Friday
Toyota NASCAR Nationwide Series Bristol Motor Speedway Post Race Notes & Quotes
Press Release
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Bristol Motor Speedway – August 20, 2010
- Kyle Busch tied the record for most series victories in a single season, winning his 10th NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
race of the season Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch previously tied Sam Ard (1983) for the record in 2008.
The win marks the 50th NNS victory for Toyota since joining the series in 2007, and the first at the half-mile oval.
- Jason Leffler (second), Trevor Bayne (sixth), Reed Sorenson (eighth) and Joey Logano (10th) also earned top-10 finishes for Toyota. Camry drivers Michael Annett (18th), Brendan Gaughan (21st), Brian Scott (25th), Steve Wallace (30th) and Kasey Kahne (37th) were also in the field.
- Toyota drivers Busch (third), Wallace (seventh), Bayne (eighth), Leffler (ninth), Gaughan (10th), Logano (11th), Annett (12th), Scott (13th) and Sorenson (14th) are in the top-15 in the unofficial NNS point standings after 24 of 35 races.
Finishing Position:
1stHow was your race tonight?
“It was a pretty good race for us. We had trouble in practice trying to get the car exactly the way I wanted it. We were close, but Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) worked really hard with the guys to try and make sure that we had a winning car here tonight. We were swinging things at it all day. We came up with a good combination there for the race. It was a little too loose all night, but I kept trying to move my line around and try to find something that would work for me and I was able to do that a little bit. Had good pit stops and just being able to keep our track position all night really helped us so we didn’t have to pass too much. Just getting up there at the end and being able to set sail when it mattered most and get to victory lane.
What happened with Brad Keselowski during the race?
“I raced and raced and raced him (Brad Keselowski) and I don’t know for 12, 15 laps and my Z-Line Camry was pretty awesome tonight. The guys did a great job. It was loose, but it was good. I thought I had him cleared on the back and I moved up in front of him and instead of him doing an Earnhardt crossover move he decided that he would just run into the back of me and put me in the fence. So, that’s Brad Keselowski. So, you know, I went down into the next corner and dumped him. He does it to everybody else.
Why can’t I do it to him? So, whatever. It don’t matter. Jim and Monica (Sexton) are awesome. I can’t thank Z-Line Designs enough. Toyota, NOS Energy Drink, Marquis Jets, Gillette and Nationwide Insurance for supporting the series. It’s fun to come over here and race and I enjoy it, and of course it’s cool to put this 18 car in victory lane.”
How do continue to win races after having frustrating nights?
“You just keep working. Yeah, you can be frustrated all day long. You can be mad at yourself all day long, but you just keep digging, you keep your focus forward and you keep working as hard as you can, and that’s all that I could do. I tried and tried and tried lap after lap to stay clean with Brad (Keselowski) and I finally had him almost cleared — yeah I slid up in front of him — that’s a slide job and then he ran into the back of me and put me in the wall. So, I said forget it man, you play that game and I’ll play it back. So, I dumped him.”
“That’s pretty cool. I forgot all about that. It didn’t matter to me. What’s more special is this car and this is (chassis) 61. This car has won now that a half-mile, a three-quarter mile, a mile, a mile and a third, mile and a half — I don’t think there are any mile and three quarters, but it’s won at a two-mile race track as well. So, it’s won everywhere. This baby, it’s an awesome race car.”
How good does it feel to win this race?
“It’s pretty awesome — to be with this race team. These guys will stick behind me through anything. So, do what you want. We were having fun and this Z-Line Designs Camry was awesome tonight. I can’t thank the guys enough. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and all of the guys here at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) that did a great job for me. It was fun. It was really, really loose tonight. I was barely hanging on, but we were able to prevail, get out front and win this thing.”
How important is getting the 11th win and breaking the record for wins in a single season?
“It’s pretty awesome. To me, it’s cool to have the opportunity. We’ve got, I don’t know, eight, nine, 10 more races left or whatever it is to get the opportunity to do it. Hopefully luck can fall our way and we can get number 11. Number 11 is going to be pretty special because for one, it’s never been done before. For two, it brings one of our crew members that has never been to victory lane before to victory lane.
I’ve mentioned it before, Leo Thorsen, the car chief on our car for some reason just doesn’t like coming to victory lane, but I told him on win number 11 when I break the record for most wins and you’re a part of it, I said, ‘You’re coming to victory lane and getting your picture taken and hanging it up on the wall for your kids to see he was a part of it.’ Kevin Grubb, the engine tuner, he was with Sam (Ard) back when Sam won 10 so it’s pretty cool to have him here now. Three seasons he’s been able to do it.”
What would it mean to win all three races at Bristol this weekend?
“I just hope that I have a good enough race car to do it. I feel like we worked really hard today — Dave (Rogers) and myself. We didn’t quite find the things that I wanted in the car, but we kind of heard over the radio a lot of people scanning that were saying the same things that I was. I couldn’t quite get the car to react the way that I wanted it to from when I won here in the past, but hopefully that’s just a tendency of this tire and everybody is kind of fighting that.
It’s going to be difficult, but coming down to decision time at the end of the race, if you’ve got an opportunity to do it and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity as we’ve seen. I haven’t been able to get it done yet. I’ve been close a few times, but it seems like the last one is always the hardest one to get. You never know what happens.
It’s 500 laps of racing at Bristol under the lights so we could have something bad happen early on and be done right there.
