TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES Todd Bodine, Travis Kvapil & Ryan Truex Daytona Media Day – February 10, 2011 TODD BODINE, No. 30 Tire Kingdom Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
What is your outlook for the 2011 season? “I’m excited about the series and for the series because we’ve got a lot of new teams coming in with really good drivers. I feel like this is probably going to be the most competitive year in the Truck Series ever. When the series first started, they had a lot of good guys, but there was only five or six teams that really could step up anytime and win a race. If you look at the list of teams we’ve got and drivers, I think this year there’s an honest 12 or 15 teams that could win on any given week. To have that kind of level of competition is incredible. I believe that’s one reason that fans are drawn to the Truck Series. We’ve got a lot of good teams that are on level playing fields. We don’t have four or five that are going to run away with the show every week. When they show up to watch, you never know who is going to win.”
Who is your biggest rival in the Truck Series? “The competition level is so steep in the trucks that I can’t just worry about Ron (Hornaday Jr.). There’s so many good teams that you have to focus on what you’re doing. To say that you can create a rivalry, I think if there’s anything close to that, it would be me and Kyle (Busch) because we’ve raced each other pretty hard. I’ve got a lot of respect for Kyle and his abilities. It makes it fun when you have someone like that on the track with you.”
What has it been like to have Brendan Gaughan as a teammate? “I’ve been on Brendan (Gaughan) and his dad for a couple years now to get him to come over and race with us. Brendan and Mr. Gaughan finally decided it was time for another change and to do something where Brendan can run upfront again and win races. Brendan felt coming to the team, Germain Racing always had good race trucks and obviously we’ve run upfront every year and won races. Now that he’s here he’s amazed to see how good of a job this team really does on a daily basis preparing the trucks and getting them ready to go. The one thing that Brendan stressed is that he wanted the same trucks and the same setups as I had. We’ve done that and we’ve made that our goal and our task. Not only Brendan, but having Max as a teammate and Justin Lofton. For a team to come out with four trucks, it shows how strong they are and how committed they are to the series.”
Why is it so hard to repeat as a champion in this series? “You have to have everything go right every race. Your bad luck has to turn around and become good luck and we had that last year. The spin and win at Kentucky, and we had a few other races like that where bad things would happen and we’d turn it around and get a good run out of it. It’s hard to do that on a consistent basis. I’d rather be lucky than good. It does hold true sometimes.”
What kind of dimension does Travis Kvapil bring to the 2011 championship run? “Travis (Kvapil) is another one of those guys that you know when he gets in a truck, that he’s going to be competitive. He’s going to be a guy that you’re going to have to deal with week in and week out to win races. Travis’ personality and his persona among the fans — they love him. They love watching him race and he brings a whole other dimension and a great competitor to the series. It’s going to be — like I said — 15 of us that can get it done and he’s just another one that we’ve got to deal with.”
What kind of comfort level is there for you having a sponsor for all three series at Daytona? “That’s pretty neat. I don’t know that it’s ever been done where one sponsor sponsored all three series at Daytona — the same driver, same team. Tire Kingdom has been in racing — they do a lot of other things in NHRA and drag racing, and they partnered with Valvoline to come up with this program for Speed Weeks. We’re really proud to be able to bring them into NASCAR and kind of show them the ropes so to speak and hopefully we can grow the program and make it bigger and better down the line.”
TODD BODINE, No. 30 Tire Kingdom Toyota Camry, Germain Racing (continued) What is it like to race the Trucks in Daytona? “It’s a different animal. They punch such a big hole in the air that you get four or five trucks back and you’re moving around a lot — a lot more than a car. That was the one thing when Mark Martin ran a few years ago with us, he was surprised how much they moved around. To go fast, you have to hang ’em out and put em’ right on the edge of being too loose. There was one point that Mark said that it was the hardest he’s ever raced at Daytona was when he drove the trucks. That tells you right there that they’re night easy, but they’re a lot of fun.”
TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 5 No. 5 International Trucks-Monaco RV Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Are you looking forward to returning to the Camping World Truck Series full-time? “I’m excited to be back in the Truck Series full-time. I’ve been there a handful of races over the last couple years. The Truck Series is very special to me. It’s the series where I got my first starts in NASCAR, and won some races there, and won a championship there. It’s cool to be back with Toyota — I got them their first NASCAR victory in the Truck Series. Just a lot of neat things happening for me. I’m excited to be with the Randy Moss team. They got a great sponsor in International Trucks. It’s just a good group of people. A new crew chief on that side too with Ricky Viers. It’s an exciting time for me to run a truck full-time, yet run in the Cup car almost full-time. It’s going to be a fun summer for me.”
