NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

“I don’t know what happened there on the opening lap,” said Busch, after the race.  “I just lost it, I guess.  It just went around.  It didn’t really have any impact on the car, I feel like. I felt like everything was fine and the car handled all right.  I had trouble every restart really trying to get going, especially through (turns) one and two.  All in all, we came back and bounced back solidly, so that was good.  We needed a good run -- it’s been a while.”
 
“We were a little bit tight all day,” added Busch.  “We kind of got it loose a couple times and we were fast that way, but man it was so edgy to drive. I didn’t want to wreck the thing.  We just needed a solid run today.  We need to find speed somewhere else -- not having to be so much on the edge. We saved the day.  It was just a mistake made early there that almost had us in big, big trouble.  Fortunately, we came back.”

Although Logano didn’t get caught up in the early incident that hindered Busch, some debris from the accident did find his race car.

“We just didn’t take off as good as we needed to in the beginning of the race,” said Logano, post-race. “That first wreck on the first lap -- I didn’t get in it, but I ran over a brake rotor. It hit the front end. We had a bunch of scratches on the grill. We learned a lot about having to be on the bottom of the race track. That will definitely help next time we come here, for sure. Finally, got the car the best it was at the end. Maybe one more little adjustment might have helped, but we about finished where we ran. That’s about as good as we where there at the end.”

Following Busch and Logano to the finish line were Camry drivers Denny Hamlin (15th), Marcos Ambrose (21st), Scott Speed (25th), Martin Truex Jr. (26th), David Reutimann (28th), Jacques Villeneuve (29th), Reed Sorenson (35th), Robby Gordon (36th), Todd Bodine (37th), Joe Nemechek (40th), Dave Blaney (41st), Michael McDowell (42nd) and Max Papis (43rd).
Hamlin moved up one position to third-place in the unofficial NSCS point standings following Indianapolis. Busch (sixth), Reutimann (18th), Logano (19th) and Truex (20th) are also in the top-20 in points after 20 of 36 races this season.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to action at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway, August 1.

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
In Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at O’Reilly Raceway Park (ORP), Busch recorded his eighth win in 16 NNS races this season.

Busch, who started fifth in the JGR No. 18 Fleet Locate Camry, led the field four times for a total of 144 (of 201) laps. He held off a late charge from Carl Edwards in the final laps en route to victory lane.

“It was a good, clean hard-fought battle,” said Busch, following the race. “When you treat people with respect, that’s what you get -- you get respect back. Carl (Edwards) was awesome tonight. I can’t thank the rest of these competitors. I had a tough battle there at the beginning with Trevor Bayne. I had to do what I had to do to get by him. It’s fun to come out here and put on a great show like this and hopefully the fans enjoy it.”

It was the 10th victory for a Toyota driver in 20 Nationwide Series races this season, and the 47th series win for a Camry racer since the start of the 2007 season. In addition, Busch picked up his 38th career Nationwide Series victory -- including 27 wins behind the wheel of a Camry.

Toyota drivers now have three wins at ORP. The Indianapolis short track was the site of Toyota’s first NNS triumph with Jason Leffler in 2007, and with Busch in 2008.

“The race car was good too,” added Busch. “I can’t thank Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and Brad (Coleman, practice driver) enough and the rest of the guys that worked so hard in the heat and sweated their behinds off.  It was a fun race.  I knew we had a really good car.  That thing was fast and it felt like 2008 all over again.  We almost led all the laps.  It was cool to see Toyotas up front with myself and Trevor Bayne.  Real proud of the effort tonight by the guys and I’m glad we were able to win another one.”

Trevor Bayne (fourth) and Reed Sorenson (fifth) also finished among the top-five for Toyota. Bayne started from the pole in the Diamond-Waltrip Racing No. 99 Out! Pet Care Camry and led twice for a total of 55 laps. It marked the second straight week that the 19-year-old started from the front of the field -- he also started from the front of the field in last week’s race at Gateway International Raceway. Bayne also started from the pole at ORP last year -- his first career series pole position.

Other Toyota drivers in the field at the 0.686-mile oval included Brendan Gaughan (sixth), Steve Wallace (10th), Brian Scott (17th), Michael Annett (19th), Jason Leffler (30th), Matt DiBenedetto (31st) and Derrick Griffin (36th).

Busch -- who has only run 16 of 20 events in 2010 -- sits fourth in the unofficial NNS point standings following ORP. Wallace (seventh), Gaughan (eighth), Bayne (ninth), Leffler (10th), Sorenson (11th), Joey Logano (12th), Scott (13th) and Annett (14th) are also in the top-15 in the point standings with 15 races left on the schedule.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series returns to action at Iowa Speedway, July 31.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
In Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at O’Reilly Raceway, Busch (second) was the highest-finishing Tundra driver at the Indiana oval.

