SPRINT Cup Series

TOYOTA NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (NNCS) - Post-Race Notes & Quotes - Dickies 500 -- Texas Motor Speedway -- November 4, 2007

* Dave Blaney (21st) was the first Toyota to the finish line in this evening's race. Other Camry drivers in the race were Brian Vickers (23rd), Mike Skinner (24th), Dale Jarrett (38th), AJ Allmendinger (39th) and David Reutimann (43rd).
* Six Camrys qualified for today's race -- the sixth time six Camrys have started a NNCS race this season. Other races with six Toyota-powered cars include both road courses -- Infineon Raceway (June) and Watkins Glen (Aug.), as well as Pocono (Aug.), California (Sept.) and Talladega (Oct.).
* Toyota has two poles this season. Dave Blaney started first at New Hampshire in June and Michael Waltrip captured the pole at Talladega in October.
* Camry drivers have two top-five finishes this season. Blaney finished third at Talladega in October, and Brian Vickers finished fifth at Charlotte's Lowe's Motor Speedway in May.
* Toyota Camry drivers have earned 11 top-10 finishes this season. In addition to Vickers' fifth-place finish at Charlotte, he was 10th at California (Feb.), eighth at Michigan (Aug.), eighth at California (Sept.) and 10th at Atlanta (Oct.). Other top-10s have been registered by Waltrip, who finished 10th at Michigan (June) and 10th at Charlotte (Oct.). Blaney finished ninth at Indianapolis (July), sixth at Michigan (Aug.), third at Talladega (Oct.) and sixth at Charlotte (Oct.).
* Two Camrys finished in the top-10 at Michigan (Aug.) for the first time in NNCS competition. Blaney finished sixth and Vickers finished eighth. Two Camrys also finished in the top-10 at Charlotte (Oct.) when Blaney was sixth and Waltrip finished 10th.
* Camry drivers have led a total of 163 laps across 15 races in NNCS events this season. Vickers has led the most of the Camry contingent with 106 laps led 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), and Waltrip has led eight laps over three races (Michigan, Dover-2 and Talladega-2). Reutimann led one lap at California (Sept.) and two laps at Talladega (Oct.). Allmendinger led one lap at Atlanta (Oct.).

DAVE BLANEY, No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing
Finishing position: 21st
How was your race?
"We just weren't very good all night. We struggled with the handling and couldn't ever get it very good. We lost a couple of laps. We just struggled trying to get a finish to help stay in the top-35 in points and that's about all we did. Still, you have trouble in these last two races and you lose it all. It's still wide open to stay in the top-35. We have to finish races and when we run bad like today, we have to just finish."

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Team Red Bull
Finishing position: 23rd
How was your race?
"It was a long day for us. We could never get a handle on the car. Right from the get go we were way too loose or way too tight, and never could find a balance in it. We think we know why -- we were trying some newer stuff here. As a matter of fact, we tried a different setup here altogether. We never could get our handle on it. We had a lot of brake issues, which is getting really frustrating and when I'm at the end of my rope, it breaks. We've had enough problems this year and it's time to get them fixed. We ran our brakes a lot here today and I don't know why -- I can't explain it. It was a long day all together. Considering we got a top-25 in today's race -- we'll take it."

MIKE SKINNER, No. 36 360 OTC Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing
Finishing position: 25th

DALE JARRETT, No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing position: 38th

JASON BURDETT, Crew Chief, No. 44 UPS Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
What happened to take your car out of the race?
"I didn't get to see it on TV. Dale said he thought he had a miss and there was room to go around on the bottom, on the backstretch. Before he could get there, whoever was behind him got into him and just sent him into the crash. Not much you can do once they all start stacking up, there's no where to go."

How was your race car?
"Yesterday, we were really, really loose in practices. We did a lot of stuff to tighten up the car for today, and we went too far and got it pretty tight. We worked on it and got it where Dale could run decent lap times when he got out front -- a lap down. We hung right in there with the top-10 or 12 cars. I think we were going to end up okay, the way the race was going. We didn't go a second lap down, where a lot of cars did. Think we could have maybe salvaged a top-20 finish."

AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Team Red Bull
Finishing position: 39th

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Burger King Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing position: 43rd
How was your race?
"It's a shame. That's just the way our luck has been going lately. Something broke in the motor. The car started off really tight and the guys got it freed up. We were running in the top-15 and all the sudden we dropped a cylinder."