Sunday
TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series Gateway Post Race Notes & Quotes
Press ReleasePost-Race Notes & Quotes
Gateway International Raceway – July 18, 2009
- Kyle Busch earned his sixth NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) victory of the season in Saturday night’s race at
Gateway International Speedway.
- Busch led five times for 90 (of 200) laps in the 250-mile race to earn his first victory at the 1.25-mile oval.
- The victory was the 16th NNS win for Busch in a Camry and the 31st win for Toyota since entering the series in 2007.
- Toyota drivers Reed Sorenson (second), Brad Coleman (fifth) and Michael Annett (seventh) also posted top-10
finishes.
- Other Camry drivers in the field included Jason Leffler (14th), Trevor Bayne (27th), Kevin Conway (28th), Scott
Lagasse, Jr. (33rd), Chad Blount (36th) and Kelly Bires (40th).
- Busch extends his lead in the unofficial NNS standings by 212 points over second-place Carl Edwards. Other Camry
drivers in the top-15 in the point standings include Leffler (fourth), Logano (fifth), Lagasse, Jr. (12th) and Annett
(14th).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 New Balance Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How does it feel to get your first win at Gateway?
“That’s pretty cool. It goes back to this team. They gave me a great car all weekend long. We fought it a little bit in
practice. We weren’t sure what we had but on the long run, man that thing was really, really good. I want to thank the fans
out here in St. Louis — especially New Balance in their first race on the car. That’s pretty awesome to get them to victory
lane so I’m real proud of that. Z-Line, NOS Energy Drink, Toyota, Directv, Marquis Jet and Gillette of course.”
How did your car handle tonight?
“The car drove really well. We fought it a little bit in practice. We kind of were working on lap time trying to get the car a
little bit faster. The balance seemed to be okay. It was a little bit tight. Yesterday we made some changes to it in practice
and we felt like we were heading in the right direction. Today we went out first in qualifying so we didn’t qualify as well
as we would’ve wanted to back in ninth, but man right at the start of the green flag that thing was a rocket ship. It just
drove right up to the front. I’m real pleased with the way it handled there. We kind of got stuck there in second behind
(Kevin) Harvick and we made some changes to it on that first pit stop to free it up a little bit to make the car handle a little
bit more to my liking and we just got a little bit too loose there. It was loose enough where I liked it but it just wasn’t fast
enough to go early in the run.
It was hard keeping (Kevin) Harvick behind me and Carl (Edwards) and all of those guys
because they were a little bit better than I was at that point. During that long green run where (Kevin) Harvick ran out of
fuel we were saving our stuff and saving fuel to try to make it to the end. We were about seven laps short but we were
running consistent and slower lap times just trying to conserve and make it to the end. We felt like we could’ve but that
caution came out and kind of changed the whole complexion of everything. There at the end of the race we didn’t have to
fight the 60 (Carl Edwards) or the 33 (Kevin Harvick). We had to race the 32 (Reed Sorenson) and we made another
adjustment to tighten up the car a little bit and we seemed to hit home with it right there. The car was really good at the
end of the race and we were able to get a win here tonight.”
Was this one of the hardest fought Nationwide Series races you’ve been in this year?
“It was a good hard fought race there. It was a real battle there with Kevin Harvick. He had a really good car tonight and
unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to race him there at the end. He (Kevin Harvick) ran out (of gas) and I had to come
to pit road and then it kind of got him a lap down I think. This New Balance Toyota was awesome tonight. I’ve got to
really thank the guys. They gave me a great race car. We didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to maybe due to the draw –
maybe just our qualifying setup and stuff — but we ran real good tonight. We were steady all night.”
How much did your race car improve during the race?
