Tuesday

Toyota Tidbits – Feb. 22 -28, 2010

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CALIFORNIA RACE REVIEW: Joey Logano earned a fifth-place result in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at California’s Auto Club Speedway. It was the 19-year-old’s fourth career top-five finish and his best Cup Series result at the twomile race track in Fontana, Calif. Toyota Camry drivers Scott Speed (11th), Brian Vickers (12th), Kyle Busch (14th) and David Reutimann (15th) also collected top-15 results in the 500-mile race.

KYLE COMES HOME: Last year, Kyle Busch became the first Las Vegas-native to win a NSCS race at his ‘home’ track — Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After earning the pole, the 24-year-old racer started from the rear of the field after a pre-race engine change. However, he rebounded to lead 51 (of 285) laps en route to victory lane. He also started from the pole in the 2008 event in his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 18 M&M’s Camry. In six Cup races at the 1.5-mile oval, Busch has one win, two poles, three topfive finishes and four top-10 results.

HIGH FIVE: Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota claimed their fifth consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) triumph at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday when Kyle Busch drove his No. 18 Z-Line Designs Camry to victory lane. His JGR teammate, Joey Logano, started from the pole and led 130 of 152 laps, but spun on the final green-white-checkered restart and finished fifth. The four previous JGR wins at the Fontana, Calif., track were earned by Busch (two), Logano (one) and Tony Stewart (one).

SCORE FOUR IN DESERT: Last year, four Toyota drivers earned top-10 finishes in the NNS race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Braun Racing teammates Brian Vickers and Jason Leffler finished third and fourth, respectively. Michael McDowell finished sixth and Scott Lagasse Jr. finished ninth. Scott Speed started last year’s race from the pole position in a Michael Waltrip Racing Camry before an accident on lap 21 took him out of the race. Vickers earned the pole at the 1.5-mile track in 2008.

BRENDAN’S BACK: Rusty Wallace Racing (RWR) driver Brendan Gaughan grew up in Las Vegas. The 34-year-old driver began his driving career in 1991 when he took up desert racing and won three consecutive CORR Pro-2 championships (1996-98). He began his rise through the ranks of NASCAR with back-to-back West Series titles (2000-2001), which eventually propelled him into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS), and ultimately a full-time ride in the Cup Series in 2004. Gaughan joined RWR in 2009 and earned one pole, three top-five and eight top-10 finishes — ending the year ninth in the final NNS point standings. He has a degree in business from Georgetown University (1997), where he played football and basketball for the Hoyas.

TRUCKS TAKE IT EASY: The NCWTS takes another week off before returning to action at Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 6. Since Toyota entered the series in 2004, Tundra drivers have won 66 races and 68 pole positions. Timothy Peters opened the 2010 season with a victory at Daytona International Speedway two weeks ago (Feb. 13).

TOYOTA SPONSAFIER: Ever want to design your own race car? Now fans can with Toyota’s ‘Sponsafier’ available at ToyotaRacing.com. Between now and March 15, fans can log on to the ToyotaRacing.com site, click the ‘Sponsafier’ link, create an account and design a race car for their favorite Toyota driver. Once designed, fans submit their race car paint scheme online for voting and a chance for their design to lead the field prior to the start of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race in Charlotte.

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release