Todd Bodine (sixth) was the highest finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway.
Tundra drivers Brendan Gaughan (eighth), Kyle Busch (ninth) and Max Papis (10th) also earned top-10 finishes in the 250-mile event.
The Tundras of Bodine (one) and David Starr (one) both led laps at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
Other Toyota drivers in the field included Josh Richards (13th), Johanna Long (16th), Miguel Paludo (18th), Timothy Peters (23rd), Chris Fontaine (25th) and Starr (30th).
Two Tundra drivers are in the top-10 in the unofficial NCWTS point standings with three races remaining in the 2011 season — Peters (fifth) and Bodine (sixth).
TODD BODINE, No. 5, NTB / Service Central Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Finishing Position: 6th How was today’s race? “It was okay. Our truck wouldn’t lead for whatever reason. The two-car tandem — it just wouldn’t lead. We did our best to push and the best guy I could push was Parker (Kligerman). We were flying. Just got him turned around in the tri-oval. My fault. We came back and got hooked up at the end with Jason (White) and ended up sixth, so can’t complain. Service Central on the truck and got a good run for them. Another good, solid top-10. Just keep going the rest of the year.”
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 8th How was your race? “It was interesting. That’s a weird Talladega. The trucks are much more difficult to drive here than the Cup cars. The two- car push thing is much more risky and much more of an adventure in the Truck Series than the Sprint Cup, but we got it to work. We put our Tundra behind a couple different deals and, man, me and the 31 (James Buescher) got real fast. Me and the 3 (Austin Dillon) got fast. Johnny Sauter really did well for me. Me and Todd (Bodine), I think we both proved we could push anybody. Our Tundra horsepower behind people was just stupid sick, so it was fun. It was interesting.”
What makes pushing so difficult in the Truck Series? “The nose and tail don’t match, so you end up lifting. Have anybody take a picture of the front nose and the back nose and you’ll see it’s a shelf. The front shelf goes under the rear shelf, so it makes it where it’s actually lifting the race car up from behind, but we made it work. It was pretty impressive, I have to tell you. I was one of the ones saying we wouldn’t do it, wouldn’t do it and I think me and Todd (Bodine) were some of the first two to do it. So I guess I’m still younger than I give myself credit for.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 9th What happened on the final restart? “The guy I had ran out of gas. Everybody else already had a game plan so you’re left out. It’s no different than there being 13 cars left on the race track. Somebody is going to be the odd man out.”
MAX PAPIS, No. 9 GEICO Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 10th
JOSH RICHARDS, No. 51 Joy Mining Machinery Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 13th
JOHANNA LONG, No. 20 Panhandle Grading & Paving Tundra, Panhandle Motorsports Finishing Position: 16th
MIGUEL PALUDO, No. 7 Stop Diabetes Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 18th What did you think of the race? “It was a lot of fun. We started from 24th and I think in 10 laps, 12 laps we were top-10, then top-five. We got a speeding penalty and it happens. Let’s move forward to Martinsville.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 NTB / Service Central, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 23rd How was your race? “Not good. Had a plan there running top-five. I don’t get it. We cut it close last week at (Las) Vegas and did it again today, so I don’t know if we’ve got a pick-up issue or what the deal is. Great effort by our Service Central National Tire and Battery Red Horse Racing Tundra. I mean, everybody worked hard — worked too hard to get the result we got, so we’ll just pack it up and go to Martinsville.”
What is your perspective on the championship hunt? “I’m not going to give up. ‘Quit,’ isn’t in my vocabulary, but it’s typical of the way our year has gone. We will see what happens.”
CHRIS FONTAINE, No. 84 Glenden Enterprises Tundra, Glenden Enterprises Finishing Position: 25th
DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry / NCCER / ASI Limited Tundra, SS Green Light Racing Finishing Position: 30th
