Saturday
TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series Dover Post Race Notes & Quotes
Press ReleasePost-Race Notes & Quotes
Dover International Speedway — September 26, 2009
- Mike Bliss (second) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at
Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
- Kyle Busch (fourth), Jason Leffler (sixth), Reed Sorenson (seventh), Scott Speed (eighth) and David Reutimann (ninth)
also posted top-10 finishes for Toyota.
- Busch led twice for a race-high 109 (of 200) laps, and has now led 2,053 laps in 2009, becoming the second driver in series
history to lead at least 2,000 laps in one season (Sam Ard led 2,151 laps in 1984).
- Camry drivers Michael Annett (13th), Denny Hamlin (27th) and Coleman Pressley (41st) were also in the field.
- Busch continues to lead the NNS point standings following Dover, now 211 points ahead of second-place Carl Edwards.
Leffler (fourth) is also in the top-five in points after 28 of 25 races.
MIKE BLISS, No. 11 Ridemakerz.com Toyota Camry, CJM Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How was your car towards the end of the race?
“It tightened up a lot. On the long run there it got real tight and on that last restart it was pretty tight. It was a good run for this
CJM Toyota Camry. I’m happy. I’m really glad that on Monday I got the call to drive this No. 11 car and the Ridemakerz.com
car was good for second. I’ll take that.”
Would you have had anything for Clint Bowyer if the race was a little longer?
“You know, I thought on the restart I had him and I guess it ran out of fuel when we went back green. It got back though. So,
I guess we were low on fuel. I don’t know. It was pretty tight there at the end.”
How quickly did you get used to this team?
“Paul Wolfe (crew chief) and the car chief and a couple guys I worked with at Armando Fitz’s — and we ran a whole year
together. So, I know all about how Paul (Wolfe) thinks and he knows what I think. It pretty well jelled pretty fast.”
Are you happy with the second-place finish?
“I am. I came in here not really knowing what to expect. I saw the 29 (Clint Bowyer) a couple times and you just had to hit
your marks right and you could gain a couple cars on him. You just got to hit your marks right.”
What do you think happened to Kyle Busch’s car?
“I think his car looked pretty loose. He took off and left us. I don’t know if the race track freed up for him. He was pretty
loose. I would say we were a little bit snugger where I could drive up off the corner a lot better.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How do you feel about your finish today?
“It’s very frustrating to come home just one spot ahead of our competition, but it is what it is. We’ll have to take it and go on
to the next week and see if we can’t figure something out to get better. I don’t know what we’re doing.”
How did your car handle today?
“A great car in the beginning. The NOS Energy Drink Camry was fast, but we might have started off a little bit tighter than
everybody else. The more the race went on, the looser we got for some reason. The guys made adjustments in order to tighten
it up and I don’t know if it was just the tires, or what, but every time we put a set of tires on we just kept getting looser and
looser. It’s not accustomed to what we are used to. We gave it all we had today.
Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) did a good job
with what he had for information. We ended up fourth, but we were only one spot ahead of Carl (Edwards). It’s very
frustrating when you run that hard and run that good and you ended up only making only five points or four points, or whatever
it is.”
Was not having radio communication a problem?
“Well, yeah it’s a problem when you can’t explain exactly what the car is doing. We didn’t make any changes, or if we did we
made slight changes. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) could see what was going on with the car. The tires — every time I went out
there it was something different. Just frustrating.”
Could you have had a better finish if radio communication was not a problem?
“I don’t think so. I think it was just a mix-matched set of tires unfortunately there. We didn’t make a whole lot of changes and
so when you don’t make a whole lot of changes the track doesn’t change — it’s been the same since we started. The tires just
threw us for a loop. Unfortunately, we didn’t adjust right to what we had with the tires. The guys did a great job. They were
good on pit road. Unfortunately, all we had was a sixth-place car and we ended up fourth. I was so loose there throughout the
race that I was barely hanging on.”
How do you feel being a race closer to the championship?
“It’s cool to be ahead, but we’d like to be gaining ground instead of just staying where we are at.”
JASON LEFFLER, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Can you talk about your race today?
“The car was really good. This particular car, we’re never happy with it until the race starts, for whatever reason we always
race good. It was a good day for us. It was good for us to get back on track. We’ve had three weeks of bad luck, not running
good and haven’t been able to get to the finish and to get back into the top-10 feels really good. We’ll build some more
momentum for the rest of the year.”
What are your goals for the rest of the season?
“Just work towards next year and try to win. Try to get into victory lane and try to build our fleet up for next year and be able
to contend — instead of top-10s and maybe top-fives — for wins. We’re working towards that.”
REED SORENSON, No. 10 AccuDoc Solutions Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
Was the back-up car as good as your primary?
“I think our first car was better. We got a little bit of practice in this car and we felt it was decent. It was pretty good in
practice. We didn’t think it was as good as the other, but it was pretty good. We had a good day all day. Nothing spectacular.
We stayed out there the last few times when some people pitted behind us and around us. We were just a little bit off. We just
needed just a little bit of work on this car to get it better.”
Were you able to make changes during the race to make the car better?
“Once you get in the race, there’s only so many changes you can do. I don’t think it was the lack of practice in the car, we just
felt like the other car was better. We’ll hopefully not have to deal with what we dealt with this weekend with all the
unexpected things. I’m still pretty sore. Just get through tomorrow’s 400 laps and hopefully won’t be too many days to get
this soreness out of my neck.”
SCOTT SPEED, No. 99 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
Can you talk about your race today?
“We were really great for the first half of the race. Unfortunately, in the last half of the race, we weren’t quite as strong. But
nonetheless, it was a great day for us. We tried to gamble a little bit there coming into the pits. In hindsight, we probably
could’ve done things a little bit different there. It was a top-10 finish, though, and we’ll take it. These Nationwide races help
me a lot. There’s no question.
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 32 Dollar General Stores Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Finishing Position: 13th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 20 Doosan Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 27th
COLEMAN PRESSLEY, No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Finishing Position: 41st
- TOYOTA Motorsports Press Release
Article Tags: Braun Racing, Carl Edwards, CJM Racing, Clint Bowyer, Coleman Pressley, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Germain Racing, Jason Leffler, Jason Ratcliff, Joe Gibbs Racing, JTG-Daugherty Racing, Kyle Busch, Michael Annett, Michael Waltrip Racing, Mike Bliss, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NNS, No. 10 AccuDoc Solutions Toyota Camry, No. 11 RideMakerz.com Toyota Camry, No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Toyota Camry, No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry, No. 20 Doosan Toyota Camry, No. 32 Dollar General Stores Toyota Camry, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota Camry, No. 99 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, Toyota Motorsports
