Toyota NSCS Kansas Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
May 9, 2014
1st, Kevin Harvick
15th, BRIAN VICKERS
23rd, CLINT BOWYER
24th, KYLE BUSCH
28th, MATT KENSETH
30th, DENNY HAMLIN
31st, RYAN TRUEX
33rd, ALEX BOWMAN
36th, COLE WHITT
43rd, JOE NEMECHEK
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 15th
How was qualifying?
“The guys did a good job. We came here and tested. I’m not sure if that didn’t hurt us more than the guys that didn’t test because they changed the tire so much. We were so adapted to the other tire that we really kind of had to undo a lot of the things that helped us when we were here testing. Once we got that out of the car — we started making progress throughout practice. We were kind of tied to it a little bit at the beginning of practice, understandably so. We started making some of those adjustments. We found some grip and speed in the car, and some comfort and drive-ability. By qualifying trim, we applied some of that plus more — and got better and better. Then in qualifying we took another step in that direction. By the time we got to qualifying, I was fairly happy with the car. I was a little disappointed we didn’t make it to the last round, obviously. I felt really good about that lap. The Aaron’s Camry was honestly pretty drive-able there in qualifying. I was fairly happy with that – the progress we made and the drive-ability of the car.”
Are there any challenges with it being the first night race in Kansas?
“It’s going to be different for sure. The track is going to be really fast. This track is already so fast anyway — it’s going to be even faster. We’re going to have to be ready for that. The speeds are going to be high. But, I think we’ve got a great Camry. Hopefully, we’ll be able to tweak on it a little more. This Aaron’s Dream team has done a great job. We’re making progress. We’re so close to a win. I just really want to get one.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 Cherry 5 hour Energy Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 23rd
What did you think of qualifying?
“We made it to the second round but my Cherry 5-hour ENERGY Toyota was just too tight. Not the starting spot we were looking for, but we will get after it for the race tomorrow.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 24th
How was qualifying?
“We are just off in qualifying trim with our Snickers Camry. That was really all we had. We’re just missing a lot of speed right now. I had one of my best practice sessions since they repaved this place earlier today, so I’m hoping were a little bit better in race trim and we have a shot to get a decent finish tomorrow night. Just to bring the car home in one piece here would be a good start the way things have gone here the last three races.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 28th
Is it more a balance or speed issue?
“Yep. We’ve just really been off since we got here. We all thought different things about balance. There’s times our balance is pretty good, just quite a ways off on speed. I really don’t know why. All the mile-and-a-half stuff this year — we’ve just been working really hard to try to not only drive better, but to try and get some speed out of it. That was disappointing. We did okay our first lap out. We couldn’t get it going quicker.”
How interesting is qualifying to watch?
“Unfortunately, I’ve been watching a lot of it because we haven’t been through the first round very much. For us, we just got to figure out how to get some speed in our Dollar General Camry and try to make it happen.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 30th
RYAN TRUEX, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 31st
ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 33rd
COLE WHITT, No. 26 Iowa Chop House Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 36th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 66 Kansas Farm Bureau Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position: 43rd
