02305W01 TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES Week of September 5 – 11, 2011
TOYOTA TIDBITS RAIN DELAY REPLAY: Camry driver Denny Hamlin was the top finishing Camry driver in Tuesday’s rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hamlin led five times for six laps (of 325) en route to an eighth-place result — his ninth top-10 finish of the season. Brian Vickers (11th) and Martin Truex Jr. (14th) also earned top-15 results for Toyota in the 500-mile event that was delayed two days due to rain. Kasey Kahne started from the pole — his third in a Camry — and led the first 15 laps, but experienced mechanical issues and finished 34th. Kyle Busch led three times for 19 laps and finished 23rd after a late-race penalty and fighting handling issues with his Camry during the second half of the race.
CAMRY CHASE CHANCES: With just one race remaining before the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship playoff, two Camry drivers look to be in a good position to make the Chase field following Atlanta. Busch is locked into the Chase field and currently sits second in the point standings, trailing current leader and five-time champion Jimmie Johnson by 21 points. Hamlin’s eighth-place finish at Atlanta moved him up one spot into 12th-place in the standings and he is 42 points out of the 10th and final Chase spot via points. However, the 30-year-old Chesterfield, Va. native has recorded one win (at Michigan in June) this year and currently holds the second ‘wild card’ spot heading into the deciding race at Richmond.
ANALYZING ATLANTA: The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) also competed at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. Busch was the highest finishing Toyota driver in both races with a second-place result in the NNS event and a third-place finish in the NCWTS race. Camry drivers Ryan Truex (11th), Brian Scott (12th) and Steve Wallace (13th) also earned top-15 finishes in Saturday night’s NNS event. Tundra drivers Todd Bodine (ninth) and Max Papis (14th) finished in the top-15 in Friday’s NCWTS race.
VIRGINIA VICTORIES: Camry drivers have earned five straight NSCS wins at Richmond International Raceway. Busch has three victories with wins in the spring races in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The 26-year-old Las Vegas native most recently led four times for 235 laps (of 400) in April and was followed to the finish line by fellow Camry drivers Hamlin and Kasey Kahne to give Toyota its first one-two-three finish since joining series competition in 2007. Chesterfield, Va. native Hamlin earned the other two wins in the fall races in 2009 and 2010. The Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates have combined to pace the field for 1,250 of a possible 2,000 circuits in Sprint Cup Series action, leading more than 60 percent of the laps in the last five races at the three-quarter-mile short track.
HOMETOWN TIES: Curtis Markhamreturns to his birthplace of Richmond, Va., as the spotter forHamlinand the No. 11 FedEx Camry. Markham, who calls Fredericksburg, Va., his home, is responsible for the partnership between Richmond- native Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing. When JGR planned a program to help minority drivers get involved in NASCAR, it was Markham who was sent to a Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina where he discovered Hamlin test driving and preparing vehicles for the program with record-setting times. Markham, who has competed in all three NASCAR premier series, immediately contacted his bosses at JGR and within days Hamlin was signed to a developmental contract with the organization in 2004.
RICHMOND REWIND: The NNS will be in action Friday night at Richmond International Raceway, where Camry drivers have registered three NNS race wins. Hamlin most recently won the spring race earlier this year at his home track and also finished first in a Camry in the spring 2008 race. Busch crossed the finish line first in the spring 2009 race at the Virginia short track.
NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS NASCARSprintCupSeries(NSCS): Since the start of the 2011 season, Toyota drivers have combined for five victories, 29 top-five results, 55 top-10 finishes and have led 2,063 laps … After 25 races, Kyle Busch is currently second in the series point standings and Denny Hamlin sits in 12th-place … Martin Truex Jr. (16th), Kasey Kahne (17th) and Joey Logano (18th) are also in the top-20 in points … Hamlin (May 2008), Brian Vickers (May 2009) and Busch (April 2010) have earned NSCS poles at Richmond … Brad Donaghy, a front tire carrier for the No. 18 Toyota, is a native of Orange County, Va., located 50 miles northwest of Richmond.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What do you like about racing at Richmond? “I enjoy going to Richmond. It’s been a fun place and a great place for me with results lately. For myself, the short track appeal to it — I think it relates to a lot of fans and relates to a lot of us drivers. It’s kind of where we come from — the Saturday night under the lights kind of local short track deal. Richmond is a tough little place though. You’ve got to have good brakes and have to get it slowed down, have to be able to roll the center really well and get the power down, especially off turn two as well as turn four. With the way the track kind of is laid out, it lends itself to some good racing. Being able to get a run off the top side when the top is good and keeping the momentum through the inside lane as well and not letting yourself get bogged down too much racing side-by-side with somebody.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Is there a better track than Richmond for you to race at next week? “No, not really. It seems like here lately with giving so much information to our teammate, he’s (Kyle Busch) been the guy we’ve had to kind of harness lately at that track. Regardless of whether we win or whether we run top-five or whatever, we know we’re going to go there and we’re going to be competitive. We feel like we will be. We always look at the schedule and luckily for us some of our best race tracks are the three to four that lead into the Chase. That part of it has been good. The negative part is that it seems like the first three races of the Chase are typically our worst race tracks. It’s kind of a double-edged sword. We’re never short of momentum when it comes to the Chase. It’s just when we get to those first three races that has been our struggle.”