Will it take time to get acquainted with the Randy Moss team or are there familiar faces at the team? “There are a lot of familiar faces there starting at the top with David Dollar (co-owner) — he’s been in the Truck Series for as long as — I started in 2001 and he was there a few years before me. I know David. I got to know him over the years. Chris Showalter, my car chief, was actually my crew chief/car chief back in 2003 when I won the Truck Series championship. And there are some fabricator guys and tire guys that were on my teams over the past couple years. So, a lot of familiar faces. The rules in the Truck Series haven’t really changed since I ran there full-time in ’07. So, I feel like I’m going to be comfortable getting acquainted to the truck and knowing what I need in my set-up and things like that.”
Is it a concern balancing your time between the two teams? “It’s a concern. I’m the type of driver that likes — a couple days a week I’ll go to the shops and hang out. I’m usually, like during the practice and when the garage closes here (at the track). On a race weekend, I’m usually walking out with the team. I like to stay around the garage, stay around the shop and things like that. I’ve already had a little bit of a battle with myself. When I’ll be at one shop and I want to go to the other shop and hang out over there too and see what they’re doing with the other team. I am fortunate that they’re only about 10 miles away from each other. They are both in Statesville (North Carolina) — so it’s easy for me top bounce back and forth. I think the Truck series is only 25 races so there’s a lot of weekends where I don’t think there’s really going to be a lot of conflict. We are completely separated, or a truck race is Friday and the Cup race is Sunday and after Friday’s over I’m done and over with that for the weekend and can concentrate on the Cup car Saturday and Sunday. It’s going to be a battle. I know it’s going to be busy, but I’m excited to have the opportunity to run them both and to be busy and I’ll do the best I can and spend as much time as I can — and that’s definitely what is needed — with each team.”
RYAN TRUEX, No. 00 Pastrana Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry, Pastrana Waltrip Racing How important was it to start your career at such a young age? “It’s been a lot of hard work getting here. I think I’ve just been able to excel quicker having a brother that’s been through all this and knows what it takes to get through all this. I’ve been able to get here quicker obviously because of my last name — it’s a helped a little bit. I’ve just been persevering. I went out every weekend and tried to my best and do everything I can to get here, and now I’m here and trying to make the best of it.”
What are the positives and negatives to having a well-known last name? “I’ve got big shoes to fill in the Nationwide Series. My brother (Martin) came in and won two championships back-to-back and won a lot of races. I definitely have something to live up to and I think I can do it with this team. We’ve got a bunch of great people behind us, great cars, great equipment, and great everything — it’s just up to me to go out there and run my best, do the best I can and learn as quick as I can. That’s the biggest thing I’ve had to deal with in every other series I’ve been in — is go out and learn fast and deal with it, and be competitive as quick as possible. I had the seven races last year to get acclimated with Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and the whole 99 crew and everyone and some of these race tracks and some of these race cars. I think we are ready to go into 2011 strong.”
RYAN TRUEX, No. 00 Pastrana Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry, Pastrana Waltrip Racing (continued) How often to you talk with your brother about the lifestyle of being a race car driver? “We try not to talk about that too much. The biggest thing we talk about is waking up early because we both don’t like it at all. That’s the only thing I’ve ever talked to him about. He just helps me with anything I ask him. It doesn’t matter what it is. Like I said, he’s been through all of it and knows what it takes to get here. He knows what it takes to go out and win in the Nationwide Series and to make it to the Cup Series. I’ve been leaning on him a lot these last few years and he’s been there for me every step of the way.”
How is Michael Waltrip as a boss? “He’s cool. I like having him as a boss. He’s really into it — he really is passionate about the sport and everything. It’s good to have an owner who is really into it like that and around as much as him, and cares as much as he does about his teams and his cars and everything. I like that. I like having him as the owner.”
Have you spent any time with Travis Pastrana? “We tested a few times. He’s a really cool guy. You wouldn’t even know who he was if you just hung out with him. He’s really down to earth and fun to hang out with. He wants to come here and succeed and do it the right way and I think he’s showing that so far.”
How much did you know about Travis Pastrana before meeting him? “I grew up watching him and I’ve always a big fan of him. When I found out he would be racing with us I was pretty excited and I got to meet him and we tested a few times together. Like I said, he’s just really cool to hang out with. He’s a really down to earth guy. You wouldn’t even know who he was if you just sat there and hung out with him. He’s really humble about this and he just wants to come in the sport and progress the right way and do everything the right way and be successful at it.”
What attracted you to follow Travis Pastrana when you were younger? “Just the crazy stuff he did, pretty much. I used to watch the ‘X Games’ all the time and see him on there. He was doing ‘best trick’ and everything and always winning gold medals in everything. That’s somebody you can look up that goes out and tries to be the best at everything. It’s no exception with this NASCAR deal. He wants to come here and be the best he can be.”
