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[/media-credit]TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES May 14 – 20, 2012
TOYOTA TIDBITS ‘LADY IN BLACK’ RECAP: In Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Darlington Raceway, Denny Hamlin was the top-finishing Toyota driver with a second-place result on the historic 1.366-mile track known as the ‘Lady in Black.’ After starting in the eighth position, Hamlin ran with the race leaders throughout the 368-lap, 500-mile event. Hamlin paced the field on four occasions for 56 laps and restarted fourth after a late-race caution. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates Kyle Busch (fourth) and Joey Logano (10th) also earned top-10 finishes at Darlington.
LOGANO LOGS ANOTHER WIN: In Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Darlington, Logano claimed his third win in eight starts, including back-to-back victories. Logano also won last weekend at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway and at California’s Auto Club Speedway in March. After starting fifth, Logano was a contender throughout the night and led four laps (of 151) — including the final two. Camry drivers Hamlin (second), Brian Scott (seventh) and Kurt Busch (eighth) also earned top-10 finishes in the race.
SHINING STARS: Four Camry drivers are scheduled to compete in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway — Clint Bowyer, Busch, Hamlin and Mark Martin. Three of the four Camrys that competed in last year’s All-Star race earned top-10 finishes — Busch (second), David Reutimann (third) and Hamlin (seventh). Previously, Martin Truex Jr. (2010) and AJ Allmendinger (2008) qualified in a Camry for the All-Star race with wins in the Showdown portion of the event.
DARRELL’S DEBUT: Camry driver Darrell Wallace Jr. will make his NNS debut this weekend at Iowa Speedway. The 18-year-old racer is driving in his first year for JGR and is his third NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) season. He has competed in 25 races, earning six victories, 11 top-five finishes and 19 top-10 results. Wallace was runner-up in the 2011 NKNPSE driver championship standings and the 2010 Rookie-of-the-Year as well as a member of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program with Revolution Racing. In two NKNPSE starts at Iowa, Wallace has a third-place result in 2010 and a sixth-place showing in last year’s event.
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NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Through the first 11 races of 2012, Denny Hamlin is fourth in the series point standings, trailing leader Greg Biffle by 17 points … Martin Truex Jr. (sixth) and Kyle Busch (ninth) also rank in the top-10 in the standings … The No. 11 FedEx Toyota pit crew has won the Pit Crew Challenge the last two years and will compete for their third consecutive title on Thurs. night, May 17 in Charlotte.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What kind of personality does a driver need to win the All-Star race? “Bulldog — you have to be a guy that puts it all on the line. Nowadays, more than ever, the All-Star race — teams pretty much take disposable cars that they know there’s a good chance it’s not going to come back. The driver’s mentality is that it’s all for money, so there’s nothing to lose. It takes someone who’s willing to drive 100 percent qualifying laps every single lap. Those are the guys that are usually successful in winning.”
What is your strongest skill for the All-Star race? “Typically, the way I drive doesn’t suit the All-Star race because I feel like I’m more of a finesse guy — a guy who watches and conserves his tires and takes care of his car and brakes and things like that. We have run really well there. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty on the last restart if need be and that’s typically what it comes down to is that last sprint. Second place — who knows who finished second the last two or three years there? We know who won. For us, it’s not just the money, but the pride of winning it and things like that. Something that you can’t buy is that trophy.”
What would it mean for your team to win the Pit Crew Challenge again? “They’re already pumped up about it and thinking about it. Obviously, it’s a big pay day for them if they get it. It’s great for us because it gives us the No. 1 pit stall for the All-Star race, which is very crucial. It was for us in 2010. It’s a big day for them. It’s a day for them to shine in front of their friends and family at the arena. They don’t get to come out and visit a whole lot and obviously to be in town for a couple weeks is big. The Pit Crew Challenge is their day. Our guys have been working on our car and thinking about how to get faster and things like that. To be two-time winners, everyone knows they’re going to be the ones to beat.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What are the challenges of racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway? “I think the biggest challenge about Charlotte is how much the track changes from practice. You practice all during the day and then you go into night racing. You’ve got to know what kind of adjustments to make to your car and how well you can race at night. Typically, you go back to your night notes. For us, we’ve run we ll there in the past and like going there — it’s a fun place to race and adds to the excitement of spending some time at home.”
What drivers do you think are best suited for the All-Star race? “You look at the guys that are really good that qualify well. I think qualifying well can always lend itself to racing the All- Star race well because you’re running however many laps that segment is — you’re running that many qualifying laps in a row. You’re just trying to get the most you can out of your car. It’s sometimes hard to pass because the guy in front of you is trying to get the most out of his car and so are you, so you just can’t get there.”
