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[/media-credit]TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
September 3 – 9, 2012
TOYOTA TIDBITS HAMLIN IS HOT: Camry driver Denny Hamlin earned his second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) win Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Following the final caution, Hamlin emerged from pit road with the lead and surged ahead of the field on the restart – holding off Jeff Gordon on the last lap to earn his fourth victory of the 2012 season. Martin Truex Jr. (fourth), Kyle Busch (sixth) and Mark Martin (10th) also earned top-10 results for Toyota. Busch scored top-10 finishes in all three NASCAR events in Atlanta, including a seventh-place finish in Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race and runner-up in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race.
RACE BEFORE THE CHASE: This weekend’s race at Richmond International Raceway will mark the final event before the ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup’ championship playoff begins at Chicagoland Speedway. Three Camry drivers are currently locked in to the field of 12. With a series-best four victories this season following his win at Atlanta, Hamlin is guaranteed at least a tie of the top position when this year’s 10-race playoff begins. Along with Hamlin, Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) teammates Truex and Clint Bowyer are both in the ‘Chase’ field following Atlanta — the first Chase entries for MWR in the team’s six-year history. Busch looks to earn one of the two ‘wild card’ spots. He is currently 12th in the point standings and ranks second among wild card hopefuls.
CAMRYS CAPTURE CHECKERS: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) drivers Busch and Hamlin have posted six victories for Toyota at Richmond. Busch has finished first in four consecutive spring NSCS races at Richmond (2009-2012), including the most recent race in April, and Chesterfield, Va.-native Hamlin won back-to-back fall events (2009 and 2010). During the six-race win streak, the JGR teammates combined to lead 53.4 percent of the circuits run at Richmond — 1,282 laps (of 2,400). Hamlin has led a series-best 1,188 laps at the Virginia short track while Busch has paced the field for 891 laps.
TOYOTA TAKES THREE: Camry drivers have claimed three consecutive NNS victories at Richmond. In the spring, Kurt Busch earned the first NNS victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) when he crossed the finish line first. Hamlin and Kyle Busch swept the 2011 NNS races at the 0.75-mile track for JGR. Hamlin also won the May 2008 NNS race for Toyota. Kurt Busch will again pilot the KBM No. 54 Camry this weekend at Richmond.
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 25 races, Martin Truex Jr. is fifth in the series point standings, trailing leader Greg Biffle by 41 points … Denny Hamlin (seventh) and Clint Bowyer (eighth) also rank in the top-10 … Busch sits second, while Joey Logano ranks sixth, among ‘wild card’ candidat es for the Chase championship playoff … Two ‘wild card’ entries will make the Chase … Joe Gibbs Racing announced this week that Matt Kenseth will join the team in 2013 and will drive the No. 20 Camry … Camry driver Travis Kvapil will make his 200th career NSCS start this weekend at Richmond … Virginia Tech graduate Darian Grubb, crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the JGR No. 11 Camry is a native of Floyd, Va. … Brad Donaghy, the front tire carrier on the JGR No. 18 Camry, hails from Orange County, Va.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Is your team gelling at the right time this season? “This has been something in the works for a very long time, and obviously I have a lot wins in my career because of two very important guys — one is Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and the other is Mike Ford (former crew chief). Mike put together 80 percent of a championship-winning team, and Darian has just filled that gap and put the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together. The foundation has been laid. He’s (Darian Grubb) just putting the cap on it, and Darian is getti ng the most out of our guys. I’ve never seen our crew just so happy to be at the race track every single week. Even in 2010 I didn’t see that from our guys. That’s when you get the most out of them, and for me I’m just happy to be at the race track every single week knowing I can win a race. It doesn’t matter the race track anymore, it’s just I know we can win. Darian has just taken this program to that next level, and obviously anyone can go on a 10-race run. He did it last year, and hopefully he’s got some of the magic saved up for us here in the next few weeks.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) What does it mean to be the number one seed when the Chase starts? “It means a lot. I look at Richmond as a race we’re going to go win. That’s my track — it’s my best track arguably and I just think we have a lot of momentum now and for what it’s worth, I will try to take advantage of it.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How have you been able to help Michael Waltrip Racing this season? “I think what I brought to the table from the get-go is just make this fun. It’s such a grinding schedule. It’s a ton of pressure each and every week and you’ve got to make sure that your guys are having fun doing it. I felt like if you look at our last 10 races compared to our competition, we’re sitting pretty good. Moving into the Chase with a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum and I think that’s crucial. Some of the first races of the Chase are some of my best race tracks as a driver, so it’s so important to get things going and get them started off on the right foot.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What is your outlook for Richmond? “Richmond is definitely a place where we would like to go win — obviously, that would really set things easy for what’s going to happen in the Chase. If we’re not capable of winning then we need to know what else our game plan is going to be. We were in this situation in 2009 and we had to go to Richmond and we had to finish five spots ahead of Brian Vickers and we finished fifth, which was great, but Brian Vickers finished eighth, so we missed the Chase that night. Not necessarily one that you bank on going there and getting a win or anything like that. You just do what you need to do to run as well as you can. There’s definitely never any guarantees you’re going to show up to the race track and win. You’ve just got to work hard, communicate with your crew chief the best you can and not get too frustrated when things aren’t exactly correct, but yet be determined enough that you can get them fixed and get out there and make the most of your opportunities.”