Would a win at Richmond give your team momentum for the Chase? “I think so. You look at the years where we won Richmond — the last two years that we’ve won Richmond leading into the Chase — it’s been a huge momentum boost for us. It’s like that win came just in a time for us when we thought that we didn’t know if we were going to be going into the Chase with good momentum or bad and we up and win that race and the next thing we know, we run well in the Chase from that point forward. I think that Richmond is very important in that aspect and I know it’s worked very well for us as far as being a springboard for running well in the Chase.”
NASCARNationwideSeries(NNS): During the 2011 season, Toyota drivers have combined for nine wins, 29 top-five results, 68 top-10 finishes and have led 1,499 laps … Kenny Wallace (seventh) is the top Toyota driver in the NNS point standings … Steve Wallace (eighth), Brian Scott (ninth) and Michael Annett (10th) are also in the top-10… Ryan Truex will make his second start for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in Richmond, following an 11th-place finish in his first start with the team last weekend at Atlanta … Camry drivers have earned two NNS poles at Richmond … Denny Hamlin won the pole in Sept. 2009 and Kyle Busch earned the pole position in April 2010 … Kevin Kidd, crew chief for the No. 11 Camry is from Tazewell, Va., and the No. 20 team’s shock specialist, Joel Wiedman, hails from Richmond.
RYAN TRUEX, No. 20 Schick Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How excited are you to be with Joe Gibbs Racing for six races this season? “It’s awesome. I’m having a lot of fun with it. It’s a really big opportunity for me to be with one of the best teams in the garage area in the Nationwide Series. I’m just trying to do all I can to go out there and be fast and hopefully impress some people and attract some sponsors.”
Are you looking forward to racing at Richmond? “I’m looking forward to Richmond. The 20 team won there last time they were there so that helps out with my confidence. I know they’ve got a good car and I think I can get around there alright so combine the two and hopefully we’ll have a good run.”
NASCARCampingWorldTruckSeries(NCWTS): Since the start of the 2011 NCWTS season, Tundra drivers have registered eight wins, 28 top-five results, 51 top-10 finishes and have led 809 laps … After 17 races, Timothy Peters (third) is the top Toyota driver in the NCWTS points standings and sits just 14 points behind leader James Buescher … Tundra drivers Todd Bodine (10th), Brendan Gaughan (13th) and Max Papis (15th) are also in the top-15 in the points … Richie Williams, jackman on the Germain Racing No. 9 Tundra, will be inducted into the Appalachian State Athletics Hall of Fame during this Saturday’s home football game … In his senior season as the starting quarterback on the Appalachian State football team, Williams led the team to their first ever NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship and a 12-3 record in 2005.
TOYOTA 2011 NASCAR STATISTICS Series Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led NSCS 25 298 (18) 5 29 55 5 188 2,063 NNS 26 203 (22) 9 29 68 4 88 1,499 NCWTS 17 192 (28) 8 28 51 2 44 809
TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Richmond International Raceway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series David Reutimann, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry Kasey Kahne, No. 4 Red Bull Camry Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Camry Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’s Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Scott Brand Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Brakes Camry Michael McDowell, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Camry Brian Vickers, No. 83 Red Bull Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry NASCAR Nationwide Series Kenny Wallace, No. 09 Federated Auto Parts Camry Brian Scott, No. 11 Shore Lodge Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Camry Ryan Truex, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry Michael Annett, No. 62 Pilot/Flying J Camry Steve Wallace, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE Fri., Sept. 9 — NNS @ Richmond International Raceway – 7:30 PM (ET), ESPN2 — Race 27 of 34 Sat., Sept. 10 — NSCS @ Richmond International Raceway – 7:30 PM (ET), ABC — Race 26 of 36