What would it mean to see your team to win the Pit Crew Challenge? “It would be really cool. They’re the best in the business and they’ve deserved to win for a few years. I know my rear changer (Jake Seminara) and our front changer (Nick Odell) have both had some record times in the singles competition — I think my jack man (Jeff Fender) has, too. Those guys are pretty quick — they know what to do. It just seems like we can’t get the pushing part figured out. We never get the car to go down the track. That’s all right. I know when I come down pit road what I’m looking forward to and that’s stopping in the 18 box.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How has your pit crew been this season and what are their chances at the Pit Crew Challenge? “The pit crew has done a really nice job this year. They’ve been very fast, but most importantly they’ve been consistent and they haven’t made mistakes and beat themselves. That’s been something that we’ve really had on our side this year. Anytime I come in green flag or yellow flag conditions, I can count on those guys to maybe not beat a few cars out, but at least hold our own and no mistakes. That’s the most important thing. The Pit Crew Challenge is quite different than what they do week in and week out as far as how they do that stop to go fast and to be really fast. I don’t really have any idea what kind of chance they have, but I can tell you that I will be there supporting them 100 percent and hopefully they will have fun — that’s the main thing.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS): After nine races, Mike Bliss ranks eighth in the series point standings … Joe Nemechek (ninth) is also among the top-10 in the standings … Michael McDowell will again drive the No. 18 JGR Camry at Iowa … Last year, McDowell started on the outside of the front row in a JGR Camry at the first Iowa event and earned seventh- and ninth-place finishes at the .875-mile race track … Jason Bowles has a runner-up result at Iowa in the 2009 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (NKNPSW) event and has three top-five finishes in his last three NKNPSW starts at the Newton, Iowa race track … Jeff Green will once again be behind the wheel of the No. 14 Hefty Camry subbing for Eric McClure who is continuing to recover from an accident at Talladega two weeks ago.
DARRELL WALLACE JR., No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Are you looking forward to making your Nationwide debut this weekend? “I’m very excited. Just counting down the days until I make my debut — definitely looking forward to it. I love Iowa — been out there twice now and definitely had good runs both times. Looking forward to getting on the track, interacting with the fans — just giving the team, the sponsors and the fans a good show. The goals have to be just kind of running up front, hopefully making a name for myself, running top-10. Hopefully, we can have a top-five finish. I don’t want to force the issue or anything — just have a good run, bring the car home in one piece, make the team, the fans and sponsors proud.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): After four races, Timothy Peters leads the series point standings … John King (eighth) and Matt Crafton (10th) also are in the top-10 in the standings … Performance Instruction and Training (PIT) is a state of the art pit-crew training facility where Red Horse Racing owners Tom DeLoach and Jeff Hammond will host their third annual open house on Tuesday, May 22 from 6:00 PM to 9 p.m. … The open house will feature an autograph session with Timothy Peters, John King and Jeff Hammond.
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Tire Kingdom Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Is the momentum of your strong finishes early in the season helping your team? “It feels great being in the position that we are right now. Heading into our backyard at Charlotte, we’re really excited. As the points leader, we need to keep executing each and every week when we get to the track. It all goes back to how I race people, and making sure I know how to race and when to race them. If we take care of that hopefully it will get us that win. It would be nice to be this week at Charlotte.”
TOYOTA 2012 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series Races Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led (Drivers) NSCS 11 134 (19) 3 16 32 4 58 947 NNS 9 99 (21) 4 11 20 3 61 654 NCWTS 4 43 (15) 1 9 14 0 9 67
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Charlotte Motor Speedway & Iowa Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series — Sprint All-Star race Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 Wrigley Camry Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Camry Mark Martin, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series — Sprint Showdown Mike Bliss, No. 19 Humphrey Smith Racing, LLC Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Camry Landon Cassill, No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Camry David Stremme, No. 30 Inception Motorsports Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Kingsford Camry Travis Kvapil, No. 93 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Camry J.J. Yeley, No. 49 JPO Absorbents Camry
NASCAR Nationwide Series Tony Raines, No. 10 Camry Mike Bliss, No. 44 Camry Brian Scott, No. 11 Dollar General Camry Kurt Busch, No. 54 Monster Energy Camry Jeff Green, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Camry Jason Bowles, No. 81 American Majority Camry Michael McDowell, No. 18 Pizza Ranch Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 SWM International Camry Tayler Malsam, No. 19 G-Oil/NOYS Camry Travis Pastrana, No. 99 Boost Mobile Camry Darrell Wallace Jr., No. 20 Dollar General Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series John King, No. 7 Consol Energy Tundra Timothy Peters, No. 17 Service CentralTundra Johnny Chapman, No. 07 Tundra Jason Leffler, No. 18 Dollar General Tundra Ross Chastain, No. 08 Florida Watermelon Assoc. Tundra David Starr, No. 81 ZACHRY Tundra John Wes Townley, No. 09 Save in May Tundra Matt Crafton, No. 88 Menard’s Tundra Todd Bodine, No. 11 Toyota Care Tundra Dakoda Armstrong, No. 98 EverFi.com Tundra Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Hot Honeys-Curb Records Tundra
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE Fri., May 18 — NCWTS @ Charlotte Motor Speedway — 8:00 PM (ET), SPEED — Race 5 of 22 Sat., May 19 — NSCS All-Star Showdown @ Charlotte Motor Speedway — 7:30 PM (ET), SPEED — Non-points race Sat., May 19 — NSCS All-Star @ Charlotte Motor Speedway — 9:00 PM (ET), SPEED — Non-points race Sun., May 20 — NNS @ Iowa Speedway — 2:00 PM (ET), ESPN2 — Race 10 of 33
