TIPTOEING INTO TOP-10 IN POINTS: Denny Hamlinwas the highest finishing Camry driver in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) with a third-place result. The 30-year-old Chesterfield, Va.-native started 14th and battled to the front of the field late in the race. Hamlin’s third-place finish has him tied for 10th-place in the NSCS point standings and a spot in the Chase playoff. In addition to Hamlin’s finish, four other Camry drivers finished in the top-10 at NHMS — Joey Logano (fourth), Kasey Kahne (sixth), Bobby Labonte (seventh) and Martin Truex Jr.(eighth).
RECORD BUSTING BY BUSCH: Kyle Buschclaimed the checkered flag in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at NHMS, as well as a place in the NASCAR record books. The win was Busch’s 49th victory in the NNS, tying Mark Martin’s mark of 49 wins, and was also Busch’s 100th win across NASCAR’s three national touring series — 22 NSCS wins, 49 NNS wins and 29 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) wins. The 26-year-old is just the third driver in NASCAR history to reach the 100 victory milestone.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Timothy Petersis comfortable in Nashville and not just because he runs well at the Superspeedway. The North Carolina-native previously resided in ‘Music City’ when he drove for Bobby Hamilton Racing and he considers Nashville Superspeedway his second ‘home’ track. In just seven starts at the 1.33-mile track, he has four top-five finishes and has started on the pole once (2009). Peters finished third at the track in April.
NEW FACES GOING PLACES: The Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) NNS No. 18 Camry and the Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) No. 18 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Tundra will both feature young drivers who may be unfamiliar to casual fans at Nashville Superspeedway. Drew Herring will make just his second start for JGR in the No. 18 SportClips Camry, while two-time World of Outlaws Late Model champion Josh Richards will make his second career NCWTS start in the No. 18 Joy Mining Machinery Tundra. Herring previously guided the JGR No. 20 Camry to a 12th- place showing at Iowa Speedway in May and Richards finished 29th due to a mechanical failure at Kentucky in his debut.
NASHVILLE NATIONWIDE SWEEP: Camry drivers took home the coveted Gibson guitar first-place trophy at both Nationwide Series races at Nashville in 2009. Logano started on the outside of the front row in the 2009 spring race and led 95 laps (of 225) en route to his first Nashville win. Logano’s JGR teammate, Busch, earned his first Gibson guitar when he led 173 laps (of 225) after starting from the pole in the June 2009 event.
FOUR SCORE: Tundra drivers are searching for a fourth straight triumph in Nashville. Busch’s victory in April marked the third consecutive win for a Tundra driver on the Nashville Speedway concrete oval. Defending NCWTS champion Todd Bodineclaimed the Aug. 2010 win and Bush also won in April 2010. Tundra drivers have now won four of the last five Nashville races and six of eight overall, as well as seven pole positions.
TROPHIES IN TENNESSEE: This year, Camry and Tundra drivers have continued a string of success in the state of Tennessee, recording three wins in the ‘Volunteer State’ — NSCS and NNS wins at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, and a NCWTS triumph at Nashville Superspeedway in April. Camry drivers swept the NNS races at Nashville in 2009 and have won five poles at the track. Tundra drivers have dominated at the concrete oval, posting three consecutive wins, six total victories and seven pole positions. At Bristol, Busch has posted two consecutive weekend sweeps totaling five wins.
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS NASCARSprintCupSeries(NSCS): Since the start of the 2011 season, Toyota drivers have combined for four victories, 23 top-five results, 45 top-10 finishes and have led 1,749 laps … After 19 races, Kyle Busch (fifth) is the top Camry driver in the point standings — 20 points behind leader Carl Edwards … Denny Hamlin (10th), Kasey Kahne (14th) and Joey Logano (18th) are also in the top-20 in the standings … Logano has climbed eight positions in the standings over the last seven races and has earned the most NSCS points in the last four weeks (151) … Toyota is giving fans a chance to enter to win a Toyota Racing decaled, heavy-duty Radio Flyer wagon to tow gear on race weekends with the ‘Tag Your Wag’ contest … Fans can enter at
