Toyota NSCS Bristol Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Bristol Motor Speedway – August 23, 2013

1st, DENNY HAMLIN                                                 31st, DAVID REUTIMANN
4th, BRIAN VICKERS                                                37th, JOE NEMECHEK
5th, MATT KENSETH                                                 38th, DAVID STREMME
9th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.                                             39th, TRAVIS KVAPIL
23rd, BOBBY LABONTE                                               43rd, KYLE BUSCH
24th, CLINT BOWYER                                                DNQ, MIKE BLISS

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  1st
How did the car handle in qualifying?
“We felt like we had a pretty good handle on our car during practice and for whatever reason when that small rain storm came, it obviously changed the race track a bunch — washed a little bit of what cushion we had on the top line away and you saw a lot of guys slipping over that edge during qualifying.  It was kind of a nerve wracking type of lap where you know you have to drive it to a certain speed and hope that you’ve got the cushion there to kind of lean on and we obviously hit it just right and was able to get the pole.”How aggressive would you be to win the race?

“I’ll be as aggressive as I possibly can to get a win — there’s nothing really that I won’t do.  In respect to my teammates though it could be a little different.  Those guys still are not on the bubble, but they want to keep those bonus points for the Chase so those guys are going to be looking to get solid runs here.  Really, if it comes down to a race situation here at the end like we had here last year where I kind of pulled the slide job on Carl (Edwards), that’s an all-out, going for broke type move and I would do the same thing obviously at this point in my season.”

Is this the worst nine race stretch of your career?
“It’s by far the worst run of nine races in my career.  A lot of it is our own doing.  We got off track for a couple races because we were blowing right-front tires consecutive weeks and then we started changing our setups up and didn’t find anything that was very good with that.  That burnt another three or four weeks and then we’ve had some horsepower cutback and things like that, but we’re heading in the right direction.  We’ve got something we can build on — it’s a pole at a short track, which is no big deal to a lot of teams, but at any moment we can go from that 25th place car on a weekly basis to winning a pole and winning a race.  There’s not a whole lot of teams that can say they can win at any moment, but I feel like we can.  Our job for the rest of the year is to do what we can for our teammates, for our manufacturers to try to be a guinea pig if we need to — whatever it takes to get a championship for Toyota or Joe Gibbs Racing.  We’re going to try to sacrifice.  We pay the price for that sometimes with results, but my job — I’ve had teammates who have not been part of the Chase before and I’ve asked them to try different things so we’ve got to be that guy now.”

Is this a place where you can get back on track?
I’d like to win two to three races going into the stretch and obviously anyone hearing me say that would say that’s a stretch after the way we’ve been running.  This is a team that’s capable of winning a lot and we know that.  We can turn it on at any time and obviously we’re trying some things, trying to get a better feel so we got something to work on for next year.  And, obviously if we hit something like we did today then we can be pretty tough going into the Chase and hopefully be a spoiler.”

Do you look at Bristol as the place where you started struggling this season?
“It did, for sure.  This is the first non-aero race track we’ve been at in a really long time.  By missing those races, I missed pretty much all the short tracks.  When I came back, we were back on the mile-and-a-half, two -mile tracks.  So, we really haven’t been able to analyze how our team has been on short tracks all year long other than Loudon, and we had tire issues there.  Hopefully, this is a sign of where we are going to be heading going forward.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position:  4th
What do you expect in the race after the qualifying lap?
“It’s like a dirt race — the higher you go, the faster you go.  If you jump that cushion you’re in trouble.  I got above it just trying too hard down in (turns) one and two on the first lap.  Gathered it back up, but by the time I got to three and four I still had a lot of dirt on my tires.  I just did not have the momentum coming to the line — to the white (flag) that I would have liked.  It wasn’t horrible obviously, but there was a little bit left there.  If I had to guess where they beat us, it was between the start-finish line and turn one on the lap itself, but maybe not.  The guys on the Aaron’s Dream Machine just did an awesome job.  We had a great car and I thought it was going to be a pole, but it will still be a great starting spot for us and very thankful for that.”

What was your reaction to Rodney Childers leaving Michael Waltrip Racing?
“No good team is built with one person.  Rodney (Childers, crew chief) is always an integral part of every team, but there’s a lot of great guys on this Aaron’s Dream Machine team.  Obviously, we’ve run pretty awesome in all three practices today.  Like I said, it’s not just one person.  Really proud of the effort by everyone today considering everything.  The good news is that we’ve got the opportunity to go find some great people for this team and we’re on the hunt now and there’s some really good people out there.  We’re going to hopefully find the right one and still go race for a championship next year.”

Do you know who is expected to replace Rodney Childers as the No. 55 crew chief?
“I don’t.  I don’t have any specifics yet — that’s a team effort.  Really, ultimately at the end of the day the reason I’ve stayed is a lot more than one person.  It’s Rob (Kauffman, team co-owner), Michael (Waltrip, team co-owner) and the team they’ve built, but it’s even more than just them.  It’s the people they’ve hired and the company they’ve built.  MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) just keeps getting better and better — it’s an organization headed in the right direction.  Toyota as a manufacturer is an organization is headed in the right direction.  They’re level of commitment to this sport is unparalleled by any manufacturer.  There’s been struggles along the way — it’s new and MWR was a new team not long ago and Toyota was a new manufacturer not long ago.  I see the steady progression in the right direction and that’s what I’m excited about. That’s never because of one person including myself.  I put myself in that category.  That’s because of a foundation that was built by great ownership.  I’m excited about our future.  I’m anxious to see what kind of talent we can attract and who that’s going to be.  I don’t know who it’s going to be yet, but we’re going to do the best we can.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  5th
How was your qualifying run?
“It was really a struggle.  I’m really proud of Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and this Dollar general team.  We just really, really struggled all day and our last mock up run we were kind of okay.  We still missed a little bit there but the car drove a lot, lot better.  Hoping that will get us in the top-10 and hopefully we’ll figure out what the car needs for tomorrow night.”

Will you talk to your teammates to improve the race car?
“We had a meeting with all the crew chiefs and talked about a lot of different stuff.  All three of us worked on a lot of different things. The crew chiefs and engineers got a lot to sift through tonight.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 9th
How was the car in qualifying?
“It was pretty good.  We were ninth in practice — a top-10 is a good starting spot for us.  Our NAPA Toyota was really good in race trim.  We were really fast and good on long runs.  Hopefully, that will be a decent starting spot.  I felt pretty good about the lap.  You are just so on the edge running that cushion up there — I probably left six inches too much to get the pole, but the car is safe too and we’ve got a good one for the race so we’ll see.”

How important will track position be in the race?
“It’s going to be important — it’s going to be just like the night race here last year.  Have to get out front and it’s going to be hard to pass.  Once the groove gets all the way out there against the wall, it will start losing grip throughout the race and towards the end hopefully some guys will be able to make the middle work.  We’ll just have to see how it goes.  You have to plan on staying up front the most you can, that’s for sure.”

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Bush’s Beans Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Starting Position:  23rd

CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 24th
How was the car in qualifying?
“Those weren’t the qualifying laps I was hoping.  We got loose early and lost a ton of speed and never really got it back.  We have our work cut out for us that’s for sure.  Track position is a very big deal at Bristol.  We’ll go huddle up and see what we can come up with.  I know we’ll be ready for tomorrow.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 31st

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position: 37th

DAVID STREMME, No. 30 Lean1 Toyota Camry, Swan Racing
Starting Position:  38th

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position:  39th

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  43rd

MIKE BLISS, No. 19 Plinker Tactical Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Starting Position:  DNQ