4th, DENNY HAMLIN 12th, DAVID REUTIMANN 14th, KASEY KAHNE 15th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 17th, KYLE BUSCH 21st, CASEY MEARS 23rd, JOEY LOGANO 26th, BRIAN VICKERS 28th, BOBBY LABONTE 37th, JOE NEMECHEK 40th, TODD BODINE 42nd, MIKE SKINNER
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 4th How is the TRD horsepower under your hood today? “It’s good. It’s so tough to say really until you get into race conditions what differences you can feel. I just can’t say enough for everyone at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and Joe Gibbs Racing for putting this deal together. This is going to be a long compilation of engineering and things. We’re going to bring a lot to the table to them as well as they’re going to bring it to us. I can’t say enough for them and their efforts to get this in here in such short notice.”
How are you feeling after Monday’s accident at Watkins Glen? “I feel good. I felt better. Today is better than yesterday. Wednesday was the worst, by far. It’s a little tough to sit down right down — my tailbone is hurting me pretty good. But, other than that it’s good to be back at a race track and obviously being competitive.”
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 12th What do you think of what Michael Waltrip said if you keep running like this, he’s going to hit your other leg? “Problem is — we still have a lot of fast cars to go. It’s a decent lap. Hopefully, it will hold up good, give us a good starting position and a good pit selection for the Aaron’s Dream Machine. I’m glad to be here and glad to be away from Watkins Glen. It’s a cool race track. It just wasn’t good to me the other day.”
Are you pleased with your qualifying run? “We were a little bit free. I’m not sure if that is going to be enough to get the job done. Hopefully, it will hold up for a decent starting position and see what it gives us on Sunday. The main deal is getting is a good pit selection. Starting position is one thing — pit selection is something that can help you all day. So, we have to qualify well to get that.”
How are you recovering from Monday’s accident at Watkins Glen? “It’s time to go race and not worry about the rest of the stuff.”
KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 14th How was your qualifying lap? “Everything felt pretty good there. I missed turn three a little bit. On my entry I screwed up and got loose-in, which I did by myself. But, the car was — I probably should have run a .15 or .20, and I ran a .28. I made a mistake, but it felt better than practice. It’s good changes.”
What’s the key to being successful at Michigan? “Probably momentum. It’s a big part of it — to keep your momentum up. I just feel like this track is all about momentum. And you slow that down — you get passed from behind by someone who is keeping their momentum up. It’s a cool track to race. But, you have to keep your momentum going.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 15th What did Jimmie Johnson ask you after your qualifying run? “He was just getting a few pointers. No, I’m just kidding. He was just wondering if I thought my lap was decent because he thought his was not pretty decent. We beat him by about a tenth. I thought it was okay. I left a little out there. The car wasn’t perfect, but a good lap. We picked up from practice for our NAPA Toyota. These guys are doing an awesome job for me and I love working with them. We’ll see how long it stays up there — hopefully it will be a good starting spot for us.”
How good was your qualifying lap? “Pretty good. It was a good pickup from practice in the NAPA Toyota. We fought a few little issues in practice and the guys did a good job working on the car making it better. We’ll see where that ends up. I’m proud of them for their efforts. They’re doing a great job for me. Hopefully, it stays somewhere near the front and we’ll have a good starting spot for Sunday.”
What will you work on in practice tomorrow? “Long runs — it goes green a long time here and got to have a good race car on the long runs. We had a good car here in the spring race. I had a little trouble on pit road towards the end. Started were we were there (in the spring), hopefully get it even better and see if we can’t go out and win one of these things.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 17th How was your qualifying run? “Our Interstate Batteries Camry wasn’t bad. I got through (turns) one and two perfectly and got a good run down the back. But, when I got to turn three, we were way too tight through that end of the track. Wish we would have had a better lap, but we will work on it tomorrow in race trim and hope we can run like we did here in June and have a shot to win.”
CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: 21st How was your qualifying lap? “You know, honestly I was feeling like it was a little warmer and I was going to be pretty happy if we went out there and ran a .40 or a .50. To run a .30 was pretty good for us. We were struggling being really loose at the start of practice and they did a good job tightening it up. It felt pretty good. I was able to get to the gas hard. It was loose all the way off but I was able to stay in it. I’m sure it’s going to get quite a bit faster, but it was a good start so far for the GEICO Toyota.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 23rd
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 26th
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kingsford-Bush’s Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 28th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 37th What do you have planned this weekend after qualifying at Michigan? “We’re trying to get up to Montreal to run that race tomorrow. Just the travel logistics are pretty tough. There’s only one airplane that I know of right now going from Michigan to Montreal, so I have to make other arrangements. Going up there, going to run our Nationwide car. My qualifying lap here today was just a really good, smooth lap. You’re talking about holding it wide-open — you can’t do that here anymore. It’s a good weekend here at Michigan and I know they’re getting ready to do the repave here. It’s a fun race track. My car has been driving great since we unloaded and I can’t thank my guys enough.”
TODD BODINE, No. 66 HP Racing Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Starting Position: 40th
MIKE SKINNER, No. 60 Big Red Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: 43rd Was your car a handful during qualifying? “I think that was a triple handful there, but I wasn’t going to let off the throttle. I was like, we might hit the wall but we’re not going home because the driver let off. We made an adjustment right there at the end of practice and it kind of took the car out of the race track and it was awfully loose in the gas. You know, the Big Red Toyota is in the race and that’s what we came here to do.”
