TOYOTA NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes Daytona International Speedway –February 17, 2011
5th, JOHANNA LONG 11th, MICHAEL WALTRIP 14th, MIGUEL PALUDO 15th, TODD BODINE 16th, CHRIS FONTAINE 17th, JUSTIN LOFTON 18th, TIMOTHY PETERS 21st, KYLE BUSCH 22nd, TJ BELL 24th, TRAVIS KVAPIL 25th, DAVID STARR 26th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN 28th, CRAIG GOESS, JR. 34th, ARIC ALMIROLA 36th, MAX PAPIS DNQ, TAYLER MALSAM DNQ, MIKE SKINNER
JOHANNA LONG, No. 20 Panhandle Grading Toyota Tundra, Panhandle Motorsports Starting Position: 5th How was your truck during qualifying? “The truck was awesome. It definitely was. We had a great truck and I knew we would qualify good. Our guys have been working so hard back at the shop to get this Toyota Tundra ready and they did a great job getting it ready. It’s very comfortable, but I have to learn a lot for drafting. I learned a lot in practice. It was the first time that I ever had to draft so it’s definitely different. I learned a lot and I’m really excited to get the race started. In practice I got a lot of help. Mario Gosselin helped me out and also Matt Crafton — I got some pointers from him. Definitely have a lot of people that have helped me.” What does it mean to you to be racing at Daytona? “It’s awesome, I love to be here. I was getting the jitters coming here, but I’m just really excited to be here. I’m so glad that I got this opportunity to come. Our guys have been working so hard back at the shop so I owe it all to them.”
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 15 Wounded Warrior Project Toyota Tundra, Vision Aviation Racing Starting Position: 11th MIGUEL PALUDO, No. 7 Stemco Duroline Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Starting Position: 14th How was your truck in qualifying? “It was good. Like we did in practice — the car is good in the single car runs and will be good in drafting. I think we have a pretty good shot. Me and Timothy (Peters) are close so we are going to try to work together tomorrow. So far so good. I know that we have a pretty good truck in drafting. That is everything here in Daytona. I’ve never been drafting before. I did a little in the ARCA race and I did a lot in both practices and it’s fun. The truck handled really well so that’s why I think we have a pretty good shot.”
TODD BODINE, No. 30 Tire Kingdom-Valvoline Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Starting Position: 15th How is your truck handing this week? “There’s no handling to it. Our Toyota Tundra was really good in the draft. It drives good — doesn’t suck up as good as I would like, but I think everybody has the same problem. I’m very optimistic for the race and I think we’ll be good.”
CHRIS FONTAINE, No. 84 Glenden Enterprises Toyota Tundra, Chris Fontaine Inc. Starting Position: 16th
JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 77 Lofton Cattle Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Starting Position: 17th How did your truck handle in race trim? “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do any race trim stuff today. We blew a radiator on our first run out. Last night it was great though. It was really comfortable and drove really well. Mine and Max Papis’ trucks worked really, really well together. We’re going to try to hook up tomorrow and go to the front. Plenty of power under the hood. Just going to go out there and make it in the show and run a clean race and hopefully see that No. 77 Toyota Tundra upfront.”
JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 77 Lofton Cattle Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing (continued) How has your experience been so far with Germain Racing? “It’s been great. It’s one big family and I’m really, really happy over there. I look forward to a great season with them and hopefully we can keep our relationship going.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 K&N Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Starting Position: 18th
How was your truck handling in practice and qualifying? “It’s good. We fought a little bit of drivability yesterday by myself, but Butch Hylton (crew chief) and all the guys did a great job working on it to get it where it didn’t wander. We jumped up in the draft in the middle of practice today and our Toyota Tundra was good. I have a few concerns about it sucking up, but once I get in the whole pack I guess that will go away a little bit. All in all our K&N Filters Tundra is pretty good. Hopefully we can survive all the laps and be there at the end and maybe have the same result as we did a year ago.”
How important will it be to have a drafting partner tomorrow night? “Our teammate will be great to be with. We definitely need to have a drafting partner for sure. The best part about the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is that it’s every man for himself it seems like. May the best man win. They draft so well and the closer rate is so tremendous on these trucks — a drafting partner will pay dividends at the end rather than the beginning.”
