TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – September 20, 2013
5th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 29th, KENNY WALLACE##
9th, MATT KENSETH 30th, TRAVIS KVAPIL
12th, KYLE BUSCH 33rd, KEVIN SWINDELL
14th, DENNY HAMLIN 35th, DAVID REUTIMANN
16th, CLINT BOWYER 36th, JOE NEMECHEK
28th, BOBBY LABONTE
##Kenny Wallace qualified the No. 55 for Brian Vickers, who will race the car on Sunday
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 5th
How was the qualifying lap?
“I wish I could do it over again to, be honest with you. We were good in practice, but we weren’t great. We needed to make some adjustments and the guys did just an awesome job on the race car. I missed it a little. The track is a lot different and the car was a little freer than I wanted it to be. Being free is what caused me to miss it a little and if I could have done it again I think I could have gotten a little bit better. Overall, just so proud of the effort for all the NAPA guys. Obviously, a tough weekend for us to come here, but just so proud of my team for the focus and what they were able to do today. That’s all I can ask for from them — so proud of those guys and just want to thank them for all their hard work.”
Did you leave anything on the track on the second lap?
“I felt like I left a little bit out there on my second lap. It was a good lap for us. I was a little too loose and just missed it a little on my second lap. Real proud of the effort from everybody here, everybody on the team has really done a nice job today coming to the race track focused and that’s what we need to do. We haven’t been very good here in the last two years and Chad (Johnston, crew chief) really came with a different mindset this weekend and so far it’s worked well for us. This has been a good track for me up until the last few years and I feel like we’ve got some of that back so far this weekend. We’ll see how tomorrow goes and Sunday, but feel good about what we have and proud of the team.”
Where do you stand with Michael Waltrip Racing for next season?
“I don’t know — it’s too early to tell to be honest with you. I wish I knew and I wish I could say, but a lot of circumstances have to play out and it’s so late in the game and late in the season. People already know what they’re doing next year — this is definitely not the time of year you want to find out that you really don’t have a ride next year, so to speak. I don’t know, it’s going to be tough, but we’ll have to deal with it and hopefully we’ll figure it out.”
Would you like to stay at Michael Waltrip Racing?
“I really enjoyed my last four years at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) and I feel like we’re getting to where we wanted to be when we started four years ago, and this is obviously going to set us back. But,I would love to be there. There’s no guarantees right now — it just depends on how everything goes down.”
Is it possible NAPA go to another race team with you as the driver?
“We do have a great relationship and again, this has all happened so fast — obviously, they’re (NAPA) going to need a little time for the dust to settle and figure out what they’re next move is. Just have to wait. I guess it’s an option, yeah. I feel like we’ve got a great relationship. I feel like I’ve represented them well and I know they’re happy with the job I’ve done on and off the race track. We’ll just see where that leads. But right now honestly I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing (continued)
Has this damaged your relationship with MWR?
“No, not at all. Decisions were made in the heat of battle — maybe they were bad, obviously they were wrong. We have to deal with the consequences. That’s all I’m trying to do. We can’t go back in time and undo anything. Life moves on, I’ve moved on from it and again, I’m just focused on the future and the next nine races with this group and trying to do the best job we can there and obviously trying to figure out what I’m going to do next year.”
How is your wrist?
“It’s still broke. I got a new cast and x-ray this week and it hasn’t healed at all yet. It’s really no better than it was in Atlanta, as far as pain goes , or as far as figuring out if I’ll need surgery in a few weeks or not.”
Is the Sprint Cup Series the only series in which you have not won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?
“In the Cup car yes — I’ve won in everything else. We’ve come close here before — I think ’07 and ’08 we had cars capable of winning and didn’t get it done. The last couple years here we’ve really struggled. Different mindset that Chad (Johnston, crew chief) brought to the track today with our NAPA Toyota. So far, I’ve been pretty pleased with it. It’s only the first day of the weekend, so we’ll see how the day goes and we’ll get to work hard tomorrow on it too.”
Do you expect this to be a fuel mileage race?
“You always have to keep that in the back of your mind. At the end of day, you still have to have a fast race car. You have to put yourself in position — fuel mileage does come into play, but you’re not going to sacrifice speed or too much speed to get it. We need to get our car driving good and it needs to be good on the long runs and then you can start taking advantage of those little things like fuel mileage.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 9th
How was your qualifying lap?
“I felt like I got all we had out of it, we just didn’t quite have it fast enough. I felt like I got a pretty clean lap — we were just off a little bit on balance and grip and couldn’t get it to go as fast as the fast guys were going here. Hopefully, it will be in the top-10.”
Do you feel more confident at New Hampshire this weekend than back in July?
“Better than the last time I was here? No, not really. Right off the truck we were pretty quick and had a good time. The car was driving okay. In qualifying trim we were never great so I’m looking forward to getting back in race trim tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be okay.”
What do you think about making your 500th Sprint Cup Series start in a car designed to recognize that achievement?
“It’s pretty cool that JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Home Depot and everybody signed off on doing it — I didn’t really even know they were doing it, so that’s p retty cool. I guess it’s a milestone — I would rather count wins rather than starts, but it is cool and it’s amazing how fast time goes by and I’m proud to have been able to be here that long. Certainly, a lot of things we want to accomplish.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 12th
How was your qualifying lap?
“It was okay — certainly wish our draw was better. We have a pretty good M&M’s Camry and it shouldn’t be that much different from beginning to end I don’t think. Top-five start would be really good and I think we’re very capable of that and we have for the last couple of years coming here. Top-10 would be okay and we can race them from there. Just hoping that it lines up as good as we hope here.”
What do you bring back from the first race at New Hampshire?
“If it worked for you — then everything the same. You just kind of continue to work and evolve on your stuff and make it better. That’s what we did — we felt like we were pretty decent here the first time around. We’ll see what qualifying has in store for us today and then we’ll go get them in practice tomorrow and set ourselves up for a good race on Sunday.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 14th
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 16th
How is your race car handling?
“We have some work to do on our 5-hour ENERGY Toyota. We weren’t as fast as we were hoping for, but there’s still time to get it right. We have a lot of good information, teammates, engineers and computer programs to help us come up with something better by Sunday. We’ll get it right.”
BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Bush’s Beans Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Starting Position: 28th
KENNY WALLACE, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 29th
What was the most difficult part of preparing the No. 55 Camry today for Brian Vickers?
“The most difficult part was me trying to calm down and not ask for too much. Us Wallace’s like everybody else, we have a little bit of an ego. I haven’t run a Cup car since 2007 — this has always been one of my favorite tracks. I just want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity and now I can go on NASCAR ‘RaceDay’ on Sunday and say, ‘Look, I’ve been in these cars, I know what they feel like.’ This was a win-win for everybody and of course it was fun to get in the Cup car.”
TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 30th
KEVIN SWINDELL, No. 30 Swan Energy/Lean 1 Toyota Camry, Swan Racing
Starting Position: 33rd
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 35th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position: 36th
