TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Daytona
Testing Day 1 — AM Session — Notes & Quotes Daytona International Speedway – January 12, 2012
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How was the morning test session? “So far, so good. It’s good to be back in a race car and get the feeling for everything and work the bugs out a little bit — not only me, but the team. Just everybody just kind of putting all the things together and getting everything in place for when we come back down here in a month or so.”
What are your plans for this afternoon’s test? “Just get some drafting in. Also, seeing exactly what — ‘A,’ NASCAR is going to tolerate or, ‘B,’ what the cars will tolerate being able to push or whether we can’t. Excited about being back in the M&M’s car again and, of course, having the TRD (Toyota Racing Development) support that’s here this week, so that’s been really good.”
How will the rule changes impact the two-car tandems? “We don’t know right now. We think it’s going to impact it quite a bit. We used to be able to figure it out how we could push and keep pushing for a run. Now, I think it’s going to be all the way back to where you’re only going to have maybe a lap or two.”
DAVE ROGERS, crew chief, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How was the morning test session? “We’re pretty happy with the performance of our Toyota Camry this morning. The transition to the TRD motor package you know working with Joe Gibbs Racing has been really smooth. The introduction of EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) has been really smooth, so we’re really excited about that. We’re mid-pack on the board. Obviously we want to be better, but fairly pleased with what we’ve got. The fab (fabrication) shop built us a new race car over the off-season — new chassis, new body and unloaded really smooth, so pretty pleased with this morning’s efforts. We’re going to make a few more qualifying runs in the afternoon and then probably around two o’clock we’ll go out there and play around with the 20 (Joey Logano) car and the 11 (Denny Hamlin) car and see what this two-car tandem draft is going to look like now that NASCAR has some made rule changes.”
How long do you think you can push with the new rules? “Everyone has their guesses. I think everyone would tell you probably a lap, but that’s something we’re going to work on. NASCAR’s trying to answer the call of the fans and try to put us back in the pack, but as racers we know that two cars linked up together is faster, so we’re always going to try to migrate in that direction. You can’t unlearn what you’ve learned in the past. I think every team out here will be working on that — that tandem pack – to see if we can overcome the rules, but, I tell you, NASCAR has done a really good job at clipping our wings on that one, so I don’t know if we can overcome it or not.”
DARIAN GRUBB, crew chief, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How has the transition been to Joe Gibbs Racing? “It’s been very interesting — a lot of things to learn with the people and the faces and putting all those things together. Other than that, it’s just definitely a top-notch organization. They have a lot of good equipment, a lot of good things, a lot of good people, so now it’s just putting all those things in one direction and try to go win a championship.”
How important is this test being with a new team? “It’s really good for us just to be able to come down here — it’s kind of a no pressure week with three days of testing here at the speedway. No matter really what you do, you’re not going to pick up a whole lot of speed. You are just trying to learn things as you go along. Denny (Hamlin) and I are able to communicate on the radio with a new spotter, new crew chief and new driver — it’s entertaining at least to try to get all those thing rolling in one direction. So far it’s been really good and I think we’re going to be hitting it off pretty well.”
What do you anticipate seeing with the new rule changes? “No one has done any drafting yet and that’s when it’s going to come into play. After lunch when people start doing some of that, you will start seeing some of the changes. It’s definitely going to limit how long you’re going to be able to push each other, but we all still know how much more speed there is if you’re able to push even if it is only for one lap or two. It’s going to be interesting to see what people come up with or games they try to play.”
JASON RATCLIFF, crew chief, No. 20 Home Depot/Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How do you feel about becoming the crew chief for the No. 20 Sprint Cup Camry? “It’s very exciting. When I look at it from a family perspective — my wife and I — we’ve often thought being in this sport, ‘Will this day come?’ And if it does, ‘What’s the best timing for us?’ Really I can’t think of a better time as far as my family goes. I’m excited about it and I’m excited about working with Joey (Logano). We have a championship race team over here and he’s pumped up. He’s looking forward to it. They have a good group. We need to get faster race cars and I know our engineers and then also bringing Darian (Grubb, crew chief No. 11) — it’s kind of opened up this whole process a little bit in some different areas and with myself as well. Hopefully I can bring some new ideas over here too. It’s going to be fun and we’re looking forward to it. So far everything is going well. Nothing crazy — it is Daytona. Right now the biggest frustrations we have are the wind and the seagulls. Other than that, it’s all good.”
