Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes I - Atlanta 2010
TOYOTA TIDBITS -- March 1-7, 2010
Here Are the Headlines:
- Logano Leads Camry Contingent in Vegas
- Cup Returns to Site of Toyota’s First Triumph
- Tundras Look for Fifth-Straight Atlanta Spring Win
VEGAS VAULT: Joey Logano finished sixth in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, best among the 13 Toyota Camry drivers in the field. The 19-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver started sixth in the No. 20 Home Depot Camry, and earned his ninth career NSCS top-10 finish (42 races). Toyota drivers David Reutimann (13th), Marcos Ambrose (14th), Kyle Busch (15th), Denny Hamlin (19th) and Martin Truex Jr. (20th) finished in the top-20 in Sunday’s 400-mile event.
POINTS PACE: After three of 36 NSCS races in 2010, Logano (eighth) is the highest-ranking Toyota driver in the unofficial NSCS point standings. In addition to his sixth-place result at Las Vegas, Logano finished 20th in the season-opening Daytona 500 and fifth at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. He trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 93 points. Other Camry drivers in the top-20 in points following Las Vegas include Reutimann (ninth), Busch (12th), Scott Speed (16th) and Brian Vickers (18th).
GEORGIA ON MY MIND: The NSCS heads east this weekend for Sunday’s 500-mile event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the site of Toyota’s first NSCS victory by Busch in March 2008. In last year’s spring race at the 1.5-mile oval, Vickers (fifth) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver, and in the series’ return trip to Atlanta in the fall, three Camry drivers -- Reutimann (fourth), Hamlin (sixth) and Vickers (seventh) finished among the top-10.
DENNY SECOND IN DEBUT: Hamlin nearly won Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Las Vegas, finishing runner-up to race-winner Harvick. Hamlin, who has nine career NNS victories, led 29 laps in the JGR No. 20 Interstate Batteries Camry in his first series start of 2010. Vickers (fifth), Trevor Bayne (sixth) and Steve Wallace (10th) also recorded top-10 finishes for Toyota in the event. The NNS will enjoy a two-week break before returning to action at Bristol Motor Speedway, March 20.
TRUCKS ON TRACK: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) takes to the track at Atlanta this weekend for its second race of the season. Toyota Tundra driver Timothy Peters comes to the Georgia oval as the series points leader, having won the season-opening race at Daytona (Feb. 13). Toyota has enjoyed great success at Atlanta since joining NCWTS competition in 2004, winning the past four sprint events at the track (2006 to 2009) and recording six pole positions.
DOUBLE DEFENDER: Busch heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway as the two-time defending NCWTS spring race-winner. Busch won in 2008 and 2009 in a Billy Ballew Motorsports Tundra, leading 33 of 130 laps one year ago en route to victory lane. He also won the fall NCWTS races at the track in 2005 and 2007. This season, he is seeking his first victory as a team owner and driver -- behind the wheel of his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra. In the team’s debut at Daytona, Busch was involved in an early incident and finished 22nd.
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.
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday, March 7 @ 1:00 PM (ET), FOX -- Race 4 of 36
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series @ Atlanta Motor Speedway, Saturday, March 6 @ 2:00 PM (ET), SPEED -- Race 2 of 25
| TOYOTA 2010 NASCAR STATISTICS |
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| SERIES | RACES | STARTS (DRIVERS) | WINS | TOP-5s | TOP-10s | POLES | TIMES LED | LAPS LED |
| NSCS | 3 | 39(14) | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 54 |
| NNS | 2 | 31(14) | 1 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 17 | 224 |
| NCWTS | 1 | 12(12) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 53 |
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