Tundras Continue Daytona Testing; Look Towards Inaugural
Race
DAYTONA, Fla. (Jan. 11, 2004) - The seven full-time Toyota pilots continued to pile up
laps and knowledge of their brand-new Tundras as NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series open
testing continued at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the season-opening
race on Friday, Feb. 13. The series' first-ever champion, 1995 Craftsman Truck Series winner
Mike Skinner, was the fastest Tundra racer of the day with a lap of 177.497 mph.
"We've definitely made some gains today," said Skinner, driver of the No. 42 Toyota
Tundra for Bang Racing. "I have a lot of confidence in this team and this program. As long as
we have a little patience, we'll have the performance be where we want it to be."
Skinner was the quickest Toyota in both sessions on Sunday, with Bill Lester of Bill
Davis Racing (BDR) right behind him at 177.434 mph. The rest of the Toyota Tundra
delegation included David Reutimann of Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, 2003 Craftsman Truck
Series champion Travis Kvapil of Bang Racing, Shelby Howard of BDR, and Innovative
Motorsports teammates Robert Huffman and Hank Parker Jr.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series open testing at Daytona concludes on
Monday, Jan. 12. The season-opening NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona will
be run under the lights for the first time. Live coverage of the Feb. 13 event will be broadcast
on the PEE Channel.
"QUOTES"
MIKE SKINNER - No. 42 Toyota Tundra - Bang! Racing
"The Bang Racing team came into this weekend with a good plan. We made some gains on
the track and with the truck. Overall, it's been a pretty good test, and I think it will help be
better when we come back to Daytona."
TRAVIS KVAPIL - No. 24 Toyota Tundra - Bang! Racing
It's hard to know how different this year's Daytona race will be under the lights. I really haven't
noticed any difference at any other race track, but it will be the first time here. There are some
race tracks, even here at Daytona or at Las Vegas, where the shadows come down at certain
times of day and chew you up a little bit. But I think at night it will be a little easier since the
lighting will be the same throughout the track.
BILL LESTER - No. 22 Toyota Tundra - Bill Davis Racing
"We're going faster than yesterday, and everything we're doing is putting us in the right
direction. The team is really working well together. We're using our heads to do new things
improve. For the first time in my career, I'm having the pleasure of driving a brand new truck.
It's working really well and doing what I ask it to do."
SHELBY HOWARD - No. 23 Toyota Tundra - Bill Davis Racing
"We picked up about two tenths of a second over yesterday. It would have been great to make
up a little more, but we'll take it. Getting the truck built and put together is the hardest part,
and we're getting the speed slowly but surely."
ROBERT HUFFMAN - No. 12 Toyota Tundra - Innovative Motorsports, Inc.
"We're a little faster than we were yesterday, which is good in that we're heading in the right
direction. It's a similar process to when I was working with Toyota for the first time in 2001 on
the Goody's Dash Celica. It takes time to work though things on a new race car. Its all part of
making it better over time."
HANK PARKER, JR. - No. 21 Toyota Tundra - Innovative Motorsports, Inc.
"The team and I are just going through out list of possible changes and improvements. Some
are positive, some negative, and some just come out in the wash; they're about the same. The
guys are working really hard. They're a good team."
DAVID REUTIMANN - No. 17 Toyota Tundra - Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
"We made some progress today. We tried different stuff, and the truck drove great today. We
need to pick up some speed in a few areas, but that's all you can do to get ready for the first
race. We're all working as a new team together, but it's going really great so far."