What is it like to walk into Daytona as a Sprint Cup crew chief? “It’s different just because I see different faces. I made so many friends over on the other side and I’m sure I will here as well. A lot of new faces so just getting familiar with these guys — that’s the biggest change. Different color on the truck — I almost climbed on the 18 truck earlier. I have to get used to that. On my desktop computer I put a big 20 on it so it would help me get acclimated with that part. Just new faces and new officials — getting comfortable with that. I walked in earlier and talked to Mr. (John) Darby (NSCS Director) and I knew him from the Busch (Nationwide) Series. I am just looking forward to meeting some new friends.”
What are your goals for the Daytona test? “In the past we’ve struggled a little bit on our qualifying stuff and our aero department and engine department — all of it — they have really worked hard at qualifying. Here at Daytona qualifying is what it is, but you want to come down here at Speedweeks and represent your sponsor and your team by putting up a good lap. So far, it appears as though we have made some gains over the winter compared to the competition. Probably made those gains in a lot of different areas so we’re pumped about that. We have a little ways to go to catch some of these guys, but I think we’re halfway there as long as everybody else isn’t sandbagging on us. Our goal realistically is to hopefully improve our single car stuff and we’ll get out there and start pushing each other after a while and see how that goes.”
How has the transition to TRD engines and EFI been for you? “I’m not really a good judge to how much different it is than it was before. Really, it’s the same group of people — we’ve always worked really close with TRD in the past so no real new faces there. It’s exciting to kind of get a little closer and kind of close that communication a little bit and work a little closer together. In the EFI stuff, it’s new for everybody so I hope that if there’s any area that maybe I’m coming in on the same playing field — that’s the only one because it’s new for everybody. So far it’s going good.”
RODNEY CHILDERS, crew chief, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How was the morning test session? “It’s going pretty good. Of course, we wish we were a little bit faster than what we are. It’s not too bad. We’ve been in New Smyrna (Speedway) testing the past two days and that went extremely well, so we we’re really happy with that. We feel like today is going okay. The drafting part is going to be the most-important part anyways. We’re going to switch to race trim to here and get a little drafting in and hopefully work with our teammates and some of the (Joe) Gibbs (Racing) cars and try to figure out the best tandem we can and just work on handling. I think with the short spoiler it’s going to be pretty difficult and cars are going to be pretty loose getting into the corner. We’ll work on that the rest of the afternoon and hopefully get it driving good.”
How will the rules changes impacting pushing? “It really depends on how you can get the thing to handle. If they can get it handling good enough, I think you can keep on pushing if you get the car hung out far enough. We’ll see how it goes and it’s kind of nobody knows right now, so we’ll just have to see how it goes and go from there.”
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kingsford/Kleenex/Bush’s Baked Beans Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Are you concerned about missing the Daytona test? “As important as the Daytona test is, we have a lot of time there in February and we’ll get more practice there than anywhere else we go. I feel like we will be able to miss the test and still be in pretty good shape when we get down there for the race. Time spent in the shop this week will be more valid for us to prepare cars — not just Daytona, but several weeks after that.”
Can you rely on past experience since you’re missing the test? “We were in the Bud Shootout last year and were kind of like a lost puppy out there and then we found our way. In the Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race, we lost the draft near the end. In the Daytona 500, it was a different story. We were able to stay out of trouble and survive the day through a lot of carnage that went on. We kept in contention and when it came down to the end of the race, we were tucked in behind the leader. We came close to winning and ended up with a top-five (fourth-place) finish. If we can be that fortunate this year and put ourselves in position again, anything can happen.”
