TOYOTA NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Homestead-Miami Speedway – November 16, 2012
Kyle Busch (second) was the highest finishing Toyota driver in Friday evening’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Busch started sixth and led the field three times for 45 laps (of 140) at the 1.5-mile Florida oval.
Tundra drivers Johnny Sauter (sixth), Parker Kligerman (seventh), Timothy Peters (eighth) and Ross Chastain (10th) also earned top-10 finishes.
Peters finished the year second in the unofficial NCWTS point standings. Tundra drivers Kligerman (fifth), Crafton (sixth) and Sauter (ninth) also ended the year in the top-10 in the point standings following the season-finale at Homestead.
Other Tundra drivers in the field at Homestead included Todd Bodine (11th), Matt Crafton (12th), German Quiroga (15th), David Starr (16th), John Wes Townley (32nd) and Dusty Davis (34th).
Kligerman started from the pole and led five laps. Sauter and Bodine each led four laps.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 2nd How was your race? “We had a really good truck all day today. We just kind of watched Nelson (Piquet Jr.) run up there and Kyle Larson and those guys ran a good race too — and they were really fast. So, we just bided our time and kept working on our stuff and making adjustments there to try to get it better and that last run there the battle we had with (Matt) Crafton I was really loose, but I was giving it everything I had. Just hate it that we had that caution that came out and then we had the red flag and then – – well we had a caution and then we had another caution with the red flag. Just brought too many trucks and changed the order around too much. Came down to losing it on a yellow again. That’s about it.”
Can you describe what happened on the last lap? “I got drove into the fence. That’s it.”
How do you feel about the season? “I’ve just got to thank Dollar General and Toyota and all of our guys that do such a great job at supporting us all through the year and unfortunately we’re sponsor-less next year so we’ll see what happens through the off-season. We won’t have Dollar General back, but we appreciate Rick Dreiling (Dollar General CEO) and everybody — all of their support over there.”
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 13 SealMaster/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing Finishing Position: 6th
PARKER KLIGERMAN, No. 7 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 7th How was your race this evening? “Our No. 7 Tundra was top-three to start off and throughout the night I felt like we were a top-three truck. We just couldn’t get the right restart line and when we did we got back to where I felt we were going to get the lead from the 18 (Kyle Busch), and they threw the caution. Then we got put back on the restart. We got a great restart and got down to (turns) three and four and by the time we were in (turn) four — we were fifth and you never lifted. From there, we just never got the right line on the restarts and were just holding on to top-five. Being tight all night. Chad (Kendrick, crew chief) and the guys did a good job. It just wasn’t our night. We got damage on (turn) four and that just killed our right rear quarter-panel. ”
How do you remember this 2012 season? “There are two parts to my season. There were 11 races at BKR (Brad Keselowski Racing) and 11 races here at Red Horse Racing. If I’d done what I did here (at Red Horse Racing) in these last 11 races in the first 11 races — we’d be the champs right now by a long shot. I’m proud of all these guys. Chad (Kendrick, crew chief) and all these guys on this team do a great job. When I left that other deal (at BKR) my career didn’t have a lot of promise and these guys put the fun back in racing and gave me a lot of promise. I can’t thank them enough.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 8th How was your race? “Eventful, but I didn’t help matters getting into the fence earlier in practice today. All in all, still a great effort by everybody on this Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra team all year long. We didn’t lose it just in this race. I made some wrong choices earlier this year that got us behind the eight ball. Hey, this is the best year I’ve ever had. So, I’m disappointed not to win — anybody would be — but it’s pretty cool to come home second. I couldn’t be any happier”
Was this year a good experience? “It was. To be a part of everything. I think that was the wow factor. To come down early (to Miami), to be part of the press conference, and second year in a row getting to go to the banquet. This time we’re second.”
Does this give you confidence going into next season? “Oh yeah, it gives us a ton of confidence. We’ll just go to work early over the off-season and come out strong at Daytona.”
ROSS CHASTAIN, No. 08 Custom Cooling Toyota Tundra, Green Light Racing Finishing Position: 10th
TODD BODINE, No. 11 Toyota Endeavour Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 11th
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Menards/IdealDoor Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing Finishing Position: 12th
GERMAN QUIROGA, No. 51 NET10 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 15th
DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry Toyota Tundra, Arrington Racing Finishing Position: 16th
JOHN WES TOWNLEY, No. 09 Zaxby’s Toyota Tundra, RAB Racing Finishing Position: 32nd
DUSTY DAVIS, No. 20 SpeedwayPolish Toyota Tundra Finishing Position: 34th
