TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
October 15 – 21, 2012
TOYOTA TIDBITS QUEEN CITY KING: Camry driver Clint Bowyer took the checkered flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway after saving just enough fuel to complete Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race on the 1.5-mile track. Bowyer, who led the field three times for 29 laps (of 334), recaptured first place on lap 310 and saved fuel for the final 25 circuits while holding off the field, including Denny Hamlin who finished second after leading 36 laps. Camry drivers Kyle Busch (fifth), Mark Martin (sixth), Joey Logano (ninth) and Martin Truex Jr. (10th) also recorded top-10 finishes at Charlotte.
CAMRY CHASERS: Heading into the sixth event of the 10-race ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup’ championship playoff this weekend at Kansas Speedway, Hamlin sits in third-place in the point standings and trails point leader Brad Keselowski by 15 points and second-place Jimmie Johnson by eight. Bowyer moved up to fourth in the standings with his win in Charlotte (-28 points) and his Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) teammate Truex sits seventh (-49 points).
LOGANO LOGS ANOTHER WIN: Camry driver Logano tallied his eighth NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) win of the 2012 season at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday night. Logano started third on the grid and led the field six times for a race-high 62 laps (of 200) — including the final eight circuits to claim the win. The victory was Logano’s eighth in 18 series starts and he has registered 14 top-10 finishes and four poles during the 2012 season. In addition to Logano’s win, Camry drivers Busch (fourth), Hamlin (fifth) and Brian Scott (eighth) also posted top-10 results in Charlotte.
CLINT’S KANSAS HOME: Chase contender Bowyer is a native of Emporia, Kan., where the Camry driver grew up racing both motorcycles and cars. The NASCAR driver began his career on two wheels racing motocross, where the 33- year-old racer claimed more than 200 victories and several championships. After moving to four wheels, Bowyer continued his winning ways by capturing titles at numerous race tracks around Kansas and Missouri. In addition to his success in the local racing scene, Bowyer also worked in the service department at Emporia Motors, a Toyota dealer. The Kansas-native remains actively involved in the local community and recently opened the Bowyer Community Building, a multi-purpose community center, in his hometown of Emporia.
HEADED HOME WITH MOMENTUM: As the ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup’ moves to Kansas Speedway, Bowyer will return to his home state with considerable momentum. His win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, gives Bower two wins and five top-10 finishes in the last six NSCS races. The Kansas-native has three NSCS victories in 2012, his highest total in seven full-time seasons in the series, and the Charlotte victory was his first win on a 1.5-mile track. At his home track in Kansas, Bowyer has three top-10 results in eight races and has led 43 laps.
DÉJÀ VU FOR DENNY?: Hamlin returns to Kansas Speedway as the defending NSCS race-winner as he is contending for the 2012 NSCS championship. Hamlin led 32 laps (of 267) in the April race — including the final 31 circuits — to capture one of his five victories during the 2012 season. Hamlin held off fellow Chase competitor Truex, who led a race-high 173 laps en route to the win. Bowyer ran in the top-five early in the event, but finished 36th after mechanical issues.
CHALLENGES HAVE LED TO CHASE: When MWR began competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) in 2007, the team faced tremendous obstacles. However, five years later two MWR — Bowyer and Truex — earned the first- ever Chase spots for the still young race team in 2012. After the first 31 races of 2012, MWR drivers have earned a total of three wins, 21 top-five results, 49 top-10 finishes and five poles. MWR has already recorded more top-fives in 2012 than the organization had in the previous five seasons combined (16). With one more top-10 finishes this year, they will match the total number of top-10s earned in the previous five seasons (50) as well. MWR has had at least one of the team’s three Camrys finish among the top-10 in every race this season with the exception of the Charlotte race in May and this month’s race at Talladega.
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NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Since the start of the 2012 season, Toyota drivers have combined for 10 victories, 45 top-five results, 96 top-10 finishes and have led 3,238 laps … The next win for a Camry driver in the NSCS will be the 50th for Toyota in the series since the start of the 2007 season … Mark Martin captured a NSCS victory at Kansas Speedway in 2005 when he led 139 laps (of 267) … In 13 starts at the track, the Arkansas-native has tallied one win, two top-five results and five top-10 finishes … In addition to Bowyer’s connections to Kansas, two members of Joey Logano’s No. 20 team call Kansas Speedway their home track … Front tire changer John Royer is a native of Otis, Kan., and rear tire changer Chris Taylor is from West Plains, Mo.
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Is it exciting to head home coming off a win? “That’s probably the biggest thing is to come off this win going into your hometown — the family and friends, everybody that goes there, it’s just so important to be able to roll in on a positive note. If we could possibly pull this off again in Kansas it would be — that’s my — do you dare say Daytona 500, but it truly is. That’s the biggest race you can possibly win is in front of your hometown.”