Busch started second in the Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) No. 18 Toyota of Warsaw Tundra and ran among the top-five throughout the race, but could never get out front.

“The guys made awesome calls there and did a great job making calls to get the thing way better and to get it to a second-place truck and that’s what we were,” said Busch, following the race. “I can’t thank the guys enough.  They did a great job.  We knew in practice that we didn’t have enough for the 33 (Ron Hornaday Jr.), but man, when you’re that close you’re fighting that hard for it you wish you could be there banging a couple doors with him, but we just couldn’t get there in the finals laps.  We didn’t have enough grip.  I burned the right front (tire) and the right rear (tire) off it trying to keep up with him (Hornaday), so we just didn’t have anything left.”

Tundra drivers Bodine (seventh), Brad Sweet (eighth), David Starr (ninth) and Timothy Peters (10th) also joined Busch in the top-10. Sweet recorded a career-best finish in the Stringer Motorsports No. 90 Great Clips Tundra.

Peters started from the pole in the No. 17 Red Horse Racing Tundra and led twice for 71 (of 200) laps. It marked the second career pole for Peters and the 71st pole for Toyota since joining series competition in 2004.

“We started off really good and then when the night came, we just got too tight,” said Peters. “Everybody did a great job on our Toyota Tundra.  It’s still a great night.  We sat on the pole and came home with a top-10 finish, that’s what we needed to do.”

Tundra drivers Mike Skinner (15th), Johanna Long (17th), Justin Lofton (29th) and Aric Almirola (31st) were also in the field. Long, an 18-year-old driver from Pensacola, Fla., made her NASCAR debut and became the youngest female to ever compete in the series.

Bodine continues to lead the unofficial NCWTS point standings following ORP, holding a 177-point lead over second-place Almirola. Tundra drivers Peters (fifth), Skinner (eighth) and Starr (ninth) are also in the top-10 in points after 12 of 25 races.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action at Pocono Raceway, July 31.

Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
8th, KYLE BUSCH
9th, JOEY LOGANO
15th, DENNY HAMLIN
21st, MARCOS AMBROSE
25th, SCOTT SPEED
26th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
28th, DAVID REUTIMANN
29th, JACQUES VILLENEUVE
35th, REED SORENSON
36th, ROBBY GORDON
37th, TODD BODINE
40th, JOE NEMECHEK
41st, DAVE BLANEY
42nd, MICHAEL MCDOWELL
43rd, MAX PAPIS

Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings -- following Indianapolis Motor Speedway**
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN 2,660 points
6th, KYLE BUSCH 2,630 points
18th, DAVID REUTIMANN 2,269 points
19th, JOEY LOGANO 2,241 points
20th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 2,145 points
26th, SCOTT SPEED 1,926 points
27th, MARCOS AMBROSE 1,839 points

Toyota NNS Driver Finishing Positions at O’Reilly Raceway Park
1st, KYLE BUSCH
4th, TREVOR BAYNE
5th, REED SORENSON
6th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN
10th, STEVE WALLACE
17th, BRIAN SCOTT
19th, MICHAEL ANNETT
30th, JASON LEFFLER
31st, MATT DIBENEDETTO
36th, DERRICK GRIFFIN

Toyota Drivers in NNS Point Standings -- following O’Reilly Raceway Park**
4th, KYLE BUSCH 2,681 points
7th, STEVE WALLACE 2,338 points
8th, BRENDAN GAUGHAN 2,277 points
9th, TREVOR BAYNE 2,205 points
10th, JASON LEFFLER 2,161 points
11th, REED SORENSON 2,112 points
12th, JOEY LOGANO 2,108 points
13th, BRIAN SCOTT 2,103 points
14th, MICHAEL ANNETT 2,079 points

Toyota NCWTS Driver Finishing Positions at O’Reilly Raceway Park
2nd, KYLE BUSCH
7th, TODD BODINE
8th, BRAD SWEET
9th, DAVID STARR
10th, TIMOTHY PETERS
15th, MIKE SKINNER
17th, JOHANNA LONG
29th, JUSTIN LOFTON
31st, ARIC ALMIROLA

Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings -- following O’Reilly Raceway Park **
1st, TODD BODINE 1,861 points
2nd, ARIC ALMIROLA 1,684 points
5th, TIMOTHY PETERS 1,649 points
8th, MIKE SKINNER 1,574 points
9th, DAVID STARR 1,528 points
14th, JUSTIN LOFTON 1,271 points
17th, KYLE BUSCH 1,127 points
** unofficial point standings