How has your relationship been with Butch Hylton as your new crew chief? “We’re actually getting along great. What I’ve seen in the shop, I’m ecstatic about the changes. Our equipment is better. Daytona is always going to be Daytona. If we can get through here with a solid finish, it’s a great start to the year in points. Then we head on to Phoenix where we control a little bit more of our fate.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Starting Position: 21st
How did you feel about your qualifying lap? “It doesn’t really matter. What we come here to do is to race. We’ll see where that stacks us up. Tomorrow night should be a good race and I’m looking forward to it.”
What is your relationship with Dollar General this year? “Dollar General has been really good to me. They’ve been a great bunch of guys to work with and I’ve worked with them since 2008 in the Nationwide Series. We’re excited about it. I have a good opportunity with those guys coming on board with us this year. We’ve got eight races with them right now. Trying to bump it up to maybe a little bit more. We’ll play things slow and see how it goes.”
How will you approach the owner’s championship again this year? “You just try to repeat. The biggest thing we can do this year is try to do the best we can at what we do and try to go after another owner’s championship. Maybe somewhere down the road try to start up a second team and get somebody else out there to where we can get something going for next year. Maybe a full time deal where somebody can go after a full championship with Kyle Busch Motorsports.”
TJ BELL, No. 50 Liberty Tire Recycling/Pinnacle Rubber Mulch Toyota Tundra, Make Motorsports Starting Position: 22nd
TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 5 International Truck-Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra Camry, Randy Moss Motorsports Starting Position: 24th How was your qualifying lap? “We didn’t really know what to expect. We didn’t do any qualifying effort at all. Just worked on drafting and race trim. We didn’t really put any emphasis on qualifying. Somewhere in the top-20 is good enough so hopefully it hangs in there.”
TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 5 International Truck-Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra Camry, Randy Moss Motorsports (continued) How did your truck handle in the draft during practice? “It handles excellent. It has really good power. We just keep trying to get it a little better. Everybody it seems like in the Truck Series you have a hard time really closing that gap up and getting to somebody’s bumper and really be able to help him. We just kept working on that with some different things to see if we can improve that. Definitely made some gains and I think we’ll be just fine during the race tomorrow night.” Are you excited to be back in the Truck Series competing for a championship? “It’s a lot of fun. The Truck Series is pretty special to me. I had a lot of success here in the past so I’m excited to be with such a great team with Randy Moss Motorsports and International Trucks. I’m just excited to have an opportunity to run good and win races.”
DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry Toyota Tundra, SS Green Light Racing Starting Position: 25th
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Starting Position: 26th How is your truck handling? “Our Tundra is fantastic. We didn’t do any qualifying runs. We did a couple things to help our teammates to know stickers or scuffs. Right now, Todd (Bodine) is the only one that beat us. If we’re top -20 I would be happy, but it might not be and that’s okay. It’s Daytona and our Tundras are bad fast in the draft.” Would you like to duplicate your win from the Rolex 24 Hour race at Daytona? “I wouldn’t mind duplicating that win in the 24 Hours. I had a great time in that thing and I would love to do it again. This is what I do for a living now. I’ve got my son here trying to get two for two in victory lane and would love to wear my first Toyota hat in victory lane.”
CRAIG GOESS, No. 46 Greenville Toyota Toyota Tundra, Eddie Sharp Racing Starting Position: 28th
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 51 Vision Aviation Toyota Tundra, Vision Aviation Racing Starting Position: 34th
How did your truck handle during your qualifying lap? “It was good for being the backup. I was really proud of the effort that all of the guys put in on that truck. It wasn’t what we were hoping for. Obviously you always want to come and qualify on the pole. It drafts good and I think it’s going to do everything we need it to do to be competitive tomorrow night.”
MAX PAPIS, No. 9 GEICO Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Starting Position: 36th
Does it make you nervous having to qualify into tomorrow night’s race? “I’ve been in this position having to qualify on time I’d say 90 percent of the NASCAR races that I’ve done. Let me tell you, the GEICO Toyota went up to speed really well. The guys have done a tremendous job in the wintertime. It was very slippery. We can do everything we can. I think we maximize what we have and now we’re going to see. Yesterday in race trim we were definitely in the top-10 all of the time and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s going to shape up.”
TAYLER MALSAM, No. 25 One Eighty Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Starting Position: DNQ
MIKE SKINNER, No. 45 Cushman Toyota Tundra, Eddie Sharp Racing Starting Position: DNQ
