TOYOTA NASCAR Notes & Quotes
Week of March 3, 2008

Upcoming Races:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) @ Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Friday, March 7, Qualifying, 6:45 PM (ET) -- SPEED, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128)
Sunday, March 9, Race start @, 2:00 PM (ET) -- Fox-TV, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128) Race 4 of 36

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) @ Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Saturday, March 8, Qualifying, 9:15 AM (ET) -- SPEED, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128)
Saturday, March 8, Race start @ 2:00 PM (ET) -- ESPN2, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128) Race 4 of 35

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) @ Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Saturday, March 7, Qualifying, 4:45 PM (ET) -- SPEED, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128)
Saturday, March 7, Race start @ 9:00 PM (ET) -- SPEED, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128) Race 3 of 25

HISTORY HERE: Four Toyota Camrys competed in the 2007 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) spring race at the 1.5- mile Atlanta Motor Speedway, including Dave Blaney (27th), Dale Jarrett (36th), David Reutimann (40th) and Brian Vickers (42nd). Vickers led the first laps by a Camry in NSCS competition on that day. Five Camrys competed in the 2007 NSCS fall race at Atlanta, including Vickers (10th), Michael Waltrip (11th), AJ Allmendinger (16th), Jarrett (19th) and Blaney (38th). Camry newcomer Tony Stewart has earned one NSCS pole at Atlanta at the spring event in 2002 and recorded two NSCS wins (2002-1 and 2006-2). Four Camrys competed in the 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Atlanta, including Reutimann (13th), Blaney (16th), Jason Leffler (31st) and Waltrip (43rd).

MORE HISTORY HERE: Toyota Tundras will make their eighth appearance at Atlanta on Friday in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race. Tundra drivers have posted two wins and five poles in their previous seven trips to the track. Mike Skinner won from the pole in March 2007 and started from the pole in the fall 2005 and 2006 races. Todd Bodine earned the win from the pole at the spring race in 2006 and Reutimann gave Toyota its inaugural NCTS pole at Atlanta in March 2004. Toyota newcomer Kyle Busch has two NCTS wins at Atlanta (2005 and 2007).

STARTING STRONG: History was made at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as 10 Camrys started Sunday's NSCS race, marking the most Camrys to take the green flag in NSCS competition. Nine Camrys started the first two NSCS races of 2008. In 2007, the most Camrys to start a NSCS race was six.

SCRAMBLING FOR SECURITY: With only two races remaining before the 2008 NSCS owner point standings take over, Camry drivers are working hard to secure a place for themselves within the top-35 in order to be guaranteed starting positions. The No. 83 Red Bull Camry of Vickers is currently 13th, the No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Camry of Reutimann is currently 30th, the No. 44 UPS Camry of Jarrett is currently 32nd, the No. 55 NAPA Camry of Waltrip is currently 33rd, and the No. 22 Caterpillar Camry of Blaney is 35th.

FRONT ROW: Busch earned the third NSCS pole position for a Camry Feb. 29 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Toyota drivers earned two pole positions in 2007 with Blaney qualifying first at New Hampshire (6/29/07) and Waltrip turning the fastest qualifying lap at Talladega (10/5/07). Busch's pole marked the third of his career and first at his home track in Vegas.

LOGGING LAPS: Camry drivers have led 217 laps in the first three races of 2008 - Daytona (138 laps), California (17 laps) and Las Vegas (62 laps). A Camry has paced the NSCS field for a total of 383 laps since entering the series last year.

VANTAGE POINT: Jarrett gets the opportunity to view the NNS races from a unique vantage point - the television booth atop the race track as the commentator during ESPN broadcasts. Does this perspective allow Jarrett to share additional information with his Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) teammates about what he is able to see? "The hard thing is - the only thing that would possibly come is just watching some of the guys and where they run. Because the cars are so different now, you listen to the guys and they tell you that they're two totally different animals. They react different to changes and the things that they are doing to them are totally different. That part is hard to take back. But, if I see something that someone is doing I'll discuss that with them (MWR teammates) and say: 'This is what I saw happen.' That's not until Saturday night or Sunday, but there still is that opportunity."

