TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
August 27 – September 2, 2012
TOYOTA TIDBITS TOYOTA SWEEP IN BRISTOL: Toyota drivers claimed a weekend sweep at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway by recording wins in all three NASCAR races at the half-mile track. Camry driver Denny Hamlin captured the victory in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race and his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Joey Logano was victorious in Friday evening’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) event — his sixth NNS win of 2012. In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race on Wednesday night, Timothy Peters led every lap (204) to claim his second win of 2012 and extend his series points lead — and he also led a Tundra trifecta to the finish, as Parker Kligerman took second-place and Ross Chastain finished third.
BUMP AND RUN: Camry driver Hamlin claimed his third NSCS victory of the season in the 500-lap race at Bristol. The Virginia-native led five times for 70 laps on the half-mile track and used a late-race bump on leader Carl Edwards to make the pass for the lead. Hamlin led the final 38 circuits en route to the victory. In addition to Hamlin, three other Camry drivers led laps at Bristol — Logano (139), Martin Truex Jr. (44) and Brian Vickers (one). In the 250-mile race, Vickers took fourth and Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Logano finished sixth through eighth, respectively.
HOME OF CAMRY HISTORY: Busch guided the Toyota Camry to its first points win in the NSCS race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) in March 2008. Busch’s Camry led a race-high 173 laps (of 325) at Atlanta , including the final 40 circuits. Busch went on to win eight NSCS races in 2008, his first season with JGR. Since capturing its first NSCS points win in 2008, the Camry has gone on to capture 45 victories in 204 NSCS starts.
PACING THE FIELD: In 12 NCWTS races at AMS, Tundra drivers have captured six pole positions, including Toyota’s first-ever pole in the NCWTS in 2004. David Reutimann claimed the historic pole for Toyota at Atlanta in March and went on to finish third in the track’s first NCWTS race. Mike Skinner claimed three pole positions (2005-2007) in a Tundra at Atlanta, and Busch (2009) and Todd Bodine (2006) have each claimed one pole.
TRIPLE HEADER: Toyota driver Busch will make his first NCWTS start of the 2012 season at AMS and will compete in all three NASCAR national touring series races at the track — Busch’s first triple header of his 2012 campaign. In seven NCWTS starts in Atlanta, Busch has four wins and six top-five finishes. The Las Vegas-native also has one NSCS win in Atlanta (2008) and four runner-up finishes in the NNS at AMS.
RACING FOR AWARENESS: Nine women affiliated with the Toyota Racing program are involved in ‘Racing For Awareness’, a friendly competition that includes driver wives, girlfriends, mothers and sisters creating a T-shirt design in support of breast cancer awareness. The winning design will be selected by fan votes and will be announced during the Charlotte race weekend in October, with the winning T-shirt made available for purchase. Proceeds from the contest will be given to Charlotte-based charity, Carolina Breast Friends, and fans can visit www.toyotaracing.com/RacingForAwareness to see the designs, cast their vote and also enter to win weekly prizes through Oct. 4, 2012 at 12 PM (ET).
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 24 races, Martin Truex Jr. is sixth in the series point standings, trailing leader Greg Biffle by 52 points … Clint Bowyer (sixth) and Denny Hamlin (eighth) also rank in the top-10 … Busch sits second, while Joey Logano ranks sixth, among ‘wild card’ candidates for the Chase championship playoff … Two ‘wild card’ entries will make the Chase … Truex will make his 250th career NSCS start this weekend in Atlanta … … Camry driver Joey Logano also raced Legends cars at Atlanta when living in Alpharetta, Ga., during his formidable racing years … Logano still holds the record for the most-consecutive feature wins at AMS with 14.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What’s your outlook for the next two weeks and the Chase? “It’s tough to not always keep an eye on the competition, but as long as we focus on getting me the best cars possible we are going to be fine. You almost have to keep the blinders on once the Chase starts. You don’t battle with yourself, but you know the racing is going to be different these next two weeks — it’s going to be about `winning for us. If we are going to try new setups, I’ m all for it, because right now we need as many bonus points as possible. We see how tight this field is and I’m looking at the Chase field saying, ‘Gosh, every single one of them can make a run and win this championship.’ So, it’s going to be about who manages the Chase the best and I think that we have a great shot at that.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Shocks Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing What do you like about Atlanta Motor Speedway? “The old pavement, the high speed on new tires and how much the pace drops off during a run. There’s so many ways you can be good there — a short run, on a long run. It just depends on how the strategy of the race goes. I’ve just always enjoyed going there. I really love how hard you can drive the car and you’re just completely sliding the car all the way through the corners all the time.”
