2nd, CARL EDWARDS
3rd, KYLE BUSCH
5th, DENNY HAMLIN
11th, MATT KENSETH
22nd, DAVID RAGAN
26th, CLINT BOWYER
34th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
36th, JJ YELEY
40th, JEB BURTON
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 SportClips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 2nd
How strong was the car in qualifying?
“It’s a great effort for us and it’s close to that ‘P-one,’ awfully close. These are bittersweet because it’s like you know you left a little bit out there, but it’s still a great lap for us and I think somebody said there was something with the 2 (Brad Keselowski) and they lose a pit pick for some reason. So really we’ll get that first pit stall, which will be huge for Sunday. That’s a gift and we’ll take it that will be a good starting spot and a great pit stall.”
How fast was the track in qualifying with the cooler temperatures?
“It’s got so much grip, it’s amazing that Goodyear can make a tire that can withstand that amount of force in the corners. It’s unreal. I can’t think about them being tires holding air in the car, I get nervous. It’s just amazing what those tires can do and the track has a ton of grip. Hopefully the sun will come out a little bit on Sunday and the track will widen out. This place just has a way of sometimes making really good races and I hope that’s the case.”
Did you learn anything in qualifying you can take to practice tomorrow or the race Sunday?
“Yes, I did learn a little bit. I learned kind of the way the car drives. It will probably help with the restarts and the way the car is going to drive through the corner the first couple laps. You don’t realize how much grip is out there until you run a qualifying lap like that and it’s going to be really aggressive on the starts. You learn how much speed the track and the cars have in them running laps like that.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 3rd
How was the car in qualifying?
“The car was really good – the M&M’s Halloween Camry is pretty good, just lacked a little bit there on that final run. The car felt good, but besides holding it wide open I don’t know what else I needed to do. Just lacked a little bit probably there, but man, its fast, way too fast. Good starting spot for Sunday for sure, definitely a really good starting position. That will give us the pit selection we wanted and we were shooting for when we were coming here. So far, so good.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 5th
How was the car in qualifying?
“We were pretty good – we were better than what we were in practice so that’s good. Looks like all my teammates were up there too so overall pretty good day. Fought for a little bit of speed earlier in the day, but obviously everything was good there in our qualifying session. I think we were top-10 or five in each session. Overall, pretty happy – wish I could have gotten a little bit more on that last run, but not a whole lot to complain about.”
How much did the track change from practice to qualifying conditions?
“I think the track changed a little bit, I think the cycles obviously change your car a little too. Thought I could get a little more with this FedEx Camry on that last run and just tried to get a little more. It just wouldn’t take it. Still pretty good qualifying session for us, we didn’t have to sweat the cut in any of the rounds, which is good. It’s a good place we can race from and we’ll get a good pit selection there and hopefully race these guys on Sunday.”
Were you wide open at any point during qualifying?
“Us drivers thinking we’re wide open is not true data wide open, I can tell you that. I don’t think anyone was truly wide open. It’s a challenge. This race track has just so much on throttle time. Any whiff of a car within 20 lengths behind somebody it sets your car off. Track position is going to be very, very key on Sunday and hopefully we can keep that.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 11th
Did you have your Camry wide open during your final qualifying lap?
“No, I was 11th. No, I don’t think so. TRD (Toyota Racing Development) brings us a lot of power – all our Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys are really fast. I was really encouraged after practice, we had a really good feel and pretty good speed on our mock up run, just couldn’t get the balance in qualifying. We just couldn’t get it. It was a good day for us, but we certainly want to be better than 11th.”
Did you feel a difference between turns one and two versus three and four?
“No we were about an equal amount of off in both corners. We just missed the balance a little bit. The track changed a little bit more on us than what we expected and just didn’t have the balance.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 22nd
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 26th
MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 83 Cosmo Motors Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 34th
JJ YELEY, No. 26 Maxim Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 36th
JEB BURTON, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 40th
