Montreal: Toyota teams race notes, quotes

Jacques Villeneuve (third-place) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Sunday's NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve -- a race circuit named after his father.

Camry drivers Joey Logano (sixth) and Trevor Bayne (10th) also had top-10 finishes at the 2.71-mile, 14-turn road course.

Camry drivers Marcos Ambrose (25 laps), Robby Gordon (17 laps) and Villeneuve (one lap) combined to lead 43 of the 77 race laps. Gordon was leading the race when he ran out of fuel on lap 75.

Other Toyota drivers in the field included Brad Coleman (12th), Gordon (14th), Jason Leffler (21st), Tayler Malsam (23rd), Michael Annett (25th), Brendan Gaughan (27th), Patrick Carpentier (32nd), Marcos Ambrose (33rd), Steve Wallace (38th) and Brian Scott (40th).

Nine Toyota drivers are in the top-15 in the unofficial NNS driver points following Montreal- Busch (third), Wallace (seventh), Bayne (eighth), Logano (ninth), Leffler (10th), Gaughan (11th), Annett (12th), Scott (13th) and Reed Sorenson (14th).

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JACQUES VILLENEUVE, No. 32 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finished: 3rd

What was the difference between finishing first or third today? "The car was quick enough. One lap to go I thought I had (Max) Papis -- that was the one I was wanting to get because he was late on the brakes. I knew that Boris (Said) was braking a little bit earlier. I didn't make it stick. Too bad because the car was running strong all race. The brakes lasted. It just wasn't as good at the end of the race as it was early. That's about it. We had a strong effort from the Dollar General team."

What happened during the last few laps of the race? "I drove hard. But, it was always tough in the first corner there because everybody was going a little bit bonsai. Max (Papis) is a driver that is quite aggressive. You always end up banging wheels with him. I've raced against him since 1989 in Formula 3 in Italy. We've known each other for a long time. I really wanted to get in front of him because I knew that Boris Said was going to be a little bit easier to overtake. I saw in the race he was braking early. Just didn't make it stick."

Are you happy with finishing third? "It was fun. The beginning of the race was a little bit boring -- the amount of caution. Once we got going it was fun. Today, I think Marcos Ambrose and ourselves with the Dollar General car were the two fastest cars out there. But, this race always happens in the last 10 laps anyway."

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JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finished: 6th

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry, Diamond-Waltrip Racing
Finished: 10th

BRAD COLEMAN, No. 18 Safeway Driving Centers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finished: 12th

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ROBBY GORDON, No. 07 Mapei/Menards Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports
Finished: 14th

What happened at the end of the race? "If the race doesn't have caution at the end and a green-white-checker -- we win. And, it's easy to say if you did this you should have done that, but with what happened to us in qualifying and starting last, we made our bed this morning. When the race started this morning, we had a plan -- and we lived and died by it. It's unfortunate we ran out of fuel. But, it's also unfortunate the 38 (Jason Leffler) oiled down the race track."

What obstacles did you face this weekend? "We didn't roll out of the trailer very good this weekend and we worked on it all weekend long. It's kind of funny. Frank Kerr (Marcos Ambrose's crew chief) told me, 'You guys aren't that good.' I said, 'I don't know, we'll see.' And, they were faster than us -- Marcos (Ambrose) was, but I was saving my brakes just riding along. You have to get to the end. Unfortunately, we got a green-white-checker and it cost us."

What do you enjoy about the Montreal race? "I love coming here. It's a great town. Fun atmosphere race. Every time we come here we at least put ourselves in a position to win the race. Sometimes you beat yourself and sometimes you get beat. This time here maybe we beat ourselves because we shot for that lap number 74 number, and if that would have happened we were fine. How do you say it -- if I go an eighth of a mile more, now we've taken the white flag, the caution comes out, we win. So many different scenarios."

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JASON LEFFLER, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finished: 21st

TAYLER MALSAM, No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finished: 23rd

MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 15 Flying J Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Finished: 25th

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 South Point Casino & Hotel Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing
Finished: 27th

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PATRICK CARPENTIER, No. 00 NAPA Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finished: 32nd

What happened to force you out of the race early? "It was great. I want to thank NAPA and Michael Waltrip Racing. It took us all weekend to get up to speed and the car seems to be okay. Towards the end there, the last 10 laps, for some reason something was going wrong at the rear of the car. When I was going into the corners the back was leaning over too much, and the sway bar ended up braking. One of the brackets broke. The rear let go and I couldn't drive the car any more. So, I had to come down pit lane. What a great weekend. It's been sunny all weekend. We're here at the races. I had a good time. Good finishes and I had fun."

Did you have any brake problems? "Funny enough- I mean my brakes were perfect. The pedal was still really hard. I was trying to be not too hard on them, but still keep it hard because it was giving me feedback and I could stop the car. They were smoking a lot. They were still really, really good. I was just kind of saving fuel. Staying in the same gears. Lifting really early. And who knows, this could have played out in our hands toward the end of the race, but we'll never know."

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MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Little Debbie/Glad Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Finished: 33rd

What happened to put you out of the race? "First of all, we had the fast car there. We were dominating early on. We just had an alternator or a battery lay down on us and the engine went into half RPM. I held the lead for a long time. I had to turn all the fans off for the brakes and the engine and me. We all got hot and damaged. Eventually, the motor got so bad we had to change the battery and then I broke something in the left front suspension.

How were you able to dominate early- was it the car or the driver? "It really has got nothing to do with me. I've got a great team. We've really worked hard on our road course program. I'm not better than anyone else out there at the front- I'm just one of them. I'm just proud of my guys. We gave it our best. It hasn't worked out, of course again. We gave it a great shot."

Were you aware you had a serious problem? "It was coming for awhile. The battery was dead. All the gauges went. The motor started to run at half-speed. We actually got the lead off Carl (Edwards) on half RPM -- it was only revving about 6,000 RPM. We carried momentum. But, unfortunately, we just couldn't close it up."

When do you start not liking Montreal? "About now. It's a great track. It's a great city. Huge crowd. I love coming here. Just cause I'm not winning doesn't mean I don't have fun."

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STEVE WALLACE, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing
Finished: 38th

BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 AccuDoc Solutions Toyota Camry, Braun Racing
Finished: 40th

-source: toyota motorsports