Toyota NSCS Kansas Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Kansas Speedway – October 4, 2013

7th, MATT KENSETH                                       27th, DAVID REUTIMANN
10th, DENNY HAMLIN                                      28th, AJ ALLMENDINGER
11th, BRIAN VICKERS                                     30th, COLE WHITT
13th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.                                  36th, TRAVIS KVAPIL
18th, KYLE BUSCH                                        39th, JOE NEMECHEK
22nd, CLINT BOWYER

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  7th
Have you made progress from yesterday’s practice session?
“No.  We haven’t really made a lot of progress.  That’s not going to end up good at all.  It might hopefully be in the top-20.  Just been way off — kind of running out of time to figure it out.  Hopefully, we’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  10th
How was your qualifying run?
“Everything seemed to be okay.  Needed two more tenths to really be competitive.  So, it’s going to be a decent run.  Hopefully, somewhere in the top-16 or so.”

What do you think of the new tires?
“The tires are okay.  I don’t notice a huge difference from what we had, but I didn’t get to race here in the spring. So, my first time here this year.  It’s taking me a little bit longer to get used to it.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position:  11th
How was qualifying?
“My qualifying lap was decent.  We were too tight.  We were fighting that in practice as well.  I thought I could get more grip.  I thought I asked more out of it than we were ready for.  We ran an .11 and I thought we had a flat in it.  I think we are going to start 11th.  That’s a decent starting spot.  I think we’ve made a lot of progress since we’ve been here.  The Aaron’s guys have done a good job.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position:  13th
How was your qualifying run?
“It was pretty good.  I mean, we were 10th in practice and we were decent.  Needed a little bit of speed and the car drove real similar there, so I didn’t expect it to be a pole by any means.  But, definitely a good lap and some good adjustments by our guys.  We picked up some speed — which it looks like everybody is so far — so hopefully that will put us somewhere in the top-10 and we can work hard on it tomorrow and go racing on Sunday.”

Is the new tire making an impact?
“It’s not been bad at all, honestly.  I think for our program, it’s been typical Kansas for us so far.   Hasn’t seemed a whole lot different than spring for me.”

Do you consider yourself a ‘sleeper’ this weekend?
“I don’t know.  Yes and no.  I mean, we’ve got some work to do tomorrow.  It’s not perfect by any means.  We’ve got some work to do.  It definitely doesn’t feel as good as it did last year when we felt like we should have won the race.  But, so far it’s been pretty typical weekend for us.   It’s been hard to get the car turning well with this tire and this surface, but we fought the same thing here in the spring.  So, really nothing out of the ordinary for us so far.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing (continued)
Do you think you will be racing when you’re 79?
“I won’t be racing cars — I can tell you that.  Not here anyway.  That’s pretty insane to think he’s (James Hylton, 79-year-old ARCA competitor) going to race a car tonight, but I don’t know.  I still hope I’m — hopefully, I’ll be on this side of the dirt when I’m 79.  That’d be a good start.  As far as what I’ll be doing, I have no idea, but I just hope I’m having fun by then.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position:  18th

CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 Raspberry 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position:  22nd
How is your race car?
“We’ve always just grown accustom to running well here and I don’t know — we’re off quite a bit and we’ve got a lot of work to do.  Qualifying is just a small part of what the final outcome is, so we’ve definitely got our work cut out for us.”

Are the new tires an issue?
“We’re struggling.  I don’t know if our simulation’s not jiving with what the tires show or something — it’s just something’s way off.  It’s got to be something fundamental.  I don’t know what it is.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position:  27th

AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 47 Scott Products Win My Car Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Starting Position:  28th

COLE WHITT, No. 30 Swan Energy Toyota Camry, Swan Racing
Starting Position:  30th

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position:  36th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position:  39th