| TRUEX TOP TOYOTA IN BRISTOL CUP RACE |
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| Kyle Busch claims Nationwide win in record setting fashion BRISTOL, Tenn. (August 27, 2011) -- Martin Truex Jr. was the top finishing Toyota in Saturday nights NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) at Bristol Motor Speedway and claimed a season-best finish of second, while Kyle Busch was victorious in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) one night earlier. Todd Bodine and Timothy Peters both posted top-five finishes in Wednesday nights NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race. NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (NSCS) In Sundays NSCS race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Truex posted his best finish of the season, a second-place result, and was the highest finishing Toyota driver in the 500-lap race at the half-mile, short track in Tennessee. Truex started 26th, but quickly jumped to the ninth position by the races quarter-way mark (lap 125), but the New Jersey-native would use late-race strategy to emerge as the race leader. Taking two tires during a late-race pit stop instead of four, the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts exited pit road as the race leader. Eventual race winner, Brad Keselowski took the lead on the restart and Truex was able to hold off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon in the final laps. It was a great night for all of us on our NAPA Toyota, said Truex, following the race. Im so proud of all the guys at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) -- Chad (Johnston), my crew chief, who is still pretty new to this stuff and all the guys in the pits. They had one bad pit stop one from the end, but they were able to rebound on the last one when we got two (tires) and got the lead. Just a little too tight on restarts to be able to stay with Brad (Keselowski) there. On the long run we were as good as anyone. Just couldnt quite hang with him on two and was a little disappointed because I thought we had a shot at it. Again, I want to thank all these guys. Truex led five laps in the race and the second-place finish marked his third top-10 result in the last six races. The finish was his best in 12 career Bristol Motor Speedway starts and his first Bristol top-10 finish. In addition to Truexs podium finish, Camry driver Denny Hamlin (seventh) finished in the top-10 overall to increase his standing in the NSCS points with just two races remaining prior to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCARs postseason. By virtue of the finish, Hamlin is now 13th in the points, 38 points out of the 10th position. We did what we had to do, said Hamlin, following the race. I wish I could race harder and I wish I could do all those things, but at this point we have to have solid finishes. This is all the car would give me today. This is a step forward for this FedEx team. If we just handle business the next couple weeks then well be okay. After battling for the win a night earlier in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race, the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates of Joey Logano and Kyle Busch finished back-to-back in the 13th and 14th positions. Busch led four laps in the event and Logano, who ran among the race leaders at times, led two laps. Were kind of confused, said Logano, following the race. The first part of the race we were really loose. They got the car better and we came from the back and my car was awesome. I drove all the way up to fifth and thought this thing was good enough to win this thing. We made another run and kind of hung in there in fifth and then just got loose -- just like a light switch. Then we stayed loose for another run and then just gave up our center and at the end of the race it was still loose. We had a better car at points than where we finished. Other Camry drivers in the field included Kasey Kahne (11th), Brian Vickers (21st), Casey Mears (23rd), Bobby Labonte (34th), David Reutimann (36th), Michael McDowell (39th), Joe Nemechek (40th) and Mike Skinner (41st). In the unofficial NSCS standings, Busch sits first in the point standings. Camry drivers Hamlin (13th), Kahne (15th), Truex (17th) and Logano (18th) are all among the top-20. The NSCS next races at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 4. NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES (NNS) Camry driver Busch became the career-wins leader in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) by claiming his 50th win in the series at Tennessees Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night in the closest NNS finish in track history. Rubbing door-to-door through the final corner, Busch clung to the high side and nosed ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Joey Logano by 0.019 seconds to take the checkered flag, the closest finish in history at Bristol and seventh-closest in NNS history since the inception of electronic scoring. By virtue of his win, Busch broke a tie with Mark Martin for the most wins in NNS