TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Iowa Speedway – August 4, 2012
Camry driver Michael McDowell (sixth) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Saturday evening’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Iowa Speedway.
Darrell Wallace Jr. (seventh) and Brett Moffitt (ninth) also recorded top-10 finishes for Toyota on the 0.875-mile oval track.
Wallace led 36 laps (of 250) in his second career NNS start and Moffitt made his series debut in his home state of Iowa.
Other Toyota drivers in the field at Iowa included Joe Nemechek (16th), Kurt Busch (17th), Brian Scott (18th), Mike Bliss (20th), Tayler Malsam (22nd), Jason Bowles (29th), Eric McClure (31st) and Jeff Green (43rd).
MICHAEL McDOWELL, No. 18 Pizza Ranch Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 6th Did you gamble during you second pit stop? “Yeah, we did. We kind of rolled the dice a little bit — didn’t take tires on the second stop to try to get track position. Worked out good for a little while, but on that long run we corded the tires pretty good and lost that track position. Everybody worked really had on this Toyota Camry. I’ve just got to thank all the folks at Pizza Ranch. It’s fun to get behind the wheel of the 18 and have a shot at winning. This is our fourth or fifth consecutive top-10 and you know you’ve always got a shot to challenge for the wins. And I just love being in the Nationwide Insurance Series. It’s a lot of fun for me to be competitive and we were hoping for more for sure, but we’ll go to Montreal and see if we can’t get a win before the end of the year.”
DARRELL WALLACE JR., No. 20 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 7th How was your race tonight? “I learned a lot. I think I got out too hot right there at the beginning and kind of used the tires up. We fell off right there in pit road — mistake, my fault there. It’s cool to lead the first lap. I don’t know if he (Elliott Sadler) gave it to me or I took it away from him, so that was fun there. Glad he got the win. That was cool. Definitely learned a lot from just running in the pack. I know our car wasn’t that great on restarts and that’s where we lost all our track position. We could have tightened it up a little bit more on that last run, I think we could have got a shot for running at least top-five, but definitely better tonight.”
BRETT MOFFITT, No. 99 Toyota Care Toyota Camry, RAB Racing w/Brack Maggard Finishing Position: 9th What did you learn in your first Nationwide Series start? “There was so much I learned tonight, let alone this was my first time ever in a Nationwide car. Learning pit stops was big and then learning the aero — these cars race so much different than the East (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) car. Learning what gets your aero loose and how to tuck a fender to get downforce on it when you’re racing right behind a car, that was the big lessons and I think I learned a lot tonight.”
What happened on the track with Michael Annett? “Michael (Annett) just drove into (turn) three and I was already a little loose into three and he just kind of sucked me around and I learned that aero loose real quick, so from then on I kind of gave everyone a little room up there on the outside of me just to be safe. It was a great night for RAB Racing and me as well.”
Did you accomplish what you set out to tonight? “I definitely did. I wish we would have ended up a little better, but I guess a ninth-place in my first start is not bad.”
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 16th
KURT BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 17th
BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 18th
MIKE BLISS, No. 44 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 20th
TAYLER MALSAM, No. 19 G-Oil/Noah’s Light Foundation Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 22nd
JASON BOWLES, No. 81 American Majority Toyota Camry, MacDonald Motorsports Finishing Position: 29th
ERIC McCLURE, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 31st
JEFF GREEN, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 43rd
