Toyota's first NASCAR win!
08-02-07, 12:41 PM
#1
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Toyota's first NASCAR win!
I guess any win is a good win.
http://www.toyota.co.jp/ms/nascar/ra...t/ns07_24.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/s...d=3&id=2953129 (with video coverage)
Leffler rides late lead to Toyota's first Busch win
CLERMONT, Ind. -- Jason Leffler's second career NASCAR Busch Series victory was much more memorable than his first.
Leffler took the lead from Greg Biffle with two laps to go in the Kroger 200 on Saturday night and raced to his first Busch win in three years -- and Toyota's first victory ever in the series.
Biffle led in lap 191 before a caution brought the field together at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Leffler took the lead in lap 197, then jockeyed with Biffle for a while before finishing strong.
"This is a lot more exciting to come to the end like that, beating and banging and doing those slide jobs," said Leffler, whose last Busch win came June 12, 2004 in the Federated Auto Parts 300 in Nashville.
He said he expected one of the Toyota drivers, including David Reutimann, Mike Bliss and Dave Blaney, to eventually win. Reutimann finished third and Bliss placed ninth.
"We've all been running good," Leffler said. "When we all run good, we all run good together. I knew it was going to be close who was going to do it, but I knew it was going to come soon."
Leffler had a few run-ins with Reutimann along the way.
"He was kind of pinching me off," Leffler said. "We got together early in the race. He didn't give me all the racetrack, I didn't think, and we slammed doors, and after that, he made it hard for me to pass him."
Leffler decided to be more aggressive with Reutimann as the race progressed.
"It just comes a time where you can sit there and run third or you can win the race," Leffler said. "I just had to rough him up, then he roughed me up, and I was able to get back by him."
There were 10 lead changes and eight cautions. Leffler didn't lead until the final laps.
Biffle, who led the most laps with 94, hasn't won this season and had only one top-five finish in 18 starts before Saturday's race. He said he was happy with the high finish, but he struggled with the car.
"Probably the toughest car that I've driven at this race track, I don't know why," he said. "I ran the thing in the fence three or four times on my own."
Two racers who started at the back of the pack, Reutimann and Carl Edwards, finished third and fourth, respectively. Reutimann started 40th out of 43 cars and Edwards started 41st.
Reutimann, Edwards, David Ragan, Scott Wimmer and J.J. Yeley started in the back of the field because qualifying for Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard overlapped with qualifying for Saturday's Kroger race. Those drivers opted to focus on the Brickyard and have fill-ins get their cars qualified for the Kroger race.
"When you start from the back, if you don't have a perfect night, it just makes it hard," said Ragan, who finished 18th. "Carl Edwards and the 99 [Reutimann], they had the perfect night. If we could have started up front, we had the car that could have won. It's just one of those nights."
Edwards' performance was impressive because he arrived in Indianapolis on Thursday wearing a protective brace around his dislocated right thumb. He was injured on July 22 at a dirt-track race when he hit the back of a car that spun out in front of him. Edwards plans to wear a similar brace during Sunday's race.
Edwards maintained his points lead.
Last year's Kroger winner, Kevin Harvick, chose not to compete on Saturday. He had won three races this season and was third in the point standings.
Aric Almirola won the pole, his fourth in 23 career Busch Series races. He led for 87 of the 200 laps, all in the first half of the race, and finished sixth.
http://www.toyota.co.jp/ms/nascar/ra...t/ns07_24.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/s...d=3&id=2953129 (with video coverage)
Leffler rides late lead to Toyota's first Busch win
CLERMONT, Ind. -- Jason Leffler's second career NASCAR Busch Series victory was much more memorable than his first.
Leffler took the lead from Greg Biffle with two laps to go in the Kroger 200 on Saturday night and raced to his first Busch win in three years -- and Toyota's first victory ever in the series.
Biffle led in lap 191 before a caution brought the field together at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Leffler took the lead in lap 197, then jockeyed with Biffle for a while before finishing strong.
"This is a lot more exciting to come to the end like that, beating and banging and doing those slide jobs," said Leffler, whose last Busch win came June 12, 2004 in the Federated Auto Parts 300 in Nashville.
