2007 ARCHIVES

 

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Posted on July 15, 2007 PopUpScript Email   Print

 

Toyota NCTS Post-Race Notes & Quotes Kentucky Speedway – July 14, 2007

 

Mike Skinner led 135 of 150 laps at Kentucky to score his fourth win of the season in the No. 5 Tundra and 23rd of his NCTS career. He also won at California, Atlanta and Martsinsville earlier this season. Tundra drivers Ted Musgrave (third), Ryan Mathews (fourth) and David Green (fifth) all scored top-five finishes Saturday night. Other Tundras in the field included: Todd Bodine (11th), Jack Sprague (13th), Johnny Benson (14th), Josh Wise (21st) and Terry Cook (31st). Tundras have won seven of 13 races this season. In addition to Skinner’s four wins, Sprague (Daytona), Bodine (Texas) and Benson (Milwaukee) each have one win apiece. Mathews started on the pole in the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Tundra. It was the first pole of his career – in just his seventh start – and the 11th of the season for Toyota in 13 races. The win marks the 32nd for Toyota in NCTS competition and Mathews’ pole was the 43rd for a Tundra since 2004. Skinner has now led at least one lap in each of the first 13 races this season, setting a NCTS record for consecutive races led to start a season. Green made his first-career start in a Tundra Saturday night, and his first NCTS start since 1997.

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished: 1st Can you talk about your win tonight? “The truck was awesome tonight. I need to thank Bill Davis Racing and Toyota for this great truck and letting me drive it. We’ve been getting beat lately, but we’ve been steady. We’ve been finishing in the top-five or top- 10 every week. That’s what our strategy is for the rest of the year. Actually, that strategy started at the beginning of the year in Daytona, which I think has helped us. It was a great night. These Toyotas are awesome.” How easy was the victory from your view? “It wasn’t that easy. I had a dominant truck, but I was just waiting for something to happen. I was waiting for a flat tire or a caution, but luckily, it all worked well. We were able to get the lead and pull away a little bit and sit on it. Jeff Hensley (crew chief) was giving me the lap times of the guys trying to chase me, so I knew what I had to run to stay out there. We just kept getting better and better throughout the race. I knew we had a pretty good truck after practice yesterday, but I didn’t know it was going to be this good tonight.”

TED MUSGRAVE, No. 9 Team ASE Tundra, Germain Racing Finished: 3rd Can you talk about your run tonight? “The truck was good. We got tight there at the end of the race when we were battling for second, but I’m happy with a third-place finish. We just have to work on our tightness a little bit off the corner. We’re getting close. We’re not out of the ballpark, but we just need a little bit more. My hat is off to the guys on the Germain Racing team for rallying around me this week. It was a good truck and a good effort – we just came up a little short.” Is it frustrating to know how good the No. 5 truck was all night? “It was a little frustrating, only because we knew we were doing all we could to catch him, but couldn’t. We did the best we could tonight, and we were trying to find the weak point in our truck to make it faster. We made adjustments, but it wasn’t enough. We never gave up, though. Anything could’ve happened to the No. 5 truck – a flat tire or getting caught up with a lapped truck. It’s tough when you’re doing everything you can do and he’s driving away from you.”

RYAN MATHEWS, No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished: 4th How was the race weekend for you? “We weren’t that good yesterday in practice – nothing to brag about. All of a sudden, we come out this afternoon and get the pole and had a great truck in the race on the long runs. If this race was only two cautions, we might’ve had something for the No. 5 truck. We were just bad off restarts – that’s where we lost positions.” What does this do for your confidence? “This helps my confidence a lot. We finished sixth in Memphis for our first top-10 and now we came here and got a pole and a top-five, so it’s big for me. When you’re going on a hot streak, it helps everybody’s confidence. Hopefully, we can build on this momentum and continue to have solid runs. I just can’t thank Bill and Gail Davis enough for giving me this opportunity. This is a great truck and a great team, and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

DAVID GREEN, No. 1 Red Horse Racing Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finished: 5th How much fun did you have tonight? “Tonight was a lot of fun. The races I won in the Busch Series and races that were very mentally stressful don’t even hold a candle to what it takes to run these things. We ran 16 laps tonight before the first caution and the crew told me it was 16 laps down, and I felt like I ran 200 laps. I’ve never been in a race with that fast of a pace and I’m sure the racetrack added to that. I take responsibility a little bit for getting us in the wrong direction because yesterday I had no idea what this thing is supposed to feel like. What a great effort. It’s good to be back in the top-five and run competitively. All in all, it was a good night.”

TODD BODINE, No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Tundra, Germain Racing Finished: 11th

JACK SPRAGUE, No. 60 Con-way Freight Tundra, Wyler Racing Finished: 13th

JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 TCUV Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished: 14th

JOSH WISE, No. 00 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Tundra, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Finished: 21st

TERRY COOK, No. 59 Harris Trucking Tundra, HT Motorsports Finished: 31st

 

 

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