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10-21-2007

TOYOTA NOTES: Kroger 200 at Martinsville Review
TruckSeries.com Report Printer Version 

  Discuss



- Toyota clinched its second consecutive NCTS manufacturers' championship with today's win by Mike Skinner in his No. 5 Tundra for Bill Davis Racing.
- Tundras have won 36 races since the beginning of the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season.
- Jack Sprague (second), Ted Musgrave (eighth) and Johnny Benson (ninth) all recorded top-10 finishes in their Tundras at Martinsville.
- Other Tundra drivers in the field included Justin Labonte (12th), Todd Bodine (20th), Jason Leffler (23rd), Terry Cook (29th), Michael McDowell (30th) and Jacques Villeneuve (32nd).
- Sprague earned his fourth NCTS career pole award today at Martinsville and 47th for Toyota in the series.
- This year, Skinner (Atlanta, Martinsville, Kansas, Charlotte, Mansfield, Dover, Milwaukee, Nashville, and Gateway), Bodine (Texas and Talladega), Brad Keselowski (Memphis), Ryan Mathews (Kentucky) and Sprague (Martinsville-2 and Daytona) have put Tundras on the pole.
- This October, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. is celebrating its 50th year of doing business in the United States.  Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. was formed October 31, 1957, establishing its headquarters in a former Rambler dealership in Hollywood, Calif.  Sales began in 1958 and totaled a modest 288 vehicles that first year -- 287 Toyopet Crown sedans and one Land Cruiser.

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished:  1st
How does it feel to have swept both races this year at Martinsville?
"I thought Jimmy Hensley was the undisputed king of Martinsville -- see Jimmy when you quit racing they all forget about you.  For us to sweep both races at Martinsville with Jeff (Hensley) living just a couple miles through the woods over here -- that's pretty good.  It's great that Bill Davis Racing was a part of Toyota winning their second consecutive manufacturer championship and I think they clinched that today.  If we wouldn't have won then I think the No. 60 (Jack Sprague) would have and he did an awesome job running us clean -- I owe a lot to him."

Did you have a different strategy in today's race and did you have the best truck?
"Jack and Terry (Cook) got together and Terry was on a different strategy -- they had the motor de-tuned, trying to make it on fuel mileage and that took away some of the horsepower when you do that.  We came here with the same thought, but we had too much to loose by gambling at Martinsville so we tuned the motor back up.  I have to thank all the guys back at TRD (Toyota Racing Development), they put some power back in the motor and then we just had to stop and get gas.  When Jack and Terry got together it really opened the door for me.  I really didn't think I had a truck that was strong enough to stay up front, especially if we went green for a long time.  The No. 60 was the best truck on the long green, but those cautions kept flying and we came out victorious."

How does it feel to regain the point lead now by one point?
"This thing will probably change back and forth a couple more times.  Hopefully he gets the lead at Atlanta, I take the lead at Texas, he gets it at Phoenix and I get it at Homestead -- that's what I want."

What does it mean to clinch the manufacturers' championship for Toyota with your win here today?
"First of all -- it started in February when Jack Sprague won the race in Daytona.  (Johnny) Benson has won three races and we were fortunate to win some races.  Todd Bodine has won a couple races so it's not any one team that can win this thing.  Toyota is really good about giving information to all the race teams -- our engines, our stuff is really equal and you can see hat every week.  I just want to thank Toyota for allowing myself and Jeff (Hensley) for allowing us to be a part of this program."

What type of adjustments and changes did you make to your truck today?
"We always get upset with Goodyear when the right-front tires wear out so we need to make sure to praise them on such an awesome tire here at Martinsville.  We were able to run 200 laps on those same tires and there with one lap to go, on a slick race track, we ran a lap within a tenth of where we qualified.  I expected a lot more mix-up there at the end -- I knew Jack was hungry for a win and he definitely played it like a true champion.  He could have wrecked us and he chose not to.  I just hope that some day the shoe is on the other foot and I can pay him back with that same type of respect."

Were you points racing today with all the wrecks around you?
"In order to be there at the end of these races, you have to do an awful lot of riding during the race.  I had a lot of tire left and a lot of brake left there at the end of the race.  The brakes only got upset with me once during the race and we got a caution so I was able to get them cooled back down.  In fact I turned all the fans off there at the end to try to get as much horsepower as she would give me.  Then when I hit the gas, I was wishing that I had about 50 less horsepower because the track was so slick and all I did was spin the tires.  But the horsepower came in handy on the backstretch."

Did this race seem any wilder to you than other short track races this season?
"It's the Craftsman Truck Series and it's exciting.  We've seen lead changes, we've seen tempers, we've seen people act professional -- we've seen it all.  When you come to tracks like Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond -- you're going to see it all.  This was only a 200-lap race and we never really had a chance to adjust on our truck -- we never changed tires and all we ever got to do was adjust a little wedge on the thing.  After we started back I thought that was a bad decision, but after we lost some fuel in the thing and we got a bunch of nose weight -- I thought it was better.  It was classic short track racing at Martinsville and it was awesome."

