Joey Logano (seventh) was the highest finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Kansas Speedway.
Logano has four top-10 finishes in as many starts at Kansas Speedway — including wins in 2009 and 2010.
Camry driver Ryan Truex also earned a top-10 result with a 10th-place finish in the 200-lap race — his third top-10 finish in five starts in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 20 Camry this season.
Camry drivers Michael Annett (16th), Brian Scott (17th), Kenny Wallace (19th), Steve Wallace (20th) and Joe Nemechek (21st) were also in the field at the mile-and-a-half oval.
Five Camry drivers are currently in the top-15 in the unofficial NNS point standings following 30 of 34 races in the 2011 season — K. Wallace (seventh), S. Wallace (eighth), Scott (ninth), Annett (10th), and Nemechek (14th).
JOEY LOGANO, No. 18 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 7th How was your race today? “It wasn’t quite good enough. At times we were decent. If we had the car decent — we could run up to third-place. But, as good as we could get it — balanced just right — we were just as good as the top-three cars. We were never as good as the 22 (Brad Keselowski) really, now that I think about it. We could hang with the 60 (Carl Edwards) and the 33 (Paul Menard) and the 2 (Elliott Sadler), when our car was good. With us, we were trying to fix a little bit tight in the center and we got too loose. And, then at the end we ran out of tires. We had to put ‘scuffs’ on and it cost us quite a bit of grip at the end. We couldn’t keep up with a lot of those guys. Trying to hold on for what I had — just hanging on there. I had a good time working with Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and the 18 guys — they do a really good job. Learned a lot about the way they work and the way they do things, and things we can bring over to my team. Proud of what we learned. Just not the finish we wanted.”
RYAN TRUEX, No. 20 Schick Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 10th How did you manage a top-10 finish after some issues early in the race? “It seems like every race I’ve got to work my way from the back at some point. I don’t know. We came in and took fuel only and we went back out and we were just wicked loose. I thought we had a flat — a right rear flat — because the car was just evil. It was out of control and we dropped like a rock. We had to pit under green and get tires. And, then we just fell back from there. We got the wave-arounds. We got the ‘Lucky Dog.’ At the end there we were able to put tires on and run back up through the field. A top-10 is good after running — after being as far back as 25th or whatever. We had a top-five car again. I need to stop making mistakes pretty much so we can have a shot at these things.”
MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 62 Pilot Flying J Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing Finishing Position: 16th
BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 Shore Lodge Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 17th What happened between you and Aric Almirola after today’s race? “Really, it’s an issue that’s been building all year. He’s (Aric Almirola) run into the back of me on restarts, he wrecked me at Richmond, he walls me at Chicago. He races like it’s the last lap every time he’s around me, and I’ve had enough of it. He’s cost me a car and he continues to race like that, so I went and told him, and I just told him how I felt. I told him that I owed him one and I told him if he’s going to continue to race like that then I’m probably going to slip up and wreck him.”
What happened on the race track that led you to confront Aric Almirola? “He (Aric Almirola) just races like, I don’t know any other better word for it than a jack you know what. He runs you tight — tighter than anybody. He tried to pass us on pit road and tried to block me from getting into my pits. It’s just an every week thing and I’m sick of it. I’m not going to put up with it anymore and that’s what I told him. Right there, he was blocking me from getting into the pits and his pit stall is way down there. He obviously has an issue with me and now I have a pretty big issue with him.”
KENNY WALLACE, No. 09 Family Farmers Toyota Camry, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard Finishing Position: 19th
STEVE WALLACE, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing Finishing Position: 20th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 21st
