Toyota Motorsports Notes - Nashville - April 11, 2009

Joey Logano won Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, leading 95 of 225 laps. Today's win by Logano is the 25th NASCAR Nationwide Series win for Toyota since entering the series in 2007. Logano's win marks the first win by a Camry at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway. Logano also becomes the first driver to win two NNS races (Kentucky 2008 and Nashville 2009) before age 19. Kyle Busch finished second in today's race after leading 77 laps in today's race. Jason Leffler (sixth) and Scott Lagasse, Jr. (10th) also earned top-10 finishes in today's race. Other Camry drivers in the NNS race included Burney Lamar (13h), Michael McDowell (15th), Michael Waltrip (16th), Michael Annett (19th), Brian Scott (25th) and David Green (38th. Three Camry drivers are in the top-10 in the unofficial NNS driver point standings -- Busch (second), Leffler (fourth) and Lagasse, Jr. (9th).

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 1st How much does this win mean to you? "It's been a while. We had a really good run the last time we were here and got caught up in a wreck. It was awesome to be able to get that win this time. Ever since I've been coming to Nashville - even at the fairgrounds I've been wanting to get that guitar and this is just awesome. I have to thank GameStop and all the fans for coming out here today."

How strong was your car this weekend? "The car was good right off the bat. We qualified great, we practiced great yesterday. We started going and Kyle (Busch) got by us and the car just kept getting tighter and tighter on the long runs and Dave (Rogers, crew chief) just kept adjusting on it. We were really good on the short runs and then we kind of kept tightening up as it kept going. I was able to get Kyle (Busch) back there at the end of the race and get the clean air back on my nose. I know he was tight so that kind of made it worse for him. It was good enough to hold him off. It's cool to have a Joe Gibbs Racing one-two finish - that's a big deal for all the guys at the shop too."

Did you need the final caution to hold off Kyle Busch? "The short runs were good for us - that's pretty much what it came down to. Like every run we would get back to the lead and then we would go back a little bit and that's just how it was the whole day. It was cool and it was great to be able to get this win because it's been a while. To get Dave (Rogers, crew chief) back and get his team back in victory lane is just really cool."

Were you nervous with Kyle Busch behind you on the final restart? "I wasn't too nervous, I was just driving as hard as a I can. That last restart I knew I had to have a good restart and it was decent, but he had a good one too and I was able to get through (turns) one and two really good and get out there in a big enough lead. Funny because on Monday I was texting Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and told him that we had to win this race. It had been way too long since we won and to get up there and succeed and win this race - this is one of the tracks that I really like so to get this win is huge."

Does this win boost your confidence? "It's big for me, it's an awesome confidence booster for sure. Looking and saying, 'Hey, I can do this, I am here for a reason, I can win races.' That's big. Just to reinsure yourself of that and I'm sure this is just going to keep carrying on and now we just have to build on this momentum and keep going."

How do you feel about the Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs sharing information? "It's part of it - I think you have to in order to have a successful team in Nationwide or Cup. The guys have to work together. You know everyone else is so if you're a two-car team and work as a one-car team that ain't going to help anyone. You might as well just be a one-car team. Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin), they help me out so much as a driver on the Cup side and then all those three crew chiefs over there work well together just like they do over here and you have to be a team. That's what we are - Joe Gibbs Racing is a team. Not the 18 (Kyle Busch) versus the 20 (Joey Logano) all the time. It's cool that we race against each other like that, but at the same time we are still a team."

DAVE ROGERS, Crew Chief, No. 20 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What does this win mean for your team? "This is just a great day. Really proud of the guys, it's been a while since we've been to victory lane and when it takes that long you start to lose a little confidence and maybe second guess yourself. Everyone rallied together and we really felt good about coming into Nashville. We brought a brand new car that the guys built after Las Vegas and Joey's (Logano) confidence was up all weekend and we got the win so we're real excited."

How did the track change this weekend with the weather conditions? "That was definitely a big concern. We spend a lot of hours last night, more hours working on the car than sleeping I can tell you that. We were really good yesterday at the end of a 30-lap or 40-lap run, posted quick time on the board and thought we were in really good shape and then we put sticker tires on there and we were so loose that Joey (Logano) had a hard time driving it. We spend a lot of time last night just trying to figure out how much we needed to tighten up the front side and how free to leave it for the back side. We knew we couldn't have both so we just tried to shoot the gap there. Hind-sight we got the win, but we probably got it a little too good on the front side and not good enough on the back side so the cautions did play in our favor. I have to give my engineers a lot of credit because they spent a lot of time with me last night just talking about air pressures and build-ups and we changed three shocks this morning, changed our air pressures - we did quite a bit to adjust for the conditions and then just kept tweaking it out little by little every stop as the track got tighter and tighter."

