How does it feel to earn a career-best finish today?
“I had Cup drivers on all sides and that was a hell of a feeling I’ve gotta say. To have those Cup drivers in the field was a crazy thing. I’ve learned a ton from them and learned a lot from my spotter Eddie D’Hondt up in the spotter stand. I did my homework and to get these Carolina Nut Company Toyota Tundra guys a good solid top-five finish that we earned is really special.”

JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Nextant/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your race?
“It started out bad because we qualified bad. And, I knew track position was going to be ultra-important and it was. You just can’t get going in dirty air back there. We had a good green flag pit stop and got us a little track position and just kind of methodically picked them off one by one. There at the end a couple of late race restarts didn’t agree with us so you’re just kind of riding along at that point. We got what we got. The Truck is in one piece and we’ll go to the next one.”

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 7th

MATT TIFFT, No. 54 ToyotaCare Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 8th
How was your race?
“We had limited practice time so it just took a little while for me to get acclimated with it. Then, once we got going we were pretty decent and then the last few restarts were just crazy. Our Toyota Care Tundra was really good at the end just got stuck at the top of (turn) 3 and got a little bit sideways there. Pretty solid finish for such limited practice time.”

ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 10th

BEN KENNEDY, No. 11 Local Motors Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 11th

MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 ChiChi’s/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 28th
What happened with Brad Keselowski to take you out of the race?
“The idiot hooked me in the right rear. I mean that’s all there was to it getting into turn 3. But, I guess maybe that’s what he wants to win a championship for that 19 truck, but he’s got another thing coming. I promise you that truck won’t win it. If that’s the way he wants to do it we’ll get it done.”
August 1, 2015