David Reutimann was the
top finishing Camry driver
at Nashville with his No. 99
Aaron's Dream Machine Camry
earning a third-place
result. Mike Wallace earned
his best finish of the
season (sixth) after also
earning his best qualifying
effort of the season
(ninth). Other Camry drivers
in the field tonight
included Kyle Busch (20th),
Jason Leffler (26th) and
Joey Logano (31st). Logano
earned his first career NNS
pole position when he took
the top starting spot for
today's race. It was also
Toyota's seventh pole of the
2008 season. Toyota drivers
led 108 of 225 laps in
tonight's race - Logano (64
laps), Reutimann (43 laps)
and Wallace (one lap). Camry
drivers have now led a total
of 2,151 laps in NNS
competition since the
beginning of the 2007
season. Today's event marks
the 50th start for the
Toyota Camry in NNS
competition since entering
the series at the beginning
of the 2007 season.
Reutimann and Leffler have
started every Nationwide
race the Camry has competed
in.
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 99
Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota
Camry, Michael Waltrip
Racing Finished: 3rd Can you
talk about your last lap and
your third-place finish? "It
didn't work out. We had a
good car, and that last
yellow killed us."
What were your emotions
as you climbed from your
race car? "We didn't win the
race. When you have a lead
like that, and you end up
third, it doesn't -- these
races aren't all that easy
to win, despite what some
people think. And, when you
have a chance to win, and
you don't, its cause for me
to get a little upset."
What happened on that
last restart? "The No. 2 got
a good start and we got down
into (turn) three and he was
real close to the back of me
and got me loose. He didn't
touch me - we were racing. I
let him get too close to me
and it wiggled us up the
race track. Then we got
moved up again and just lost
positions and had to get
back down. Once the 2 got to
us, it was game over."
If it would have stayed
green, would fuel have been
an issue? "We were riding
fairly well, so we would
have been okay on fuel. We
weren't going to have a
whole lot left, extra, but
we would've been fine."
MIKE WALLACE, No. 7 GEICO
Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Finished: 6th What do you
think about getting your
best finish of the season?
"I'm very, very excited
about it. How does it always
happen when you get your
best finish you're wishing
for one more spot? I was
trying to get in the
top-five of course and a
little bragging rights for
the team and bonus money for
them. All in all, our team
is really coming together
good. The guys are doing a
really good job and
everybody on the GEICO
Toyota Camry from Germain
Racing - things are working
and starting to develop. We
were working on top-10s and
now were getting closer to
those top-fives. We said
once we got ourselves so we
could run in the top-five
then we'd be in the position
to win and that's what we
need to do."
How's your season been so
far, are you where you
thought you'd be right now?
"I think we got off to a
little slower start than I
was hoping we would. We were
running very respectable
right now. We're all in a
position where we want to
win a race and put ourselves
in that spot. I talked to
our sponsor last week and
their very happy with our
performance and what we're
doing on and off the race
track for them and that
meant a lot to me. We're not
under any pressure to do
anything other than what we
know how to do ourselves.
That's good and the team
wants to win. That's why I
went to Germain Racing,
because they know how to win
races. Even though this is
kind of a new deal for them,
they still know how to do it
and I'm really happy with
the guys and good pit stops
are all coming together.
Some of our difficulties at
the first of the year and I
think we're getting them all
ironed out."
TRENT OWENS, Crew Chief,
No. 32 Dollar General Toyota
Camry, Braun Racing
Finished: 20th Can you talk
about tonight's race for the
No. 32? "It started out
good. They qualified fifth
with no practice - we had
practice but Kyle (Busch)
didn't. We had a top-five
car all night. We made that
first pit stop with small
adjustments with the lack of
him not practicing the car.
We came out of the pits as
one of the faster cars on
the track and then we got
that accident with the No.
20 car when they had their
mishap. From there we kind
of struggled speed-wise
because it messed up the
aero-dynamics of the car. We
probably could have still
finished fourth or fifth. We
had that tire go down and
from their you get a couple
laps down and you can't
really race anybody. All in
all, I'm proud of the guys
on the team - proud of Kyle
for coming in and doing such
a good job. It's hard to put
together a top-five car when
you know you're not going to
run practice. From that
side, I'm proud of the guys
for the performance of the
car from the start of the
race."
What do you think of
Kyle's triple duty weekend?
"We're second in line, kind
of middle of the road. I'm
sure tomorrow is going to be
his toughest day with the
three races and all the
traveling. I don't think
tonight was too bad on him
but definitely tomorrow
during the day at Pocono is
going to be his toughest
challenge. The Nationwide
race wasn't really that long
of a race and it was at
night and that all is a
help."
JASON LEFFLER, No. 38
Great Clips Toyota Camry,
Braun Racing Finished: 26th
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20
GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe
Gibbs Racing Finished: 31st
What happened during the
race to bring your car
behind pit wall to repair
damage? "We had a really
good car. Obviously, we put
it on the pole and led the
first part of the race
there. We made our green
flag stop and were still in
the lead. Then, we came in
and took those four tires
and it put us back there in
the trash. You got lap cars
that are way slower than you
and they're all sideways.
You put stickers on and
you're obviously going to be
looser. Somewhere within
that mess - I'm not sure
what happened behind me but
I got tagged in the left
rear and around I went. I
got hit hard enough that I
knew I wasn't going to save
that thing. It was
definitely a bummer. We had
a great car - a car that
could win the race and
couldn't capitalize on it."
Is what happened tonight
part of the overall learning
process? "Once you go out
there and ride around,
that's what you're doing,
riding around. You get out
of everybody's way. You
don't want to get in the
mess because you have
nothing to gain. You don't
feel like riding in the back
with all the junk. What are
you supposed to do? It
pretty much was boring from
there on out. You got no one
to race and you're just
making laps."