Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes Bristol Aug. 2014

TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES
August 18 – August 24, 2014

TOYOTA TIDBITS

COUNTING CAMRYS:  On Tuesday afternoon Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announced a fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) team for 2015 with Carl Edwards driving the No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry.  In addition, it was announced that Daniel Suarez will become the first Mexican-born driver to compete full time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) in 2015.  Suarez will carry primary sponsorship from ARRIS throughout the season and will also compete in select NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) races for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

TOYOTA TALLY IN TENNESSEE:  In Toyota’s 10 years of NASCAR competition, Camry and Tundra drivers have made more visits to victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway than any other track — 20 total wins.  Toyota NSCS drivers have accumulated five wins at the half-mile Tennessee track, dating back to 2009 when Kyle Busch swept both NSCS races that season as well as claiming the trophy in 2010 and 2011.  Matt Kenseth drove his Camry to victory lane at Bristol in last year’s August night race, while his teammate Denny Hamlin won the August 2012 event.  In the NNS, Busch has been nothing short of dominant, earning six of the seven Camry NNS wins at Bristol, including three straight from August 2010 to August 2011 and again most recently from March 2013 through this year’s spring race.  In the NCWTS, Tundra drivers have collected a total of seven wins at Bristol dating back to Mike Skinner in 2005 and most recently Busch in August 2013 – winning all but two of the last nine events.

DOMINANT PERFORMANCE:  Tundra drivers have won the first 11 of the 12 races in NCWTS competition this year.  Tundra drivers previously set a new series record with  12 consecutive race wins which began last season when teenager Erik Jones captured the checkered flag at Phoenix International Raceway (11-8-13)Tundra drivers to register wins this season include Busch (Daytona, Kansas, Charlotte, Dover and Kentucky), Matt Crafton (Martinsville and Texas), Darrell Wallace Jr. (St. Louis and Eldora), Johnny Sauter (Iowa) and Jones (Iowa).  Tundra drivers are looking to continue their winning ways of 2014 as the series takes on the Bristol half-mile.  Toyota is the winningest manufacturer in the NCWTS at Bristol recording seven victories at the Tennessee oval.

TOYOTA’S 10 YEARS IN NASCAR:  Toyota is celebrating its 10th anniversary in NASCAR this year.  Here is another highlight from Toyota’s first 10 years in the sport.  Camry driver Kyle Busch becomes the first driver in NASCAR history to sweep all three races in a single weekend after winning the NSCS, NNS and NCWTS races at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway (Aug. 21, 2010).

NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS):  Camry driver Matt Kenseth is currently fifth in the NSCS standings — trailing leader Jeff Gordon by 107 points … Camry drivers Clint Bowyer (10th), Kyle Busch (15th), Brian Vickers (18th) and Denny Hamlin (20th) also rank in the top-20 in the point standings following 23 of 36 races this season … Busch and Hamlin both clinched positions in the Chase following the Michigan race weekend … Both Darian Grubb, crew chief on the No. 11 FedEx Camry, and TRD President David Wilson are graduates of Virginia Tech — scheduled to compete in a college football game against the University of Tennessee at Bristol in 2016.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Are you looking forward to returning to Bristol?
“I love Bristol and getting back there running all three divisions is going to be fun again.  Being able to get back in the Truck of course and then run the Nationwide car and also run the Cup car.  We’d love to be able to repeat 2010 — that would be amazing — and do another trifecta.  But, since they’ve ground that place it’s not necessarily been my best track lately.  So, I’ve got some work to do to figure out how to get better there and make it happen.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Is Bristol a track you look forward to each season?

“I always look forward to going to Bristol because I think that the racing has always been pretty good there.  Certainly the track changes a lot as the top line rubbers up throughout the weekend, but I’m looking forward to getting there this weekend.  The last three races at Bristol, our No. 20 team has run really well even though we got wrecked out of two of those races and won the third.  Bristol is one of the more physically demanding tracks that isn’t very forgiving and there’s a fine line between going fast and getting stuck in the fence, so it’s all about finding that balance.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS):  Camry drivers Elliott Sadler (third) and James Buescher (10th) are currently in the top-10 in the NNS point standings following 22 of 33 races this season … Kevin Kidd, crew chief on the No. 20 Camry driven by Erik Jones, is from nearby Tazewell, Va.

 
ELLIOTT SADLER, No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How special is Bristol?
“No matter how many times I go to Bristol Motor Speedway, I still get goose bumps.  Bristol has a different type of atmosphere.  It really does feel like you are a gladiator fighting in the last standing coliseum.  Bristol is not only one of my favorite race tracks, but it is also where I won my first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.  To this day, when interviewers ask do I have a favorite win, my response is always, ‘How can I not say my first win is my favorite win!’  I’m excited to be back at Bristol this weekend with Sport Clips on board our Camry and I’d love to get another win and move up the driver points standings.”

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS):  Tundra drivers Johnny Sauter (first), Matt Crafton (second), Darrell Wallace Jr. (fifth), German Quiroga (sixth), Timothy Peters (seventh) and Jeb Burton (10th) rank in the top-10 of the NCWTS point standings after 12 of 22 races this season …Justin Boston will make his first career NCWTS start in the No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Tundra at Bristol … John Wes Townley will return to the cockpit of the No. 05 Zaxby’s Tundra at Bristol after missing the NCWTS races at Pocono and Michigan due to an accident during qualifying for the ARCA race at Pocono.

JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Nextant Aerospace Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
How much momentum do you have heading to Bristol following the Michigan victory?
“Bristol is one of my favorites, it always has been.  It’s short-track racing at its best and I just can’t get enough of that. Historically, it’s been a good track for me, especially in the trucks, and the new configuration is all about racing, at least I think so because it gives you options to move around.  You have to stay focused because it’s really fast and things happen in a hurry.  I feel like I’ve always been better the second-half of the season and coming off a win at one of my worst race tracks gives me confidence.  (Jeff) Hensley (crew chief) has only been with the team for a short time, but he has already made some strides that I feel will keep us moving in the right direction.  I’m looking forward to what the second-half of the season has in store.”

TOYOTA 2014 NASCAR STATISTICS

Series Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led
NSCS 23 215 (20) 2 25 50 5 99 923
NNS 22 212 (37) 5 32 54 6 79 1,379
NCWTS 12 127 (18) 11 34 66 5 81 1,476

TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Bristol Motor Speedway (NSCS, NNS & NCWTS)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Camry
Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Camry
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Camry
Alex Bowman, No. 23 Camry
Cole Whitt, No. 26 Camry
Brian Vickers, No. 55 Camry

Joe Nemechek, No. 66 Camry
Ryan Truex, No. 83 Camry

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Blake Koch, No. 10 Camry
Elliott Sadler, No. 11 Camry
Carl Long, No. 13 Camry
Jeff Green, No. 14 Camry
Hermie Sadler, No. 19 Camry
Erik Jones, No. 20 Camry
John Wes Townley, No. 25 Camry
Milka Duno, No. 29 Camry
David Starr, No. 44 Camry
Kyle Busch, No. 54 Camry
James Buescher, No. 99 Camry
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Travis Kvapil, No. 05 Tundra
John H. Nemechek, No. 8 Tundra
Jeb Burton, No. 13 Tundra
Timothy Peters, No. 17 Tundra
Justin Boston, No. 25 Tundra
Mason Mingus, No. 35 Tundra
Kyle Busch, No. 51 Tundra
Darrell Wallace Jr., No. 54 Tundra
German Quiroga, No. 77 Tundra
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Tundra
Johnny Sauter, No. 98 Tundra

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