1st, Brad Keselowski
6th, CLINT BOWYER
11th, DENNY HAMLIN
16th, MATT KENSETH
18th, BRIAN VICKERS
20th, KYLE BUSCH
25th, ALEX BOWMAN
35th, COLE WHITT
38th, JJ YELEY
41st, JOE NEMECHEK
43rd, RYAN TRUEX
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 6th
How was qualifying and how is the car for the race?
“We finished sixth in today’s festivities with the 5-hour ENERGY Toyota. We have nowhere to go but up. I really do feel like we’re a top-five car for sure and anytime you’re a top-five car with a little bit of adjusting, some help, some luck — whatever the case you can win these races. I’m fairly optimistic. This is a fun race track and a good race track for me and we’re going to hopefully have a good night.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 11th
How was your qualifying session?
“We’ve been struggling really all day with front line speed. Trying to get fast the first 10 laps and that’s an improvement on where we were in our mock qualifying runs, but obviously still not where we need to be. There’s five guys really that are top-five — really that are top-five every single week and just have more raw speed than what we’re capable of running right now. So, we’re just going to keep digging. It seemed like our car was pretty good on the long run so hopefully we have some of that tomorrow.”
What do you think this race will be like tomorrow?
“It’s hard to say. The tires really aren’t wearing out. Even though there’s a little bit of drop off with them they are not wearing at all. And, so it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of temperatures build in the brakes. But, it’s going to be wild for those guys who are fighting for that Chase spot and they’re going to try to do anything they can to win. I think this opens up more of an opportunity for guys to take two tires if a caution comes out late and hopefully we’re ahead of all of that stuff and don’t get caught up in it and get a strong run. It’s been important for us in the past to end the regular season strong and Richmond is a great place for us to do that.”
What would it mean for you to gamble and get that win here in your hometown?
“Any win pays the same and the trophy is still the same whether you do it gambling or with a fast car. You usually want to have that fast car so you don’t have to put yourself in that position, but there’s going to be a lot of people really going for it strategy-wise tomorrow I’m sure and we’ve got to account for it and be ready.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 16th
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 18th
How does this backup car compare to the primary that was wrecked during practice?
“It’s frustrating, but it happens. We had a really good car this morning — it was one of our best pieces. The guys at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) have been building really good cars — the latest generations, we have just been really happy week to week. That was one of them. We were making it better and better — I was so happy with the car and it was just unfortunate because we ended up cutting a left-rear tire going down the frontstretch and it put us in the wall going into (turn) one. I don’t think it was anything we did or anyone did. I know that there’s a lot of tracks this year that we’ve been having left-rear — not us particularly, we’ve never actually been one of the teams to cut a left-rear tire — but a lot of teams have been having that problem this year it seems like at a lot of different tracks. Again, we don’t know what caused it, but the tire definitely for sure did come apart going into one — you can see it on the photos. It’s a shame because this Aaron’s team has done a great job and the cars are great. I think we’re still going to be fine. The backup car is an older generation, but still a great car built by a great team. It’s unfortunately not our latest and greatest. We’ll make the most of it and go try to win one.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 20th
ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 25th
COLE WHITT, No. 26 Standard Plumbing Supply Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 35th
JJ YELEY, No. 93 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 38th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 66 Friedman Law Firm Toyota Camry, NEMCO Racing
Starting Position: 41st
RYAN TRUEX, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 43rd
