TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Atlanta Motor Speedway – September 1, 2012
Camry driver Kyle Busch (seventh) was the highest finishing Toyota in Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch started from the pole in the Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) No. 18 Camry — the first pole in NNS competition for his team and Busch led once for two laps (of 195).
Other Toyota drivers in the field included Brian Scott (11th), Denny Hamlin (12th), Joe Nemechek (14th), Tayler Malsam (18th), Eric McClure (21st), Mike Bliss (22nd), Benny Gordon (24th), Travis Pastrana (26th) and Jeff Green (35th).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 7th
RICK REN, general manager, Kyle Busch Motorsports What did the team experience in the race? “We saw some of the same traits that we saw last night in the Truck race. We thought we had adjusted for it today from what we saw last night and we didn’t quite adjust enough and we kind of had to chase it during the race. We finally hit on something he (Kyle Busch) liked, but it was too late in the race. We kind of danced around trying to tighten it up for him in different parts of the corner and we finally hit on something right there at the end, but we were just out of time. When you’re running three-wide off into the corner on restarts where everybody is trying to make sure that you don’t run into the other guy — the guy out front is just going to drive away. I think all in all it’s not the night we hoped for, but it wasn’t all that bad. We sat on the pole and finished seventh and that’s not always what you want to do. It was just funny how this race played out tonight.”
BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 11th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Furniture Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 12th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 14th
TAYLER MALSAM, No. 19 G-Oil Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 18th
ERIC McCLURE, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 21st
MIKE BLISS, No. 44 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 22nd
BENNY GORDON, No. 24 Toyota Camry Finishing Position: 24th
TRAVIS PASTRANA, No. 99 Boost Mobile Toyota Camry, RAB Racing w/Brack Maggard Finishing Position: 26th How was your race? “Worst finish we’ve had, best result I’ve had as a driver — worst result on the paper. Everything is really coming together. It’s my eighth race in Nationwide. First race we had a legitimate shot at a top-10 and actually a pretty good shot at a possible top-five. The guys did such a great job with this car. Really, really just want to thank my sponsors Samsung, Boost Mobile, KMC and Toyota truck and cars. This was a really good car and this track everyone said it was a driver’s track — it was a dirt track — and that really suited me well. I like being sideways. Obviously, got a little too sideways and then I actually had so much under steer. We were trying to do something with the pit strategy and got us to the lead there for a brief second, but just had a lot more laps than anyone else. Still put in some good times, but needed to start backing it off more than I was.”
TRAVIS PASTRANA, No. 99 Boost Mobile Toyota Camry, RAB Racing w/Brack Maggard (continued) What was going through your mind as you led on the restart? “Excited. Pumped up. Nervous. You see it in the driver’s meeting all the time — I knew what to do — but it was just one of those things that I’ve never even in the K&N Series had a chance to lead on a restart. That’s a really cool feeling. It’s just a learning experience — one learning experience after the other. I hate when people get out and are like, ‘Oh, it’s a learning experience,’ and this and that, but honestly to be up there, to run with those guys, I learned that you can’t keep running that pace on tires that have an extra 20 laps on them, especially at this track on those tires, but we were. We could do it for a few laps. It’s just matter of it’s going to bite you eventually and need to start back in the corners back a little bit more and paid the price for it. But, honestly, it was the best all-around drive, best — my cousin (Greg Powell) on the pit crew is coming right along and I think we had great pit stops. We had great everything.”
JEFF GREEN, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 35th
