Pocono Race Report

· No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Mark Martin finished second.
· No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer finished sixth and is ninth in points. 
· No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished 20th and is seventh in points.

Mark Martin Race Summary: No.55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Mark Martin finished second - by less than a second - to winner Joey Logano in Sunday’s 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup at Pocono Raceway. Martin started sixth and spent most of the race running in the top five. He used a daring pass on a restart to take the lead from Logano with eight laps remaining and held the lead the next four laps. Logano returned the favor with just four laps to go, making the pass and winning the race with Martin .997 seconds behind. Sunday’s finish was Martin’s 20th top-five finish at Pocono, the most of any driver. Martin and the Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota return to action Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. 
 
· Started sixth and finished second
· Raced in the top five throughout race.
· Took lead with eight laps remaining and held it for four laps.
· Logano passed Martin for the victory with four laps remaining.
· Martin’s 20 top-five finishes at Pocono is the most of any driver.

MARTIN QUOTE: “We were racing hard man. I wanted to win it so bad. I just want to thank Ken Butler (Aaron’s), everybody from Aaron’s, Toyota, the fans -- because that’s why Ken Butler and Aaron’s gave me this chance -- (and) Michael Waltrip. These guys are awesome. What a great race team. I’m so thankful that I have a chance to bid for a win. I wanted it really bad. Believe it or not, I fought for it tooth and nail. We had an awesome day today. MWR gave me a great car, Toyota gave me great engines. We were really close. Maybe next week we’ll be the ones with the trophy!

"They've (Toyota and TRD) been very, very helpful with us at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) for sure. This is my first experience with them and there are a lot of racers that help us with the engines and the technology. And, I really enjoy them and they've embraced me and that's been nice. They have really made me feel welcome. I think that we had good power today and enough durability to make it to the end here, so that's a fine edge there. We did have some problems at Kansas and they worked really hard to get those fixed up and to continue to be able to -- this is a really, really competitive series and it's amazing what they've been able to do and I appreciate their help so much." 
 
Clint Bowyer Race Summary: No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer finished sixth in Sunday’s 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway. Bowyer started 16th and overcame an early speeding penalty as well as a trip to the back of the pack to work on the car near the halfway mark. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver charged to the front in the second half of the race moving into the top 10 in the closing stages. The sixth-place finish moves Bowyer to ninth in points. The No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota team returns to action next weekend at Michigan International Speedway. 
 
· Started 16th and finished sixth.
· Overcame speeding penalty and time on pit lane to work on car.
· Charged to the front in the second half of the race.
· Sixth place finish moves Bowyer to ninth in standings.
 
BOWYER QUOTE: “"That was a crazy day for the 5-hour ENERGY team, but I'm glad we ended up where we did. The Toyota/TRD engines looked strong today. We were having a little issue with our temperature, but we got it figured out and finished strong. I'm happy for Joey Logano - that's a big win for him and the Toyota folks. I wish Mark Martin could have held on and got the win for the MWR guys, but overall it was a solid day. That should help us in the point standings."
 
Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary: No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished 20th in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway. Truex started 23rd in the 400-mile race. On the first lap, Truex was a victim of a spinning Landon Cassill. Cassill’s spinning car sideswiped Truex, ripping the right side off of the NAPA Toyota. The NAPA KNOW HOW pit crew repaired the car on pit road, but lost two laps to the leader. The team rallied with strategy and got both laps back by the midway point. The NAPA team climbed back into contention, racing as high as 13th late in the event before posting a 20th place finish. The finish moves Truex from sixth to seventh in points, though he still holds a 42-point cushion on the final Chase qualifier. The NAPA team tests this Thursday at the newly resurfaced Michigan International Speedway in preparations for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, June 17.

· Started 23rd and finished 20th
· MWR’s executive vice president of competition, Scott Miller, served as crew chief as Chad Johnston
  remained home with his wife, Stacey, as they await the birth of their son.
· Initially lost two laps (one repairs & one speeding on exit penalty) after lap one accident.
· Raced onto lead on lap 74 after taking wave-around
· After halfway, drove from 26th to 20th
· Owns four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 2012.

Truex Quote: “The wreck was a bad deal that’s for sure. I don’t know what some of those guys were thinking since it was the first lap of the race. We got the wrong end of the deal, but the NAPA crew worked really hard to get us back on the track. We just needed a break and got it when we took the wave-around. There were so many things happening out on the track with pit road issues and fuel strategies that it was hard to figure out how things were going to go for us because our NAPA Toyota had speed. We just needed the track position to see just where we stacked up. I want to thank Scott Miller for climbing onto the pit box and managing everything this weekend. It could have been a lot worse so we’ll shake off getting wrecked and focus on what we can do at Michigan because Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer looked really strong today.”
 
RACE NOTES:
· Joey Logano won the race by .997 seconds over Mark Martin
· Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.
· The race took three hours and three minutes. 
· The race featured 19 lead changes among 10 drivers.
· The race was slowed by seven cautions for 35 laps.
· TRD won the Engine Builder of the Race Award.
· NASCAR estimated the attendance at 100,000.