SPRINT Cup Series

TOYOTA NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES (NNCS) - POST RACE NOTES & QUOTES - SUBWAY 500 -- MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY -- OCTOBER 21, 2007

• David Reutimann finished 17th after starting 19th in the No. 00 Domino’s Pizza Camry.
• The No. 55 NAPA Camry of Michael Waltrip finished 18th after starting 29th.
• Dale Jarrett in the No. 44 UPS Camry finished 30th after starting 33rd in his final NNCS race at Martinsville.
• The No. 84 Red Bull Camry of AJ Allmendinger finished 35th after starting 25th.
• Dave Blaney finished 36th after spending 67 laps in the garage to change the rear-end gear and transmission on the No. 22 Caterpillar Camry.
• Two top-five finishes have been logged by Toyota Camrys -- Brian Vickers (No. 83 Red Bull Camry) finished fifth at Charlotte’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May and Dave Blaney finished third at Talladega Superspeedway in October.
• Ten top-10 finishes have been earned by Camrys this season. Brian Vickers had a fifth-place finish at Charlotte in May, and he finished 10th at California (February), eighth at Michigan (August) and eighth at California (September). Other top-10s have been registered by Michael Waltrip (No. 55 NAPA Camry), who finished 10th at Michigan in June and 10th at Charlotte in October, and Dave Blaney was ninth at Indianapolis in July, sixth at Michigan (August), third at Talladega (October) and sixth at Charlotte (October).
• Camry drivers have led a total of 162 laps across 14 races in NNCS events this season. Vickers has led the most of the Camry contingent with 106 laps over seven races (Atlanta, Bristol, Texas, Charlotte, Michigan, California and Talladega-2). Blaney has led 39 laps over six races (Atlanta, Richmond, Darlington, New Hampshire, Kansas and Talladega-2). Mayfield has led six laps over three races (Bristol, Charlotte and Watkins Glen). Waltrip has led eight laps over three races (Michigan-1, Dover-2 and Talladega-2). Reutimann led one lap at California (September) and two laps at Talladega (October).
• This October, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. is celebrating its 50th year of doing business in the United States. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. was formed October 31, 1957, establishing its headquarters in a former Rambler dealership in Hollywood, Calif. Sales began in 1958 and totaled a modest 288 vehicles that first year -- 287 Toyopet Crown sedans and one Land Cruiser.

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Domino’s Pizza Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finished: 17th
How was the race today and how crazy was the race with so many cautions?
“This was just a long, drawn out day. Our car was never very good -- we kept working on it, but we were just never very good. We tried to make the car as good as we could with some adjustments and we got it back to position to get our lap back. We just tried to survive today -- that’s about all we could do. The race wasn’t too crazy out there today even with all the cautions, but it got pretty wild there at the end.”

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finished: 18th
How was your race today?
“All we really did today was survive and persevere. Our car wasn’t all that good -- our COT (Car of Tomorrow) stuff has not performed at all like we need it to. But we’re re-grouping and trying to build some new cars for 2008 -- Dr. (Eric) Warren (Competition Director) and all of our friends at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) have come up with a plan -- it’s a better plan then we have right now. I think that will bring some of the changes we need in that program. I’m real proud of David (Reutimann) today -- he kept fighting and got a good finish. Dale (Jarrett) ran good today too and he probably had a better car than me or David, but he got spun out early in the race and that cost him positions. Everybody just survived and I’m proud of everybody.”

DALE JARRETT, No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finished: 30th

AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Team Red Bull
Finished: 35th
How was your race today?
“We’re definitely a lot better than we were the last time we were here. There were times today when we were running good laps and could run top-15 and top-10 times. But as the run went on we would fade and I couldn’t find the right line to run. At times we were just junk, but we were still a lot better than we were in the spring. We got in the race easier than we did the last time and I think if we wouldn’t have had the alternator problem -- we would have finished a lot better just on speed. But when we ran around some of the top-10 guys today -- we weren’t even close. We should have gained enough points on the No. 36 (Jeremy Mayfield) to be locked in the race at Atlanta next weekend if it rains, so if we got that spot then that is the only positive thing that came out of today. We gained a lot of notes from the race today that should help us when we come back, but on these short tracks we still have a lot of work to do.”

After your strong run last week at Charlotte, are you looking forward to heading to a track very similar -- Atlanta?
“I’m excited to get to Atlanta, but obviously we’re still inconsistent. Obviously when it comes to a race track like that it gets cold and it gets fast so one little mistake and you’re not in the race. It’s going to be touch and go to get in the race, but I’m really looking forward to it after the run we had in Charlotte.”

DAVE BLANEY, No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 36th
What happened that put you in the garage?
“We broke the transmission and I thought it might be going. The last 10 laps it was shaking really bad and then it just broke on the restart. The car just wasn’t very good all day and we could never get it any better. We tried staying out a couple times to get track position, but we could never hang on. I really thought we would have been better today because we practiced strong, but we just couldn’t get it to improve no matter what we changed.”

How was the car after you returned to the race track?
“The shaking was still there in the car after we got the transmission fixed so we really don’t know what was causing that. But it felt real low on power and everyone was stacking up so bad on all those restarts that it was hard to get any feel for the car. Whatever the problem is -- we need to figure it out.”