Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What happened out there on the track?
“It’s part of it. I think a couple of cars were merging right there into some other cars. Someone was probably trying to use that as an opportunity to make a move. Really couldn’t – I don’t even know what started it. Last I saw was the 6 (Ryan Newman) was kind of crossing over my nose there and I felt a tag from somebody behind us. Just part of it. This is what practice is for is to kind of feel your car out and feel things you need to work on. Obviously those few laps I got to run right in the pack, there’s some feedback that we need to adjust for our handling.”
What was the biggest thing you took away from those laps you were able to run?
“Just working on drivability just a little bit. Everything seemed fine as far as the speed in the car especially with the four-car pack that we had. Just need to work a little bit being able to have a car secure enough to make moves, but also have it to where you don’t slow it so much in the draft.”
What happened from your viewpoint?
“I’m not really sure. I think some cars were merging up top. Spotter let me know that, but maybe someone was trying to use that as an opportunity to make a move on whoever was in front of them. Just saw the cars spinning there in front of me. I was checking up and someone just tagged us from behind. Shame it happened, but obviously these are race conditions in which you want to kind of get a good feel for your car and figure out the change you need to make to make it raceable.”
Does it make you apprehensive to practice the draft for the rest of the weekend?
“Not really. I’m a huge advocate of going out there in the pack, especially know that you’ve got really the 15 best cars out there. You really shouldn’t worry too much about it. These things happen especially guys that are trying to put themselves in positions that they’re going to be in in the Clash tomorrow. Really no fault of anyone.”
