2nd, DAVID REUTIMANN 4th, BRIAN VICKERS 8th, KASEY KAHNE 10th, DENNY HAMLIN 11th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 16th, BOBBY LABONTE 24th, KYLE BUSCH 29th, JOE NEMECHEK 30th, JOEY LOGANO 38th, MICHAEL MCDOWELL 39th, CASEY MEARS DNF, MIKE SKINNER
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 2nd How was your qualifying lap? “I just had a great Aaron’s Dream Machine and the difference is that the guys are just doing an incredible job in the shop and my guys here this weekend have done a great job. I missed it by a little bit and know where we missed it at — just unfortunately can’t get it back. Missed it by a little bit, but we’ve still got a great Aaron’s Dream Machine and I’m proud of my guys.”
What kept you from getting the pole? “It wiggled in the middle down there and that’s where we lost our time I think. I’m proud of my guys at Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota and Toyota Racing Development. We have really good horsepower under the hood this weekend and my guys did a good job. I just let it wiggle and it cost us just enough.”
Are you happy with your race car for Sunday’s race? “Yeah, we feel like we’re pretty good and we fought a couple different things during practice. We ended up having a good Aaron’s Dream Machine at the end of practice when it counts. Really, really happy with the motor this week. The guys at Toyota Racing Development have done a great job. I’ve complained about motors the better part of the year and they’ve brought a really good piece here so I’m excited to race.”
What are your thoughts about tomorrow’s race? “I feel like we’re okay. I feel like we didn’t unload as well as we needed to, but the guys really did a good job of getting it closer and the car had a poll in it and the driver didn’t. I unfortunately screwed it up a little bit. Nothing would’ve made me happier than to knock him (Kurt Busch) off the pole, but we’re second so we’ll have to deal with that.”
How hard is to get three straight poles on tracks that aren’t similar? “Some guys are really good qualifiers and obviously they’re on to something. You’re right, it’s some pretty different race tracks that he’s (Kurt Busch) has been able to get on the pole at. I don’t know — he just has got it figured out right now I guess. It can go either way. Some guys get on a string and just qualify like crazy and looks like it’s his turn.”
Where did you lose the time that you needed to earn the pole? “About three-quarters of the way through the corner. I put too much wheel to it and let it get loose and bobbled it. I don’t know why I did that. I should’ve wound the wheel through there, right? That’s what’s common. I felt like I cost us and you feel like you cost yourself a poll especially when it’s that close. I’m disappointed — I mean I’m happy that we qualified, but we should’ve been better than that. We should’ve had enough there. And, there’s sometimes when you go out there and you leave it all on the race track and when you come in you’re like, ‘I don’t know what I could’ve done different to go any faster.’ This is just not one of those times, unfortunately.”
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 4th How was your qualifying lap? “Thank goodness the sun’s out. I don’t really see any clouds coming, which would definitely change things. The guys on the Red Bull crew did a good job. We tried a bunch of stuff yesterday — some worked, some didn’t — but we settled on a good package. Felt really good about one and two — incredible one and two. Felt good about three and four, just got a little tight off so I didn’t get all the throttle out of it I wanted, but still a good lap.”
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team (continued) Does the track feel the same to you after missing the races at Michigan last year? “Well, it’s been a while since I’ve been here — it’s been a year. I miss this place. I love Michigan. A beautiful state, especially in the summer — a little cold for me in the winter. It is a gorgeous place and this track is amazing. It’s a lot of fun. I really enjoy coming here. The Red Bull guys did a great job. We tried a lot of different stuff yesterday in practice and some worked and some didn’t but so far so good. Turn one and two was phenomenal, turn three and four was really good as well. I think I got most of it. I got a little tight off of (turn) four.”
KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 8th Are you happy with your race car this weekend? “Yeah, it felt pretty good. We were a little bit loose, but the car went around the track really nice. Just a little bit too loose in the back to go much faster. It was still a pretty good lap for us. Hopefully somewhere close to a top-10 or so.”
Will Kenny Francis be able to make it to the race tomorrow? “It’s a tough spot that he’s in and he’s with his family and things like that. They’ll do whatever is best there. It’s a family deal at this point. If he doesn’t come he’s got this whole group knows exactly how Kenny (Francis, crew chief) does things and we’ll do our best to make him happy. If he comes he comes. I know Red Bull has basically got everything ready for him to come if he wants to and if it works out for him, but it’s totally up to him. It’s up to how his situation is. Racing doesn’t mean a whole lot right now.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 10th How was your qualifying lap? “It was good. We’re going to end up better than 29th or wherever we were actually going to go if it rained out so that part is an improvement. Our car had decent speed. It just hurts so bad the later you go in qualifying here so it’s a double-edged sword. You want a fast car, but if you do you’ve got to go towards the end. We made improvements on it. Our car was a little bit loose off of (turn) four, but for the most part I felt like our race runs were just a hair off and so we feel like we can fix that overnight.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 11th How was your qualifying run? “It was okay. Our NAPA Toyota was pretty good yesterday. We didn’t have a lot of speed in it though. We were good on the longer runs and good in race rim, but our qualifying run and our fast laps in practice weren’t real good. I think that was a good pickup for us. It was not going to be where we want it to be, but the guys did a good job changing the car and it’s definitely better just still lacking some speed.”
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 RainEater/Advance Auto Parts Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 16th Are you happy with your qualifying lap? “It was way better than yesterday. We couldn’t get it tightened up enough yesterday to make a lap hardly so we had to go out early which might not have been all that bad. It’s still just a decent lap for us. I think we picked up a little bit in some areas obviously but we still need to work on it. The guys did a good job coming back from yesterday. That was the key for today. Kind of a slow day. This is all we’re going to do today so now we just have time to think about what we’re going to do for the race trim. We had a good practice yesterday for that part of it and we’ve just got to tweak on it obviously, but it was definitely better than our qualifying trim was.”
How was your qualifying lap? “It wasn’t too eventful. It was still a little bit too free. Yesterday we were like a ’10’ free and today we’re only like a ‘four’ free so it was better but for whatever reason with our package that we have this weekend we’re still too loose. A way better lap than we had yesterday so we got that out of the way. Our race trim seemed like we had a little bit different spring package and it was better and all of that stuff. All in all, it was a good lap for us.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 24th How was your qualifying lap? “Our Snickers Camry was just a bit free. I knew that we might not have the best qualifying lap, but I feel pretty good about our car in race trim after practice yesterday. This is a place that’s wide and you can pass so we’ll try to work out way to the front. Our car seemed to be pretty good on long runs and this place usually has long green flag runs. I’m hoping that will help us tomorrow.”
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 29th How was your qualifying lap? “I tell you what, unless you run right by the wall it’s pretty brutal. It definitely adds some character to the track. What’s tough about it is you’re compressing the front end, but the back end isn’t compressed and it just really wears the splitter bad. But I just got to thank my whole crew — we work really hard. Trying to get some good stuff going for us, but just happy to be here and happy to have a good run finally.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 30th
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing LLC Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Starting Position: 38th
CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: 39th
MIKE SKINNER, No. 60 Big Red Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: DNQ