He said he expected one of the Toyota drivers, including David Reutimann, Mike Bliss and Dave Blaney, to eventually win. Reutimann finished third and Bliss placed ninth.
"We've all been running good," Leffler said. "When we all run good, we all run good together. I knew it was going to be close who was going to do it, but I knew it was going to come soon."
Leffler had a few run-ins with Reutimann along the way.
"He was kind of pinching me off," Leffler said. "We got together early in the race. He didn't give me all the racetrack, I didn't think, and we slammed doors, and after that, he made it hard for me to pass him."
Leffler decided to be more aggressive with Reutimann as the race progressed.
"It just comes a time where you can sit there and run third or you can win the race," Leffler said. "I just had to rough him up, then he roughed me up, and I was able to get back by him."
There were 10 lead changes and eight cautions. Leffler didn't lead until the final laps.
Biffle, who led the most laps with 94, hasn't won this season and had only one top-five finish in 18 starts before Saturday's race. He said he was happy with the high finish, but he struggled with the car.
"Probably the toughest car that I've driven at this race track, I don't know why," he said. "I ran the thing in the fence three or four times on my own."
Two racers who started at the back of the pack, Reutimann and Carl Edwards, finished third and fourth, respectively. Reutimann started 40th out of 43 cars and Edwards started 41st.
Reutimann, Edwards, David Ragan, Scott Wimmer and J.J. Yeley started in the back of the field because qualifying for Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard overlapped with qualifying for Saturday's Kroger race. Those drivers opted to focus on the Brickyard and have fill-ins get their cars qualified for the Kroger race.
"When you start from the back, if you don't have a perfect night, it just makes it hard," said Ragan, who finished 18th. "Carl Edwards and the 99 [Reutimann], they had the perfect night. If we could have started up front, we had the car that could have won. It's just one of those nights."
Edwards' performance was impressive because he arrived in Indianapolis on Thursday wearing a protective brace around his dislocated right thumb. He was injured on July 22 at a dirt-track race when he hit the back of a car that spun out in front of him. Edwards plans to wear a similar brace during Sunday's race.
Edwards maintained his points lead.
Last year's Kroger winner, Kevin Harvick, chose not to compete on Saturday. He had won three races this season and was third in the point standings.
Aric Almirola won the pole, his fourth in 23 career Busch Series races. He led for 87 of the 200 laps, all in the first half of the race, and finished sixth.
08-02-07, 12:52 PM
#2
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So far Toyota seems to be doing better in the Busch series than the Cup Series, although the Busch series isn't as competitive as Cup.
Very soon though Toyota will become a force in Cup as well.
Very soon though Toyota will become a force in Cup as well.
08-02-07, 01:56 PM
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Rumour is the LF-A production car will be the pace car at this year's F1 Japanese GP, Toyota win or not. It's also strongly the car and full details and specs will be shown at the Tokyo auto show.
08-02-07, 08:12 PM
#6
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Congrats 
08-03-07, 12:16 AM
#11
Lexus Connoisseur
Props to Toyota. They've dominated the Craftsman Truck series, now a first win in Busch then eventual Nextel Cup. It's only a matter of time...still a great start for the new kid in town. 
World domination.
World domination.
08-03-07, 12:43 AM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
First imo NASCAR SUX, why? NASCAR did away with homologation in the late 80's early 90's... so so ghey...
Dont mistake me, I HATE NASCAR the organization, not the teams/drivers.
GO SCOTT SPEED!!!
Dont mistake me, I HATE NASCAR the organization, not the teams/drivers.
GO SCOTT SPEED!!!
08-03-07, 12:53 AM
#13
Toyota made a major mistake by coming in to Nextel Cup this year, why? Because the car of tomorrow is being run on a limited basis this year, the old cars are still run at most races, so with no experience you have to build old cars and cot cars and try to be competitive with both, coming in next year would have eliminated building old cars, there are currently no Toyotas in the top 35 in points, this is the only way to guarantee a starting spot without qualifying on time which has only happened a couple of times this year, this is where they should focus, first on qualifying then competing week to week and wins will come in the future, as for domination don't hold your breath.
08-03-07, 01:06 AM
#15
Lexus Fanatic