What is the difference for you this year? “At the end of the day, I have to give all the credit to the team for giving me the race cars, because you can’t do it without them. It’s a team effort. Everything has to go your way throughout the whole season to make the Chase. To be competitive and run in the top-five and top-10 the way we have says a lot about our race team and a lot about what the folks at Michael Waltrip Racing have been doing. You can’t do it without a great team and that’s what I’ve got this year and that’s been the difference.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS): After 23 races, Mike Bliss ranks eighth in the series point standings … Brian Scott (ninth) is also among the top-10 in the standings … Camry drivers have won at 19 of 24 active tracks on the NNS schedule and Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of only five tracks where the Camry has yet to win … A NNS win by Kyle Busch in Atlanta would give the Camry driver wins in all three NASCAR national touring series at the track … Busch claimed a NSCS win at AMS in 2008 and has four NCWTS wins at the track (2005, 2007-09) … Camry driver Brian Scott will make his 100th career NNS start this weekend at Atlanta … Action sports star Travis Pastrana will compete in his eighth career NNS start when he makes his debut appearance at the 1.54-mile track in Hampton, Ga. … Pastrana is coming off back-to- back top-20 performances in the NNS and consecutive top-10 finishes in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
TRAVIS PASTRANA, No. 99 Boost Mobile Toyota Camry, RAB Racing What are you expectations for the Atlanta race? “I know Atlanta is a very fast race track and a big challenge to guys with years of experience. We have gotten better each time we have shown up to the race track and I am pretty confident we will show up strong this weekend. My goal is always to finish every lap and get the most out of every race. However, I feel that we can finish in the top-10 this weekend — it’s a challenging goal for me and my race team, but I think we are good enough to do it.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): After 13 races, Timothy Peters continues to lead the series point standings and has a 17-point advantage over James Buescher … Parker Kligerman (fifth) and Matt Crafton (sixth) are also in the top-10 in the standings … Red Horse Racing team owner Tom DeLoach is a native of Statesboro, Ga., and graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) … Tundra driver John Wes Townley is from Watkinsville, Ga., and raced Legends cars at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Through Oct. 1, the Kyle Busch Foundation will be raffling a custom motorcycle in conjunction with Deadwood Choppers at www.KBFChopperRaffle.com.
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Is your team hitting its stride? “Last year, towards the end of the summer stretch we started coming into our own. By the time we felt like the notebook was getting pretty good, it was Homestead. Butch (Hylton, crew chief) and I were on the same page, we were communicating very well, he got me on the stage at Miami and it just set the tone for the off-season. These guys are going the extra mile to give me winning Tundras week in and week out. I wanted to improve myself. I started hitting the gym really hard, concentrating on my fitness. I’m always at the race shop because I love seeing how the trucks are put together from the front to the back bumper. I watched more film this year than I ever have in my career. I had the mindset before, but I’m more determined. I want to ride this momentum as much as we can. Things are just going so good, it’s hard to pinpoint one thing. It’s no ‘I’ in teamwork right now.”
PARKER KLIGERMAN, No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing What do you anticipate in your second appearance in Atlanta? “Our finish at Atlanta last year didn’t show how well we ran. We ran top-five the entire time. It came to the last stop and I think we were running third. It was Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch in front of me and it was looking like we were really going to have a good night. I always loved watching Atlanta and it was one of my favorite tracks. The tires wear out, high speed, drivers move all over the place and you end up running the wall all the way around. I did have a great time racing Atlanta and I look forward to going back there. I think it’s a place that we can go there and say this is a place we can win.”
TOYOTA 2012 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series Races Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led (Drivers) NSCS 24 292 (23) 6 33 68 9 132 2,051 NNS 23 258 (34) 7 28 54 5 99 1,127 NCWTS 13 131 (21) 5 28 46 2 33 542
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Atlanta Motor Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Sport Clips Camry Mark Martin, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Shocks Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 Wrigley Doublemint Camry Landon Cassill, No. 83 Burger King Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry David Stremme, No. 30 Inception Motorsports Camry Reed Sorenson, No. 91 Toyota Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Kingsford Camry Travis Kvapil, No. 93 Burger King Camry Jason Leffler, No. 49 American Israel Racing 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 John Jackson, No. 72 Crash Claims R US Camry Denny Hamlin, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Furniture Camry Jason Bowles, No. 81 American Majority Camry Tayler Malsam, No. 19 G-Oil Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Benny Gordon, No. 24 Toyota Camry Travis Pastrana No. 99 Boost Mobile Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Parker Kligerman, No. 7 Red Horse Racing Tundra Timothy Peters, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Tundra Johnny Chapman, No. 07 Wear Your Gear Tundra Kyle Busch, No. 18 Dollar General Tundra Ross Chastain, No. 08 Melon 1/Ga. Watermelon Tundra David Starr, No. 81 Advocare Tundra John Wes Townley, No. 09 Zaxby’s 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., August 31 — NCWTS @ Atlanta Motor Speedway — 7:30 PM (ET), SPEED — Race 14 of 22 Sat., September 1 — NNS @ Atlanta Motor Speedway — 6:30 PM (ET), ESPN — Race 24 of 33 Sun., September 2 — NSCS @ Atlanta Motor Speedway — 6:30 PM (ET), ABC — Race 25 of 36
