NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
In Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) event at Chicagoland Speedway, Reutimann ran among the leaders throughout the race and led the final 32 laps around the 1.5-mile Illinois oval en route to his second career series victory.

Reutimann’s first victory in the Sprint Cup Series came a little more than a year ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a rain-shortened race.

After starting seventh in the Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry, Reutimann ran at the front of the field three times for 52 laps in the 267-lap race. He crossed the finish line ahead of runner-up Carl Edwards and third-place Jeff Gordon.

“First of all, I have to thank everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing,” said Reutimann, following the race.  “Everybody did such a great job today.  I don’t even know what to say.  It was probably the lamest burnout they’ve ever seen at this race track. I was tearing up pretty bad.  I have to thank all my guys -- they did a great job.  There was no rain tonight and we earned this one. Nobody gave it to us, and that feels really good.
 
“I want to thank Toyota and Toyota Racing Development -- they gave us some great horsepower tonight,” added Reutimann.  “It’s phenomenal horsepower and it’s just a total team effort.  I heard so much stuff for winning a rain-shortened event that everybody said we didn’t earn it.  Tonight, I don’t know what they can say about this one. You think about these moments all your life and you think about all the right things to say.  I’m about to cry, this is awesome.”
 
Although veterans Edwards and Gordon tried to catch Reutimann in the final laps around the Chicagoland track, they came up short in their efforts. Both Edwards and Gordon were finally able to catch up to the Zephyrhills, Fla.-native in victory lane – where they congratulated him on the victory.  
 
“We were just better on the long run,” said Reutimann, who has been driving a Camry for MWR in NSCS competition since the start of the 2007 season. “That last run, that was the worst we were all night -- the last green flag stretch.  The car was really, really loose and I knew the 99 (Carl Edwards) was catching us awful fast.  It was a good night, a good effort by everybody.  It feels really good to get a second win under our belt. Tonight we just had the car to beat.”
  
Following Reutimann to the finish line were Camry drivers Denny Hamlin (eighth), Martin Truex Jr. (11th), Kyle Busch (17th), Joey Logano (19th), Reed Sorenson (27th), Marcos Ambrose (28th), Scott Speed (30th), Robby Gordon (38th), Mike Bliss (41st), Max Papis (42nd) and Joe Nemechek (43rd).
Reutimann’s victory was the eighth win for a Camry driver this year in the first 19 NSCS races of the season. Hamlin has five wins this season and Busch has been to victory lane twice.
 
It also was the third win for an engine built by TRD in Costa Mesa, Calif. In addition to Reutimann’s two Cup Series wins with TRD-built motors, Brian Vickers recorded a victory at Michigan in 2009 with an engine from TRD. 
 
The win enabled Reutimann to move into 15th-place in the NSCS championship points standings and he is now just 96 points from 12th-place in the standings and a spot in the Chase championship playoff. Hamlin moved up one position to fourth in the unofficial NSCS point standings following Chicagoland, trailing leader Kevin Harvick by 203 points. Busch (sixth), Logano (19th) and Truex (20th) are also in the top-20 in points after 19 of 36 races this season.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series takes a week off before returning to action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, July 25.

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
In Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Chicagoland Speedway, Toyota Camry drivers took the top-five finishing positions in the 203-lap race at the 1.5-mile Illinois oval.

Busch captured the checkered flag and was followed to the finish line by fellow Camry drivers Logano (second), Brian Scott (third), Reutimann (fourth) and Jason Leffler (fifth).

It was the ninth win for a Toyota driver in 18 Nationwide Series races this season, and the 46th series win for a Camry racer since the start of the 2007 season. In addition, Busch picked up his 37th career Nationwide Series victory -- including 26 wins behind the wheel of a Camry -- and moved into second-place on the NNS career win list behind Mark Martin (48 wins).

Busch, who started eighth in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 18 Z-Line Designs Camry, led the field four times for a total of 110 laps. He came back from a penalty on pit road early in the race -- which forced him to make an additional pit stop. Then, late in the race he passed his JGR teammate Logano with two laps remaining in a green-white-checkered flag finish.

“It wasn’t easy,” said Busch, after the race. “We had the track position when it mattered and then the car got really, really tight on us. But, these guys at Joe Gibbs Racing never gave up. They knew I had it in me, even if I didn’t think I had it in me. It’s fun to race in the Nationwide Series. To win as many as we won and to be as successful as JGR has been, it’s fun every week. It’s always cool to come out here and put on a good show.”

Busch was able to pass Logano on the final restart of the race -- with just two laps remaining in the event. Busch added, “I was just too tight behind him. When I’m out front I have all the air and can do whatever I want. I started running him down when I moved up. And then he moved up to get in front of me and blocked my air, so I had to try to go back to the bottom and see if I couldn’t get closer. I just kind of sold out five lengths behind him, I couldn’t get any closer than that, but our car was fast. It’s fun to come out here and race in the Nationwide Series. I love doing it, but it’s also fun when you have cars this good with JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and you can win.”

Logano, who started fifth, led the field twice for 51 laps in recording his second straight second-place finish, and his fourth runner-up result of the 2010 campaign.

“Our run was okay -- we were a second-place car most of the night,” Logano said, following the race. “I felt like we got closer and closer -- clean air was the biggest deal. Whoever had clean air was definitely going to be faster. We were able to get that clean air towards the end. It’s almost like a guarantee that a caution is going to come out. Of course, that happened and we took two tires which worked for the first restart, and then a caution came out. I restarted on the bottom every time I was able to take the lead. I was so committed to the bottom and Kyle (Busch) did a good job to get out front.”

