Sunday
Toyota NASCAR Nationwide Series Iowa Speedway Post Race Notes & Quotes
Press Release
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Iowa Speedway – July 31, 2010
- Kyle Busch brought home his ninth victory of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season in his 17th series start when he drove his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Camry to victory lane in Saturday night’s event at Iowa Speedway.
- Busch led four times for 209 (of 250) laps at the 0.875-mile Iowa oval to take his 39th career NNS triumph.
Camry drivers Jason Leffler (third), Trevor Bayne (fifth), Steve Wallace (sixth), Des Moines native Michael Annett (seventh) and Matt DiBenedetto (ninth) also earned top-10 finishes for Toyota at Iowa.
- Bayne, who led twice for 21 laps, captured his third straight pole in the series to become the first driver in 18 years to score three consecutive poles since Jeff Gordon accomplished the feat in 1992. The 19-year-old also became the youngest driver to earn three straight poles — he previously was the top qualifier at Gateway (7-17-10) and O’Reilly Raceway Park (7-25-09).
- Camry drivers Tayler Malsam (27th), Brian Scott (30th), Brendan Gaughan (31st), Reed Sorenson (36th) and Kevin Lepage (37th) were also in the field.
- Toyota drivers Busch (third), Wallace (seventh), Bayne (eighth), Gaughan (ninth), Leffler (10th), Annett (11th), Scott (12th), Sorenson (13th) and Joey Logano (15th) are in the top-15 in the unofficial NNS point standings after 21 of 35 races.
Finishing Position:
1stHow excited are you to win this race after not being able to practice in your car today?
“It’s pretty phenomenal the race cars these guys put out. This is my 54th win in a Toyota — can you believe that? There’s been an awful lot of them. I’m real proud of those guys and I can’t thank them enough. Z-Line Designs — Jim and Monica (Sexton, owners), of course NOS Energy Drink, Combos, Marquis Jets, Gillette, the fans, man — what an awesome turnout this week. It was phenomenal. It was really, really cool.”
How impressed were you with the adjustments Jason Ratcliff made tonight to give you a race-winning car?
“On that restart there when Trevor (Bayne) and I were side by side it was probably like the third or fourth one and I was able to get by the 99 (Trevor Bayne) and kind of check out a little bit. I was like, ‘Ah, well the adjustments we just made worked, that was pretty good.’ I’m real proud of Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) thinking about how to make this car better. I didn’t think we had it. It was the same feel as we had last year and I was like, ‘Man, it’s just not coming off the corner the way I need it to be.’
And we were able to dial it in and get it to where we needed it. So, I can’t thank these guys enough. Jason, Brad Coleman (practice driver) did a great job for me — the pit crew gave me awesome stops all night. I was worried there with (Kevin) Harvick taking two tires. I was like, ‘Man, same thing as last year. I’m going to get beat by two.’ But, I got into my rhythm and I got going and just started clicking laps and got up to Harvick there and beat him. So, hopefully he waits for me so I can get my ride home.”
How special is it for you that this is your 75th NASCAR victory tonight?
“It’s pretty big. Man, it’s a lot of them, but it’s not quite where I want to be. The big number is 200 so hopefully I can get there. We’re 25 away from cracking halfway there and I might be able to get it here in the next two years so that would be pretty cool.”
How was your run?
“Starting out it was just a little edgy with the sun still on the track and the track real hot it was a little slick. Trevor (Bayne) was really good there in the beginning. Our car was just a little bit too tight. Late center and exit of the turns I couldn’t get it to where I could get the power down the way I wanted. The sun started going down, the track started cooling off and we started freeing up the car and the car was really good. I can’t say enough about Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and these guys just giving me an awesome race car.
Coming out here with Z-Line Designs and NOS Energy Drink, Combos, all the people that make this program special. Jason and Brad Coleman did a good job working on the thing for me, getting it to where it was a race-winning car tonight. We were fast last year but came up a little bit short, but this year was really good being able to lead that many laps and run upfront like that. (Kevin) Harvick scared us a little bit there at the end putting on two and having a good jump there on us on the restart there, but we ran him down and were able to pass him so I was pretty happy about that.”
What is it about your driving style and the cars in this series that makes you successful?
“I really like these cars. I didn’t like it so much when NASCAR went to the COT on the Cup side. I was just getting used to these cars over there. They had more horsepower and they had a couple different rules, but ultimately about the same thing. When I got to Joe Gibbs Racing I thought I was just hitting it, I was just getting ready to get going. And then we had the new car over there in the Cup stuff.