If we can get to the end of the race and have a shot, I wouldn’t want anything other than that and to take that Doublemint Camry to victory lane would be pretty special. To do the triple here at Bristol, where no one has ever done it ever in NASCAR I think would be cool too.”
JASON RATCLIFF, crew chief, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What are some of the things you encountered on pit road tonight?
“We spent a lot of time adjusting on this car today in practice and threw a lot of things at it. These guys worked their tales off. Never really could find what we needed to get the car right and made a few changes before the race and we jumped the fence obviously a little bit. Got it a little too free. First pit stop, tightened it up a little bit and it looked like it was exactly what we needed. The car just seemed to get better, the lap times got better the longer you went and then in the last pit stop, made no adjustments.
Just put a set of tires on it and I don’t know if it was track conditions or just that set of tires, but that thing got free again. Thankfully, it was a long run. I was hoping that typically when you have cautions here and the tires cycle every time you restart the car is a little bit tighter so I was hoping for a few cautions there to see if the cycles would tighten the car up and it worked out. Kyle (Busch) did a great job, obviously.
This place — you’ve got to be fast, but you’ve got to come through lapped traffic here. I was amazed at how he came
through lapped traffic tonight. The win was neat, but to watch him come through five, six cars it’s just incredible. Great job by him and great job by these guys and to finally get a win here at Bristol — this place, I’m not going to say it has haunted us — but we just haven’t been able to close the deal here. We’ve had some really good cars in the past and to finally get that is great, and for it to be the 10th one of the season is even more special.”
Finishing Position:
2ndHow was your run tonight?
“It was really strong. My car was really good off the trailer. Eddie Pardue (crew chief) and everybody at Braun Racing did a great job. The FOE (Fraternal Order of Eagles) was good. First lap on the track I knew we were going to have a good day. We just fine- tuned it and qualified top-10 — sixth there — and ran pretty good. Pit stops were a little bit slow — I shouldn’t say they were slow — we lost a few spots there. Track position was really important here at Bristol, but on the long run my car really hauled butt. That was good. And then the last couple of restarts worked out really well for me where I was able to restart on the outside line which helped a lot. It’s easy to get pinched down here, but the racing is great here at Bristol.”
What was the key to your second-place finish tonight?
“The restarts worked out. We got on the outside line there the last couple of restarts. The FOE (Fraternal Order of Eagles) Camry was really fast all day so it was good to come home second. I just cut it a little short there. The 18 (Kyle Busch) and the 20 (Joey Logano) are really fast cars and trying to keep up with them, but it was fun racing. A lot of fun all night. I’ve got to thank all of the fans for coming out. This is a great place and we’ll build upon this and get a couple more finishes and maybe get a win sometime this year.”
Are you going to try to pitch to change your number from 38 to 10 full-time since you had better luck?
“We were talking about that — the 38 has some bad luck whether Kasey (Kahne) drives it or I drive it, it seems like something happens. Every time I get in this 10 car we run good, we run top-five. I don’t know. We need to do something there. For us, we just change the number. I keep the same crew and everything so you can’t really blame the crew for the bad luck. It’s got to be in the number.”
Finishing Position:
6thAre you happy with a sixth-place finish at your home track?
“Not bad. We finally got a good finish at Bristol. We got a sixth-place finish. This team has so much momentum. When we finish sixth now we feel like it’s a 15th back in the day. We’re like, ‘Man, we’re so ready to get into the top-three or victory lane.’ It was an awesome Out! Pet Care Toyota today. A little bit tight and that’s what we fought all day. It seemed like we dropped back quite a bit, but we got through the field at the end and got a sixth-place finish.”
Finishing Position:
8thHow was your race tonight?
“We were average all night. We weren’t that great and I thought the middle of the race was probably our best and then there at the end we got a couple things of damage that hurt us a little bit so it was okay overall. It was a decent top-10. We just need to figure out how to get a little bit better.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 15 Germain.com Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Finishing Position: 18th
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 Snap-On Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing
Finishing Position: 21st
BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 AccuDoc Solutions Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finishing Position: 25th
STEVE WALLACE, No. 66 5-hour Energy Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing
Finishing Position: 30th
Finishing Position:
37thWhat happened to take you out of the race?
“I was on the outside and had no more room and I guess the 12 (Justin Allgaier) didn’t know I was there or he got pushed up — I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. I was just kind of there and once he put me in the wall I was up on the wall and slid down the front straight away until it came to a stop. I just stayed there for a little bit. It’s kind of like spinning out, but you’re on your side. We were fast.
The Great Clips Toyota was really good. It’s disappointing because we’ve always had real fast cars here.”
- Toyota Motorsports Press Release
Article Tags: Brad Keselowski, Braun Racing, Brendan Gaughan, Brian Scott, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Dave Rogers, Diamond-Waltrip Racing, Eddie Pardue, FOE, Germain Racing, Gillette, Jason Ratcliff, JGR, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Grubb, Leo Thorsen, Marquis Jets, Michael Annett, NASCAR Nationwide Series, Nationwide Insurance, NNS, No. 11 AccuDoc Solutions Toyota Camry, No. 15 Germain.com Toyota Camry, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, No. 20 GameStop Toyota Camry, No. 32 Dollar General Toyota Camry, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, No. 62 Snap-On Toyota Camry, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry, NOS Energy Drink, Reed Sorenson, Rusty Wallace Racing, Sam Ard, Steve Wallace, Trevor Bayne