What was your impression of Dario Franchitti and Jacques Villeneuve in today's race?
"Those guys are just like Juan Pablo (Montoya) and he's proven that it can be done.  You have to understand that it would probably be easier for Jeff Gordon to go drive a Formula 1 car than it would be for Jacques Villeneuve to come drive the No. 24 (Gordon) car.  These cars are heavy, they don't stop, they won't turn and they want to spin the tires when you hit the gas.  That's a challenge when you're used to something that drives like a go-kart or a slot car where you have traction control and engineers on the box tuning the motors while the car is going around the race track.  You know what your tire temperatures are while you're going around the race track, which makes it pretty easy on the crew chief.  That is very high tech racing and NASCAR has done a great job keeping this where it's not just the driver or the crew chief or the engine builder.  Everything has to go perfect in order to win a race in any of NASCAR's big three divisions."

JEFF HENSLEY, Crew Chief, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing
Can you talk about the way the race progressed today?
"We didn't really have as good of a truck here today as we did in the spring.  We were mandated to pull a little higher gear than we had here in the spring and I think it hurt us.  We never really got the truck where it needed to be or where we probably could have gotten.  With the race only being 200 laps -- we only had one shot at it.  We thought about making it a fuel mileage race, but we kind of gave up on that strategy before the race even started because it was too risky.  Mike took a mediocre truck and ran great with it -- track position meant everything today and you could see that early on.  That's why we got gas only when we came to pit road -- that enabled us to pick up a spot and then when Jack and Terry got together we were able to take the lead.  We had a pretty good truck today, but not nearly as good as we had in the spring.  I kept thinking with about five laps to go that I wanted to carry this truck to Phoenix and I was starting to worry.  Mike did a heck of a job -- it's unbelievable that we swept both races at Martinsville."

JACK SPRAGUE, No. 60 Con-Way Freight Toyota Tundra, Wyler Racing Finished:  2nd
What happened in today's race?
"It was a good race and our truck was really good.  We didn't want to take a chance of gambling on fuel and I don't know how many caution flags there were, but I don't think we would have made it if we tried.  I got into Terry (Cook) a little bit and I didn't mean to.  He got on his brakes getting into the corner a lot earlier than I thought he was going to and I guess he thought I did.  Then he tried killing me getting into the corner and that allowed (Mike) Skinner to get by me and that was pretty much the end of it.  After that we really didn't have anything other than five-lap runs and I needed about 10 laps to be able to get him.  I was definitely faster, it just took my truck a little longer to get going and I just wasn't willing to wreck Mike for the win, but (Matt) Crafton was willing to wreck me for second.  That cost me a shot at Skinner when he turned me sideways with two to go -- really with no reason.  He doesn't want to tangle with me -- I can tell you that."

What was the point at which the tone of this race went from calm to crazy?
"It seemed to be pretty calm for a while there -- through about halfway.  The No. 59 (Terry Cook) didn't pit for fuel and he was losing his handle on the truck and holding us up.  I didn't wreck him, I just moved him up a lane and that's just short track racing.  People get impatient and people start hitting each other because they are having trouble getting off the corners and back in the gas.  That's just what happens here and the closer it gets to the end -- the more it happens."

TED MUSGRAVE, No. 9 Team ASE Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finished:  8th
What happened in today's race?
"We qualified tenth and that's pretty much what we had, was a tenth place Tundra. Track position is the key here at Martinsville and we had to keep it. We came in for fuel, no tires, just a quick adjustment. I gave up some positions to save the tires. Our truck was good in the short runs just got a little too tight in the center. It was a good day-bad day - good finish for the Team ASE Tundra, eighth, bad day for my teammate and a lot of other guys ahead of us in points."

JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished:  9th

JUSTIN LABONTE, No. 00 Aaron's Lucky Dog Toyota Tundra, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Finished:  12th

TODD BODINE, No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finished:  20th
What happened in today's race?
"We just missed the setup with the Lumber Liquidators Tundra. I was loose in qualifying, but we still ended up too tight in the race. We were hanging on out there and looking forward to coming home with another top-ten finish at Martinsville. I don't understand where we were put for the restart before the red flag, but it ended up costing us a lead lap finish. The team did a great job getting us back on track so the only lap we lost was the lap-penalty for driving into the pits under the red flag."

JASON LEFFLER, No. 1 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finished:  23rd

TERRY COOK, No. 59 HT Motorsports Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports Finished:  29th

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 17 Darrell Waltrip Toyota Tundra, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Finished:  30th
 
JACQUES VILLENEUVE, No. 27 Unicef Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished:  32nd
How was your race truck and what happened that took you out of the race?
"It's a shame because the truck was handling real well -- the team was working hard and we were gaining positions.  I got hit a few times and then got turned around coming off of turn four.  But that's short track racing at Martinsville.  I was having a lot of fun today.  This track reminds me a little of a road course because you can race hard and use the brakes a lot.  It was quite entertaining."



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