TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
February 23 – March 1, 2015
TOYOTA TIDBITS
HOME OF CAMRY HISTORY: Toyota claimed its first Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) points race win at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) when driver Kyle Busch took the checkered flag at the track in March 2008. Busch, who will miss the Atlanta race while recovering from injuries sustained in an accident last weekend, led 173 laps (of 325) en route to the historic victory for Toyota. The victory was first-of-11 wins for Toyota in 2008 and the manufacturer has gone on to tally 65 wins in NSCS competition since that day.
RECENT TOYOTA TALLIES: In addition to Busch’s historic victory for Toyota at Atlanta in 2008, Camry drivers also triumphed in consecutive races on the 1.54-mile track in 2012 and 2013 with Denny Hamlin and Busch winning, respectively. And while a Camry didn’t win in Atlanta in 2014, Toyota drivers Matt Kenseth and Hamlin finished second and third in the event. Since 2012, Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys have totaled two wins, four top-five results and five top-10 finishes in Atlanta.
RAGAN RACING A CAMRY: Georgia native David Ragan will pilot the No. 18 Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in the NSCS race at AMS. Ragan, who grew up racing Legends cars at the Atlanta track, will fill in for Busch in the No. 18 Camry while the Toyota regular recovers from injuries sustained in the NXS race at Daytona. The native of Unadilla, Georgia has two NSCS victories and has made 11 career starts in Atlanta where he will make his Toyota debut.
ATLANTA BACKFLIPS: New Camry driver Carl Edwards has had significant success at Atlanta Motor Speedway, including three NSCS victories and a pair of NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) wins. In 2005, Edwards won both Atlanta NSCS races and the NXS event, and he also won Atlanta’s fall NSCS race in 2008. He most recently visited the track’s victory lane with a NXS win in 2011. In 17 NSCS starts in Atlanta, Edwards has nine top-five results and his three wins are tied for the third-most among active drivers at the speedway. Edwards made his debut for JGR at Daytona International Speedway in the No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry – a new, fourth team for team owner Joe Gibbs – and will return to Atlanta with a team known for contending at the track in their Camrys.
REDESIGNED TO RACE: When the 2015 NASCAR season opened at Daytona International Speedway, the Toyota Camrys competing on track were the first of NASCAR’s current generation vehicles to be upgraded. Because the Toyota Camry production model received an upgrade for 2015, the change necessitated a redesign for the Camry race car to maintain continuity between the production model and racing program. Engineers from TRD (Toyota Racing Development, U.S.A.) and Calty Design, an arm of Toyota’s global design network, worked to update the Camry race car to reflect the production model, yet incorporate performance enhancements into the new Camry. The redesigned 2015 Camry competes in both the NSCS and NXS.
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): Camry drivers Denny Hamlin (fourth) and Clint Bowyer (seventh) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) point standings … Toyota has tallied two NSCS poles at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Hamlin sat on the pole for the 2010 race in Atlanta and former Camry driver Kasey Kahne won the 2011 pole … Brett Moffitt will fill-in for Brian Vickers in the No. 55 Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing in Atlanta.
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
How do you feel entering Atlanta?
“We need to keep the momentum from Daytona going, first of all. I like Atlanta. We nearly had the thing won a few years ago and were in decent shape there last year. Both times we had a failure so I’m thinking we’ve got that out of our system. I’ll tell you it’s a good thing we wear gloves because it’s going to be cold. But they play football in cold weather – why not race in it?”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What makes Atlanta Motor Speedway unique?
“Atlanta is one of the most worn-out surfaces that we go to, so it’s fun, but you need to be decent at the beginning of a run and also decent at the end of a run on old tires. It’s often hard to find that balance with your race car because these races can come down to short runs. With the older pavement, Atlanta isn’t as fast as it used to be, but it’s still a really fun place for us to race. With no offseason testing, we’re not really sure how the new rules package will work out until we get a few weeks of racing under our belts, so there’s a lot that we just don’t entirely know yet.”
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS): Camry driver David Starr (fourth) currently ranks in the top-10 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) point standings … Matt Kenseth will pilot the No. 20 Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Atlanta NXS race … Kenseth has two wins (2004, 2008) and nine top-10 results in 12 NXS starts in Atlanta … Erik Jones will compete in the No. 54 Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in Atlanta.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra drivers Erik Jones (second), Matt Crafton (sixth) and Johnny Sauter (seventh) currently rank in the top-10 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) point standings … Tundra drivers have collected four victories at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Kyle Busch won in a Tundra in Atlanta in 2008 and 2009, while former Toyota drivers Todd Bodine and Mike Skinner won at the track in 2006 and 2007, respectively … Tundra drivers won 18 NCWTS races in 2014, tied for the series record by a manufacturer, and earned the manufacturers championship … Red Horse Racing team owner Tom DeLoach is native of Georgia and Georgia Tech graduate.
ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
How does your experience prepare you for Atlanta?
“With the speeds you reach at Atlanta being a mile-and-half it is definitely a lot harder on the tires than at the short tracks we race in late models, but I guess the concept of managing your equipment is the same, so hopefully I can apply some of it. Knowing that Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and the guys on this No. 4 Tundra team are going to give me a fast Toyota is going to help. Last year, I got my first taste of racing on the mile-and-a-half tracks and it was a pretty big learning curve at Texas, but by the time we got to Las Vegas I felt like I had a much better handle on it. I feel pretty confident going into this weekend at Atlanta. KBM had a lot of success on these types of tracks last year and I’m looking forward to seeing how we stack up against the competition this year. I’m confident our Tundra will be really strong again this year and I’m ready to go out and compete for the win on Saturday.”
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Fisher Nuts/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Are you glad the Truck Series is returning to Atlanta Motor Speedway?
“The great thing about Atlanta – with the cold temperatures, it will be fast for a couple of laps, says three laps – but the surface is so wore out and it’s such an awesome race track you can run anywhere. I love Atlanta – it’s by far my favorite race track, so I’m really looking forward to going there.”
TOYOTA 2015 NASCAR STATISTICS
Series Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led
NSCS 1 9 (9) 0 1 2 0 6 8
NXS 1 11 (11) 0 0 1 0 1 27
NCWTS 1 11 (11) 0 1 4 0 2 6
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Atlanta Motor Speedway Speedway (NSCS, NXS and NCWTS)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Camry
David Ragan, No. 18 Camry
Carl Edwards, No. 19 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 23 Camry
Jeb Burton, No. 26 Camry
Reed Sorenson, No. 29 Camry
Brett Moffitt, No. 55 Camry
Matt Dibenedetto, No. 83 Camry
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Blake Koch, No. 8 Camry
Cale Conley, No. 14 Camry
Daniel Suarez, No. 18 Camry
Mike Bliss, No. 19 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
Eric McClure, No. 24 Camry
JJ Yeley, No. 28 Camry
David Starr, No. 44 Camry
Erik Jones, No. 54 Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Erik Jones, No. 4 Tundra
Ben Kennedy, No. 11 Tundra
Cameron Hayley, No. 13 Tundra
Timothy Peters, No. 17 Tundra
TBA, No. 35 Tundra
Daniel Suarez, No. 51 Tundra
Justin Boston, No. 54 Tundra
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Tundra
Johnny Sauter, No. 98 Tundra
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