TOYOTA TALK: Hamlin and Reutimann Talk Martinsville Busch Focusing on Race Wins Truex Talks Gateway Return Bodine’s Tundra Turns Pink
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) NEWS, NOTES & NUMBERS: This year, Toyota drivers have combined for 10 wins, 34 top-five results, 70 top-10 finishes and five poles after 31 of 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) races … Toyota drivers Denny Hamlin (second in points) and Kyle Busch (fifth in points) are currently competing in the 2010 NSCS Chase … Hamlin is 41 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson after five of 10 races … Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Busch, Hamlin and Joey Logano have all finished together in the top-10 four times this season, including three of the last six NSCS races … Aric Almirola will drive the No. 83 Red Bull Camry this weekend.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What does it take to be successful at Martinsville? “I’ve been there with several different cars and several different series, and I’ve got to have a good car if I’m gonna run well there. It’s one of those tracks where braking is so important. All your laps times are really just made up on how you enter the corners and you’re braking. A lot of people really try to work on exit, but I for the most part work on how I’m going to enter the corner and make sure my car is stable enough.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Will your focus be on winning races rather than ‘points’ racing the remainder of the season? “That’s what our goal is, to go out there and win the rest of the races and to try to spoil it. Unless they all have trouble at least once or twice. The reality of that is why I said our championship hopes and dreams are lost. We’re going to go out there and race hard. We’ll see what we can get. If we can get back up to fourth in points, third in points, second in points even — that’s great.”
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Do you enjoy racing at Martinsville Speedway? “We’ve had some decent runs at Martinsville, but we haven’t quite clicked like we would like to. It’s a great race track, but it can be a deceiving race track as to how tough it really is. When you leave Martinsville — even if you’ve had a good day — you’ve had a long day because there’s just a lot of stuff that goes on. There are real long straightaways and tight, tight corners. Of course there happens to be only one patch of grass left in the whole place and I just happened to get turned around and got stuck in it the last race. So that just gives you an idea of how things have gone for me at Martinsville in the past.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) NEWS, NOTES & NUMBERS: This year, Toyota drivers have combined for 16 wins, 66 top-five results, 130 top-10 finishes and 16 poles after 31 of 35 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) races … Kyle Busch remains third in the NNS point standings, despite starting just 26 of 31 races . . . Joey Logano (seventh), Jason Leffler (ninth), Steve Wallace (10th), Brendan Gaughan (11th), Michael Annett (12th) and Reed Sorenson (13th) are also in the top-15 in points with four races remaining … This weekend, Ryan Truex will return to the site of his first career NNS start earlier this year.
RYAN TRUEX, No. 99 Out! Pet Care Toyota Camry, Diamond-Waltrip Racing Are you looking forward to returning to Gateway where you had your first NNS start earlier this year? “I’m really excited. Not only because I ran there before, but the last time the 99 ran there I think they finished third. They have a good car for there. I ran decent running up as high as eighth or ninth last time. I like the track and it’ll be a benefit going back. I feel like we’ll be able to go there and run pretty strong.”
STEVE WALLACE, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing Do you enjoy racing at Gateway? “I haven’t always enjoyed racing at Gateway, but now, I finally feel like I have a pretty good grasp on how to get around that place. It showed up in the last race there. We had a shot to win it and ended up with a top-five finish. We’re taking the same car we raced there in the spring, so it should be a good weekend for us. Our sponsor, 5-Hour Energy, is sponsoring the race this weekend, so it’d be really cool to get another top-five at Gateway.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) NEWS, NOTES & NUMBERS: This year, Tundra drivers have combined for 12 wins, 46 top-five results, 97 top-10 finishes and nine poles after 20 of 25 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) races … Todd Bodine (first), Aric Almirola (second), Timothy Peters (fifth), Mike Skinner (eighth), David Starr (ninth) and Justin Lofton (10th) are in the top-10 in the NCWTS point standings with five races remaining … Bodine leads second-place Almirola in the point standings by 262 points … Toyota is currently 13 points ahead of Chevrolet in the NCWTS manufacturer’s point standings … Bodine will drive a pink No. 30 Germain Tundra at Martinsville in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month … NASCAR K&N West Series driver Jason Bowles will drive the Billy Ballew Motorsports No. 15 Tundra at Martinsville … Toyota driver Eric Holmes won Saturday night’s NASCAR K&N West Series race at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif.
TODD BODINE, No. 30 Germain.com Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing How do you feel about driving a pink truck this weekend? “For a lot of reasons, promoting Breast Cancer Awareness has been an important mission for Germain Racing since our first season in the Truck Series. All of the Germain Racing race vehicles will have pink ribbons on them through October in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month, but the 30 team is taking it a step further. At Martinsville, the Germain.com Tundra is going to be very pink! Everything that would normally be red is going to be pink, and I’m getting some pink decals to put on my helmet for the race weekend, as well. The truck is going to look great. I can’t wait to see it!”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing What did it mean to you when you won at Martinsville last year? “Winning at Martinsville last year was really special for me because it was close to home and I had a lot of friends and family there. It’s my home track and to win there was the best moment of my career, so far. This whole year has been a success. We’ve had our share of blown motors and wrecks but some of that is out of our control. When we can contend for wins and top-five finishes each week, then we can’t consider each weekend anything less than a success. Those struggles just make you more determined and grateful for the good weeks.”
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Martinsville Speedway & Gateway International Raceway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series David Reutimann, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry Robby Gordon, No. 7 Extenze Camry Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Camry Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’s Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 GameStop Camry Marcos Ambrose, No. 47 Dollar General Country Million Camry Terry Cook, No. 55 Prism Motorsports Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Camry Landon Cassill, No. 64 Gunselman Motorsports Camry Johnny Sauter, No. 66 Prism Motorsports Camry Scott Speed, No. 82 Red Bull Camry Aric Almirola, No. 83 Red Bull Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry
NASCAR Nationwide
Series Scott Wimmer, No. 10 Braun Racing Camry Brad Sweet, No. 11 Braun Racing Camry Michael Annett, No. 15 Pilot Flying J Coffee Camry Brad Coleman, No. 18 Shore Lodge Camry Matt Dibenedetto, No. 20 Bosch Camry Reed Sorenson, No. 32 Dollar General Camry Jason Leffler, No. 38 Great Clips Camry Kevin Lepage, No. 56 RaceDaySponsor.com Camry Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 Snap On Camry Steve Wallace, No. 66 5 Hour Energy Camry Ryan Truex, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Mike Skinner, No. 5 International Trucks/Monaco RV Tundra Justin Lofton, No. 7 VisitPit.com Tundra BJ McLeod, No. 9 Boggy Creek Airboat Rides Tundra Jason Bowles, No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Tundra Timothy Peters, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Tundra Kyle Busch, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota Tundra Johanna Long, No. 20 Panhandle Grading & Paving Tundra Jason White, No. 23 Gunbroker.com/Pursuit Channel Tundra Todd Bodine, No. 30 Germain.com Tundra Aric Almirola, No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Tundra Matt Lofton, No. 97 Strutmasters.com Tundra
