Todd Bodine (fourth) was the highest finishing Tundra driver in Saturday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Aric Almirola (sixth), Brian Ickler (seventh) and Justin Lofton (eighth) also scored top-10 results for Toyota at the 1.5- mile race track.
Tundra drivers David Starr (12th), Tayler Malsam (13th), Jason Bowles (16th), Nelson Piquet Jr. (20th), Mike Skinner (24th), Timothy Peters (26th), Donny Lia (28th), Justin Hobgood (35th) and Johanna Long (36th) were also in the field.
Bodine continues to lead the unofficial NCWTS driver standings following Las Vegas, leading Almirola by 262 points. Peters (fifth), Skinner (eighth) and Starr (ninth) are also in the top-10 in points after 20 of 25 races.
Germain Racing leads the unofficial NCWTS owner standings by 39 points over Kyle Busch Motorsports with five races remaining in 2010.
TODD BODINE, No. 30 Valvoline Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 4th How was your race? “We missed it pretty good. I don’t know how we missed it. We got a right front flat (tire) at the start of the second practice so we missed all of second practice on race trim. We needed more time. We adjusted on it and kept making it better and better and it was the best it was at the end. That’s what you have to be able to do. We didn’t win but it’s a good day for points because everybody we needed to worry about was behind us. We’ll just go on to the next one in Martinsville.” Was this a good points night for your team? “We weren’t very good in the beginning of the race. We kept adjusting and it got better and better. Our Valvoline Tundra didn’t come to life but it was definitely the best it was right at the end of the race. It’s just too tight, too tight in the center and too tight off. I think we missed a little with the shocks but for points racing, this is what you have to do. If you can’t win, you have to do the best you can and get what the truck will give you. Aric (Almirola) in the 51 was behind us so it was a good points night. We don’t like to do that and think about that, but that’s what you have to do. I got the Valvoline Tundra in fourth.” What were the final laps of tonight’s race like for you? “We still weren’t good enough for Austin (Dillon). They have it going there, they’re really doing great and I’m happy for them. At the end, longer runs were definitely our strong suit. We could run times faster than the guys in front of us. I was catching James (Buescher) there at the end, we just ran out of time. I can’t be disappointed with fourth after the way we ran.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 51 Zyclara/Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports Finishing Position: 6th How was your race? “We were a little bit off all night just a little bit. It wasn’t much. Man, these race tracks where you run wide open you can’t really afford to be off a little bit and we were. I felt like we had maybe a third to fifth-place truck and we finished sixth so I’m a little disappointed in that. Nonetheless, it was a good effort. We were terrible in practice so I’m really proud of Richie Wauters (crew chief) and all the guys on our Graceway Pharmaceuticals team, they did a really good job making our truck a whole lot better.”
BRIAN ICKLER, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 7th How was your race tonight? “We fought the lack of grip all night. We struggled on restarts. I don’t think it was a horrible day for points for Kyle (Busch, owner) in the 18 truck. We have one thing to look forward to.” Have you enjoyed racing with KBM this year? “They’ve been great to me. We’ve had good runs. Coming to Vegas here and this being the last race for me with KBM, we definitely wanted to run better. The truck is in one piece. Definitely not what we wanted today but it’s all right.”
JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 7 VisitPit.com Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 8th Are you happy with another top-10 finish? “I’m really happy with tonight. It turned into being a really good night. During practice today the No. 7 VisitPit.com Toyota Tundra was just a little off. We were really fighting the bumps real bad, but no one was working the groove or anything like that. In the race, I kind of slipped up and worked my way up to the top and found some grip up there and came down the first stop. Honestly Terry (Cook, spotter) was the one that made the call. He called for a big change and I didn’t have to say anything so it’s really cool to have someone up top that can see that kind of stuff. The team did a great job too. We picked up spots on pit road all night long and got the adjustments exactly where they needed to be and what we called for. Towards the end, we just got really good, really fast and got caught up on some restarts. We probably could have finished three or four spots better, but we’re definitely happy with the way tonight ended up considering how we started the day.”
DAVID STARR, No. 81 ASI Limited/Zachry/Stratosphere Toyota Tundra, Green Light Racing Finishing Position: 12th
TAYLER MALSAM, No. 25 EXIDE Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Finishing Position: 13th
JASON BOWLES, No. 77 Germain.com Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 16th
NELSON PIQUET JR., No. 15 Qualcomm Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports Finishing Position: 20th
MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 International Trucks/Monaco RV Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Finishing Position: 24th
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 26th
DONNY LIA, No. 90 Toyota Tundra, Stringer Motorsports Finishing Position: 28th
JUSTIN HOBGOOD, No. 9 Germain.com Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 35th
JOHANNA LONG, No. Panhandle Grading & Paving Toyota Tundra Finishing Position: 36th
