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Posted on September 23, 2007 PopUpScript Email   Print

 

TOYOTA NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Post-Race Notes & Quotes Smith's Las Vegas 350 -- Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- September 22, 2007

 

Tundra drivers Johnny Benson (second) and Terry Cook (fourth) recorded top-five finishes this evening. Tundra driver Josh Wise (sixth) also recorded a top-10 finishes this evening -- his career-best result. Other Tundra drivers in the race included Mike Skinner (13th), Ted Musgrave (15th), David Green (18th), Jacques Villeneuve (21st), Todd Bodine (28th) and Jack Sprague (32nd). Tundra drivers led 64 laps of the 146-lap event. Skinner led five laps (1-5), Bodine led 45 laps (22-33 and 38-70) and Benson led 14 laps (71-83 and 142). Tundras have won nine races this season. Skinner has four wins (California, Atlanta, Martinsville and Kentucky) and Benson has three victories (Milwaukee, Bristol and St. Louis). Sprague (Daytona) and Bodine (Texas) each have one win this year. This NCTS race at Las Vegas was the 94th race for Toyota in the Craftsman Truck Series since the beginning of the 2004 season. Skinner has been behind the wheel of a Tundra for all 94 races. Tundras have won 34 races since the beginning of the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season. Drivers who have registered wins driving Tundras include Bodine (11), Benson (8), Skinner (7), Sprague (3), Travis Kvapil (2), David Reutimann (1), David Starr (1) and Brandon Whitt (1). JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished: 2nd How was your race? “We were a little bit too tight. We only had about eight or nine laps on this set-up and my guys did a great job. It was a great run. I thought when I was coming out of turn one I had it and I didn't know where he (Travis Kvapil) was -- I thought he was off the race track. If I could have gotten through turns three and four I think I could have had it. Travis Kvapil ran a great race. We are very happy with second.” What do you think about the racing grooves here at LVMS? “This track had an outside groove here last year so I expected it to come in. It takes half the race for it to come in and once it did Travis to the front came on it. I didn't know he was coming, I wish I did and I would have gotten by the 21 earlier. In fresh air we were pretty good -- anyone was really good up there.”

TERRY COOK, No. 59 Harris Trucking Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports Finished: 4th How was your race? “It feels really good to get back in the top-five. Our program keeps getting better and better. We are qualifying and practicing better and we were able to put it all together for a top-five racing effort. The truck was good enough to run in the top-five -- it was solid. I actually thought we had a shot at second or third when they were running there pretty aggressive for a while. We had a lot of fun racing here in Las Vegas.” What do you think about the racing grooves here at LVMS? “I thought they were going to wreck really, really hard getting into turn two with two or three laps to go. They were three wide. Johnny (Benson) was down -- I thought he was going to scuff the left side tires he was so low. Last year when we were here the second groove was really treacherous and as the race moves on the groove moves up and we have to clean it up a little bit. Two and three wide is exciting racing and Las Vegas did a great job to create such an awesome race track.”

JOSH WISE, No. 00 Aaron's Lucky Dog Toyota Tundra, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Finished: 6th How was your race tonight? “We've improved in the last two races. We didn't qualify well but we've improved. The guys had really good pit stops and our truck was awesome. This was my best career finish and it feels good -- it feels awesome! We are making progress. We definitely had some struggles this year but these guys keep believing and working hard at the shop and it's showing at the race track.”

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished: 13th How was your race tonight? “I've heard we did (get the point's lead back) and I heard that we didn't. Whatever it is we didn't capitalize on our night very well at all. The truck was horrible all night long. We felt we had a tire going down early. I don't know if it was a bent wheel or what was going on with it. We just struggled all night. The right front tire was flat when we ended the race so another couple of laps we would have blown ours. It was just one of those deals, Ronnie (Hornaday) had bad luck. I don't know if we got the lead but at least I know we tightened it up some so I guess we can't complain.” ***Skinner unofficially regained the point's lead by three points (3,064) over second-place Ron Hornaday.

TED MUSGRAVE, No. 9 Team ASE Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finished: 15th

DAVID GREEN, No. 1 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finished: 18th JACQUES VILLENEUVE, No. 27 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished: 21st How was your race? “It was a great experience. We learned a lot tonight -- we had a lot of good pit stops. The truck was running really strong in the first part of the race and the lap times showed that. It was a little loose in the beginning and then it got settled in. I was running high and came off the gas and came up on the back of the red truck (No. 16 of Brian Scott). After that I lost all the down force. The truck got really tight and it was just a matter of trying to patch it up and trying to run to the end. It was a great learning experience and the team was very helpful today.” How much did you learn about driving these trucks in race conditions tonight? “I learned quite a lot. First of all I got cut out on the first restart. That was a fun learning experience. It's quite aggressive in the first laps -- everyone runs aggressively. They slide the trucks around and it's good to see that you can slide the trucks quite a lot without crashing.” What do you think you accomplished tonight? “We saw the checkered flag, which is good without too many incidents. We had pit stops and I worked with the spotter. That was very important -- that was the key today. Talladega is a very different track and I expect it to be very different than here.”

TODD BODINE, No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finished: 28th How was your race? “We made some adjustments that made us get loose and we were trying to catch those guys. I was just hanging on. Evidently Rick's (Crawford) spotter didn't tell him I was out there and he ran me up into the wall. I should have got out of there. This is the first DNF in a long time for this team. We had a great truck -- man this Tundra was fast. This is one of our strong suits, these race tracks, especially here in Las Vegas. We had the truck to win the race and it's a shame we have to end it like this.”

JACK SPRAGUE, No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota Tundra, Wyler Racing Finished: 32nd What made you hit the wall on lap 31? “We just blew a right front. It's just unfortunate -- I don't know if we ran over something or what happened. It's unfortunate because with the way the wind was blowing I hit the wall really hard, but it wasn't going to be that bad. We just can't catch a break. We were really struggling right there, we were hitting the nose really hard. We were waiting for a caution to work on it and low and behold we were the caution. The guys work hard and putting out the effort -- we are just having a rough time. I'm sure we'll get back out there. Not sure how good it will be but we'll get back out there and finish the race.”

 

 

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