Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

After starting from the pole, Dave Blaney finished 29th as handling problems plagued his Camry through much of the race.

David Reutimann finished 38th in his No. 00 Burger King Camry after a plug wire fell off early in the race.

The No. 36 360 OTC Camry with Jeremy Mayfield finished 40th after front-splitter damage forced him to the garage for lengthy repairs.

Blaney led the first 30 laps of today's race in his No. 22 Caterpillar Camry. Toyota has led a total of 124 laps in NNCS competition.

Blaney earned the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series pole for Toyota during Friday's qualifying session.

The best Nextel Cup finish for a Camry this season is when Vickers finished fifth at Lowe's Motor Speedway (May 27).

It marked the first top-five result for Toyota in Nextel Cup competition.

In addition to Vickers fifth place finish, he also scored Toyota's first top-10 when he finished 10th at California Speedway (Feb. 25). Michael Waltrip scored an additional tenth place finish in his NAPA Camry at Michigan International Speedway (June 17).

DAVE BLANEY, No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 29th
What happened to your car throughout the race?
"Our set-up just died in the long run, especially once some rubber got put down on the track. Just a few laps into the race we were done because the car just got so tight. Then we would lose most of our brakes after about 10 or 12 laps so we just couldn't go anywhere. The first part of the race, the car felt just as good as it did in practice yesterday, but it couldn't seem to keep going after about 10 laps. Then they said a bunch of rubber got put down on the track and that made it feel tighter. We just couldn't seem to get the car adjusted right no matter what we did."

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Burger King Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finished: 38th
How was your car in today's race?
"When we started the race we weren't very good, but then we came in and made an adjustment -- we went back out and the car was much, much better. Then we dropped a cylinder, which was when the plug wire fell off and we lost a bunch of laps trying to get it put back on. That pretty much relegated us to where we were going to be. The car was pretty decent the better part of the day, but once we got seven laps down it was just too hard to battle back from that. It was probably the most competitive car that we've had on this type of race track. We qualified for the race, didn't tear the car up and made some gains today so I'm happy. Maybe we can take this car somewhere else now and that's a good thing."

JEREMY MAYFIELD, No. 36 360 OTC Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 40th
What happened that forced you to the garage for repairs?
"Our set-up was obviously too soft because the splitter started hitting the race track almost immediately at the start of the race. That tore two of the front brackets loose on the front of the car and from there it was all downhill. We had to take the car back to the garage to get that fixed -- that really ended our day because we lost so many laps. I was tight early in the race, but I think that was ultimately because of the splitter breaking. We just can't get a break and I feel like we just can't get it figured out."