NASCAR Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
Villeneuve was the top Toyota driver to the finish line in the road course race at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve -- a track named after his father. Villeneuve started on the outside of row one in the Braun Racing No. 32 Dollar General Toyota Camry and ran at the front of the field throughout the 77-lap event at the 2.71-mile, 14-turn road course.

The former Formula 1 champion and Indianapolis 500 race-winner led one lap, but he was unable to catch race-winner Boris Said or runner-up Max Papis in a mad dash to the checkered flag during a green white-checker finish.

“The car was quick enough,” said Villeneuve, following the race. “With one lap to go I thought I had (Max) Papis -- that was the one I was wanting to get by because he was late on the brakes. I knew that Boris (Said) was braking a little bit earlier and was going to be a little bit easier to overtake. I just didn’t make it stick. It’s too bad because the car was running strong all race. The brakes lasted. The car just wasn’t as good at the end of the race as it was early in the race.”

“The beginning of the race was a little bit boring -- the amount of cautions,” added Villeneuve. “Once we got going though it was fun. Today, I think Marcos Ambrose and ourselves had the two fastest cars out there. But, this race always comes down to the last 10 laps anyway.”

Robby Gordon, who was at the front of the field two times for 17 laps in his Toyota Camry after starting last, was leading the race on lap 75 when he ran out of fuel. Gordon ended up 14th in the final results.

“If the race doesn’t have caution at the end and a green-white-checker -- we win,” said Gordon, after the race. “And, it’s easy to say if you did this you should have done that, but with what happened to us in qualifying and starting last, we made our bed this morning. When the race started this morning, we had a plan -- and we lived and died by it. It’s just unfortunate we ran out of fuel.”

In addition to Gordon and Villeneuve, Camry driver Marcos Ambrose led 25 laps in the race before retiring from the event with electrical problems. He would finish 33rd after completing 50 laps.

Along with Villeneuve, Camry drivers Joey Logano (sixth) and Trevor Bayne (10th) also posted top-10 finishes in Montreal.

Other Toyota drivers in the field included Brad Coleman (12th), Jason Leffler (21st), Tayler Malsam (23rd), Michael Annett (25th), Brendan Gaughan (27th), Patrick Carpentier (32nd), Steve Wallace (38th) and Brian Scott (40th).

Following the Montreal race, nine Toyota drivers are in the top-15 in the unofficial NNS driver point standings -- Busch (third), Wallace (seventh), Bayne (eighth), Logano (ninth), Leffler (10th), Gaughan (11th), Annett (12th), Scott (13th) and Reed Sorenson (14th).

The Nationwide Series returns to action at Road Atlanta, Sept. 4.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTSS)
Kyle Busch won his second consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Chicagoland Speedway Friday night. The win was the 75th series victory for a Tundra driver since Toyota joined the series in 2004.

Busch started fourth in the No. 18 Traxxas Toyota Tundra and led three times for 121 (of 154) laps en route to victory lane for the second straight year. Last year, Busch won the inaugural race at the 1.5-mile tri-oval located just outside Chicago.

“It was really fun out there and this Toyota Tundra was awesome,” said Busch, following the race. “It was so fun racing Todd (Bodine) like that. He had enough to hang with us -- he just didn’t have enough to get by us there. It was awesome to race with those guys. Eric (Phillips, crew chief) and Rick Ren (general manager) did a great job for us tonight, as well. It’s just real fun to drive these trucks. I love coming to Chicago. It’s kind of like a second home for me. I look forward to coming back here next year.”

When a caution came out with 26 laps to go in the race, Busch and Bodine opted to take four tires during pit stops and restarted sixth and fourth, respectively. Both drivers made their way back to the front of the field with Busch passing Ron Hornaday Jr. on lap 131 to take the lead for the final time. Bodine didn’t let up though, almost passing Busch with 15 laps remaining. The two Tundra drivers battled down the stretch before Busch took the checkered flag followed by runner-up Bodine.