Have you seen any changes in Joey Logano since last season? "I think Joey (Logano) and I hit it off really good from day one. We came into this deal and he was coming off a very successful East program and winning a lot of races so I believed in him and we were running really successful in the Nationwide Series so I think he believed in me and all my guys. When they put us together we just believed in each other from day one and it's been smooth sailing since day one. There's days that I think I get a little discouraged or he gets a little discouraged, but not a real big change in personality. I think the confidence out of today will fix a lot of that."

How talented is Joey Logano? "If you look at how we started last year - come to our second race and put it on the pole, the next race we sit on the pole and pass Kyle Busch on the outside off turn two at Kentucky - that takes some talent. Kyle Busch is pretty good these days. To come in here today and just out-race him. Jason (Ratcliff, 18 crew chief) are talking back and forth - we're sharing air pressures, we're sharing pit strategy, we share set-ups so Kyle Busch or Joey (Logano), neither one of them had an advantage. It was driver versus driver on the race track and I'm sure there are plenty of days where Kyle (Busch ) is going to get the best of Joey (Logano), but today Joey (Logano) got the best of him (Kyle Busch). I think he's really that good."

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 2nd How was it battling with Joey Logano for the win? "He (Joey Logano) had a better car on the short run and we had a better long run car. I want to thank Z-Line, NOS Energy Drink, Toyota and all the guys on this team. They did a great job it was just a shame that we weren't able to get out there and win this thing. That's kind of frustrating, but we finished second today."

How was your race car today? "It just never was a short run car all weekend. We got better the more we ran and we showed that in practice yesterday. The car was actually too tight there at the end when I was racing the 47 (Michael McDowell) for some reason. I don't know if he was lost on the race track or whatever, but he ran into the right side and killed the right-front fender -- frustrating day."

What did you think of the 'all-access' day for the fans today? "There was a lot of people around here today that had a lot more access than is typical. Some fans in the garage area need to respect the drivers a little bit more because they're bringing suitcases of die-casts and autographed items that they want to get signed and I think that is disrespectful. Yeah it's our job to sign for the fans and treat them nice, but when they've got three suitcases of stuff that's a little ridiculous and they camp outside your hauler. To me, that's a little wrong. If they had one or two items I would be happy to sign for them - that's fine. But three suitcases is a little outrageous."

JASON LEFFLER, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, Braun Racing Finishing Position: 6th

SCOTT LAGASSE JR., No. 11 America's Incredible Pizza Company Toyota Camry, CJM Racing Finishing Position: 10th How do you feel about your finish today? "It was a rally. Tough day for us - it was a battle all day long and a 10th today after where we started was a win for us. Our pit stops - our guys worked really, really hard and they got us track position we needed and we worked on the car all day long and worked on me some as a rookie. I'm learning and I don't know how much I can get away with these things yet and really my problem I keep finding is I'm trying to run them too free so we just keep tightening them up and we go faster. I have to get the ARCA cars and dirt cars that I grew up driving out of my head and be thinking about Nationwide cars. Real good day for us - terrible in qualifying and worked really, really hard on it all day and ended up pretty decent."

BURNEY LAMAR, No. 32 Dollar General Stores Toyota Camry, Braun Racing Finishing Position: 13th

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 47 Tom's Snacks Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 15th

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 99 Best Western Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 16th

MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 19th

BRIAN SCOTT, No. 10 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Braun Racing Finishing Position: 25th

DAVID GREEN, No. 07 Toyota Camry, SK Motorsports Finishing Position: 38th What happened that took you out of the race? "All I can say is - Burney Lamar. Thanks to Toyota for their support. We're a brand new team trying to get going here and things like this we don't need in the counter, but it's part of racing. It was a good day - started out bad because we didn't even get to make a qualifying run because of some deal in the inspection lane. We're making the most of it, but what do you do. I've never run into anybody on the race track and I just don't understand. He was still racing and I wasn't."