1st, DENNY HAMLIN
3rd, KYLE BUSCH
7th, CARL EDWARDS
19th, MATT KENSETH
24th, CLINT BOWYER
31st, JJ YELEY
37th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
38th, DAVID RAGAN
DNQ, JEB BURTON
DNQ, REED SORENSON
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 1st
Are you excited to get the pole?
“Definitely wish we had a little bit more to race for but you’ve got a great trophy at the end of this thing so proud of this whole FedEx Ground team for giving me a fast car. It’s been fast all day so to run our fastest lap in the last session means it’s a good sign.”
How important is it for your team to end on a strong note?
“It’s definitely important. No doubt about it. We wish we were a part of it but unfortunately a couple mechanical things took us out of this Chase but we’re going to hopefully go out with a bang here similar to what we did in 2009 and propelled us to a great 2010. Every time we’ve won this race we’ve gone on to have one of our best seasons following so hopefully we keep that trait.”
How did you qualify on the pole for the first time at Homestead?
“Fast car. Our car has been really fast all day so I’ve been very encouraged with what we’ve seen with our FedEx Ground Toyota. I don’t know. Everything is going good. I wouldn’t mind a little bit of rain tomorrow to not let these guys catch up in race trim. I’m certainly very optimistic we’re going to have a good day on Sunday.”
Do you have to help your teammate Kyle Busch win a championship on Sunday or focus on your own team?
“Well, ultimately this weekend is about the company no doubt about it. What’s the difference in me finishing 10th or 12th in points. Definitely our goal is to have a championship for JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Kyle (Busch) this weekend, so we’ll do everything we can. We obviously want to win the race so a perfect day would be us winning and him finishing second. So, I hope he hears that.”
How hard have the Joe Gibbs Racing cars worked this year on getting this right?
“A lot. I came here and tested a couple months ago and really arguably I think this is one of our best race tracks aside from Martinsville. I just don’t know what it is about it. We definitely work really, really well here as a team. The four driver dynamic that Joe (Gibbs) has put together this year has just been great to work with. Had a great season with 15 wins throughout our organization this year. Hopefully we have 16 after Sunday.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 3rd
Are you happy with your qualifying effort?
“Oh yeah. That’s a really good run for this M&M’s Crispy Camry. Adam (Stevens, crew chief) did a really good job with getting the best option for us in qualifying here. Those are some good company to follow right there with the 11 (Denny Hamlin) on the pole. He’s obviously one of the best here and I’ve leaned on him a lot this week and we’ll continue to do so here through practice tomorrow. But, so far so good. Just happy with the way we’ve got it right now and hopefully we’ll get a good race car for tomorrow.”
What type of information can you get from your JGR teammates?
“Just typically talking about lines and how to prepare for different race tracks. I lean on that and I lean on Carl (Edwards) as well too. Everybody and use all of their information and just kind of tried to use it already here today and more so tomorrow. It’s going to be about getting the balance in the race car and making sure you can move all over this race track and be good for the race and fast cars and everything you’ve got to. Right now we’ve got a good starting spot so hopefully that continues on.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Tools Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 7th
How was the car in qualifying?
“We’ve got a lot of speed. Qualifying didn’t go exactly like we wanted, but we didn’t really have any qualifying practice. We’ve got some speed and the car is good. Just want to go out and get the win here. It’s good to see Denny (Hamlin) and Kyle (Busch) go that fast. It’s so line sensitive and I think I could have done a better job. The guys made the right adjustments – Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and everybody. It was fun though, I got to try some different stuff and this place, if we have a fast car we’ll go to the front.”
What is the teamwork like at JGR this weekend?
“We want a championship and Kyle’s (Busch) our opportunity to get it for Toyota and TRD and JGR and all the guys. I’ve never cheered harder for Kyle than I am right now, let’s say that.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 19th
How was the car in qualifying?
“Not very good, just slow. We didn’t have the balance way off – I don’t know we just didn’t have any speed for some reason. I thought my first lap and my last lap were both good feeling laps. Just didn’t go anywhere. We didn’t really learn a ton today, I shouldn’t say that – we probably learned something today, but we didn’t really run that great in the little bit of practice that we had. We felt like we needed to work on something different so probably won’t really have a good idea until we get to practice tomorrow.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 24th
JJ YELEY, No. 26 Maxim Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 31st
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Cosmo Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 37th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 38th
JEB BURTON, No. 23 Overture/Estes Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: DNQ
REED SORENSON, No. 62 Royal Teak Collection Toyota Camry
Starting Position: DNQ
