Tundra drivers Kyle Busch (fifth) was the highest Toyota finisher in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Chicagoland Speedway. Toyota driver Miguel Paludo (eighth) earned his fifth top-10 finish of the season in the 225-mile race Other Toyota drivers in the field included Todd Bodine (13th), Brendan Gaughan (14th), Timothy Peters (17th), Max Papis (18th) and David Starr (19th). After 18 of 25 races, Peters is fourth in the unofficial NCWTS point standings, 20 points out of first place.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Dollar General-Direct TV Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 5th Did your team make the right call taking two tires on the final pit stop? “Yeah, it was the right call to get us the track position. We just didn’t have the right truck tonight to keep it up front and keep a fast truck that will hold those guys off. Just Kyle Busch Motorsports is missing something.”
MIGUEL PALUDO, No. 7 STEMCO-Duroline Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 8th How does it feel to get a top-10 finish in your first-ever race at Chicagoland Speedway? “It feels good. I knew since the first practice that we had a really good truck. It showed up in qualifying, and then during the race we were too tight, middle-off. The guys made an adjustment and we got better. It got a little tight again and we got better, and at the end we got a lot better. Finished eighth-place. Good for us. First time here. I just need to keep moving forward and getting as many points as I can through the end of the year.”
Did you enjoy racing at Chicagoland Speedway? “I like it. It’s pretty close to Michigan, but at Michigan you have all the grooves you want. Here, I couldn’t run high in (turns) one and two — just on the bottom. In (turns) three and four I could do it. I like it. I like fast tracks like that. I look forward to the next mile-and-a-half track.”
What are your goals for the remainder of the season? “Good finishes and get as much points as I can. I’m trying hard to be in the top-10 in points. I know that is really hard, but you have to have your goals. So, I think we are in the right way and will keep moving forward.”
TODD BODINE, No. 5 International Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Finishing Position: 13th What happened when you received a penalty near the end of the race? “We had a good truck and we started off really loose and Junior (Mike Hillman Jr., crew chief) threw everything but the kitchen sink at it and got it to where I could drive it and run with those guys. We were going to have a great run and just coming to pit road on the green flag, I just had it in the wrong gear and got a little too fast. If you’re going to be dumb, you have to be tough. We’re pretty tough. The good thing is we ran good, we got our mojo back a little bit and got our sponsors — International and Monoco RV’s on television.”
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 14th How was your race? “We just could never get our balance right. We stayed too tight most of the night. Bryan (Berry, crew chief) and the guys made great adjustments and it was working on pit road, but we just couldn’t get our Tundra where the front end would stick with everybody. Running the high groove isn’t always my forte, but the problem is when everybody is flat foot, the high groove if you’re tight, it’s just too much wheel and scrubbing speed. Our Tundra wasn’t all that good tonight. I think (Todd) Bodine was in the top-five most of the night and then get a penalty, which that sucks because the Germain bunch could have used a good run right there. We got one Toyota in the top-five. Rough night for the Germain bunch.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 NTB Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 17th
MAX PAPIS, No. 9 GEICO Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 18th
DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry-NCCER Toyota Tundra, SS Green Light Racing Finishing Position: 19th