DOUBLE AND TRIPLE DUTY: Four Toyota drivers will do double or triple duty during the Atlanta race weekend. Busch will compete in all three series and will drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in both the NSCS and NNS races and look to continue his points lead in NCTS driving for Billy Ballew Motorsports. Johnny Benson will make his first NSCS start of 2008 for Bill Davis Racing, driving the No. 27 Camry, also competing in Friday night's NCTS race. Reutimann and Vickers will both compete in Saturday's NNS race and Sunday's NSCS race. Skinner will compete in Friday night's NCTS race, as well as Sunday's NSCS race while temporarily replacing Allmendinger in the No. 84 Camry.

MORE DESERT FUN: NSCS teams participated in a two-day open test session at Phoenix International Raceway on Monday and Tuesday. Among the Camry drivers who participated -- Phoenix-native J.J. Yeley, Allmendinger, Vickers, Stewart, Busch, Hamlin, Blaney, Waltrip, Reutimann and Michael McDowell.

REUTIMANN TURNING RIGHT: Reutimann will not get any rest between Las Vegas and Atlanta as he not only participated in the two-day Phoenix test session, but also heads Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on Wednesday for some road course training. "I don't have a lot of road course experience," says Reutimann. "I'm going to Infineon in a late model car to do some driver training with Chris Cook and his school out there. I'm going to spend a day with them and hopefully we'll not just learn about the race track, which will be a big benefit, but also to pick up some other techniques that will help me when we come to these road courses so I can be more productive."

MORE VEGAS FOR BLANEY: On Tuesday following the Atlanta NSCS race, Blaney and team owner Bill Davis will return to Las Vegas to make appearances for primary sponsor, Caterpillar, at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008. The trade show is an international gathering place for the construction industry and is held every three years. The expo showcases the latest equipment, products, services and technologies available in the industry.

HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE: Four of the primary sponsors for the Camry NSCS teams are based in the Atlanta area including three Michael Waltrip Racing sponsors -- NAPA Auto Parts (Waltrip), UPS (Jarrett), and Aaron's (Reutimann). The Home Depot, primary sponsor on Stewart's No. 20 Camry, is also based in Atlanta.

FIRST FOR VICKERS: Vickers earned his first pole in a Camry and sixth for Toyota in the Nationwide event March 1 at Las Vegas. Stewart earned the top starting spot at the season-opener at Daytona, and four poles were earned during Toyota's inaugural season in NNS competition in 2007 - Leffler earned two poles (Daytona-2 and Bristol-2), along with Blaney (California-1) and Reutimann (Texas-2).

CAMRYS TOP NNS POINTS: Four Toyota Camrys occupy four of the top-10 positions in the Nationwide point standings following the third race of the season. Stewart holds the top position by 42 points over his NSCS teammate, Busch in second. Other Camrys in the top-10 include Reutimann (seventh) and Mike Wallace (eighth).

STEWART SITTING OUT: After winning the first two NNS races of 2008 and maintaining the points lead following Saturday's race at Las Vegas, Stewart will not compete in the NNS race this weekend at Atlanta. The next NNS race on Stewart's schedule is April 5 at Texas Motor Speedway.

MIKE LIKES IT: Wallace will drive the No. 7 GEICO Camry in Saturday's NNS race at Atlanta after earning a seventh place finish at Las Vegas. Wallace earned his first career speedway win at Atlanta on November 12, 1994 in an ARCA RE/MAX Series race after starting from the second position. "I like that track a lot," says Wallace. "I won an ARCA race at Atlanta and it was the first speedway race I ever ran. I sat on the front row there in the ARCA race and I'm very positive after the top-10 finish we had at Vegas. I think we may have another top-10, top-five or maybe even a win in our pocket."

