Catchfence

Toyota Motorsports

Bristol Motor Speedway — August 18, 2010

- Kyle Busch won his third-consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor
Speedway on Wednesday night, coming from the back of the field to lead the final 116 (of 206) laps en route to victory lane.

- Busch earned the pole position in the No. 18 Tundra — the 75th for Toyota since joining the series in 2004 — but was forced to start from the rear for unapproved changes after qualifying. He took the lead for the first time on lap 91 and never looked back to record Toyota’s ninth NCWTS win in 16 races in 2010.

- Aric Almirola (second), Mike Skinner (fourth), Justin Lofton (fifth), Todd Bodine (sixth), Timothy Peters (eighth) and
Miguel Paludo (ninth) also scored top-10 finishes for Toyota at the half-mile Tennessee track.

- Tundra drivers Max Papis (14th), David Starr (23rd) and Donny Lia (30th) were also in the field.

- Bodine continues to lead the unofficial NCWTS standings following Bristol, leading Almirola by 211 points. Peters (third),
Skinner (eighth) and Starr (ninth) are also in the top-10 in points after 16 of 25 races.

Kyle Busch - Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR

Finishing Position: 1st

Can you talk about your race tonight?

“It was a really good night. We unloaded and we were pretty decent in practice. It seemed like the tires threw us off just a little bit, but we were able to overcome that. Eric (Phillips, crew chief) made some good calls in practice and we changed the truck around a little bit. Overall, it was a fast ride, the NASCAR.com RaceView Tundra. I’m really proud of the way the guys worked all day.

Unfortunately, we had a miscue with the engine. We qualified on the pole but it let us start at the back of the field and drive up through everybody and get up towards the front. We had the right pit strategy. Fortunately, Eric made a nice call to pit when we did. We saved fuel for the rest of the day. I wasn’t 100 percent aggressive on saving fuel, but I was 92 percent and we were able to prevail and get up front. I think we led the most laps and ultimately get to victory lane. Being in victory lane at Bristol is pretty
cool.”

Were you nervous about running out of fuel?

“We were. I was. It ran out on the second-to-last restart and then it ran out again on the last restart coming right there to the line. I didn’t know if I got the white flag or not. Man, that was close. I can’t thank NASCAR.com Race View, Trackpass, Toyota, M&M’s, Z-Line Designs, Interstate Batteries. NOS is what’s powering me to victory this week. It’s going to be a lot of racing. Of course Electric Sunglasses, Camping World — great series — and of course the fans for coming out here and supporting Bristol on a Wednesday night. It’s pretty awesome. Our other partners on board — Flexico, Toyota and don’t forget you can win my Tundra, go to winkylestundra.com and we’re giving away a free Toyota Tundra. It’s for the (Kyle Busch) Foundation.”

Were you worried about having to come from the back?

“It worried me a little bit just having to start back there and try to come through traffic really unsure. Some guys, they qualify and do their race adjustments and go for the start of the race and sometimes you can get it too loose and you never know what can happen in front of you. This is Bristol, anyway. It turned out everything was all right. We got up through there.

We were passing guys one at a time, just kind of biding our time getting our way up there. I think we were as high as maybe 12th or 14th when we decided to pit on lap 30 or 31, whatever it was. It was a bummer deal that we didn’t get to start from the pole and kind of lead the laps and play our strategy out a little bit, but it was still cool coming from the back I guess. I wish there was an award for it or maybe a bonus for sitting on the pole, then starting in the back and coming up through there and winning. That’s just me.”

Can you win all three races this weekend?

“I was very close last year. I won the Truck race, didn’t win the Nationwide race, got wrecked there. Then won the Cup race so I don’t see why not. I feel like my chances are pretty good. I love racing here and Bristol is always so much fun. I can’t wait to get going. Again, Race View, NASCAR.com, you get 18 percent off the rest of this weekend on the purchase of a TrackPass subscription.”

ERIC PHILLIPS, Crew Chief, No. 18 NASCAR.com ‘RaceView’ Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Did you make adjustments to the truck during your pit stop?

“We didn’t make any adjustments all night. We pitted so early that we didn’t run enough green to make a good decision on what to do so we left it alone. We were a little free all night, but Kyle (Busch) did a great job. The guys did a good job and he saved gas.

That was the biggest key.”

Aric Almirola - Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR

Finishing Position: 2nd

How does it feel to gain some points on Todd Bodine?

“Finally. We had a good truck tonight. I was down in the dumps all day because we didn’t have any speed. It just ran the same speed — it never went faster, it never went slower — it just ran the same speed no matter what we changed. It did the same thing again tonight when we took off for the race. We started 19th and we ran the same speed. Everybody seemed to fall back and come back to us.

Then Richie (Waters, crew chief) made a great call there at the end of the race to come in and get four tires with about
50 laps to go and tires were really big. It seemed like a lot of people were getting really loose off. Great call by him to get our Graceway Pharmaceuticals truck back up front. The race was just so much dictated by what line you restarted tonight.

The outside was the place to be and if you got stuck on the outside, you could really lose a lot of spots. Really proud of all the guys on this Graceway Pharmaceuticals team and everybody at Billy Ballew Motorsports. They built that truck in about two weeks after we destroyed one at Iowa and another one at ORP so they’ve been working some long hours and I’m really, really proud of them and this finish, they deserve it.”

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 EXIDE Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports

Finishing Position: 4th

JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 7 VisitPit.com Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

Todd Bodine - Photo Credit: Jason Smith / Getty Images for NASCAR

Finishing Position: 6th

How was the race tonight?

“I know you guys up there were talking about it. I was pretty disheartened about how the truck was running in practice and really didn’t think we had a good truck and we didn’t. The Valvoline Toyota Tundra just was loose in, tight in the middle and tight off, loose off, loose in the middle, I mean I could never make it do the same thing twice. We kept fighting it and adjusting and fighting and adjusting and I ended up sixth.

That’s what you have to do to win championships. I’ve said it all along. If you have a bad night, just finish in the top-10 and get the best finish you can. It’s not what we wanted for Valvoline or Toyota, but we only lost a few points to Aric (Almirola) and we will go get them at Chicago next. I love Chicago.”

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 WISS Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing

Finishing Position: 8th

Miguel Paludo

Finishing Position: 9th

How were you able to get a top-10 finish in your first Truck race?

“It was awesome. I appreciate all the work and all the support of Germain and Toyota. The team put the truck in one week together so I’m really proud of all the guys. I’m happy, I’m really happy. We had a tight truck, a loose truck, a lot of different trucks in the race, but you can’t imagine how happy I am. Every person I talked with said, ‘Why Bristol? It’s tough.’ It’s perfect. I’m real happy and it’s a team effort. Germain Racing did a great job and I’m real happy.”

MAX PAPIS, No. 9 GEICO Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing

Finishing Position: 14th

DAVID STARR, No. 81 CHASCO Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports

Finishing Position: 23rd

DONNY LIA, No. 07 ASI Limited Toyota Tundra, SS Green Light Racing

Finishing Position: 30th

- Toyota Motorsports Press Release