“It got a lot better. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and myself talked a lot and we worked on a lot of adjustments. We made
the car better all night and there at the end it was really good and we didn’t have to fight the 60 (Carl Edwards) and we
didn’t have to fight the 33 (Kevin Harvick). They weren’t up there with us. The 32 (Reed Sorenson) was up there and we
had to fight him a little bit there on that restart but fortunately I got a good restart and got out of there without anybody on
my tail too much. I really want to thank the fans. Thanks for coming out to St. Louis and supporting the Nationwide Series
and supporting all of these racers here. We appreciate it.”
Where does this win rank among your wins this season?
“It fits in well because it’s a place that I haven’t won at. The Nationwide Series running here is my only opportunity this
year. The trucks come back but I won’t be able to make it. I think we’re in Richmond or something like that so that would
be too tough to handle. Hopefully this will just keep the momentum rolling. We’ve had real strong Nationwide cars this
year and this is just another good one.”
How much sympathy do you have for Kevin Harvick after the bad luck you’ve had this year?
“That was a bummer. He (Kevin Harvick) really didn’t get good fuel mileage at all because they pitted like six or seven
laps before us on that first stint when we all had to do our green flag stops. I’m not sure if they are struggling a little bit on
fuel mileage, but their motors go down the straightaway pretty good. It’s definitely frustrating for him especially being that
it’s his car. You really want to win in your own car.
I feel for him but I felt like if we could’ve pressured him we had a
little bit better car at that point in the race. I had no point in going up there and racing him because we were racing our own
race trying to make it to the end. If I would’ve went up there and wasted fuel and passed him really it was for no reason.
We knew if he ran out that he couldn’t make it to the end so we knew we weren’t racing him but we were racing the 38
(Jason Leffler) and the 32 (Reed Sorenson) behind us who we knew were on the same strategy as we were.”
Were you less aggressive tonight?
“There were a couple points there where I kind of let things settle out and sort themselves out before I got too antsy to try
to make a move. Here at Gateway though, man, momentum is everything that if you go into the corner and slow down
behind a lap car too much then it just kills your next straightaway. You are just so slow and the guy behind you can catch
up like a half of a second on you in one straightaway.
You’ve really got to be heads up. You’ve really got to pick where
you pass lap cars. There was a situation on the backstretch there late in the race where a guy was on the outside kind of
slowing down and was pointing at me to go low on him and then there was another car about 20 yards up on the inside that
was slow because he knew we were coming so I had to thread the needle right through the middle of those guys. That was
an anxious moment but it turned out for the best and those guys really gave me a lot of room so I thank them for that.”
JASON RATCLIFF, crew chief, No. 18 New Balance Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How did you improve the car throughout the race tonight to get Kyle Busch into victory lane?
“We felt like coming into this season our short track program was probably our weakness and we were able to win at
Richmond but I don’t feel like we had the best car there. I just think it worked out for us because of cautions and strategies
went our way. But after Richmond this whole team, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide division went to work
really hard on our short track program. Now it’s showing. What we were able to do at Loudon, had an opportunity at
Milwaukee to win that one and now Gateway.
We come to some of these tracks where Kyle (Busch) hasn’t had an
opportunity to visit victory lane and to be able to do that, that’s special as well. The car was fast yesterday in practice but
just lacked something. It wasn’t like it was overly tight or overly loose, it just needed some speed. This morning, I got up
fairly early considering what time we went to bed last night. Myself, the shock guy and the car chief and just really looked
over our notes and looked over some things to figure out what we could do to put some speed in this car and win a race.
When it started this thing just took off. We were really pleased with it all night. We over adjusted on that one stop, maybe
it was a set of tires. Then the cautions just fell our way. Our pit strategy changed about three times but it always seemed
that whatever strategy we were on the caution just kind of fell our way and did what we needed to do.”
REED SORENSON, No. 32 Dollar General Stores Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Were you pleased with your run tonight?
“It was good. The only problem we had was we got into the 11 (Scott Lagasse, Jr.) car and had to come and fix the
fender and had a little bit of an unscheduled pit stop but other than that it was a pretty fun race. The double file restarts
certainly brought some excitement to it and we made it three-wide a couple times which is a little bit different here
because once you get in a straight line you can kind of pull away. Double file restarts made it fun actually. It was a
good night. The 32 Dollar General guys were great and it was fun racing. I haven’t done it in a year and I’m glad that I
came and had a good time.”
