Toyota made its debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at the beginning of the 2004 season. In 76 NCTS
starts, Toyota Tundra drivers have recorded 26 wins and 33 poles.
DALE JARRETT, No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing:
On this Daytona 500:
"We got strung out when the sun was out - it wasn't a bad car and it handled pretty good. We were kind of making our
way along. As it got cooler and there were cautions and it bunched everybody up - we weren't as good. The car wasn't
bad. There are a few areas that we'll work on. For our first race - not too bad. There was just stupid racing at the end,
that's all that's good for - the green-white-checkers are terrible and tear up bunch stuff. We managed to come out of it
unscathed, get us a few points - that's what we have to do here for the first five or six weeks."
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing:
On this Daytona 500 and the past week:
"It's been fun. Building these cars and putting all three in the Daytona 500 has been a fun experience. We didn't expect
last week to be what it's been, but I'm real thankful that people believe in me and I can show that this is just a stumble out
of the gate. This is the Daytona 500. There's no limit to what you do to win this race. We just have to bear down. We're
going to try and persevere understand that we have it stacked up against us, but if we can go into California and run good
down the road, we can put this behind us. The thing that I didn't want to do is damage the credibility of my team. I want
people to believe that we plan on planning by the rules. I can earn the money back and earn the points back. I just don't
want to lose the integrity that people have put into my organization."
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Domino's Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing:
On his race:
"I'm just disappointed. As bad as we were early, Frankie (Kerr, Crew Chief) and the guys got the car fixed and
got it driving good. We were running hot and I think we hurt the motor a little bit. We took some more tape off
of it and we were going to be okay and have a pretty decent finish. I just hate it for Domino's Pizza and
everybody at Michael Waltrip Racing. They did a good job and we'll just go to California."
On the incident that took him out of the Daytona 500:
"We got up into the 48 car - I don't know what happened. My spotter just said that there was a wreck in front of me, and
you know by the time you hear that, it's too late. I saw a car cut across in front of me and I got into him. I don't even
know who it was. I'm just disappointed - I thought we were going to have a pretty decent finish kind of plugging along
and staying on the bottom."
LEE WHITE, Senior Vice President and General Manager TRD (Toyota Racing Development) U.S.A.:
"First of all, I want to congratulate Richard Childress Racing and Kevin Harvick on winning the Day tona 500
and I want to congratulate Mark Martin, who is a friend of mine, on a great run tonight."
On the performance of Toyota at Daytona throughout the week:
"In spite of all the turmoil throughout the week, we still had a good weekend at Daytona. Friday night we had a
great truck race -- phenomenal qualifying and four trucks in the top-five, including first and second. We had a
good qualifying effort in our first NASCAR Busch race and to come out of that with a second-place was a great
result for us. All of our executives that were here were thrilled with that finish. Dave Blaney did a great job."
On the performance of the Toyota's in today's Daytona 500:
"Everyone was happy to have four cars in the race because that was pretty much what we've been saying all
along. Our expectations were to have four and maybe five cars in the race. We were hoping for somebody to
turn up in the top-15 and actually when the wrecks started happening with 25 laps to go, we really thought it
might work out that way. But, the way it worked out, we didn't inherit a top -15 finish. But we got three in the
top-35, so if they can just continue on with that for the next four races, then maybe we can get some guys that
will be in those guaranteed positions. We'll carry on to Fontana next week, keep on working and we'll be
okay."
On the importance of next week's race at California Speedway with Toyota Motor Sales based nearby:
"Toyota Motor Sales head office is right there, and we're going to have some executives and associates at the
race. But like Daytona, it's another race and there are 34 more this year and hundreds more that we will be
competing in over the next several years. I think everyone understands the mountain we have to climb and the
thing that we've said is that the most important thing is for everyone to keep improving; that is one of the
fundamental characteristics of Toyota as a company. This process fits our company perfectly and if we as a
company and TRD can keep improving the product and if the teams we're associated with can keep improving
their on-track performance, then everybody's happy. "