NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

• Mike Skinner (second) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) at Kentucky Speedway.


• Tundra drivers Timothy Peters (fourth), Aric Almirola (fifth), Brian Scott (sixth) and David Starr (ninth) also posted top-10 finishes on Saturday.


• Toyota drivers Stacy Compton (12th), Tayler Malsam (13th), Terry Cook (15th), Todd Bodine (16th), Brian Ickler (21st) and T.J. Bell (23rd) were also in the field.


• Six Tundra drivers currently are in the top-10 in the NCWTS unofficial driver point standings, including Skinner (third), Bodine (fourth), Scott (fifth), Starr (sixth), Malsam (seventh) and Cook (eighth).

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Exide Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports
Finishing Position: 2nd
How was that finish?
“I don’t wish bad luck on anybody but we didn’t have a second-place truck. We had a good truck – one more lap and we might have had a first-place truck. I really hate it for Tayler (Malsam), the 81 truck ran up front all night and that young man did a heck of a job. I hate it for Todd (Bodine) that he had an oil leak or something there. We finished second, we have to try to stay in the game.”

Did where you start tonight’s race have an effect on your finish?
“Ronnie (Hornaday) did a good job. I think one more lap and we might have had him, might have been able to challenge him a little bit right there. Man I hate for Tayler Malsam, he had a good truck tonight. Both the Randy Moss Motorsports trucks did a good job. We got stuck back there from qualifying and it kind of messed us up. I want to thank the fans, I want to thank Exide – everybody just came along. I want to thank Toyota. Triad put a good body on this truck. I just hate it – doggone it, we were close.”

How do you grade your team so far in 2009?
“For the budget that we’ve had and the amount of people that we’ve had with the resources – Toyota does an awesome job and these Triad engines – man they’re just awesome. Eric Phillips (crew chief) and David Dollar (co-owner), they have done a heck of a lot with a little bit.”

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Strutmasters Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How was your race tonight?
“It was a good night for us. Our Strutmasters Red Horse Toyota Tundra was awesome all night long. We had a couple issues on the race track and got a little fender damage but all-in-all it was a good night.”

What happened to your truck in the final laps?
“I thought we were a goner but that was luck, it wasn’t talent – that was luck. I don’t know if the 81 (Tayler Malsam) spotter didn’t tell him that I was there or not but he got into our right front corner and it did a little fender damage to it and then when we got behind the 88 (Matt Crafton), I think we were better than him but just got aero-tight. We salvaged a good run.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 15 Red Top Auto Auction Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finishing Position: 5th
Did those late race restarts take you out of contention for the win?
“We were both good, we both took two tires on that pit stop. We knew that clean air would be important and when we took off on that restart and we were leading that clean air was really important. We were driving away and the caution came out there and the caution after caution, after caution really hurt us. We only had two tires and everybody around us had four.”

BRIAN SCOTT, No. 16 Albertsons Toyota Tundra, Xpress Motorsports
Finishing Position: 6th
What was tonight’s race like for you?
“We were really good at the start. We had an awesome truck -- we must have just hit a piece of debris or something and cut a tire. It really put us behind and damaged our truck -- it knocked our toe all to hell. The guys did an awesome job on pit road to get us back in the game and get positioning. Ultimately we leave here with as best a finish – I think we could have finished fifth but probably no more. It’s a tough day. We have to get luck on our side, that’s about the only place we could improve right now.”

DAVID STARR, No. 24 Harris Trucking/Zachry Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports
Finishing Position: 9th

STACY COMPTON, No. 60 SafeAuto Insurance Toyota Tundra, Wyler Racing
Finishing Position: 12th

TAYLER MALSAM, No. 81 One-Eighty Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports
Finishing Position: 13th

TERRY COOK, No. 25 Harris Trucking/Cajun Industries Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports
Finishing Position: 15th

TODD BODINE, No. 30 Copart Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing
Finishing Position: 16th
How was your race tonight?
“The Copart Tundra was a good truck. We did everything right and that thing was hauling the mail. It’s been 15 or 20 years since I’ve seen a rear-end gear break, except for Martinsville that’s hard on them. You just don’t break rear-end gears so it was actually a part failure that took away our chance to win at Kentucky. We had a good truck -- we did everything we were supposed to do. We were in a position to win and I really think there at the end we were going to beat (Ron) Hornaday.  I got a run on him right when the gear broke and I never could complete the run. We definitely would’ve had a shot at putting the Copart Tundra in victory lane (if not for the part failure).”

Were the restarts wild tonight?
“At the end of the race guys are racing hard, jumping around, and to go fast you’ve got to be loose – that’s just racing here at Kentucky. I thought those guys had done a good job all night so I wasn’t worried about them at all. Tayler (Malsam) has really come along as a driver and Aric’s (Almirola) not a rookie by any means – it’s a shame what happened to the 51 (Brian Ickler) but it was a good race. I think the fans got their money’s worth.”

BRIAN ICKLER, No. 51 Red Top Auto Auction Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finishing Position: 21st
What happened to take you out of the race?
“The 15 (Aric Almirola) spun his tires and it definitely wasn’t his fault – he’s my teammate. It got to be so rough on the outside that he spun his tires and helped the 81 (Tayler Malsam) and I went low to avoid them. I backed out of the throttle. Didn’t really pass him, they said I did, gave it back and they still penalized us and put us in the back. I was trying to get to the front in a hurry but take our time. Two trucks wrecked off of (turn) two and I came down and t-boned one of them. It’s just one of those things. I think NASCAR knows they were wrong but what are you going to do, we’re at their mercy and we’ll go get them next time. We tore up a really good truck tonight.”

T.J. BELL, No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd