THIS RACE -- This race will be the
14th race at Phoenix International Raceway for the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS). There will be eight Toyota
Tundras in the field.
LAST RACE -- In the most recent NCTS
race at Martinsville (VA) Speedway (Oct. 23), Todd Bodine
was the top- finishing Toyota driver in the No. 30 Germain/Arnold
Racing Tundra when he crossed the finish line seventh.
Toyota drivers following Bodine to the checkered flag were
Robert Huffman, who was 10th in the No. 12 Innovative
Motorsports Tundra, and Johnny Benson, who finished 11th
in the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Tundra.
POINTS RACE -- After 22 races, three
Toyota drivers are among the top-15 in the NCTS
championship standings. Travis Kvapil is sixth in the
standings with 2,822 points, just 90 points from
fifth-place Matt Crafton. Other Tundra drivers in the
top-15 are 12th-place Mike Skinner (2,681 points) and
15th-place David Reutimann (2,565 points).
ROOKIE RACE -- After 22 races,
Toyota’s David Reutimann, driver of the No. 17 Darrell
Waltrip Motorsports NTN Bearings Tundra, remains atop the
Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year standings with 214 points, 49
more than second-place Tracy Hines. Toyota’s Robert
Huffman is fourth in the rookie race with 150 points.
ROOKIE RESULTS -- This season, a
first-year Toyota driver has been the top rookie to the
finish line in more than half of this year’s NCTS races.
Rookie Tundra drivers David Reutimann and Robert Huffman
have combined to be the first rookies to the finish line
15 times. Reutimann has been the top-finishing rookie in
nine races -- Daytona, Atlanta, Martinsville, Texas,
Kentucky, St. Louis, Bristol, NH and California. Huffman
has been the first rookie to the checkered flag six times
-- Charlotte, Dover, Michigan, Nashville, Richmond and
Martinsville.
SKINNER STRONG IN AZ -- Mike Skinner,
a Susanville, Calif.-native, has had a great deal of
success in NCTS races at Phoenix. Skinner won the very
first NCTS race, which was held at Phoenix 10 years ago.
In that race, Skinner started 16th, led 30 laps, and
crossed the finish line first. He also captured the
checkered flag in the second NCTS race at Phoenix later
that year -- starting third and leading 89 laps en route
to ‘Victory Lane.’
MORE ON MIKE -- In addition to his two
wins at Phoenix in 1995, Mike Skinner also started a pair
of races in 1996 at the Arizona one-mile oval. In the
Spring race at Phoenix that season, Skinner qualified on
the pole and crossed the finish line second. Later in the
year at the Fall Phoenix race, Skinner started seventh and
finished fourth.
SKINNER AMONG EX-CHAMPS AT PHOENIX --
Mike Skinner, the 1995 NCTS champion, will be racing
against two other former NCTS champions -- Ron Hornaday
and Jack Sprague -- at Phoenix. “Obviously, coming up on
the 10th anniversary of the Craftsman Truck Series, to
have the three of us back racing together again is pretty
cool,” says Skinner. “When you’re racing against Ron and
Jack, you know you’re racing against the best. I’m
looking forward to getting back to Phoenix and racing
against the best.”
LOOKING FOR LUCK -- “We’ve had great
trucks in the last few races, but we can’t seem to get a
break,” says Mike Skinner. “Things keep happening to us
on the race track that are out of our control, and there
seems to be nothing we can do about it.” Skinner was
caught up in accidents in two of the past three races
--Martinsville and California -- and had a tire go down
while leading the Texas race.
BENSON’S BEEN HERE BEFORE -- Johnny
Benson, driver of the No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Tundra, has
three previous NCTS starts at Phoenix. In 1995 he
qualified for two NCTS races at the track, and the
following year he started one Phoenix NCTS race. His best
result at the Arizona oval was when he crossed the finish
line second in 1996, and his best starting position was
second in that same race. During his career, the Grand
Rapids, Mich.-native has made a total of 12 NASCAR Cup,
Busch and NCTS starts at Phoenix.
BODINE IN PHOENIX -- Todd Bodine has
never started a NCTS race at Phoenix, but he has
participated in 13 NASCAR Cup (9) and Busch (4) Series
races at the track. He has two top-10 Busch Series
finishes at Phoenix, recording a fifth-place (2001) and
ninth-place (1999).
TODD’S TUNDRA TOPS -- In six starts
this season driving the No. 30 Germain/Arnold Racing
Tundra, Todd Bodine has recorded two wins and five
top-10s, and has been the first Tundra to the finish line
in four consecutive starts. In addition to capturing the
checkered flag at Texas (Oct. 16) and California (Oct. 2),
the 40-year-old racer finished second at Las Vegas (Sept.
25) and seventh at Martinsville (Oct. 23). Bodine also
finished fourth at Richmond (Sept. 9), and has led the
field at Texas (71 laps), California (28 laps) and Las
Vegas (28 laps).
