TOYOTA NASCAR Notes & Quotes
Week of June 4, 2007

This Week's Races:
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series:
Friday, June 8, Qualifying @ Pocono Raceway, 3:40 PM (ET)
Sunday, June 10, Pocono 500 @ Pocono Raceway, 2:00 PM (ET)

NASCAR Busch Series:
Saturday, June 9, Qualifying @ Nashville Superspeedway, 3:05 PM (ET)
Saturday, June 9, Federated Auto Parts 300 @ Nashville Superspeedway, 7:00 PM (ET)

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series:
Thursday, June 7, Qualifying @ Texas Motor Speedway, 7:00 PM (ET)
Friday, June 8, Sam's Town 400 @ Texas Motor Speedway, 9:00 PM (ET)

POCONO PROS: Five of the seven Camry drivers in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (NNCS) competition have raced at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway. Those drivers have a total of 127 career starts, five wins and one pole. Dale Jarrett, driver of the No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry, has three career wins at Pocono (1995, 1997 and 2002), while Jeremy Mayfield, driver of the No. 36 360 OTC Camry, has two career wins (1998 and 2000). The lone pole award was earned by Michael Waltrip in June of 2005. Dave Blaney, driver of the No. 22 Caterpillar Camry, has made 14 career starts at the raceway, while Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Camry, has made just six starts at the Pennsylvania superspeedway.

VICKERS TALKS POCONO: In the six starts Vickers has made at Pocono Raceway, he has earned three top-five finishes, including two fourth -place finishes at both events last season. "We've always run really well there," says Vickers. "I've always enjoyed going to Pocono and the fact that it's a different and unique track -- like Darlington. Personally, I don't think I do anything different there than I do anywhere else -- I just drive as hard as I can and I hit my marks. I run a slightly different line than anyone else. You have to run the car loose and you have to be really comfortable. In some turns you are going to be tight and in some turns you're going to be loose."

CAT CREW CHIEF CHANGE: Tommy Baldwin Jr., has been named as crew chief for the No. 22 Camry driven by Blaney beginning with this weekend's race at Pocono. Baldwin replaces Kevin Hamlin as crew chief and also retains his duties as Competition Director for Bill Davis Racing. The move will be a reunion of sorts as Baldwin returns to the top of the Caterpillar pit box after leading that team to four wins, including the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

TRIPLE PLAY: David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Burger King Camry, will attempt triple-duty this weekend. Reutimann will compete in the NNCS race as well as the NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) race at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday. In addition, he will also practice and qualify the No. 22 ARCA RE/MAX Camry for Eddie Sharp Racing at Pocono. Fellow Michael Waltrip Racing-driver, Josh Wise, is scheduled to drive the ARCA Camry upon his return from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race in Texas.

REUTIMANN TALKS ABOUT TRIPLE: "I'll be flying back and forth from Pocono to Nashville to attempt to run both the NBS and NNCS races," says Reutimann. "The logistics are crazy. In order to do what we have to do to get there -- it's neat as far as all the helicopters and planes that are involved to make it on time. It makes you feel like you're important for a day or so. I enjoy that aspect of it. To get to practice in the ARCA car -- it's a good move and I appreciate the opportunity to run Eddie Sharp's car. It will help me learn more and be more competitive in the Cup car. The only thing is Josh (Wise) is going to have to show up and start a race in a car he hasn't driven and at a track he's never driven on before -- that will be a big challenge."

TROUBLE AT DOVER: Five Camrys started the rain-delayed NNCS race at Dover International Speedway on Monday (June 4) with Vickers earning Toyota's best finish, 19th. Other Camry drivers in the field were Michael Waltrip (28th), AJ Allmendinger (33rd), Mayfield (38th) and Jarrett (43rd). Tire problems plagued many of the teams throughout the race, including Vickers. "We had a really good car and the tires weren't lasting," said Vickers, after the race. "It wasn't a really good tire and everybody was cutting, cording and blowing tires. We ended up cording the right rear and had to come in and pit."

REMEMBERING BILL FRANCE JR.: Jim Aust, President and C.E.O. of TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) made the following statement regarding the passing of former NASCAR C.E.O. and Vice Chairman Bill France Jr. on Monday (June 4): "It is with great sadness that we learned today of the passing of Bill France, Jr. His vision and determination played a critical role in guiding and developing the sport of NASCAR into what it is today. We join with all members of the NASCAR family in remembering a great leader and in sending our condolences to the France family."

WALTRIP REMEMBERS, TOO: "Because of my friendship with Dale (Earnhardt), I got to know Mr. France pretty good," says Michael Waltrip, team owner and driver of the No. 55 NAPA Camry. "I went fishing with him and had some fun times with him on the leisure side. One thing I remember on the professional side -- I think it was December of 1994 -- I called him and said I wanted to talk. He invited me up to his room at the Waldorf. I went up to his room and I had this plan typed out on a piece of paper that said we need to consider the size of the driver and the weight of the driver -- the cars were getting too small. Things that would affect a young Richard Petty, who stood 6'2" and weighed 220 pounds, -- I thought we needed to consider the weight of the driver because lighter is better and you can't give that away. The next year, he came up to me in February and said that's a pretty good idea and we'll do that, but we have too much other stuff going on right now -- we'll think about it again next year. I like to think of that as the day the cars quit shrinking and they began to consider room for a driver. I'm very sad that Mr. France is gone."