ANOTHER WALLACE: Following the Atlanta race weekend, Wallace will head to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia for the open NCTS test. However, Wallace will not be participating, instead he will be watching his daughter, Chrissy, test a truck for Germain Racing. Bob Germain Jr. is planning to develop Chrissy and an exact schedule of intended races will not be determined until the Martinsville test is complete. The 20-year old Wallace has earned more than 40 feature wins in Legends cars across the southeast and earned numerous top-five and top-10 finishes in late model stock cars.

BUSCH EARNS 40TH FOR TOYOTA: Busch led a race-high 51 laps in California to dominate the field last Saturday to give Toyota its 40th NCTS win since the start of the 2004 season (102 races). The victory marks Busch's seventh-career NCTS win in 38 starts, and his inaugural win in a Toyota Tundra. "This win here probably means the absolute most," said Busch, following the race. "In November 2001, I got kicked out of this track for being under-age and I wasn't able to run in the Craftsman Truck Series."

FOUR AND FOUR: Four Tundras finished in the top-four at the first two NCTS races of 2008. Todd Bodine earned the win at the season-opener in Daytona and was followed to the checkered flag by Busch (second), Benson (third) and David Starr (fourth). At California the top-three names were the same, but Busch earned the win, followed by Bodine (second), Benson (third) and Terry Cook (fourth).

BODINE TALKS TOP-THREE: "You can't say that we're the best teams or the best drivers, we've just been fortunate to have good trucks two weeks in a row," says Bodine about the consistency of the top-three teams at Daytona and California. "This week somebody else will have a good truck and they'll be up there and we might have a bad truck. We just have really good race teams. Everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) does a great job at making sure that every team receives the information and data to make them go fast."

BENSON ON TOP-THREE: "I think all three teams are definitely capable of winning on a weekly basis," says Benson of the consistency of the top-three teams at Daytona and California. "That aspect of it is something that I think could happen week-in and week-out. There's another six, eight or nine teams that are going to be able to do that also."

LUCKY CHASSIS NO. 11: Busch will compete in chassis No. 11 this weekend for Billy Ballew Motorsports. The chassis has a total of six NCTS wins with its first coming in 2004 at Las Vegas with Shane Hmiel behind the wheel. The other five victories in the truck were earned by Busch. "Chassis No. 11 is one of the truck chassis I picked for our stable," says Busch. We ran that truck when we won in the fall Atlanta race (2007) and in California a few weeks ago as a Toyota. We will return to Atlanta this week with the same truck and hopefully pull off another win. Hopefully, we'll be able to set it up for Billy Ballew to take home the owner's championship."

TOPS FOR TUNDRAS: Tundra drivers enter this weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway occupying five of the top-10 positions in the NCTS point standings. Busch holds the lead by 20 points ahead of fellow Tundra driver Bodine. Other Tundra drivers in the top-10 include Benson (third), Starr (fourth) and Phillip McGilton (sixth).

MOVING FORWARD: The NSCS and NNS will make their first trip to a short track in 2008 as they head to Bristol Motor Speedway for the weekend of March 15-16. Busch is the defending race winner of the spring Bristol race, while Reutimann and Leffler both earned top-three finishes in the fall NNS race.

TOYOTA NEWS: Jim Aust, who has been responsible for Toyota's motorsports activities in the U.S. for the past 10 years, has announced his retirement. Aust will step down as vice president, motorsports for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., and president and chief executive officer of TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development), on June 30. Toyota's racing programs in the U.S. flourished under Aust's leadership and included a victory in the Indianapolis 500, multiple series championships and the expansion of the company's racing activities into NASCAR. Beginning in 2004, Toyota began competing in the Craftsman Truck Series with the Tundra and last year Toyota entered the Camry in the Sprint Cup Series. "Jim has played an integral role in the growth of Toyota's racing activities in the U.S.," said Dave Illingworth, TMS senior vice president, chief planning and administrative officer. "From the high banks of NASCAR to short track midget racing, drag racing, sports cars and off-road trucks, Toyotas are now racing and winning at tracks across the country." Aust's replacements at TMS and TRD will be announced closer to his retirement date.