This car, I really like. It’s fun, man. I’ve really grown accustomed to these things and learned how to drive them. You can really drive the Nationwide cars hard because they don’t have a whole lot of horsepower so you can really try to make up a lot by being able to get more out of the car driverwise versus a Cup car you’d have to slow it down and finesse it a little bit more.”
JASON RATCLIFF, crew chief, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does this win mean to you?
“When we left here last year we knew we missed it a little bit. It was disappointing. This is one of the race tracks last year that was being the inaugural event and new race track we definitely wanted to win one here and came up short, like Kyle (Busch) mentioned. We put a lot of effort into this track and made a lot of changes. The car is way different than it was last year. I feel like we made some gains on it and still needs a little bit of work.
Started the race not quite where we needed it, but thankfully when the sun went down it kind of played into our hands. And, then some adjustments that we made on the last two stops really helped us as well. The 99 (Trevor Bayne) car was good and (Kevin) Harvick made his stuff better and was good there at the end. I felt like on the last stop last year we took two (tires) with about 35 to go and I felt like the tires were definitely a plus.
We definitely needed tires. We were making adjustments on our car that were really, really making the thing fast, but we needed the adjustments that we had on the left-side tires. So, to put two on we weren’t going to get the adjustments we needed so that’s why we went with four and it worked out.”
Finishing Position:
3rdHow was your run tonight?
“The guys did a great job. Eddie Pardue (crew chief) and the boys did a great job all day. We’ve had good cars the last couple of weeks and we’ve had nothing to show for it so I’m happy for them. They can be proud of that. The Great Clips Camry was really good. I’m with Kevin (Harvick) — the crowd was awesome and the hospitality here is incredible. It was that way last year. It’s awesome to see this so I’m pretty happy. The track is a racy track and I’m looking forward to coming back last year.”
Did you think you had a race-winning car tonight?
“We ran really good. It’s hard to run with the 18 (Kyle Busch). At times we could run with Kevin (Harvick), but the 18 and the 20 (Matt DiBenedetto) they’re in their own time zone for the last couple of years. So, you’ve got to be close to them if something happens and that’s what we try to do every week in and week out. My guys do a really good job for what they have to work with and I’m proud of that. We just try our hardest all of the time.”
Were you worried about the problems your teammates had with tires tonight?
“I don’t know. My brakes got hot one time on a long run. I just backed off and took care of them. Yeah, I wasn’t really worried. I didn’t know until after the race — the only person that I knew that crashed was Reed (Sorenson). I didn’t know Brian (Scott) had an issue until after the race so I wasn’t too worried.”
Finishing Position:
5thWhat did you learn from racing with Kyle Busch tonight?
“I learned so much from following Kyle (Busch). He deserves every bit of the credit he gets. He’s in great equipment, great crew chief (Jason Ratcliff) and he’s an unbelievable driver. That first 50 laps he was sideways the whole time and I followed him up and learned that top groove. How to get the car straight to run off of the corner and get good drive.
Our car was really free at the beginning, but as the night came on we got tighter and we kept getting tighter and tighter and that’s what really got us at the end. If that thing would’ve ended in daylight we probably could’ve got our first win here. But, we’re so happy about these top-fives every weekend. Three poles in a row, I mean, I hear that’s not very heard of so that’s awesome for this Aaron’s Dream Machine team. We’re just as excited as we can be.”
What happened to your car as it went from day to night?
“That was the biggest thing. We didn’t get any practice at night because it rained all day yesterday. We didn’t really know what the track was going to do and it just kept taking on its own rubber and kept getting more and more grip and that played into the other guys favor more so than us. It just kept getting tighter. Everybody was so free at the beginning. Their cars came to them. Us, we were pretty good at the beginning and we got tight at the end.”
What is your outlook for the future of this team?
“Keep doing what we’re doing. If we stay in the top-five I think it’s eventually going to come so we’ve just got to make sure we stay there every weekend and be in position.”
Finishing Position:
6thHow was your run tonight?
