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11-10-2007
TOYOTA RACE REPORT: Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix
Five Tundra drivers -- Jason Leffler (fourth), Todd Bodine (sixth), Johnny
Benson (seventh), Mike Skinner (eighth) and Jack Sprague (10th) -- registered
top-10 finishes.
This year mark's Toyota's fourth season (2004-07) in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series (NCTS). This NCTS race at Phoenix was the 99th race for Toyota in the
NCTS since the beginning of the 2004 season. Mike Skinner is the only driver to
start every NCTS race (99) in a Tundra since Toyota began competing in the
series. Skinner will make his 100th start for Toyota in the season-finale at
Homestead-Miami. Toyota clinched its second-consecutive NCTS manufacturer's
championship with Mike Skinner's victory at Martinsville Speedway (Oct. 20).
This season,
Tundra drivers have registered 12 wins and 16 poles in 24 races. Tundras have
won 37 races since the beginning of the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season.
Tundra drivers who have won races in 2007 include Mike Skinner (California,
Atlanta, Martinsville, Kentucky and Martinsville-2), Johnny Benson (Milwaukee,
Bristol and St. Louis), Todd Bodine (Texas and Talladega), Ted Musgrave
(Texas-2) and Jack Sprague (Daytona). This year, Mike Skinner (Atlanta,
Martinsville, Kansas, Charlotte, Mansfield, Dover, Milwaukee, Nashville, St.
Louis, Texas-2 and Phoenix-2), Todd Bodine (Texas and Talladega), Jack Sprague
(Daytona and Martinsville-2), Brad Keselowski (Memphis) and Ryan Mathews
(Kentucky) have put Tundras on the pole.
JASON LEFFLER, No. 1 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finished: 4th. How was your race and did you have a chance to
catch the leaders? "It was a fun race. The guys really gave me a good truck. We
had a top-five truck today -- and finished fourth. I'm pretty happy and looking
forward to going to Homestead. I get to run the Tundra there and work with these
guys once more. I've enjoyed working with these guys at Red Horse Racing. I was
hoping to get a win and next week is our last chance, so hopefully we can do
that."
TODD BODINE, No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing
Finished: 6th What happened early in the race with your spin and how did you
manage to come back from that? "We were running really good and the truck was a
little free. I got under the 1 (Jason Leffler) and was a little loose when we
got off the corner. He sucked me around air-wise and we got lucky we didn't hit
anything. Unfortunately, the two front tires were flat and I couldn't get to the
pits and lost a lap. We got the 'lucky dog' and we adjusted the truck a couple
of times. We got it pretty good and came back to sixth. If you have a good truck
you can come back from a spin like that. If your truck's not good, you aren't
going to pass anyone -- that's the biggest difference."
JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Bill
Davis Racing Finished: 7th MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis
Racing Finished: 8th How was your truck? "It was really good when we had track
position. We had some sort of mix-up on pit road -- a couple of our guys about
got run over, I guess."What happened with Kevin Harvick in the pits on your
first stop? "I don't really think that's for me to say, or not to say. They
did what they felt like they had to do. If they win this thing like that --
that's okay. We've had a great year this year. We had a good Tundra tonight. We
lost our track position -- and track position was hard to get back. We didn't
play very well together. I'm just trying to stay positive with everything. They
(Ron Hornaday) did everything that they accused us of doing. We obviously didn't
do that. We'll go to Homestead and hammer-down." How do you feel about being
passed by your teammate Johnny Benson at the end of the race? "I'm not the boss.
I guess we're not a team. I thought he was taking care of me, but maybe his
truck just wasn't any better than that. I don't know." How do you feel about
going to Homestead with a 29 point lead in the championship? "That's a lot
better than being 29 points behind." What do you think of the Homestead track?
"I love that place. We ran well there in the Cup car. We've run good there in
the truck. I crashed there last year -- we got a little eager early in the race.
We ran awfully well there. I'm sure we'll have a good piece when we get to
Homestead. Obviously, we're standing out on an island by ourselves. We'll try to
race a whole bunch of them at Homestead."
JACK SPRAGUE, No. 60 Con-Way Freight Toyota Tundra, Wyler Racing
Finished: 10th
TED MUSGRAVE, No. 9 Team ASE Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finished: 11th
JACQUES VILLENEUVE, No. 27 Unicef Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 19th
TERRY COOK, No. 59 HT Motorsports Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports Finished:
21st
JUSTIN MARKS, No. 03 Crocs Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finished: 25th
ANDY LALLY, No. 00 TRG Toyota Tundra, The Racer's Group Finished: 31st
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