Scott, a rookie driving for Braun Racing, registered his best career Nationwide Series result with his third-place finish.

Other Toyota drivers in the field at Chicagoland included Reed Sorenson (eighth), Steve Wallace (12th), Michael Annett (14th), Brendan Gaughan (16th), Trevor Bayne (32nd) and Kevin Lepage (37th).

Busch -- who has only run 15 of 18 events in 2010 -- now sits third in the unofficial NNS point standings following Chicagoland. Logano (seventh), Wallace (eighth), Gaughan (ninth), Leffler (10th), Bayne (11th), Annett (12th), Scott (13th) and Sorenson (15th) are also in the top-15 in points with 17 races left on the schedule.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series returns to action at Gateway International Raceway, July 17.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
In Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Iowa Speedway, Randy Moss Motorsports teammates Mike Skinner (seventh) and David Starr (10th) were the highest finishing Tundra drivers at the .875-mile track.

Skinner started 15th in the No. 5 PC Miler Tundra and worked his way up through the field to lead 13 (of 205) laps at the Newton, Iowa oval.

“We struggled on long runs with the truck bouncing really, really bad,” said Skinner, following the race. “I really don’t know what it is.  We’ve had issues with that in the past, but Stacy (Johnson, crew chief) did a fantastic job on the box today.  We kind of got ourselves painted in the corner on tires.  We stayed out there and led some laps and I can’t say it was really, really negative.  For a truck that qualified 15th we got up there and got us another top-10 finish.”

Starr, who made his 250th series start on Sunday, started 23rd in the No. 81 Zachry Tundra after battling a loose race truck throughout the weekend and was able to salvage a 10th-place result.

“It’s no big secret, we pretty much struggled through the whole race, but Doug Wolcott (crew chief) and all of the guys on our Randy Moss Motorsports team they never gave up,” said Starr. “We worked on it and worked on it every pit stop and we just weren’t very good.  We struggled -- too loose on entry and tight in the center and then trying to get the forward bite where you get the traction up off the corner was tough.  We finished 10th and it wasn’t very pretty, but I’m glad to have another top-10.  We gave it all we had.  Our Zachry Toyota Tundra just couldn’t find what we needed this weekend.  We tried and it was a good effort by everybody, but we just didn’t have what we wanted so not a bad finish just not what we expect.” 

Brian Ickler (13th) and Justin Lofton (15th) also earned top-15 results for Toyota on Sunday. Lofton was running third to eventual race-winner Austin Dillon coming down the stretch, but his No. 7 visitpit.com Tundra ran out of gas on the final green-white-checkered restart.

Tundra drivers Todd Bodine (17th), Timothy Peters (27th), Aric Almirola (28th) and Wallace (30th) were also in the field.

Almirola and Wallace had their days cut short after flat right-front tires sent both of their Billy Ballew Motorsports Tundras into the wall. They were both unable to return to the track due to heavy damage.

Despite finishing 17th, Bodine continues to lead second-place Almirola in the unofficial NCWTS point standings following Iowa, holding an 88-point lead. Tundra drivers Peters (fourth), Skinner (sixth) and Starr (eighth) are also in the top-10 in points after 10 of 25 races.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action at Gateway International Raceway, July 16.

Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions at Chicagoland Speedway
1st, DAVID REUTIMANN
8th, DENNY HAMLIN
11th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
17th, KYLE BUSCH
19th, JOEY LOGANO
27th, REED SORENSON
28th, MARCOS AMBROSE
30th, SCOTT SPEED
38th, ROBBY GORDON
41st, MIKE BLISS
42nd, MAX PAPIS
43rd, JOE NEMECHEK

Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings -- following Chicagoland Speedway**
4th, DENNY HAMLIN 2,542 points
6th, KYLE BUSCH 2,488 points
15th, DAVID REUTIMANN 2,190 points
19th, JOEY LOGANO 2,103 points
20th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 2,060 points
24th, SCOTT SPEED 1,838 points
28th, MARCOS AMBROSE 1,739 points

Toyota NNS Driver Finishing Positions at Chicagoland Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, JOEY LOGANO
3rd, BRIAN SCOTT
4th, DAVID REUTIMANN
5th, JASON LEFFLER
8th, REED SORENSON
12th, STEVE WALLACE
14th, MICHAEL ANNETT
16th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN
32nd, TREVOR BAYNE
37th, KEVIN LEPAGE

Toyota Drivers in NNS Point Standings -- following Chicagoland Speedway**
3rd, KYLE BUSCH 2,486 points
7th, JOEY LOGANO 2,108 points
8th, STEVE WALLACE 2,049 points
9th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN 2,015 points
10th, JASON LEFFLER 1,994 points
11th, TREVOR BAYNE 1,870 points
12th, MICHAEL ANNETT 1,843 points
13th, BRIAN SCOTT 1,841 points
15th, REED SORENSON 1,787 points

Toyota NCWTS Driver Finishing Positions at Iowa Speedway
7th, MIKE SKINNER
10th, DAVID STARR
13th, BRIAN ICKLER
15th, JUSTIN LOFTON
17th, TODD BODINE
27th, TIMOTHY PETERS
28th, ARIC ALMIROLA
30th, STEVE WALLACE

Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings -- following Iowa Speedway**
1st, TODD BODINE 1,555 points
2nd, ARIC ALMIROLA 1,467 points
4th, TIMOTHY PETERS 1,360 points
6th, MIKE SKINNER 1,322 points
8th, DAVID STARR 1,266 points
12th, JUSTIN LOFTON 1,113 points
16th, KYLE BUSCH 957 points
** unofficial point standings