CAMRY CONTENDERS: Five Camrys will compete in Saturday's NBS race at Nashville Superspeedway as the series returns to the 1.33-mile track for the second time this year. Two of those drivers will also be competing in the NNCS race at Pocono -- Blaney (No. 10 Camping World Camry) and Reutimann (No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine Camry). Jason Leffler, driver of the No. 38 Great Clips Camry for Braun Racing, will be joined by two cars from the Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports team for David Green driving the (No. 91 YRT2 Camry) and rookie Bobby Santos (No. 92 Camry).

NASHVILLE GREEN: David Green made his first NBS start this season at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte and will once again climb behind the wheel this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. Green has earned one win at the new superspeedway in NBS competition. "I'm very excited to get back behind the wheel at Nashville this week," says Green. "As much as you want your first race to be perfect, I'm more excited now that the Lowe's race is over and we've learned what we're doing with our car and how to make it better. Nashville is a track I've had success at and I know with an engine like the Toyota, we won't get passed down the straightaway -- that's for sure."

NASHVILLE NUMBERS: Camry drivers scored three of the top-four finishing positions when the NBS cars took to Nashville in April, and two of those finishes were the best of the season for Reutimann (second) and Leffler (fourth). Reutimann, who scored his only NCTS victory at Nashville in 2005, also earned his best start of the season (fifth) at the Tennessee track. During the April event, Camrys also led 73 laps of competition. Leffler has one win at Nashville (2004), as does Green (2003).

BUSCH BATTLE: Entering the 15th race on the NBS schedule, Blaney remains third in the NBS point's standings, with Reutimann in the fifth position. Following the Dover race, Leffler moved up three positions to 17th in the point standings.

TUNDRA TWO-STEP: Tundras have been strong at the Texas Motor Speedway, earning a total of three wins, all by Todd Bodine in the No. 30 Tundra for Germain Racing (2004, 2005 and 2006), and a total of four poles, all by Mike Skinner (2004, 2005-2 and 2006) in the No. 5 Tundra. Tundras have also earned a total of 10 top-five finishes in five starts at the speedway.

'BOOT SCOOTIN' BODINE: The 2006 NCTS champion, Bodine, has earned three wins in his past five starts at Texas Motor Speedway. "I don't know what it is, but I've always run well at Texas," says Bodine. "Even the first year (of the track, 1997), when a lot of guys were talking about the corners being messed up, I drove the Budweiser Cup car and had a shot to win, but got spun at the end of the race. I've just always enjoyed that track -- when you have a good truck with a good set-up, you just run good there. It's easy to over drive this track, but it's easy to under drive it, too. There's a find line to walk to be able to go fast at Texas."

SKINNER'S STREAK: Mike Skinner has earned six consecutive poles this season in his No. 5 Tundra for Bill Davis Racing and four of the last six poles at Texas Motor Speedway. In the first eight races of 2007, Skinner has earned three wins, six top-fives and eight top-10 finishes, along with leading 520 laps, 330 more than the next highest driver (Ron Hornaday).

CONSISTENT TUNDRAS: In the first eight races of 2007, Tundra drivers have consistently finished in the top-five at every event with only one Tundra in the top-five at Dover this past weekend and as many as four at the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. Tundras have also led nearly half of all NCTS laps run this season with 631 of the possible 1336 (47.2%).

TUNDRAS ON TOP: Tundra drivers hold six of the top-10 spots in the NCTS championship point standings. After eight 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 (fourth), Johnny Benson (seventh), Jack Sprague (eighth), and Aaron Fike (ninth). Thus far this season, Tundra drivers have captured four wins (Sprague at Daytona; and Skinner at California, Atlanta and Martinsville), 21 top-five finishes and seven pole positions, including the current streak of six poles by Skinner.

ARCA ACTION: The No. 22 Camry for Eddie Sharp Racing will compete in Saturday's ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Pocono Raceway. Rookie, Josh Wise is scheduled to drive the Camry for the race while NNCS-regular, Reutimann will practice and qualify the car. Wise is also competing in the NCTS race in Texas and will be forced to start from the rear of the field for the ARCA race as he will not be driving the car for qualifying.

HAPPY 50TH: Toyota is celebrating its 50th anniversary in the U.S. in 2007. Toyota and its dealers employ about 145,000 workers in the U.S. Toyota operates 10 manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and assembles approximately half the vehicles it sells here.

TUNDRAS IN TEXAS: Texas is home to TMMTX -- Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Texas. The production facility, which is located in San Antonio, opened in November of last year and will produce 200,000 Toyota Tundras annually. The facility employs 2,000 Toyota team members, and an additional 2,100 people are employed through the 21 on-site suppliers located at the facility.

BROADCAST BITS: The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race will be televised on TNT and broadcast on MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 128). NEXTEL Cup qualifying will be televised on SPEED, and broadcast on MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 128). The NASCAR Busch Series race will be televised on ESPN2, and broadcast on MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 128). The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race will be televised on SPEED, and broadcast on MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 128).