TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
August 20 – 26, 2012
TOYOTA TIDBITS
BACK TRACK TO BROOKLYN: In the two races over the weekend at Michigan International Speedway, Toyota drivers earned a total of five top-10 finishes. Camry drivers Clint Bowyer (seventh) and Martin Truex Jr. (10th) registered top-10 finishes in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race, while Dakoda Armstrong (third), Parker Kligerman (fourth) and Kurt Busch (ninth) earned top-10 results in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race.
A MOMENT FOR MONTREAL: Camry drivers Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch earned top-10 finishes in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. McDowell crossed the finish line sixth and Busch recorded a 10th-place result in the 81-lap event on the 2.71-mile, 14-turn road course. Driving a Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Camry, McDowell earned his fifth top-10 performance for JGR in just five starts this year.
RECONFIGURED RACING: When the NSCS, NNS and NCWTS returns to the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, they will be greeted with a newly configured surface of the historic bullring. Following the March event earlier this year, the speedway eliminated the top racing groove in order to promote closer, tighter racing on the 36-degree progressive banking. Toyota teams have adapted to the pressures of preparing race vehicles for Bristol and have earned 11 total NASCAR victories at the half-mile track.
TOP-FIVE TRUEX: In his last two starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Truex has earned two top-five finishes — second in August 2011 and third in March 2012. With only three races remaining before this year’s ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup,’ Truex is also poised in the sixth position in the NSCS point standings and set to make the first Chase appearance for Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) since the team’s inception in 2007.
MOMENTUM FOR MWR: MWR’s hard work and dedication is paying off on-track this year. Earlier this year, MWR placed all three of their Camrys in the top-five at Bristol — Truex (third), Bowyer (fourth) and Brian Vickers (fifth). Powered by TRD (Toyota Racing Development)-built engines, MWR drivers have earned at least one top-10 finish in all but one race this season — totaling 30 top-10 results. The team has also earned five of 23 pole positions — Phoenix (Mark Martin), Texas (Truex), Richmond (Martin), Dover (Martin) and Michigan (Martin) — and led 705 laps. In addition, Bowyer earned his first win since joining MWR at the road course race in Sonoma, Calif., in June.
BODINE KNOWS BRISTOL: Todd Bodine has seven career NCWTS starts at Bristol Motor Speedway — all behind the wheel of a Toyota Tundra. In those seven starts, Bodine has earned four top-five and five top-10 finishes, including three runner-up results. In addition, Bodine has completed 1,345 of 1,409 laps (95.5 percent) at the track.
SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE: Background and images about the Toyota NASCAR program are available at www.toyotaracingmedia.com, @ToyotaRacing, www.facebook.com/toyotaracing and www.youtube.com/toyotaracingusa.
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): After 23 races, Martin Truex Jr. is sixth in the series point standings, trailing leader Greg Biffle by 60 points … Clint Bowyer (seventh) and Denny Hamlin (10th) also rank in the top-10 … Busch sits third while Joey Logano ranks sixth among ‘wild card’ candidates for the Chase championship playoff … For mechanic and jack man Tony Cardamone, racing at Bristol is a trip down memory lane … Cardamone spent several years living with his family in nearby Bristol, Va., and is now part of the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Camry team … Busch has earned every victory Camry has claimed at Bristol Motor Speedway in both NSCS and NNS competition with six total between the two series between 2009 and 2011 and also became the first driver in NASCAR history to sweep all three NASCAR races at the same track on the same weekend back in 2010.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What is it about Bristol that you’ve figured out? “It’s just kind of really worked well together. It’s a fun place We grew up at the Bullring (in Las Vegas) … not as banked as Bristol, but I love going and racing at Winchester (Ind.) and at Slinger (Wis.) — Salem (Ind.) — those are all really high banked race tracks that are half-mile in distance, or a quarter. You go down the straightaway and you slam it into the corners and you mash the gas and you kind of sling right back out of the corners. It’s kind of an art. Some guys are really good at it You can definitely snap that string pretty quick.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Are you looking forward to the Bristol race? “We’re excited to go there … they changed the track a little bit, so we’ll have to be ready for anything. I feel like we can go back there and run even better than we did the last two times. Our cars have been strong there and I know Clint (Bowyer) did the tire test up there. The tire is going to be a little bit different so you never know what you’re going to get. The way our cars have been running there and the teams that we have right now, I feel like we can go there and all three of us have a shot at winning.”
