TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes Gatorade Duel 150s Race #2- February 23, 2012
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 6th How was your car in today’s Duel qualifying race? “Okay. We were up there and led a lot of laps at the beginning of the race. Had a pack with us — pretty typical beginning of the race. Thought our car was pretty good. We made a pit stop and just lost the pack and Kyle’s (Busch) car wasn’t good enough for me to push him — he wasn’t comfortable being pushed — and we were too hot pushing each other. Couldn’t catch the pack — they were single file in front of us and just drove away. I don’t know how we finished sixth out of it. It’s a decent starting position. I don’t know, I just go out there to win, so I’m disappointed not winning it. The car is good enough to win the 500 and that’s the important part, so I’ve just got to keep focused on that.”
Are engine temperatures going to be a concern in the Daytona 500? “They’re going to be really hot. I really don’t think there is anything we can do about it. I know some cars can push longer than others and some cars are able to stay together better than others. Some cars are more stable than others, so it’s a package. We’ve got to work on our package a little bit and try to get that a little bit better, and I’m sure everyone else will too. Everyone is taking it as a practice race to work on their stuff because we have to come back.”
Was not being able to communicate with your teammate frustrating? “It was a bummer for me. We’ve got to work on the communication a little bit back and forth, because I was struggling to know what he (Kyle Busch) wanted me to do and what he wanted to do. Trying to get back and forth just takes too long to figure it out. When you lose the pack, that’s really when you have to work as a team and it gets a little bit harder.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Brown Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 7th What happened that caused you to fall back in the race? “We got separated from the pack and we just weren’t able to come back up through there and get ourselves in contention to have a shot. The car wasn’t its best either. It was a little different than what we had in the Bud Shootout and yesterday’s practice. Real unstable and inconsistent, so we’ve got to work on so me things and try to make it better tomorrow.”
Was the front end of your car loose? “I don’t know exactly what it was. I have to talk it over with Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and see if he made some changes last night that he was just trying. It is a qualifying race — doesn’t mean anything. You can start the (Daytona) 500 wherever you start it. We’ll dissect it and make it better.”
MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 11th
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 13th What did you struggle with in today’s race? “We just really struggled with temperature — just overheating all day and couldn’t really go or even race. Just had to keep air on the nose and so that kind of limits you from doing anything. You can’t suck up to anybody and get a run and try to get to the front. We started off good and got to second and was just kind of riding there. I knew right away it was going to be a problem — we were running 240 (degrees) and 245 (degrees), just running in line in second with air on the nose. Fought cooling pretty bad and it handicapped us from really even racing today.”
Did the temperature result in your car overheating? “It’s hotter than the other night and our car the other night, compared to the competition was really good on cooling. Today, compared to the competition, we were I felt one of the worst. Definitely got some work to do on this car. It was a little bit surprising because we hadn’t really fought that all week. Need to really look at that and see what went on.”
Will the cooler temperatures help you on Sunday? “It’s definitely going to help. In the Shootout we never had any trouble with cooling and it was 65 or 68 degrees. It’s definitely going to help. We base it off how we are compared to the competition and for some reason we’ve lost some today. We need to look into it. Chad (Johnston, crew chief) will fix it up. We had some trouble on our pit stop too and we need to look into that — get all that stuff out of the way today and go get them on Sunday.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 15th BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kroger Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 16th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Duel 2 Finishing Position: 17th How worried were you about making the Daytona 500? “You talk about stress in your life — on my gosh. I can’t thank the people who helped me get here. It’s just incredible. During the race when we pitted — I had to pit at least one lap or maybe two laps early because the fuel pressure gauge went down. I didn’t know if I was going to be out of gas. Luckily my teammate Bill Elliott was on pit road at the same time. Everybody minded their P’s and Q’s pretty good. What a relief — there’s been a lot of Tums taken this week. People have no clue how hard it is and working with very limited funds. It’s a great day to make the Daytona 500.”
What does it mean for your team to make the Daytona 500? “I know the engine shop has been working really, really hard to get us what we need to come down here. It’s tough doing it with a small team with no money. To not make this race — it’s a heartbreaker. We’ve spent a lot of money coming down here banking on trying to make this race. If you don’t make it, you’re two or three hundred thousand dollars behind when you leave. It will take you all year to make it up. This helps us go farther. We’re going to run this whole race and give it the best shot we can.”
ROBERT RICHARDSON JR., No. 23 North Texas Pipe Toyota Camry, R3 Motorsports Duel 2 Finishing Position: 19th BILL ELLIOTT, No. 97 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Duel 2 Finishing Position: 20th
KENNY WALLACE, No. 09 American Ethanol Toyota Camry, RAB Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 21st Are you upset you did not qualify for the Daytona 500? “I’m okay with it. The only reason I am okay with it is because I know that I gave it my all and it was a part failure. If I would have made a mistake on the race track, I wouldn’t live with myself, but because I couldn’t do anything about it then there’s nothing I can do. I’m upset about it, but once again, I’ve had an incredible week, but it’s just been antagonizing — this whole process to get qualified.”
What has this week been like for you? “It’s just a really antagonizing week. We missed qualifying by one spot. Then it looks like Trevor’s (Bayne) running fifth there on the last lap and his twin (Duel qualifying race) and if he would have got in, then I would have been in. And then he fell almost to last and then Robby Gordon got in and that was the biggest kick in the gut, but we were good. Me and (Joe) Nemechek got at it for half the race and then all of the sudden my car just slowed way up and something in the fuel pump system — we couldn’t get it fixed. We’ll just move on.”
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 93 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 23rd JJ YELEY, No. 49 America Israel Racing Toyota Camry, America Israel Racing Duel 2 Finishing Position: 24th
