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LOGANO LEADS CAMRY FINISHERS IN LAS VEGAS - Six Top-20s in Cup Series, Four Top-10s in Nationwide Series

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (February 28, 2010) -- Joey Logano was the first Toyota driver to the finish line in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Denny Hamlin was the first Camry racer to the checkered flag in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) event during the doubleheader race weekend at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
In Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Logano started sixth and finished in the same position in his JGR No. 20 Home Depot Camry. The 19-year-old driver ran among the top-10 throughout the 267-lap race and crossed the finish line behind race-winner Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick (second), Jeff Gordon (third), Mark Martin (fourth) and Matt Kenseth (fifth).

Logano has now registered back-to-back top-10 results after finishing fifth a week ago in Fontana, Calif. to go along with his sixth-place result at Las Vegas. In addition, Logano was 20th in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway and now sits in eighth-place in the championship point standings.

“It was another great run for our Home Depot Camry, and I’m excited about that,” said Logano, after the race. “To have two great runs like that at Fontana and here in Las Vegas -- it’s pretty exciting to start the season like that. Next week will probably be a tough one -- Atlanta is one where we struggled a lot last year. If we run good there -- that’s really going to say something to me. I expected to run really good here, especially after last weekend. Last year, we also ran good here. We didn’t start with the best car in the beginning of the race, but we were able to make good adjustments to keep improving the car and keep passing cars on the track. We almost had a fifth-place today, and that’s definitely cool.”

Five other Camry racers recorded top-20 results at Las Vegas, including Logano’s two teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing -- Kyle Busch (15th) and Denny Hamlin (19th), as well as David Reutimann (13th), Marcos Ambrose (14th) and Martin Truex Jr. (20th).

Other Toyota drivers in the field were Scott Speed (22nd), Dave Blaney (29th), Brian Vickers (31st), Robby Gordon (32nd), Max Papis (33rd), Joe Nemechek (41st) and Michael McDowell (42nd).

The NSCS returns to action at Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 7.

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
In Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Camry driver Hamlin finished runner-up to race-winner Kevin Harvick in the 200-lap event. Toyota racers Vickers (fifth), Trevor Bayne (sixth) and Steve Wallace (10th) also registered top-10 finishes in the race.

Hamlin, driver of the JGR No. 20 Interstate Batteries Camry, started fourth and led the field once for 29 laps en route to his second-place result.

“Those four tires got us there at the end,” said Hamlin, following the race. “We were coming to him (Kevin Harvick) at the end, but don’t know if we could have caught him. Congratulations to this Interstate Batteries team for putting a good car under me -- that’s for sure. We didn’t have the best car all day. I felt like we had the best car at the beginning of the race, but we didn’t have the track position to go with it. Once we had track position it took off -- but then those new tires got us there at the end.”

Hamlin’s JGR teammate Busch ran among the leaders throughout the race, but finished 16th after making contact with the wall while battling for the lead late in the race. Busch led the field three times for a total of 43 laps.

Other Toyota drivers in the field included Jason Leffler (12th), Brendan Gaughan (13th), Brian Scott (31st), Michael Annett (33rd) and Chad Blount (40th).

The Nationwide Series will take two weeks off and return to action at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway, March 20.

Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
6th, JOEY LOGANO
13th, DAVID REUTIMANN
14th, MARCOS AMBROSE
15th, KYLE BUSCH
19th, DENNY HAMLIN
20th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
22nd, SCOTT SPEED
29th, DAVE BLANEY
31st, BRIAN VICKERS
32nd, ROBBY GORDON
33rd, MAX PAPIS
41st, JOE NEMECHEK
42nd, MICHAEL MCDOWELL

Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings -- following Las Vegas Motor Speedway**
8th, JOEY LOGANO 413 points
9th, DAVID REUTIMANN 397 points
12th, KYLE BUSCH 375 points
16th, SCOTT SPEED 348 points
18th, BRIAN VICKERS 320 points
21st, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 304 points
22nd, DENNY HAMLIN 304 points
** unofficial point standings

Toyota NNS Driver Finishing Positions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, BRIAN VICKERS
6th, TREVOR BAYNE
10th, STEVE WALLACE
12th, JASON LEFFLER
13th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN
16th, KYLE BUSCH
31st, BRIAN SCOTT
33rd, MICHAEL ANNETT
40th, CHAD BLOUNT

Toyota Drivers in NNS Point Standings -- following Las Vegas Motor Speedway**
3rd, BRIAN VICKERS 457 points
5th, KYLE BUSCH 424 points
6th, STEVE WALLACE 423 points
13th, TREVOR BAYNE 320 points
14th, JASON LEFFLER 312 points
15th, JOEY LOGANO 311 points
17th, BRIAN SCOTT 310 points
18th, MICHAEL ANNETT 303 points
20th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN 293 points
** unofficial point standings