How good of a car did Kevin Harvick have tonight?
“I never really got to race around him (Kevin Harvick) because I think we were about fourth or fifth and he was always
first or second so he (Kevin Harvick) had better track position. It looked like him (Kevin Harvick) and the 18 (Kyle
Busch) were pretty even. In the first very long run I thought we were really good at the end but I felt like he was equal to
the 18 (Kyle Busch). If he (Kevin Harvick) was there at the end it probably would’ve been a really good race.”
BRAD COLEMAN, No. 20 Rudy’s.com Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
Are you happy with your run tonight?
“I’ve got to thank Joe Gibbs Racing for putting me in this situation driving this car. I’m truly blessed to be on this team
and have this car. This didn’t come easily though. We had a clutch fail halfway through the race. Every time we came
in the pits we had to shut off the car and push it and lost a lot of position. The pit crew did an awesome job and all of the
Rudy’s people are here so it’s really cool to have them here to celebrate this because this is a good finish for us.”
MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 15 Ventrilo Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How was your run tonight?
“It was just a battle all night. We started 38th in the field and it was pretty cool to see the guys never give up and just
kept making the car better. We’ve kind of struggled this season so we’ve been talking about consistency so I think
tonight was a good start. From where we came from and how our car was in Milwaukee a month ago to where our short
track program is now, we’re just looking forward to getting to ORP and Iowa after that.”
Are you happy with a top-10 finish tonight?
“We’re real happy. For starting pretty much dead last on the field and the guys just fought all night and just kept making
the car better and better. We made some great calls — a two tire stop there at the end that put us in position and made the
car good enough for that last about 15 lap stint there. We’re really happy. Our short track program just keeps improving
and improving and we’ve got two more the next two weeks so we’re definitely looking forward to it.”
JASON LEFFLER, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Aaron’s Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 27th
KEVIN CONWAY, No. 87 Extenze Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 28th
SCOTT LAGASSE, JR., No. 11 America’s Incredible Pizza Company Toyota Camry, CJM Racing
Finishing Position: 33rd
What happened to take you out of the race?
“It’s very frustrating for these guys and for myself. We were going to get America’s Incredible Pizza Company the run
they deserved there. I had a great race car in long runs — a little loose getting going. I just got run over. I hate it this
early in the race. There’s plenty of racing left. It’s just very frustrating. It will hurt us in the points and it’s just a bad
way to end a good night.”
What happened a few laps earlier when you made contact with Steve Wallace?
“I don’t know. It’s probably a little bit of aggressive racing. I tried to get low down as hard as I could basically on the
flat part of the race track there and tried not to get into him. I hate it for those guys because I know they work hard. I’m
not sure. Am I going to take completely blame for that? No. But am I sorry? For sure, yes.”
CHAD BLOUNT, No. 10 Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
KELLY BIRES, No. 47 Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Finishing Position: 40th
- Toyota Motorsports Press Release
Article Tags: Brad Coleman, Braun Racing, Chad Blount, CJM Racing, Gateway International Raceway, Germain Racing, Jason Leffler, Jason Ratcliff, Joe Gibbs Racing, JTG-Daugherty Racing, Kelly Bires, Kevin Conway, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Michael Annett, Michael Waltrip Racing, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NEMCO Motorsports, No. 10 Toyota Camry, No. 11 America's Incredible Pizza Company Toyota Camry, No. 15 Ventrilo Toyota Camry, No. 18 New Balance Toyota Camry, No. 20 Rudy's.com Toyota Camry, No. 32 Dollar General Stores Toyota Camry, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, No. 47 Toyota Camry, No. 87 Extenze Toyota Camry, No. 99 Aaron's Toyota Camry, Reed Sorenson, Scott Lagasse Jr, Trevor Bayne
