Kyle Busch won his third
NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series (NCTS) race of the
season Wednesday night at
Bristol Motor Speedway.
Busch won back-to-back races
earlier this season at
California (Feb. 23) and
Atlanta (March 7). Busch led
twice for a race-high 145 of
203 laps in the Billy Ballew
Motorsports No. 51 Tundra.
Todd Bodine (second),
pole-sitter Scott Speed
(third) and Johnny Benson
(fourth) also scored
top-five finishes for
Toyota. Tundra drivers Mike
Skinner (seventh), David
Stremme (ninth), Ted
Musgrave (10th), Justin
Marks (22nd), Terry Cook
(23rd), David Starr (29th)
and Ken Schrader (33rd) were
also in the field. Busch's
win is the eighth of the
season for Toyota in NCTS
competition, and 47th for
the manufacturer since
joining the series in 2004.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 51
Miccosukee Resorts/NOS
Energy Drink Toyota Tundra,
Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finished: 1st How does it
feel to get to victory lane
for the third time in the
Truck Series this year? "It
feels pretty good. This is
definitely a great race
team. It's a lot of fun with
Billy Ballew (owner), Richie
(Wauters, crew chief) and
all these guys. We just had
a great race tonight. This
thing was pretty good when
we unloaded it. Same stuff
as last year. We just kind
of fine-tuned on it a little
bit. We got into it a little
bit with Johnny (Benson)
there. Sorry about that. I
didn't even see him come
down there. I got my nose in
there, and he was trying to
miss a lapped truck, I
guess. Overall, we just
wanted to stay up front up
all night and keep our nose
clean. To bring this
Miccosukee Resorts and NOS
Energy Drink Toyota to
victory lane is awesome."
What does it mean to have
won in all three NASCAR
series at Bristol? "It's fun
to be able to win anywhere.
It's also fun to win in
anything at any track, but
to win in all three series
at one track is pretty
special. I've been able to
do it at Phoenix and here,
and one shy at a couple
other places, two shy at
some places and three shy at
most of them. I've still got
a long way to go. I have to
thank all the guys at Toyota
and TRD."
Did you learn anything
for the Cup Series and
Nationwide Series races
later this week? "A little
bit. Some of those guys
started off pretty tight and
just got tighter. I started
off loose and got a little
tight. I was just a little
freer than those guys. I was
a little bit more able to
carry my speed better
through the corners than
they were, and that helped
me. I just got some good
restarts and was able to
hold them off."
TODD BODINE, No. 30
Lumber Liquidators Toyota
Tundra, Germain Racing
Finished: 2nd There were
reports your engine was
sputtering. Did you have any
problems? "The last half of
the race it (engine) didn't
do it, but it did it really
bad there one time. It kind
of worried me, but it didn't
do it after that. I was
keeping it cleaned out
really good on the restarts
and on the cautions and
trying to keep it cleaned
out. This Toyota power plant
ran good. The Toyota Tundra
was awesome. The Lumber
Liquidators crew did a great
job. We've struggled the
last month-and-a-half,
running really well and
getting caught up in wrecks,
and just dumb things
happening. Last week, we got
third in Nashville and we
got second tonight. So,
hopefully we got this
Germain race team turned
around and going in the
right direction again."
Could you have caught
Kyle Busch? "No. His truck
would roll in the center and
that's where he would beat
me. We had that problem in
practice. Unfortunately, it
was still there in the race
-- we didn't get it fixed. I
could run with him
everywhere except through
the middle. At Bristol,
that's what you have to do
-- you have to roll through
the middle good."
Did you have to worry
about Scott Speed? "Scott
(Speed) was good. I think
Scott (Speed) actually had a
little better truck than us,
but when you're that close
in speed it's hard to pass.
He did a great job and
Johnny (Benson) did also
coming back with those
tires."
TODD BODINE, No. 30
Lumber Liquidators Toyota
Tundra, Germain Racing
(continued) Why did you have
'Beautiful' written above
your race truck's door? "I
really wanted to win this
race for 'Big Guy' (Steve
Helwig). If you met 'Big
Guy' he was your best
friend. That's just the kind
of person he was. We got a
big hole in our hearts right
now. I wanted to win this
for him. I got 'Beautiful'
up here on the truck --
that's 'Big Guy's' saying --
that's what he's known for.
We tried to get a beautiful
win for him but just didn't
get it,"
SCOTT SPEED, No. 22 Red
Bull Toyota Tundra, Bill
Davis Racing Finished: 3rd
What's your first impression
of racing at Bristol? "It
was cool. The racing was a
lot more difficult than
driving in qualifying. It
was great. Honestly,
definitely one of the more
fun tracks -- like Michigan,
where you can really run
two-wide, there are two
grooves here. For short
track stuff -- this is
easily my favorite."
Have you every seen this
race track before? "I've
seen it (Bristol) on TV.
Being here is a lot
different when you take the
car on the track in person.
The banking is more
aggressive in person. It's
just two corners though.
They give me a good truck --
like they always do -- then
we normally run in the
front."
Did you have anything for
Todd Bodine late in the
race? "We were fast. I saved
a lot in the middle knowing
we had to be good in the
end. Honestly, at the end, I
think we had the best truck
out there. We saved our
right front really well, but
with all the
green-white-checkers and
everything -- and me and
Johnny (Benson) getting
together really bad -- we
missed our opportunity to
attack."
JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23
EXIDE Batteries Toyota
Tundra, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 4th How was your
race tonight and how costly
was the late pit stop for
tires? "Well, it was okay.
Trip Bruce (crew chief) and
the guys -- week in and week
out -- do a great job on
this Exide Tundra. We're
pretty excited about how the
night ended. We were having
tire problems like everybody
out there. We had to pit. We
had to do the safe thing
knowing that we could drive
up there. We just didn't
have enough -- we just
didn't have enough green
stuff and the yellows kind
of caught us in some bad
spots. I'm proud of the
guys. They did a great job."
Do you have to race more
conservatively now that
you're leading the point
standings? No, not at all. I
think we have to win more
races to win the
championship. We're not
going to change anything
we've been doing."
MIKE SKINNER, No. 5
Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis
Racing Finished: 7th
DAVID STREMME, No. 15
Hyprene-Ergon Toyota Tundra,
Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finished: 9th
TED MUSGRAVE, No. 59 Team
ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota
Tundra, HT Motorsports
Finished: 10th
JUSTIN MARKS, No. 9 Crocs
Toyota Tundra, Germain
Racing Finished: 22nd
TERRY COOK, No. 60
Wyler.com Toyota Tundra,
Wyler Racing Finished: 23rd
DAVID STARR, No. 11 Red
Horse Racing Toyota Tundra,
Red Horse Racing Finished:
29th
KEN SCHRADER, No. 52
Federated Auto Parts Toyota
Tundra Finished: 33rd