Are you confident about making the Chase? “I feel normal. I’m not saying that I’m for sure going to be in because anything can happen. Jeff (Gordon) is no slouch at Richmond either — he will be fine. I feel like that’s the guy we’re racing — the 24 car. We’ll just have to see how it all plays out. Jeff could give us a run for our money.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Do you expect the Richmond race to be wild? “Richmond obviously has the ability to be one crazy, wild, exciting race. It’s been that way in the past and depending on who is in and out of the wild card spots, things are definitely going to get exciting, so we’ll just have to wait and see. I think Richmond is definitely a good place to settle things — some good ‘ole short track racing — and it will definitely get more exciting there than it would be anywhere else.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS): After 24 races, Mike Bliss ranks eighth in the series point standings … Brian Scott (ninth) is also among the top-10 in the standings … Kevin Kidd, the crew chief for the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 11, is from Tazewell, Va., and graduated from Virginia Tech … JGR No. 20 team members Joel Wiedman (Richmond) and Chris Jones (Glade Hill) also hail from Virginia … Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) engineer Joey Cohen of Chesapeake, Va., and engine tuner Jason Watkins of Ridgeway, Va., both work on the No. 54 Camry.
KURT BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Kyle Busch Motorsports Are your expectations high returning to Richmond? “The way we ran there last time, we’re hoping that the same setup will work, but things evolve. Things change and we haven’t raced there since May, but looking forward to it. That was a race that we expected most of the season to go like, where we were in contention for more wins. It will be the same car. We’ll start with the same setup and go from there. It’s a challenge though each and every time you go to a track, but Richmond stays fairly consistent.”
What has it been like working with your brother? “It’s been a blast. The whole gang feels like family and him (Kyle Busch) as the leader of everybody, he’s done a really good job with the right personnel, the right times to react to changes when things are needed and it’s just been a nice system that we’ve worked through this year.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): After 14 races, Timothy Peters continues to lead the series point standings and has a six-point advantage over James Buescher … Parker Kligerman (fourth) and Matt Crafton (seventh) are also in the top-10 in the standings … The NCWTS has a weekend off before returning to action at Iowa Speedway on September 15 … Through Oct. 1, the Kyle Busch Foundation will be raffling a custom motorcycle in conjunction with Deadwood Choppers at www.KBFChopperRaffle.com.
TOYOTA 2012 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series Races Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led (Drivers) NSCS 25 305 (23) 7 35 72 9 143 2,262 NNS 24 268 (34) 7 28 55 6 101 1,135 NCWTS 14 142 (22) 5 30 49 2 42 618
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Richmond International Raceway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Camry Jason Leffler, No. 49 American Israel Racing Camry Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Camry Mark Martin, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’s Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Camry Landon Cassill, No. 83 Burger King Camry David Stremme, No. 30 Inception Motorsports Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Bush’s Beans Camry Travis Kvapil, No. 93 Burger King Camry
NASCAR Nationwide Series Jeff Green, No. 10 Toyota Camry Mike Bliss, No. 44 Toyota Camry Brian Scott, No. 11 Dollar General Camry Kurt 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 Sport Clips Camry Jason Bowles, No. 81 American Majority Camry Tayler Malsam, No. 19 G-Oil Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Darrell Wallace Jr., No. 20 Dollar General Camry Ryan Truex No. 99 Grime Boss Camry Derek White, No. 24 Toyota Camry
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE Fri., September 7 — NNS @ Richmond International Raceway — 7:30 PM (ET), ESPN — Race 25 of 33 Sat., September 8 — NSCS @ Richmond International Raceway — 7:30 PM (ET), ABC — Race 26 of 36
