Toyota Takes One: Toyota earned its first win in NCTS competition at Michigan International Speedway in June 2004. The win came in Toyota's 13th start in the series with Travis Kvapil behind-the-wheel of a Tundra. In three NCTS starts at the Brooklyn, Michigan track, Tundras have earned two wins, with win number two coming last year by Michigan-native Johnny Benson in the No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Tundra.
'Home' Away From Home: Michigan International Speedway is considered the 'home' track for two Tundra drivers. Benson is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-native and fellow Tundra driver Jack Sprague, driver of the No. 60 Con-Way Freight Tundra, is from Spring Lake, Mich. Benson continues to have strong ties to Grand Rapids as he is a partner in Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich.
Michigan Man: Benson earned his first career NCTS win at Michigan International Speedway last June, which kick started a string of success resulting in a total of five wins on the season and a second-place finish in the NCTS point standings. "Obviously, winning last year at Michigan was a pretty neat deal," says Benson. "I grew up on the other side of the state, but Michigan can be considered one of my home tracks. It's always nice to go up there because they have some great fans that come out to the race. I'm definitely looking forward to returning to the track."
Long-Time Cooking: Terry Cook will make his 250th career NCTS start on Saturday at Michigan driving the No. 59 Harris Trucking Tundra. During his 12 years in the series, the Sandusky, Ohio-native has recorded six wins, eight poles, 26 top-fives and 92 top-10 finishes.
Cook on Career: "It's pretty cool to have reached 250 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series," says Cook. "It's not a goal that I set out to achieve, but to have the opportunity to get 250 starts and make a career in this series is pretty cool. I've raced for some great owners over the years. To still be here and come up on 250 starts in the series is great. I've seen it all -- coming up through the short tracks to the big speedways like Daytona and Talladega. I've seen the series grow over the last 10 years and I'd like to see it grow even more for the next 10 years."
Michigan No Stranger for Mathews: Ryan Mathews has made only three starts in the No. 36 Tundra for Bill Davis Racing this season, but Michigan is a very familiar track for the rookie driver. Mathews made two starts at the two-mile speedway in ARCA RE/MAX Series competition during the 2006 season. He finished second in the August event and earned his best start -- seventh -- in the June event a year ago.
String of Starts: Tundra drivers have earned the pole position in eight of the first nine NCTS races this season, including the last seven races in a row. Mike Skinner earned six consecutive poles in the No. 5 Tundra for Bill Davis Racing dating back to Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. Skinner's streak ended at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend when Todd Bodine earned the pole in the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Tundra. Sprague earned the pole at the Daytona season-opener.
Winning Ways: Bodine earned the 30th win for a Toyota Tundra in NCTS competition Friday night at Texas. The win was Bodine's 11th career NCTS win and his fourth victory at Texas. Bodine ties fellow competitor, Brendan Gaughan, for the most wins in the series at a single track. Tundras have earned five wins in the first nine races this season with Skinner, the series points leader, earning three of those wins (California, Atlanta, and Martinsville). Sprague won the season-opener race at Daytona.
Top Tundras: Tundra drivers hold six of the top-10 spots in the NCTS championship point standings. After nine races, Skinner continues to sit atop the point standings for Bill Davis Racing. Tundra drivers trailing Skinner in the standings are Bodine (third), Ted Musgrave (fifth), Sprague (seventh), Benson (eighth) and rookie Aaron Fike (10th).