TRACK:
Iowa SpeedwayPRIMARY SPONSOR: Toyota
ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: Dollar General, Flexco, M&M’s
PRIMARY CHASSIS: KBM-7
BACKUP CHASSIS: KBM-6
MOTORS: Triad Racing Technologies
BROADCAST: Saturday, July 16 – 8:00 p.m. ET SPEED/MRN/Sirius NASCAR 90
ICKLER A SEASONED VETERAN AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
Brian Ickler, set to make his second start of 2011 in Kyle Busch Motorsports’ (KBM) No. 18 Tundra, is a seasoned veteran when it comes to racing at Iowa Speedway. Saturday’s Coca-Cola 200 will be Ickler’s ninth career start at the 7/8-mile tri-oval. His resume includes two previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) starts, two each in the K&N Pro Series East and West, one in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) and one in the ARCA Racing Series. The 25-year-old won the 2008 U.S. Cellular 200 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race and has collected five career top-10 finishes at the asphalt track. The California native has already visited Iowa Speedway once this season, practicing the No. 60 NNS car that Carl Edwards finished second with in the Iowa John Deere Dealers 250.
KBM NO. 18 TUNDRA ENTERS COCA-COLA 200 WITH 20 CONSECUTIVE TOP-10 FINISHES
Kyle Busch’s win last Thursday at Kentucky Speedway was the 20th consecutive top-10 finish for KBM’s No. 18 Tundra. Over the last 20 races, the team has made 12 trips to victory lane, registered three second-place finishes and recorded a remarkable average finish of 2.35. The No. 18 Tundra has completed all 3,184 laps during those races and has not finished lower than seventh in any race.
BRIAN ICKLER @ IOWA SPEEDWAY
· Won the 2008 U.S. Cellular 200 K&N Pro Series East race and finished second to Kyle Busch in the 2009 Long John Silver’s 200 K&N Pro Series East Race
· Started fourth in the 2010 NCWTS Lucas Oil 200 and ran second for 60 laps before being involved in an accident on lap 80 that put him two laps down — fought back to earn a lead-lap 13th-place finish (7/10/2010)
· Started seventh and finished 18th in the 2009 NCWTS Lucas Oil 200 (9/5/09)
· Started 29th and had worked his way up to sixth when was involved in an accident on lap 167 that relegated him to a 32nd-place finish in the 2009 NNS U.S. Cellular 250 (8/1/09)
· Started sixth and finished fifth in the 2009 ARCA Racing Series Prairie Meadows 200 (7/11/09)
· Registered one top-ten finish in two career K&N Pro Series West races (2007 & 2009)
BRIAN ICKLER CAREER
· In 19 career NCWTS starts has one pole (6/13/09 @ Michigan International Speedway), five top 5′s and nine top 10′s (2009-2011)
· One top-10 finish in eight career NNS starts (2008-2010)
· Captured two pole awards and registered four top-five finishes in seven ARCA Racing Series starts in 2009
· Has four career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East wins (Iowa Speedway, Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Mansfield Motorsports Park, South Boston Speedway) including three in 13 starts in 2008
· In 2007 registered a K&N Pro Series West-leading three wins (Douglas County Speedway, Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Evergreen Speedway) in 13 starts
· Named 2004 Southern California Off-Road Enthusiasts (SCORE) Rookie of the Year after clinching the A-Class championship with five wins, including the prestigious Baja 1000
KYLE BUSCH MOTORSPORTS NO. 18 TOYOTA TUNDRA
· Leads the 2011 NCWTS Owner Point Standings by 56 points over KHI’s No. 2
· Aiming to become the first team to win back-to-back owners’ titles since 2003 (No. 16 Steve Coulter 2002 and 2003)
· Ranks first in the NCWTS in wins (6), top 5s (9), laps led (602) and fastest laps run (281)
· Has registered 20 consecutive top-10 finishes including 12 wins and three runner-up finishes
· Only team in NCWTS to have completed all 1,134 laps this season
· In 2010 became the first team since the NCWTS originated in 1995 to win the owners’ championship in its inaugural season
“Iowa Speedway is a very unique track; they did a great job designing it. It definitely has a short track feel, but it is round and big and you have to stay on the throttle to keep your momentum going — like you do on the mile-and-a-half tracks. The track has changed since the first time I raced there in 2007; the bump in turns 1 and 2 is getting worse and you have to be really good to get through there.”
BRIAN ICKLER ON EXPECTATIONS FOR COCA-COLA 200
“I’ve raced at Iowa several times and have a win there in the East Series. I have a good feel for what I need to go fast and have been very competitive no matter what series I’ve raced there. A little over a month ago, I was able to practice Carl Edward’s Nationwide car. I’ve been on the track already this year and that track time should help this weekend. We had a fast truck last year but got caught up in an accident and didn’t end up with the result we were capable of. I’m confident that Eric (Phillips) and the guys will provide me with a fast Toyota Tundra again this year. If we can avoid trouble, I think you’ll see us running up front and be in the mix at the end of the race.”
ERIC PHILLIPS ON PRIMARY TRUCK SELECTION
“This will be our third race with KBM-7. It was a brand new truck in February when we won at Phoenix and we also finished second with it at Martinsville. Iowa has a lot more banking then those two tracks, so our setup for this weekend is quite a bit different. We ran well last year with Brian at Iowa and two years ago I ran well there with Mike Skinner. I think we’ll have a good truck and we’re looking forward to having a strong finish with Brian.”
ERIC PHILLIPS ON BRIAN’S COMFORT LEVEL AT IOWA
“You definitely can tell that Brian is very comfortable at Iowa. Last year at the beginning of practice, we were a little bit off the pace and he knew exactly what he needed to make the truck go faster. We made a few changes and quickly got to where we needed to be. In comparison, at Texas a few weeks ago it took us a lot longer to get the truck where he wanted it because he didn’t have a lot of track time and wasn’t able to provide us with the same type of quality feedback.”
- Kyle Busch Motorsports Press Release