history. Its awesome, said Busch, following the race. To come here and be able to beat his record at Bristol -- one of my favorite places and one of the teams favorite places. Certainly, an awesome race tonight. We had a great race car. Clint (Bowyer) I thought was going to get us and he was going to be the one we would have to beat. Turned out I had to race Joey (Logano), my own teammate there. Those guys had a great race car -- congratulations to the GameStop guys. They had a really nice car. Busch started the race from the pole and led 186 (of 250) laps over four stints. The win marked Buschs fourth NNS victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, his third-straight Bristol triumph and seventh NNS win of the season. Logano led 12 laps en route to his second-place finish and appeared to be the faster of the JGR teammates in the closing laps, but ran out of circuits on the half-mile track to chase down Busch. Just when he got those fresh tires there, he was able to get by me with new tires and did everything I can to keep up, said Logano, following the race. Once the tires kind of equaled out, I was catching him through the traffic and then I got under him a couple of times, couldnt clear him and I knew I had one more shot there on the last lap. I made sure I got to door-to-door with him and I was going to slide it down in there and do everything besides wrecking him and I went in there and slid him up the race track, bounced off doors and all. It was fun. It would be a- lot more fun if I was the one in victory lane. Either way, its really cool for JGR. A one-two finish that close, rubbing the doors across the line there -- it's really neat. The Camry win also marked the ninth win for Toyota in 25 NNS races in 2011. Camry drivers Michael Annett (sixth) and Brian Scott (10th), the third JGR pilot, also claimed top-10 finishes in the 250-lap night race. Other Camry drivers in the field were Steve Wallace (14th), David Reutimann (20th), Joe Nemechek (21st), Kevin Conway (29th) and Kenny Wallace (36th). In the unofficial NNS standings, Kenny Wallace (seventh), Steve Wallace (eighth), Brian Scott (ninth) and Annett (10th) are all among the top-10. The NNS returns to action at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 3. NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES (NCWTS) In Wednesday nights NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) at Tennessees Bristol Motor Speedway, Tundra drivers Bodine (third) and Peters (fifth) recorded top-five finishes in the 200 lap race. Justin Lofton was the third Tundra racer to record a top-10 with a seventh-place result -- his best finish of the season. Bodine started ninth and was running third late in the race, but he could never catch race-winner Kevin Harvick or race runner-up Johnny Sauter. It was a pretty interesting night, said Bodine, after the race. At about the 10th lap I lost the power steering, so Im a little tired. It was a great night. Weve had a tough year. A lot of mistakes that Ive made and a couple runs that werent real good. But, this Germain race team, and all the guys from Randy Moss Motorsports, our motto is never give up and thats what we did tonight. We pitted again when everybody else did and gave up some track position to get two tires so Junior (Mike Hillman, Jr., crew chief) could adjust it, and it was the right move. The adjustments definitely helped me. We got some breaks at the end when guys run out of gas, kept digging and got a third. Peters has now recorded back-to-back top-five finishes. In addition to his fifth-place at Bristol, he was the race runner-up at Michigan International Speedway last weekend. This season, Peters has six top-five finishes. We had an eventful night, said Peters, after the race. I wish we could have got that fourth, but we just wore our right front out there. We couldnt run the bottom -- we could only run the top with our Tundra. We wrecked the primary (truck) in practice and the guys pulled this one truck out right here and we only had two laps on the track, and we qualified eighth. We look like your one-stop shop on pit road trying to throw some adjustments at it. The guys did a great job -- not only here, but the guys back at the shop. Well carry this momentum to Atlanta. Tundra drivers David Starr (11th) and Johanna Long (15th) recorded top-15 results at Bristol. Other Toyota drivers in the field included Josh Richards (17th), Brendan Gaughan (20th), Max Papis (26th), Kyle Busch (30th), Miguel Paludo (31st) and John King (32nd) After 16 races, Peters is now third -- only 15 points behind series points leader Johnny Sauter -- in the unofficial championship point standings. Bodine is 10th in the standings, followed by Starr (11th), Gaughan (13th), Lofton (15th), Paludo (16th) and Papis (17th) -- placing seven Tundra drivers among the top-20 in the standings. The next NCWTS race will take place at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sept. 2. Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings -- following Bristol Motor Speedway*    |
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