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Phoenix: Toyota NASCAR Truck Race Quotes, Recap
Four Tundras finished among the top-five Friday night at Phoenix International Raceway -- Kyle Busch (second), Todd Bodine (third), Brian Scott (fourth) and Mike Skinner (fifth).
• Other Toyota drivers in the field included Terry Cook (11th), David Starr (13th), Scott Speed (14th), Jack Sprague (17th), Michael Annett (18th) and Kenny Wallace (22nd).
• Johnny Benson finished 26th at Phoenix and heads to the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a three point lead over Ron Hornaday, Jr., in the unofficial NCTS point standings.
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KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports Finish: 2nd
What are your thoughts on tonight’s race?
"It was a good race for us there. We had qualified second, started outside the front row and led some laps tonight which was good. I figured we’d probably have a third-place truck tonight, but we came home second. I’m absolutely ecstatic about that."
What happened on the first lap?
"I got ran into the side of and pretty much drifted through (turns) three and four."
How much equipment did the Billy Ballew team have to rebuild to get here after the fire?
"The build-up hasn’t happened yet. We don’t have any money to build anything. We have to wait for the insurance claim to go through. I guess we can say a big thanks to Germain Racing for loaning us a hauler to get out here this weekend. We’re going to use my hauler next weekend to get to Homestead and pretty much all the springs and shocks and radios and everything else has been melted in the trailer and are still in the trailer and we aren’t going to be able to get it out. It’s stuck - - useless stuff to us. Racing Radios I think loaned us some radios for the remainder of the year. There are a lot of people to give thanks -- I’m not exactly sure who they all are. You’ll have to ask Billy (Ballew, team owner)."
TODD BODINE, No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finish: 3rd
What are your thoughts on tonight’s race?
"We had a good race. Obviously our truck was really good on long runs and not real good on short runs. That’s what did us in the end. A lot of cautions and it just took about eight laps to get going and after that it was fast and after about 20 it was the fastest truck out there. We needed long runs but the Lumber Liquidators Tundra was good with great pit stops. We pulled away points and gained on Ron (Hornaday, Jr.) and Johnny (Benson) but they’re still too far out there for us to catch them. It was a good night, another top-five."
How would you rate the start of this race on a one to 10 strange scale?
"It definitely ranks up there pretty high -- probably an eight. You wouldn’t figure one of the points guys to be sitting on the pole and spin out on the first lap. Then it goes up to probably an 11 or 12 because you wouldn’t figure the other guy would get in a wreck and they come out of here three points apart. That usually doesn’t happen. I shouldn’t say that, two years ago when I raced Johnny (Benson) for the points, if I had a bad week, he had a bad week. If he had a good week, I had a good week and that’s the way we went through the last third of the season and obviously it’s cosmic because these guys both had a bad night again and three points separating them is going to be one hell of a race to watch."
What was the end of the race like?
"It really wasn’t much of a fight. Kyle (Busch) had the new tires and I knew, I saw him coming and my right front was really hot and I abused it. I knew if he got to me I was going to let him go. I wasn’t going to race him, there was no sense in it because he’s going past me so just let him go. That’s what I did once he got outside me and I looked in the mirror and I didn’t see fourth-place behind us so I knew just ride around there and watch the show and maybe Kyle could get up there and beat him to get a Toyota in victory lane. It didn’t happen and I think if it would have gone green and I passed Kyle under the green with 20 to go when we had that caution we probably would have won the race because at that point we were about a tenth of a lap faster than Kevin (Harvick, race winner). That’s what it did in practice, it would take five laps to get going. We don’t know why it did it what the set-up and why it’s doing that. We knew it was going to be like that in the race."
BRIAN SCOTT, No. 16 Albertsons Toyota Tundra, Xpress Motorsports Finish: 4th
What was your view of tonight’s race?
"I pulled my belts a little bit tighter after that first lap incident. You have to have a little luck in racing and we were lucky that the 33 (Ron Hornaday, Jr.) didn’t spin the other way or there wasn’t another evasive maneuver in the top-three and just get caught up in it. We had a little luck and we had a great truck. My hat is off to all my guys on our Xpress Motorsports Albertsons Tundra. They just put a great piece together. They worked hard in practice -- they tried for every tenth of a second. My hats off to Jeff Hensley (crew chief). He made a great call in the pit as far as a pit stop and adjustments and unfortunately on that last run we kind of wore out our tires. We weren’t catching them but were trying to hold on and not give anything up."
MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finish: 5th
TERRY COOK, No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota Tundra, HT Motorsports Finish: 11th
SCOTT SPEED, No. 22 Red Bull Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finish: 14th
DAVID STARR, No. 11 Zachry Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finish: 13th
JACK SPRAGUE, No. 60 Wyler.com Toyota Tundra, Wyler Racing Finish: 17th
MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 9 Construct Corps Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finish: 18th
What did you think of your first truck race at Phoenix International Raceway?
"We got caught up in that first lap deal. I went down in the grass, had the wheels all the way to the left and had no where to go. That kind of put us behind the eight ball from the very beginning. We just kept coming to pit road to try to fix it. We never did take care of the hole on the (right) front fender and I’m sure that killed us on front down force, but the whole night we just kept making the Construct Corps Tundra better each stop. It was a real short race. It felt kind of like a sprint race to me. We kind of needed a longer race."
KENNY WALLACE, No. 15 Hyprene-Ergon Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports Finish: 22nd
What happened at the end of the race?
"We had a great truck for most of the race, especially before that second-to-last caution. We were coming! When we went green (lap 136), I was racing for 10th. The 09 (John Wes Townley) was behind me and he ended up catching me in the rightrear and that wrecked us. We were racing close together and sometimes those things happen. We got a flat tire and had to come into the pits which ruined any chance of a decent finish. It was a great truck, though."
JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finish: 23rd
What was tonight’s race like for you?
"I think if you got Ron (Hornaday, Jr.) and me together we’re going to go have a beer or something. It was horrible for both of us. I don’t know what happened at the start with Ron (Hornaday, Jr.) and when he came across the track we kind of caught as we went by. I don’t know what happened with him but that was on that one and then after that I haven’t seen anything with the 7 (T.J. Bell). I felt like I was underneath him and felt like he came down. Then we hit and that pretty much ended our day. After our first deal it bent the rear a little bit and we got it working on and felt like we could probably run in the top-six or 10. It was biding our way. I was really trying to be patient. We ended up being on the right place at the wrong time or something, I don’t know. We’re just making it exciting. I don’t know what else to say."
What happened in the first incident tonight?
"All of a sudden we bumped and both spun and wrecked and it pretty much ended our day. It took the right front and pretty much destroyed everything up in the right front."
What were you thinking when Ron Hornaday, Jr., had problems and you didn’t look quite so bad?
"I don’t think it’s either one of our years. Third-place has got to be right there now. It’s just weird and amazing how this points deal has been going on. Ron (Hornaday, Jr.) had his and I don’t know what happened, what the deal was on that. I know we all hit together when he came across the track. It definitely makes for a long day I can tell you that."
Did you feel like everything was against you with the number of incidents your truck was involved in this evening?
"I don’t know what the deal was. The 33 (Ron Hornaday, Jr.) had its problems and they wanted to keep everything close so they started beating on me, I guess (laughter). It was an exciting deal."
How do you feel heading to Homestead with a three-point lead in the championship standings?
"I don't know what to really think. I felt like everyone was out gunning for me and Ron (Hornaday, Jr.). It was just a bad day for the both of us. I don't know what happened to Ron (Hornaday, Jr.) at the beginning, but I know we got a little bit of a piece of that which is tough to do to the leader. I had the same situation two years ago -- spun out leading it and it makes a lot of mess for a lot of people. That aspect, we were involved in that a little bit and bent the truck up. Kept working on it and thought it was -- probably not better -- but after we put tires on it and made some adjustments I thought maybe we could run in the top-six or seven and felt like it was driving good enough. And, I went underneath the 7 (T.J. Bell) -- I'm not really sure what happened there, but that's where we're at."
Have you ever had so many instances in one race?
"Not in this short of a race, but yeah in a Cup race you can probably have even more than that. You know, at the end there we kept blowing tires -- something was rubbing on there and we couldn't figure out what it was. So, we just started disconnecting a lot of stuff and I spun out and I thought I just better get off the race track. So, I got off the race track. It was miserable. It was a bad day."
How much pressure does this put on you heading to Homestead?
"None. We decided at the beginning of the year running for the championship we weren't going to worry about anything and we weren't going to put any pressure on -- we're just going to go have some fun and go do it. So, we're making it fun for the fans -- I can guarantee you that. When you think you have an opportunity to maybe make some gains -- it felt like every truck I got near, not running into you but start making a lot of contact with a lot of different people. I was trying to be as patient as I could around there, but you can't drive other trucks. It ended up being what it's going to be."
Did you think that Ron Hornaday, Jr. would be able gain points on you like this and you would still be in the points lead?
"Well, the rule change, yeah I knew they were going to gain points. That part was going to be pretty obvious. But, we're doing everything we can to hold them off. It felt like that these next two races we have to get through them with no problems and unfortunately we both had problems (today). Really, leaving here today is no different than when we came in."
PaddockTalk Perspective
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