Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes I - March 9, 2010
Here Are the Headlines:
- Red Bull Rally in Atlanta
- Tundras Tally Top-Fives in Georgia
- Racing Will Resume at Short Tracks
ATLANTA RACE REWIND: Red Bull Racing teammates Brian Vickers (seventh) and Scott Speed (10th) earned top-10 finishes for Toyota in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Camry driver Marcos Ambrose (11th) also collected a top-15 finish at the 1.5-mile Georgia oval. Other Camry drivers in the 341-lap, 524-mile race included Denny Hamlin (21st), Kyle Busch (25th), Martin Truex Jr. (27th), Max Papis (34th), Joey Logano (35th), Joe Nemechek (38th), David Reutimann (40th), Dave Blaney (41st), Michael McDowell (42nd) and Robby Gordon (43rd).
POINTS PACE: After four of 36 NSCS races this season, Speed (12th) is the top Toyota driver in the unofficial 2010 NSCS point standings. In addition to his 10th-place result at Atlanta, Speed finished in the top-20 at both Daytona International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. He trails points-leader Kevin Harvick by 162 points. Other Camry drivers in the top-20 in points following Atlanta include Logano (14th), Busch (15th), Vickers (16th) and Reutimann (18th).
TUNDRA TALLY: Busch (second) was the highest-finishing Tundra driver in Saturday’s 200-mile NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Atlanta. Tundra drivers Aric Almirola (third), Steve Wallace (fourth) and Todd Bodine (fifth) also posted top-five finishes. Timothy Peters (seventh), Brad Sweet (12th), Tayler Malsam (13th), Mike Skinner (14th), David Starr (15th), Stacy Compton (19th) and Justin Lofton (20th) were other Tundra racers in the field. Bodine leads Peters by four points (340-336) in the unofficial 2010 NCWTS point standings after two of 25 races. Almirola (fourth), Busch (fifth) and Malsam (ninth) are also in the top-10 in the NCWTS point standings.
RETURN TO ACTION: All three of NASCAR’s national touring series are off this weekend, but the NSCS and NNS will return to action March 19-21 for the first short track race of the season at the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway. The NCWTS will take two weeks off before taking on its first short track race of 2010 at Virginia’s half-mile Martinsville Speedway on March 27.
SKINNER’S ROUND UP FOR CHARITY: Skinner, driver of the No. 5 Tundra for Randy Moss Motorsports in the NCWTS will host the fourth annual ‘Toyota Skinner Round-Up for Charity’ on March 11 and 12 at Daytona International Speedway and Spruce Creek Country Club in Daytona Beach, Fla. Celebrities that will attend to help raise funds to benefit Volusia County (Fla.) charities include Nashville recording artist Stacy Mitchhart, ‘America Idol’s’ Bo Bice, and NASCAR personalities Michael Waltrip, Ron Hornaday Jr., Tommy Baldwin, Rick Crawford and Steve Park. Over the last three years, the ‘Round-Up’ has raised over a half million dollars for area charities. The two-day event kicks off to the public on Thursday evening at the Fan Zone and the Daytona 500 Club at Daytona International Speedway at 7:00 PM.
SUIT SWEEPSTAKES: As part of a promotion for its upcoming NSCS and NNS weekend (May 7-8), South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway is giving away a fire suit worn by Vickers -- the 2003 NNS champion. Vickers has one win at the 1.366-mile speedway in NNS competition (2003). Fans can enter to win the fire suit at DarlingtonRaceway.com.
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 2010 NASCAR STATISTICS |
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| SERIES | RACES | STARTS (DRIVERS) | WINS | TOP-5s | TOP-10s | POLES | TIMES LED | LAPS LED |
| NSCS | 4 | 52(14) | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 109 |
| NNS | 3 | 31(14) | 1 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 17 | 224 |
| NCWTS | 2 | 23(14) | 1 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 16 | 72 |
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