“Most disappointed I’ve ever been in my life, man. I had an awesome car those last two runs. We kept pulling air out of the left sides, dropping the track bar, and the thing kept getting better and better and better and better. There ain’t no reason to even talk about it, because we finished sixth. But if we would’ve got out front, I think I would’ve had a shot to win it, I really do. The guys had awesome pit stops, I mean incredible pit stops all day — and on the money stop, we screwed it up. It’s another top-10, man, but sixth to 10th is all we can do. We’ve got to get in the top five. We’ve got these cars handling now, but if it ain’t one thing, it’s another. Every time I’ve ever had a shot to win a race, something always gets screwed up.”
Finishing Position:
7thHow happy are you to get a top-10 finish tonight in front of your hometown fans?
“I couldn’t be happier with this finish here in front of all the fans at my home track. My team really deserved this. They work their hearts out week in and week out and our finish tonight definitely proves it. There were hundreds of fans in the stands tonight from my primary sponsor this week, Northland Oil, and from our associate sponsors Power Lift, not to mention my family and fan base. It was great to have such a strong performance for those that make it possible for us to do this. I hope we can carry this momentum into the rest of the season.”
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 20 Pizza Ranch Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
TAYLER MALSAM, No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finishing Position: 27th
Finishing Position:
30thWhat happened to take you out of the race?
“A tire went down. It really didn’t give any warning. It’s a shame. Our No. 11 AccuDoc Solutions Toyota was really fast. Had a couple bad pit stops that put us back, but I feel like we were a top-three car all night. That’s a bummer. That’s just a bad break. It seems like that type of stuff always happens when you’re running good. All of the guys did a great job in bringing a really good car.
Everybody back at the fab shop with Braun and just everybody on this whole team. It’s the first time we’ve been that strong on a short track so that’s real encouraging. I don’t know if I ran over something or if it just went. It really didn’t give any sign and now our night is over.”
Finishing Position:
31stWhat happened to take you out of the race?
“Somebody wrecked and I should’ve been able to avoid it and I just didn’t know about it in time. By the time I was there I saw an opening on the top, I knew it was going to close when I saw the guy in front of me (Brian Keselowski) lock his brakes up and I knew I was in trouble. I think the 16 (Colin Braun) was sideways on the track. It looked like they lost it on their own. I just didn’t have enough notice.
We were running in the top-10 and we were just going forward all night long. Early on it was a little loose and as fuel burned out of it started to get quicker and quicker. I heard them saying we were a top-five lap time. Our Camry was fast. We were going to be a top-five Toyota night and make a run for it. But, that’s the story of our season, man. Every time we have good things happening another Toyota has to go back to the body shop.”
Finishing Position:
36thWhat happened to take you out of the race?
“I’m fine. We just had a little fire there. We blew a right-front (tire) there and hit the wall pretty hard. You’re just along for the ride there. I never raced here before so I was looking forward to it. I don’t even know what position we were in, but we had a pretty good car and passed a lot of cars. The Dollar General Camry wasn’t too bad for not even getting to practice it. The thing only had four laps of practice on it. I think the reason that we blew a right-front was that we had some type of brake cooling issue.
Something was going on with our brakes pretty big there so I don’t know if the brake fans weren’t working or what kind of issue we had. I don’t think we ran over anything. I think it just melted the bead. The last five laps there I was trying not to use the brakes at all and it was too late I think. This is the first DNF for us and hopefully we don’t have any more. I wish we got to take that Dollar General Camry a little bit
further along, but we are finished.”
KEVIN LEPAGE, No. 56 RaceDaySponsor.com Toyota Camry, Mac Hill Motorsports
Finishing Position: 37th
- Toyota Motorsports Press Release
Article Tags: Braun Racing, Brendan Gaughan, Brian Scott, Combos, Diamond-Waltrip Racing, Eddie Pardue, Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway, Germain Racing, Iowa Speedway, Jason Leffler, Jason Ratcliff, JGR, Jim Sexton, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kevin Harvick, Kevin Lepage, Mac Hill Motorsports, Matt DiBenedetto, Michael Annett, Monica Sexton, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NNS, No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota Camry, No. 11 AccuDoc Solutions Toyota Camry, No. 15 Northland Oil Toyota Camry, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry, No. 32 Dollar General Toyota Camry, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, No. 56 RaceDaySponsor.com Toyota Camry, No. 62 South Point Casino & Hotel Toyota Camry, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry, NSCS, O'Reilly Raceway Park, Reed Sorenson, Rusty Wallace Racing, Steve Wallace, Tayler Malsam, Trevor Bayne