“I was concerned,” added Busch. “I remember last year it was real tough to get away from side-by-side. This year, I got clear on Todd (Bodine) just going down the front straightaway getting into turn one there. From there on out, I was worried that he would get a draft on me. These trucks, man, they draft so easy. That’s how I ran him down and got to him the first time. He just didn’t quite have enough to pass us.”

It was also Busch’s fourth Truck Series victory of the 2010 season. Earlier this season he registered wins at Nashville (April 2), Charlotte (May 21) and last week at Bristol (August 18) -- where he swept all three series races to become the first driver in NASCAR history to accomplish the feat.

Busch has also won races in all three NASCAR series at Chicagoland Speedway.  In addition to his two Truck series wins at the Illinois oval, Busch has recorded a Sprint Cup Series win and a Nationwide Series triumph at the track in 2008, and he also won this year’s NNS race at Chicagoland in July.

Toyota has now won 10 of 17 NCWTS races in 2010.

Tundra drivers Justin Lofton (fifth), Aric Almirola (sixth), Brad Sweet (16th), Steve Park (18th), Johanna Long (20th), Timothy Peters (21st) and Mike Skinner (23rd) were also in the field.

With the runner-up finish, Bodine now leads the unofficial NCWTS standings by 236 points over second-place Almirola. Peters (fourth), Skinner (eighth) and Lofton (10th) are also in the top-10 in points after 17 of 25 races.

The Camping World Truck Series returns to action at Kentucky Speedway, Sept. 3.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE)
Two Toyota drivers recorded top-10 finishes in Saturday night’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Georgia’s Gresham Motorsports Park. Cole Whitt finished runner-up to race-winner Ty Dillon, and Ryan Truex recorded a seventh-place finish. Other Toyota drivers in the race at the half-mile oval included Max Gresham (12th), Brett Moffitt (17th), Miquel Paludo (18th) and Zach Germain (25th). The next event for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 17.

Toyota NNS Driver Finishing Positions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal
3rd, JACQUES VILLENEUVE
6th, JOEY LOGANO
10th, TREVOR BAYNE
12th, BRAD COLEMAN
14th, ROBBY GORDON
21st, JASON LEFFLER
23rd, TAYLER MALSAM
25th, MICHAEL ANNETT
27th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN
32nd, PATRICK CARPENTIER
33rd, MARCOS AMBROSE
38th, STEVE WALLACE
40th, BRIAN SCOTT

Toyota Drivers in NNS Point Standings -- following Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal
3rd, KYLE BUSCH 3,396 points
7th, STEVE WALLACE 2,857 points
8th, TREVOR BAYNE 2,855 points
9th, JOEY LOGANO 2,722 points
10th, JASON LEFFLER 2,720 points
11th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN 2,669 points
12th, MICHAEL ANNETT 2,643 points
13th, BRIAN SCOTT 2,549 points
14th, REED SORENSON 2,451 points

Toyota NCWTS Driver Finishing Positions at Chicagoland Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, TODD BODINE
5th, JUSTIN LOFTON
6th, ARIC ALMIROLA
16th, BRAD SWEET
18th, STEVE PARK
20th, JOHANNA LONG
21st, TIMOTHY PETERS
23rd, MIKE SKINNER

Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings -- following Chicagoland Speedway
1st, TODD BODINE 2,708 points
2nd, ARIC ALMIROLA 2,472 points
4th, TIMOTHY PETERS 2,383 points
8th, MIKE SKINNER 2,210 points
10th, JUSTIN LOFTON 1,977 points

Toyota NKNPSE Driver Finishing Positions at Gresham Motorsports Park
2nd, COLE WHITT
7th, RYAN TRUEX
12th, MAX GRESHAM
17th, BRETT MOFFITT
18th, MIQUEL PALUDO
25th, ZACH GERMAIN

Toyota Drivers in NKNPSE Point Standings -- following Gresham Motorsports Park
1st, RYAN TRUEX 1,307 points
3rd, COLE WHITT 1,170 points
4th, BRETT MOFFITT 1,168 points
7th, MAX GRESHAM 1,088 points