TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes Michigan International Speedway – June 16, 2012
9th, JOEY LOGANO 32nd, LANDON CASSILL 11th, DENNY HAMLIN 34th, KYLE BUSCH 13th, CLINT BOWYER 37th, JOE NEMECHEK 14th, MARK MARTIN 39th, TRAVIS KVAPIL 16th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 43rd, JJ YELEY 29th, MIKE BLISS DNQ, DAVID STREMME 31st, BOBBY LABONTE
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 9th How was your qualifying lap? “I thought it was faster than that. I felt like I was going a lot faster than I did yesterday — I only went a tenth quicker than yesterday. When I got done I was like, ‘That’s going to be up there, that’s going to be the pole.’ I don’t know how those other guys went that fast so I’m a little confused.”
How will the new tire impact your Camry for the race? “Hopefully, Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and all the JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) guys did their homework on this tire — I know we ran it before in the past. I think we have some notes on it. We’ll see here later what the difference is — I’m sure it’s going to have a little bit less grip being how it’s quite a bit of an older tire — just sitting for awhile hardens a tire up a lot. I’m prepared for a pretty big change, I think , as soon as we bolt those things on.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 11th
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 13th How was your qualifying lap? “It was a decent lap. I wiggled a little too much coming to the green and then I was a little reluctant to drive it off in there, into (turn) one after it just wiggled getting into three. I backed off a little bit and just gave up too much speed because by the time I got to one the grip level was there and you’re like, ‘Aw, man.’ I couldn’t get on the gas quick enough then. A day late and a dollar short.”
What do you expect from the new left side tires? “It’s going to be tough to pass anyway, but we’ll just see what the tire brings. It’s going to be a lot harder, it’s going to be more of a bear than we even had before. The grip level is going to be down, but only time will tell how bad it interrupts our cars.”
MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 14th How was your qualifying lap? “That’s certainly not what we were looking for, but I’m optimistic for Sunday. The Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota has been really good this week. It’s certainly been an interesting weekend and we’ll learn a lot in this afternoon’s practice.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 16th How was your Camry in qualifying? “My car was really good, but our driver was not very good. We were off a little yesterday in qualifying trim and we made some changes and the car was way better than I expected. I had a lot more grip than I thought we would and I just didn’t drive it hard enough. That’s one of those things that happens from time to time, especially at a place like this where it’s really fast. The car was great and it stuck really good — I wish I could do it over again. There was a lot of speed left in it so the guys did a good job.”
What do you expect from the new left side tires? “A lot less grip. I think it’s going to get pretty slick. It’s going to be difficult to handle I think, but we’ll just have to wait and see and make the best of it and go racing.”
MIKE BLISS, No. 19 Humphrey Smith Racing LLC Toyota Camry, Humphrey Smith Racing Starting Position: 29th
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Charter Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 31st
LANDON CASSILL, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing Starting Position: 32nd
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 34th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 37th
TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing Starting Position: 39th
JJ YELEY, No. 49 JPO Absorbents Toyota Camry, America Israel Racing Starting Position: 43rd
DAVID STREMME, No. 30 Inception Motorsports Camry, Inception Motorsports Starting Position: DNQ
