TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
When the green flag flies for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 29, the Toyota Camry will make its 200th start in the NSCS.
Since entering the NSCS in 2007, Camry drivers have combined to capture 44 wins, 196 top-five results, 370 top-10 finishes and 38 pole positions in six seasons at NASCAR’s highest level. Below is a chronological list featuring some of Toyota’s top moments in NSCS competition since entering the series in 2007:
FEBRUARY 18, 2007 The Toyota Camry makes its NSCS debut at Daytona. Four Camry drivers — Dave Blaney, Dale Jarrett, David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip — take the green flag in the Daytona 500.
JUNE 29, 2007 Toyota earns its first NSCS pole position with Dave Blaney at New Hampshire.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2007 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., and Joe Gibbs Racing announce the three-time championship-winning team will campaign Camrys for drivers Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch in the 2008 NSCS season.
FEBRUARY 14, 2008 Toyota registers its first NSCS victory when Denny Hamlin wins a non-points, qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
MARCH 9, 2008 Toyota earns its inaugural NSCS victory in a points race when Kyle Busch captures the checkered flag at Atlanta. Toyota’s inaugural NSCS win came in the manufacturer’s 40th race.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2008 Three Toyota drivers — Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart — qualify for the ‘Chase to the Sprint Cup’ 10-race championship playoff. This marks the first time Camry drivers compete for the series title since Toyota joined the NSCS.
OCTOBER 5, 2008 Toyota earns its first NSCS victory in the Chase playoff when Tony Stewart wins at Talladega. MAY 25, 2009 Camry driver David Reutimann records his first career NSCS victory at Charlotte. The win marks the inaugural NSCS victory for Michael Waltrip Racing and for a TRD-built engine.
JUNE 28, 2009 Joey Logano becomes the youngest race-winner — at 19 years, one month and four days — in NSCS history when he is victorious in a rain-shortened race at New Hampshire. Logano earned his first win in just his 20th series start in a Camry.
AUGUST 21, 2010 Kyle Busch becomes the first driver in NASCAR history to sweep all three races in a single weekend after he wins the NSCS, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Bristol.
APRIL 30, 2011 Toyota Camry drivers sweep the top-three finishing positions in the NSCS race at Richmond — the first time Toyota drivers have ever swept the top-three finishing positions. At Richmond, Kyle Busch wins the race, Denny Hamlin records a runner- up result and former Toyota driver Kasey Kahne takes third-place.
AUGUST 21, 2011 The Toyota Camry claims its 100th NASCAR victory in NSCS and NASCAR Nationwide Series competition when Kyle Busch claims the first-place trophy in the Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan.
MARCH 4, 2012 Toyota Camry driver Denny Hamlin wins the second NSCS race of the 2012 season at Phoenix. The victory is the first for a Joe Gibbs Racing Camry with a TRD-built engine.
MAY 22, 2012 Toyota unveils its new Camry race car for the 2013 NSCS season.
JULY 29, 2012 The Toyota Camry makes its 200th start in the NSCS race at Indianapolis.
