Catchfence

Toyota Motorsports

- Mike Skinner (third) and Johnny Benson (fourth) recorded top-five finishes for Toyota in Monday’s postponed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway.

- Toyota drivers Stacy Compton (sixth), Brian Scott (eighth), Max Papis (13th) and Tayler Malsam (14th) also posted top-15 results on Monday.

- Other Tundra drivers in the field included Terry Cook (16th), Kyle Busch (17th), Todd Bodine (18th), Timothy Peters (22nd), David Starr (24th), T.J. Bell (31st) and Shane Sieg (32nd) were also in the field.

Mike Skinner

How was your truck throughout the race?

“I felt like a pinball at the start of the race. This Bad Bow Mowers/EXIDE Tundra was awfully good for our first short-track race together. I think Eric Phillips (crew chief) and this team showed that we have a lot of potential. We had a bad hiccup there on pit road, and had to start all the way at the tail end of the longest line. We drove back up there. No one helped us get back up there. We didn’t get handed anything. That means we had a good truck. They put me in an awfully good truck to be able to drive at Martinsville from all the way at the back to the front.”

What would it have taken for you to win today?

If we would have been in the front, they never would’ve passed us. It’s just track position. You have to spend money on pit crew, and you need to spend where it needs to be spent. You can’t give up anything when you’re at this place. You have to get out first in front of everybody. A little better qualifying effort out of the driver would’ve helped. I was going for the pole and it was all-or-nothing, and started ninth. I think I was 15th after three laps. Overall, it was a good day for us.”

Johnny Benson, No. 1 Red Horse Racing TOYOTA Tundra

Finishing Position:

Can you talk about the early incident with Ron Hornaday Jr.?

I knew it was tight and I knew I was holding (Hornaday) tight. I didn’t expect to get spun out. I was holding him tight and that stuff just happens. It didn’t damage the vehicle or anything like that. It just got our door — just good hard racing. You’re never happy about it, but I know he didn’t do it on purpose. He did it in normal Hornaday-style. I’m saying that laughingly, but I was holding him tight. I definitely held him tight, and it probably didn’t give him enough room to work with. He came over and said, ‘Sorry.’ I know he didn’t do it on purpose. It is just part of the sport.”

Does it help the championship picture that Kevin Harvick beat Ron Hornaday Jr.?

“It doesn’t matter. Go race, and that’s what they’re here for and that’s what we’re here for. You have to beat your teammates.  You have to race to win, and that’s what you’re here for. If you look at it, yeah, then it’s a positive, but it would’ve been worse if (Harvick) pulled over and let (Hornaday) by. They’re out there racing and doing what they’re supposed to do. It’s all good.”

STACY COMPTON, No. 60 Wyler.com/Safe Auto Insurance Toyota Tundra, Wyler Racing Finishing Position: 6th

Brian Scott

How was your truck throughout the race?

“Our Albertsons Toyota Tundra was just tight. I couldn’t charge the corner as hard as a lot of guys, and I couldn’t rotate and get on the throttle as soon as most of them. That was really killing us. We definitely got passed by more trucks than we passed for that reason. We just had to slow down too much and wait for the truck to turn. It was consistently tight all day long. I just had to manage it and take what it would give me. We tried to loosen up on our pit stop, but with the rubber on the track, it just stayed the same. We didn’t adjust enough on it.”

No. 9 GEICO TOYOTA Tundra

Finishing Position:

How happy are you with a top-15 finish today?

“First of all, to finish on the lead lap, in the top-15, in my first short-oval race, it was a very good race for me and for this GEICO Tundra team. We were fighting a bit of a tight condition with the GEICO Tundra and I had to be more aggressive with the brakes than I wanted, but we worked on it and I’d say my favorite part of the race was the last 20 laps. It was a great experience and I’m very proud of what we were able to accomplish here with the GEICO Tundra.”

TAYLER MALSAM, No. 81 One Eighty Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports 14th

Finishing Position:

TERRY COOK, No. 25 Harris Trucking Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports16th

Finishing Position:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Miccosukee Resort Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports 17th

Finishing Position:

DOUG GEORGE, Crew Chief, No. 51 Miccosukee Resort Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports

Were you aware of the commitment line violation?

“I didn’t know (Kyle Busch) was trying to knock the fender back on the back straightaway. I saw him do it on the front
straightway. He was just trying to get the fender off the tire. He was penalized for crossing the commitment line.”

What did you need to work on the truck to get Kyle to the front?

“He was just a little bit tight in the center and we worked on that. We worked on a little forward bite as well, which helped. The truck was good. It’s just short-track racing. I was hoping that the last caution would’ve given a chance back at the 2 truck (Kevin Harvick) because Kyle (Busch) is so good on restarts. We just never got another shot. He was pretty unhappy.

He felt like he had one of the best trucks he’s ever had here, and he didn’t get the chance to win. Winning races is what he’s all about.”

TODD BODINE, No. 30 Whelen Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing18th

Finishing Position:

Timothy Peters

Finishing Position:

How disappointing is it to run out of fuel with less than 10 laps to go?

“There was no question that our Tundra was there today — we just came up a little bit short on fuel. We didn’t get the fuel mileage like I thought we should have. We’re just going to have to figure out what the reason was behind that. It’s a disappointing day, but really not.

We know that we’re going two more races. At least we showed today that we can run up front. It’s just a shame that we were running in the top-10 in our home town and ran out of fuel with six laps to go. That’s just part of racing. We thought this was going to be our last hoorah here, but we’re going to Kansas, so hopefully we can redeem ourselves there.”

DAVID STARR, No. 24 Zachry/Harris Trucking Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports
Finishing Position: 24th

T.J. BELL, No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 31st

SHANE SIEG, No. 15 Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finishing Position: 32nd

- TOYOTA Motorsports Press Release