TALKING ABOUT THE TRACK -- “I love
Phoenix,” says Bodine. “I’ve had some good runs in
Phoenix, although I haven’t really had the good finishes
we deserved. It’s a neat race track with two different
corners and a ‘kink’ in the back straightaway -- which
makes it really unique. It’s definitely a driver’s track
where you need a good set-up and good horsepower. You
need the whole ‘package’ to do well in Phoenix.”
MORE TALK FROM TODD -- “Success is
really about people,” says Bodine. “Basically, we all
have similar equipment and it’s the people around that
equipment that make the difference. Toyota has great
people working in their program that give us the
equipment. And, Mike Hillman (crew chief) has hired the
right people and he’s the right person to lead this team.”
PHOENIX DEBUTS -- Innovative
Motorsports teammates Hank Parker Jr. (No. 21) and Robert
Huffman (No. 12) will both be making their first NCTS
starts at Phoenix. Huffman has never raced at the Phoenix
oval, while Parker Jr. has four Busch Series starts at the
track.
ROBERT’S REVIEW -- “This season has
been more difficult than I thought,” says rookie Robert
Huffman. “I knew the Craftsman Truck Series was tough --
but it’s unbelievable how tough. I think it is one of the
toughest series out there in terms of competition.”
IT’S BRAND NEW – David Reutimann is
another Toyota driver who has never competed at Phoenix.
“I've never even been to the Phoenix track before," says
Reutimann. "I've only watched races from there on TV. I
hear that it’s unique, flat, and a really fast track.
I’ve talked to Joe Nemechek and a couple other drivers and
they said the track is easy to overdrive, just like any
flat track. I'm looking forward to competing there for
the first time."
T.K. IN AZ -- Travis Kvapil has three
top-10 NCTS finishes at Phoenix. The Janesville,
Wis.-native has finished fourth (2002) once and ninth
twice (2003 and 2001) at the track. His best qualifying
effort earned him a seventh-place starting position in
2001.
BILL’S BACK -- Bill Lester has three
previous NCTS starts at Phoenix. He has three top-20
finishes at the track, with his best result being a
15th-place finish (2002). His best starting position came
in 2002 when he qualified on the outside of the front row.
SEE K.C. -- Five Toyota drivers tested
their Tundras last Tuesday and Wednesday (Oct. 26-27) at
Kansas Speedway in preparation for the final three races
of the season. Todd Bodine, Robert Huffman, Travis Kvapil,
Hank Parker Jr. and Mike Skinner participated in the test
session. “It rained Tuesday so we didn’t run as much as
we would have liked,” said Skinner. “We struggled a bit,
but I think the test will definitely help us at Phoenix.”
MORE PRODUCTION TUNDRAS -- Toyota
recently announced plans to nearly double V-8 engine
production at its Alabama plant for production Tundra
models. Engine capacity will increase from approximately
250,000 to 400,000, and it will add about 300 jobs at the
Huntsville-based plant.
FOUR WINS FOR TOYOTA -- Toyota has
registered four victories in 22 NCTS races in its
inaugural season in the series. Todd Bodine earned the
two most recent wins for Toyota when he captured the
checkered flag at Texas (Oct. 16) and California (Oct. 2)
in his No. 30 Germain/Arnold Racing Tundra. Travis Kvapil
captured the checkered flag at Michigan (July 31) and New
Hampshire (Sept. 18) in his No. 24 Bang Racing Line-X
Tundra to record Toyota’s first two NCTS wins.
TOYOTA TOP-FIVES -- Toyota Tundra
drivers have recorded 23 NCTS top-five finishes this
season. In addition to four victories, Tundra drivers
have finished second (4), third (5), fourth (6) and fifth
(4). Travis Kvapil has the most top-fives for a Toyota
driver this season with six finishes among the leaders --
including two wins, one second-place, two fourths and one
fifth. Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine and Mike Skinner have
all had four top-fives. Benson has earned his four
top-fives in just 10 races and Bodine has recorded his
top-fives in only six starts.
FOUR FIRSTS FOR TOYOTA -- Toyota has
earned four NCTS pole positions in its debut season in the
series. Mike Skinner earned the two most recent pole
positions for Toyota when he captured the first starting
spot at Texas (Oct. 16) and Las Vegas (Sept. 25). The two
other Toyota pole positions were captured by Travis Kvapil
at California (Oct. 1) and David Reutimann at Atlanta
(March 12).
LINE-UP -- There will be five Toyota teams and
eight Tundras in the field at Phoenix International
Raceway:
- Bill Davis Racing:Mike Skinner, No. 5 Toyota Tundra;
Bill Lester, No. 22 Toyota Tundra; Johnny Benson No. 23
Toyota Tundra
- Innovative Motorsports: Hank Parker Jr., No. 21
AirVest Toyota Tundra; Robert Huffman, No. 12 Toyota
Tundra
- Bang Racing: Travis Kvapil - No. 24 Line-X Tundra
- Darrell Waltrip Motorsports: David Reutimann, No. 17
NTN Bearings Toyota Tundra
Germaine/Arnold Racing: Todd Bodine,No. 30 Toyota Tundra