What does the Charlotte win mean for your team? “To be back in victory lane — new life, new hope going into Kansas. There’s a lot of races left. Kansas — nobody really knows what to expect there. It’s a repave. You know these cars that are running on these mile-and-a-halfs are going to be fast there, but you don’t know if somebody is going to stub their toe, if somebody is going to struggle if it comes down to fuel mileage.”
BRIAN PATTIE, crew chief, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How do you feel about the team’s current position in points? “Twenty eight points is achievable over the next five weeks. It’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of help. We’ll go to Kansas on Wednesday and test to try to pick up our program even more than we have now, because we weren’t the fastest car (in Charlotte) — we just had strategy.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How important is the test prior to Kansas? “It’s going to be very critical. We’ve been to a few repaves this year and that’s something that’s probably going to help all the teams going to Kansas. We’ve had more repaves this year I think than any time I’ve been a part of the Cup Series, so we’ve got a little bit of an idea what’s going to happen. Some guys did some tire testing out there and we’ve got a good idea. The deal with repaves is the track changes so much throughout the weekend that it’s going to be good to have that extra day, get some rubber down, get the track run in a bit and hopefully have an idea what kind of changes we’ll have to go through throughout the weekend.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS): After 29 races, Mike Bliss ranks eighth in the series point standings … Brian Scott (ninth) also ranks in the top-10 in the standings … The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Camry currently leads the NNS owner’s point standings by 19 points over the second-place team… Joey Logano’s victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the first win for the Camry on a 1.5-mile track since the introduction of the new NNS car… JGR captured three consecutive NNS victories at Kansas Speedway from 2008 through 2010 … Denny Hamlin won the NNS race at the track in 2008 and Joey Logano recorded back-to-back Kansas wins in 2009 and 2010.
ADAM STEVENS, crew chief, No. 18 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How has Joey Logano progressed this season? “I was just flabbergasted the other day when I was looking at our stats. With Joey (Logano), we’ve had 10 top-fives and eight of them have been wins. It’s remarkable that stat right there. He knows how to race and he’s always known how to drive a car fast, but knowing how to make your car fast for the race is where we’ve made all of our gains. To go out there and work on a race set up and know what you need to look for in a race car to race well is the key and that’s what we work on every weekend.”
KEVIN KIDD, crew chief, No. 11 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What do you expect from Kansas? “Kansas will be an interesting challenge this year. It’s another repaved race track that we will be seeing for the first time. We’ll be getting four extra hours of practice which enables us to do some testing that we don’t normally get to do. Repaves always throw some interesting curveballs at you as a crew chief. You have to decide tire strategy — scuffs versus stickers, two tires versus four tires. Typically the team that figures that out first has an advantage.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): After 18 races, Timothy Peters ranks third in the series point standings — 26 points behind series point leader Ty Dillon … Parker Kligerman (fourth), Matt Crafton (sixth) and Johnny Sauter (ninth) are also in the top-10 in the standings … After Kligerman’s win at Talladega, four drivers have won races driving Red Horse Racing Tundras in 2012 — Peters (two), Todd Bodine (one), John King (one) and Kligerman (one) … The NCWTS will enjoy one more weekend off before returning to action on Oct. 27 at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway.
TOYOTA 2012 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series Races Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led (Drivers) NSCS 31 375 (24) 10 45 96 10 179 3,238 NNS 28 329 (41) 9 37 70 8 124 1,541 NCWTS 18 182 (27) 6 39 67 3 62 853
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Kansas Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Kingsford Charcoal 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 Halloween Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Camry Mike Bliss, No. 19 Plinker Tactical Camry Landon Cassill, No. 83 Burger King Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Dollar General Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry David Stremme, No. 30 Inception Motorsports Camry Travis Kvapil, No. 93 Burger King Camry
NASCAR Nationwide Series Blake Koch, No. 00 Toyota Camry Derek White, No. 24 Toyota Camry Charles Lewandoski, No. 10 TriStar Motorsports Camry Hal Martin, No. 44 American Custom Yachts Camry Brian Scott, No. 11 Dollar General Camry Kyle Busch, No. 54 Monster Energy Camry Eric McClure, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Joey Logano, No. 18 GameStop Camry Kenny Wallace, No. 99 American Ethanol Camry
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE Sat., October 20 — NNS @ Kansas Speedway – 3:30 PM (ET), ESPN — Race 30 of 33 Sun., October 21 — NSCS @ Kansas Speedway — 2:00 PM (ET), ABC — Race 32 of 36
