Toyota's First
Nascar Season Comes to a Close in Florida
MIAMI, Fla. (Nov. 19, 2004)
-- Toyota 's inaugural season in the NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series (NCTS) ended at Homestead-Miami Speedway this
afternoon when Tundra drivers David Reutimann and Mike
Skinner registered top-10 finishes.
Reutimann, driver of the No. 17 Darrell Waltrip
Motorsports Tundra, crossed the finish line fourth and
Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 5 Bill Davis Racing
Tundra, recorded a sixth-place. In addition to another
top-five finish -- his fourth of the season -- Reutimann
received NCTS Rookie-of-the-Year honors following the
race.
Although Reutimann, a Zephyrhilles, Fla.-native, qualified
on the pole position, he had trouble staying ahead of the
field at the start of the race.
"It looked like I was trying to see how far back I could
go when the green flag came out," said Reutimann,
following the race. "This place is like a superspeedway
and if you get on the bottom of the track -- everyone
drives right by you. In my infinite wisdom, once I
realized what was happening I moved to the top of the
track. Imagine that, everyone is driving by you, so you
get to the top of the track where they can't get past.
When we did that, we started moving forward."
Skinner recorded his ninth top-10 of the year, despite
battling bad vibrations in his truck towards the end of
the race.
"It was an O.K. day for us," said Skinner, after the race.
"I don't know if we got too low on air pressures in our
tires, but the right front tire felt like it was coming
apart. My truck was shaking really, really bad and because
of that we lost a lot of track position. Then we came in
and made a huge chassis adjustment, but we probably made
too many adjustments because we didn't know the situation
with the tires."
"We've got a lot of work to do," added Skinner, "But, I
can't wait until next year. This is the first time in a
few years that it's the last race, and the last corner of
the last race, and I wish we were racing next week.
Usually, I'm ready for a break -- but I wish we were
racing next week."
Following Reutimann and Skinner to the finish line at
Miami-Homestead were Tundra drivers Johnny Benson (11th),
Hank Parker Jr. (17th), Travis Kvapil (19th), Bill Lester
(24th) and Robert Huffman (35th).
Benson was running second to eventual race-winner Kasey
Kahne late in the event, when handling problems forced him
to relinquish the position.
"We were good all day," said Benson. "The guys at Bill
Davis Racing did a tremendous job and we had great pit
stops. Right at the end, we got really tight on that last
run. I couldn't do anything once the tires got worn. We
had a shot to run second, but I don't know if we really
had a shot at taking the lead. But, we were sure going to
go for it."
In the unofficial NCTS championship point standings at the
end of the season, three Toyota drivers finished among the
top-15. Kvapil was eighth in the point standings with
3,152 points and Skinner was 11th (3,037 points). Rookie
David Reutimann ended the year 14th (2,904 points) in the
standings.
Toyota Finishing Positions @ Homestead-Miami Speedway
4th David Reutimann - Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, No. 17
NTN Bearings Tundra
6th Mike Skinner - Bill Davis Racing, No. 5 Toyota Tundra
11th Johnny Benson - Bill Davis Racing, No. 23 Toyota
Tundra
17th Hank Parker Jr. - Innovative Motorsports, No. 21
AirVest Tundra
19th Travis Kvapil - Bang Racing, No. 24 Line-X Tundra
24th Bill Lester - Bill Davis Racing, No. 22 Toyota Tundra
35th Robert Huffman - Innovative Motorsports, No. 12
Toyota Tundra
Toyota Drivers in the NCTS Point Standings - following
season finale @ Miami
8th Travis Kvapil - 3,152 points
11th Mike Skinner - 3,037 points
14th David Reutimann - 2,904 points
17th Hank Parker Jr. - 2,737 points
22nd Bill Lester - 2,400 points
23rd Robert Huffman - 2,314 points
25th Johnny Benson - 1,818 points
27th Todd Bodine - 1,317 points
Manufacturer in the NCTS Point Standings - following
season finale @ Miami
1st Dodge - 162 points
2nd Chevy - 149 points
3rd Toyota - 123 points
4th Ford - 116 points
