TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Daytona International Speedway – July 6, 2012
18th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 29th, CLINT BOWYER 19th, JOEY LOGANO 36th, JOE NEMECHEK 22nd, KYLE BUSCH 38th, LANDON CASSILL 23rd, DENNY HAMLIN 40th, TRAVIS KVAPIL 26th, DAVID STREMME 41st, BOBBY LABONTE 28th, MICHAEL WALTRIP 43rd, JJ YELEY
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Batteries Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 18th What is your plan for Saturday’s race? “Get to the front and stay there. Hopefully be there at the last lap. We’ve had a bit of bad luck here lately and the car has been running good. The guys have been doing a nice job. We just need to get to the end of this one and hopefully be battling for the win.”
How do you overcome the bad luck? “Just keep showing up and trying hard. That’s all you can do. Last weekend was a good weekend for us. We had a good run and hopefully we’ll follow that up with a good one here.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 19th How did your car handle in race trim? “It handled really good. We didn’t have a whole bunch of speed, but I think we are going to be alright. I think handling might be a little bit of a factor when it comes down to tomorrow night when it gets hot and you wear out tires a little bit. I think you might want a little bit of handling then.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 22nd How was your qualifying lap? “Not much to it. Everything seemed to be alright. We backed up our time from what we ran in practice so we did a good job with everything being able to make sure we got the temps right. That’s about all there was.”
What will the strategy be for tomorrow night’s race? “I think there’s going to be some guys that are going to be aggressive and try to shoot for the front right away. I think there’s going to be some guys that are kind of taking their time a little bit more and maybe waiting for the later part of the race and then they’ll get going. Last 50 miles of the race is about when it picks up. It will depend on where we end up qualifying for us. I’m more so just go with the flow and see what happens.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 23rd How did it feel to be in the race car? “It was good — I sat in the seat and everything was good once I got strapped in. I looked and there was a sign on the dash that said ‘brakes back.’ Luckily, ‘brakes’ was spelled the correct way instead of the wrong way. When you’re thinking about back issues and you see a sign that says that, you don’t want to see a sign that says, ‘breaks back.’ That part of it is good. This FedEx car is very smooth, everything was seamless. That was the first time I sat in the car so it was perfect — mirrors were perfect, it drove straight — pretty much everything you could ask for our FedEx team.”
What will you do to improve your back for tomorrow night’s race? “Continue to just rest — that’s all I can do. Every day we are getting about 10 percent back to where I was so I’m sure that by tomorrow I will be ready to go. Today, sitting in the car everything felt fine so if I had to go today, I could. We’re going to save it for a hard crash that might come tomorrow.”
How is your back feeling today? “Probably 10 percent better than I did yesterday. Every day gets a little bit better. A lot of the things that we’re doing to try to get better is working. I’m comfortable once I get in. It’s the getting in and out and stuff that is the challenge. Really, I’m excited for the race tomorrow.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Will it bother your back when other drivers are bump drafting you during the race? “I don’t think so. I think really the only thing that you worry about is a big wreck — something that you’re going to take a hard hit in. By then we’ll already have collected all of the points that we’re going to gain for the day if we have a big, hard hit. That’s the most important thing is to keep us in good position and I think that we’ll be fine come tomorrow. I plan on racing for the win like we have here the last few times.”
What do you think will play out during the race tomorrow night? “I look forward to it. I think that NASCAR has got a good grip on this package that we have. I think that you get to see good pack racing. I think it comes down to tandems at the end, but tandems didn’t win in the 500 so I think that everything is good. I’m looking forward to it because you know I haven’t gotten a superspeedway win and I feel like we can do that at any time.”
DAVID STREMME, No. 30 Stock Car Steel and Aluminum Toyota Camry, Inception Motorsports Starting Position: 26th
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 28th How was your qualifying lap? “It was good. We thought it would go a little faster. In practice yesterday it ran about a 17 once and an 18 once and then it ran a 20 so I guess that’s all she’s got because it did it right there in that area three times. I’m proud of the team and I’m ready to race. It should be a fun night.”
Are you looking forward to Saturday’s race after missing the Daytona 500? “Yeah, a lot just in general. Just getting to race at Daytona is something that I’ve always looked at as a real privilege. It brings back some good memories and some bad memories and just sort of defines racing I think.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 29th How was your car during qualifying? “It’s fine. It seems like we can’t post that big lap in qualifying with our MWR Toyota stuff, but they race good. They drive well and always seem to race well so I’m really not worried about the qualifying lap.”
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 36th
LANDON CASSILL, No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing Starting Position: 38th
TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing Starting Position: 40th
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kingsford Charcoal Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 41st
JJ YELEY, No. 49 Robinson-Blakeney Racing Toyota Camry, Robinson-Blakeney Racing Starting Position: 43rd
