Toyota tidbits 2010-06-15

DENNY DELIVERS NEAR DETROIT: Denny Hamlin earned his fifth victory of the season in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Michigan International Speedway, marking a single season career-high of Cup wins for the 29-year-old after only 15 of 36 races. The Virginia-native led four times for 123 (of 200) laps to earn the 13th triumph of his Cup career. It was the seventh victory by a Camry driver in 2010 -- all earned in the past 10 races -- and the 28th in the series for Toyota.

POINTS PACE: Kyle Busch remains second in the NSCS unofficial point standings following Michigan, trailing points leader Kevin Harvick by 22 points. Hamlin sits third (47 points behind) while other Toyota drivers Martin Truex Jr. (16th), Joey Logano (17th) and David Reutimann (19th) are also in the top-20.

LOGANO TALLIES TRIPLE: Logano made history in Saturday night's NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Kentucky Speedway, winning his third straight event at the 1.5-mile race track. The 20-year-old driver won from the pole position, which he also did in 2008 and 2009. Logano led the field five times for 106 (of 200) laps. It was his first triumph of 2010, seventh victory by a Camry driver in 2010 and the 44th in the series for Toyota.

ALMIROLA TRIUMPHANT AGAIN: Aric Almirola was victorious in Saturday's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Michigan International Speedway. The Billy Ballew Motorsports driver started 10th and battled three-wide for the lead with fellow Tundra racers Todd Bodine (second) and Busch (third) on the final restart before Almirola took the lead for the final seven laps. It is Almirola's second career NCWTS victory after winning at Dover International Speedway last month and is the sixth victory for Toyota in 2010, with the last four races being won by a Tundra driver.

ROAD COURSE RACERS: The Sprint Cup Series heads to northern California's Infineon Raceway road course for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 this weekend where Camry drivers have collected one win, three top-five finishes and one pole. Last year, Toyota drivers claimed the top-three starting spots with Brian Vickers (first), Busch (second) and Marcos Ambrose (third). Ambrose went on to finish third. In 2009, Busch led 78 (of 112) laps en route to victory lane.

SPONSAFIER CAMRY TO COMPETE: The Toyota Racing 'Sponsafy Your Ride' winning design will come to life at Infineon Raceway. Michael Waltrip will enter in the Prism Motorsports No. 55 Toyota Camry with the paint scheme designed by grand prize winner Fay Knape of Danbury, Texas. The 'Praying for Karson' race car features highlights of the outdoors where Knape hopes her one-year-old grandson Karson, who was born with Neuroendocrine Cell Hyperplasia in Infancy (NEHI), will one day be able to play without an oxygen tank. Over 77,500 fans submitted designs in the contest, that received more than one million overall votes.

READY TO ROLL: Saturday will mark the first NASCAR race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., but Toyota drivers have been successful at previous NASCAR races in Wisconsin. The Tundra earned three straight victories (2006-2008) at the Milwaukee Mile with Johnny Benson. Camry drivers have had success on road courses in the NNS with victories at Mexico City (Busch, 2008) and Watkins Glen (Ambrose, 2009) and a pole at Montreal (Ambrose, 2009).

JACQUES IS BACK: Jacques Villeneuve, the 1995 Indy 500 winner and 1997 Formula One world champion, will drive the Braun Racing No. 32 Camry at Road America. Villeneuve, from Montreal, has two CART victories at Road America (1994 and 1995). Villeneuve finished fourth for Braun Racing in 2009 at the Montreal road course.

HYBRID PACER: This weekend, the Toyota Camry Hybrid will serve as the 'official' pace car for the NASCAR races at both Infineon Raceway and Road America. In addition to this weekend's events, the Camry Hybrid has previously served as the 'official' pace car for races at California, Charlotte, Dover, Martinsville, Phoenix, Richmond and Kansas this season.

-source: toyota motorsports