Toyota NSCS Atlanta Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Atlanta Motor Speedway – August 30, 20134th, DENNY HAMLIN                                                 22nd, BRIAN VICKERS
6th, MATT KENSETH                                                 25th, DAVID STREMME
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.                                             34th, DAVID REUTIMANN
9th, KYLE BUSCH                                                   37th, TRAVIS KVAPIL
12th, CLINT BOWYER                                                40th, JOE NEMECHEK
13th, AJ ALLMENDINGER

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 SportClips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  4th
What impressed you the most about your qualifying run?
“That I didn’t wreck?  I’ve been doing a lot of that lately.  I don’t know.  Our SportClips car was very strong all day, even in mock qualifying runs and race runs.  This is a race track where we hope to turn things around.  I said that last week, but we ran better last week than what we have been and really we need a solid race to take the checkered flag somewhere near the front one of these weeks.  If we can do that, we can turn this thing around.”

How do you feel after last week’s wreck at Bristol?
“I’m fine.  Really, it’s kind of blowing up more than it was supposed to.  Just wheel spins in your hand and you kind of get jammed in there and you have a bunch of bruising the next day.  Obviously Martin (Truex Jr.) is a lot worse.  Hope to get our season turned around.  We just can’t buy any luck at this point.  It’s one thing to run bad, another to have stuff like last week happen.  That’s frustrating, but tracks like Atlanta where you can pass no matter where you start, it’s a track that all these drivers are going to look forward to.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  6th
How was your qualifying run?
“I didn’t do a great job.  They did a good job with the car.  It felt like I drilled (turns) three and four really good and got everything out of it, and then probably left at least a tenth laying down in (turns) one and two.  Wish I had another try at it. Just overdrove turn one a little bit watching Denny (Hamlin) get through there so fast and hoping mine would stick like that and I just couldn’t get it to do it.”

What do you think about the new tire?
“Yeah, that’s a hard thing to really say because it’s just so slick here.  You’re good one run.  You go out again and it’s real loose.  You’re always sliding around here.  There hasn’t been any kind of issues.  It hasn’t really been much different than normal, so I think the real test will obviously be Sunday.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position:  7th
How was your qualifying run?
“It was a good effort by the team.  We had a good day, focused on qualifying in practice and felt pretty good going in.  Felt like we had a shot at it going into qualifying and we had a good lap there — just missed it just a little bit.  Proud of the guys and not a bad effort for all the circumstances.”

Does your wrist feel okay after practice and qualifying?
“Yeah.  Yeah, I mean it still hurts to drive, but it could be a lot worse.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  9th
How slick was the race track in qualifying?
“It wasn’t too bad.  The race track felt pretty good.  It may be a little bit better than in practice, but not what it’s going to be here in about another hour.  The guys going out late, it’s definitely going to help them.  I hated that we got such a bad draw here, but it is what it is for us.  We put a good lap down I feel like for the time of day.”

How is the new tire handling?
“The new tire here so far this weekend is alright.  It’s a little different than what we’ve had in the past and I think it reacts a little bit different.  With laps on it, we’ll have to figure out how it transitions, especially tomorrow in Happy Hour and then again in the Nationwide race.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued)
Did you hit your marks during your qualifying run?
“I don’t think you hit all of them you aim for, but I think we came close.  It wasn’t bad.  I felt like our car there was pretty good and we ran the lap time close to what we thought would take to win the pole, but maybe the pole will be faster.  I’m not sure.  Our draw was horrible today.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position:  12th
Was your qualifying run what you expected?
“Wait a minute, I said that about (Joey) Logano, too.   I’m just thinking the track ‘gypped’ my lap like it did Logano’s, because mine felt really good right there at the end and Joey’s looked really good.  You can tell, those cars that hook and point right there in the center of the corner and then get back to the gas wrong, they’re going to go ahead and fail that lap. Not a bad lap for our RK Motors.  We have come a long way.  We were off in qualifying trim pretty bad and Brian (Pattie, crew chief) and the guys did a good job of getting it steered back at least decently in the right direction.  It’s cooling down pretty fast, but a top-15 would be fine with me.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 47 Scott Products Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Starting Position:  13th

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position:  22nd
How was your qualifying lap?
“It was good.  Obviously, we would have liked to have been the fastest.  We were next to it and I think the track is going to keep getting faster, unfortunately.  Ultimately, what we’re looking for is a good  pit stall.  We’re going to have to start in the rear either way with an engine change this morning.  The guys did a really good job with this Aaron’s Dream Machine. I was really proud of them considering all the circumstances.  First week with Scott (Miller, MWR executive vice president of competition) and Billy (Scott, MWR engineer) on the box and calling the shots.  They did a great job through practice and I think we have a good car in race trim and a decent car in qualifying trim.  The guys did a great job recovering from the engine change this morning.  We missed a little bit from practice, but hopefully it didn’t hurt us too much.”

How do you prepare for 2014?
“We go out there and do our best and we never give up.  We can’t thank Aaron’s enough for coming on board and having me in the car the rest of the season and next year.  That’s what this year is about, preparing for next year and that’s what we’re doing.  Obviously Scott Miller (MWR executive vice president of competition) has been helping the box, but we have Billy Scott (No. 55 race engineer) who has been a phenomenal race engineer.  As you know this sport has changed, there’s not one man at the top anymore and those two guys — your race engineer — have to play an integral role in these cars.  They’ve done a great job this week.  They’ve done a great job today.  We have a good car.  Unfortunately, we got a late start on things with changing an engine, but we have a good race car.  It was a good lap.  I wanted to go a little faster, but we didn’t get as many qualifying runs as we had hoped.”

DAVID STREMME, No. 30 Swan Energy/Berry’s Toyota Camry, Swan Racing
Starting Position:  25th

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position:  37th

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position:  34th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position:  40th