What was Clint Bowyer able to share with you about the changes to the race track after the tire test? “Apparently the track is not any different except for the outside groove — the very high line. The last few times I’ve spent quite a bit of time up there, so we’ll have to work on that a little bit in practice and figure out just how high we can get. I expect the track or racing won’t be a lot different — just a matter of how the tire changes things and trying to get the car dialed in for the race properly.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS): After 22 races, Mike Bliss ranks eighth in the series point standings … Brian Scott (ninth) is also among the top-10 in the standings … Charlie Brock of Brentwood, Tenn., the car chief for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 18 Camry, is the grandson of legendary racer ‘Red’ Farmer — an original member of ‘The Alabama Gang’… Kevin Kidd, crew chief on the JGR No. 11 driven by Brian Scott is from Tazewell, Va. … Kyle Busch has been victorious in three of the last four NNS races at Bristol.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): After 12 races, Timothy Peters continues to lead the series point standings over Ty Dillon … Parker Kligerman (fifth) and Matt Crafton (sixth) are also in the top-10 in the standings …Tundra drivers have earned five wins at Bristol — Kyle Busch (2008, 2009 and 2010), Johnny Benson (2007) and Mike Skinner (2005) … Kligerman has made two career NCWTS starts at Bristol, finishing in the top -10 in both events… Brian Scott will be behind the wheel of the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 Tundra at Bristol … Through Oct. 1, the Kyle Busch Foundation will be raffling a custom motorcycle in conjunction with Deadwood Choppers at www.KBFChopperRaffle.com.
PARKER KLIGERMAN, No. 7 Toyota Care Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Do you enjoy racing at Bristol? “I really like Bristol. It’s unique — has great atmosphere. Going there with the change that we’ve had mid-season — it’s kind of an unknown. I love the idea of having an unknown — it puts a lot on your personnel, a lot on your driver and crew chief to kind of figure things out quicker than the next guy. That gives us an advantage at Red Horse Racing for being so prepared — having Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) to go there and work on things and find the things that we need to show up the most prepared.”
What is it like to have the points leader as your teammate? “At the end of the day, I’m here to win races and win a championship. I’ll race them (Peters and Bodine) just like I race anyone else — obviously, we’re teammates and we can help each other. Timothy being the points leader makes it a little more of a contentious thing, but I think any powerhouse organization looks to have at least two people fighting for the championship to give themselves the best opportunity to win a championship.”
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 13 Hot Honey’s Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing Do you enjoy racing at Bristol? “Bristol is a place you always look forward to going to. . I was talking to a friend who lives near the race track and he went and looked at the track and told me that he thinks we are going to have our hands full coming off the corners, especially the way they’ve diamond cut the race track. A lot of question marks, but if everything people are saying is true, it’s going to be back to the way it used to be, so that will be pretty exciting.”
How do you approach a race where you need to ‘move’ another competitor to make a pass? “That’s perfect for my style. That’s how we do it in the Midwest and at the short track bullrings. I used to feel like I was a master at it back in the day– hopefully, I can pick up right where I left off. You just don’t know — there can be two grooves. As far as setups and things like that go, I think you’re going to have to pretty much start where you left off a year ago.”
TOYOTA 2012 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series Races Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led (Drivers) NSCS 23 279 (23) 5 31 63 9 121 1,797 NNS 22 248 (34) 6 26 52 5 96 1,046 NCWTS 12 121 (21) 4 25 42 2 32 338
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Camry Brian Vickers, No. 55 MyClassicGarage.com Camry Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&Ms Batteries Camry Landon Cassill, No. 83 Burger King Camry Mike Bliss, No. 19 Toyota Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Dollar General Camry Reed Sorenson, No. 91 Toyota Camry David Stremme, No. 30 Inception Motorsports Camry Travis Kvapil, No. 93 Burger King Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Bush’s Beans Camry
NASCAR Nationwide Series Jeff Green, No. 10 Toyota Camry Mike Bliss, No. 44 Toyota Camry Brian Scott, No. 11 Dollar General Camry Kyle Busch, No. 54 Monster Energy Camry Eric McClure, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Camry Jason Bowles, No. 81 American Majority Camry Joey Logano, No. 18 Dollar General Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Tayler Malsam, No. 19 G-Oil/Noah’s Light Fund Camry John Wes Townely, No. 99 Toyota Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Parker Kligerman, No. 7 RHR Toyota Tundra Timothy Peters, No. 17 RHR Toyota Tundra Ross Chastain, No. 08 Melon 1 Tundra Brian Scott, No. 1 8 Dollar General Tundra John Wes Townley, No. 09 Toyota Care Tundra David Starr, No. 81 Chasco-Zachry Tundra Todd Bodine, No. 11 Toyota Care Tundra Matt Crafton, No. 88 Menard’s Tundra Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Hot Honeys/Curb Records Tundra Dakoda Armstrong, No. 98 EverFi.com Tundra
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE Wed., August 22 — NCWTS @ Bristol Motor Speedway — 8:00 PM (ET), SPEED — Race 13 of 22 Fri., August 24 — NNS @ Bristol Motor Speedway — 7:30 PM (ET), ESPN — Race 23 of 33 Sat., August 25 — NSCS @ Bristol Motor Speedway — 7:30 PM (ET), ABC — Race 24 of 36
