Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
Daytona International Speedway – February 21, 20141st, Dylan Kwasniewski
4th, KYLE BUSCH
5th, ELLIOTT SADLER
6th, MATT KENSETH
8th, JEFF GREEN
9th, JOHNNY SAUTER
10th, DAVID STARR
11th, BLAKE KOCH
12th, MIKE BLISS
13th, ERIC MCCLURE
14th, JAMES BUESCHER
15th, HARRISON RHODES
22nd, SCOTT LAGASSE JR.
25th, JOE NEMECHEK
28th, JASON WHITE
DNQ, CARL LONG
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 4th
How was the car in practice?
“It was quite a handful — a lot going on. There’s not enough TV cameras or TV coverage that could cover everybody’s situation. It’s just chaos at first just sitting at the end of pit road trying to figure it all out and what was going to happen and then trying to get out there in a group and get a good enough run — then to have the help behind you to make a big lap. We ran a second faster than we did yesterday — I think that’s what Adam (Stevens, crew chief) told me. Then there were guys that beat us. All in all, I thought it was entertaining at least for the part. I think speedways are going to be that way whether it’s this way every single week is yet to be determined. All in all, I think it was fun. We qualified a heck of a lot better than we would have single car. You can’t help but have a smile on your face for that.”
What do you expect in the race tomorrow?
“Race conditions are going to be interesting too. I think it’s going to be way different from what it used to be with the tandem and being able to push and stuff like that. You’re going to have more cars closer together I think. What lane is going to go — it’s still going to take some bumping to get that lane moving. How much are they (NASCAR) going to let us do and what all is going to happen. I think we’ll have to wait and see who the first couple are black-flagged to see how much is too much. I don’t know, I might be one of those first guys. It’s always fun, you always want to push the guy in front of you, he’s in the way, get out of the way.”
ELLIOTT SADLER, No. 11 OneMain Financial Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 5th
What did you see during the first segment of qualifying?
“I was just following Matt (Kenseth) and since he won the other night I’ll just go wherever he went. I didn’t see anything. I just saw his red bumper.”
How is the new qualifying format working out?
“I thought it was pretty wild. I think sitting at the end of pit road there was like 30 cars and I’m like, ‘Yeah, if somebody spins through the grass right now we’re all in big trouble.’ I think that’s pretty wild. Our first attempt at it, but it was a lot hairier than I thought. We actually left trying to get a clean lap and I think we passed 20 cars in our lap that we put up our speeds. It’s pretty cool to see how fast our JGR Toyota’s were and I think we all got good cars for tomorrow.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Reser’s Main Street Bistro Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 6th
How much did last night’s Duel help you in Nationwide qualifying?
“Well, I’m kind of like Elliott (Sadler), I just followed Kyle (Busch). So, when we decided — I guess we decided — to let Kyle (Busch) do all of the heavy lifting — I’m like, ‘I’m not going to mess it up.’ And Elliott was like, ‘I’m not going to mess it up, we’re going to let Kyle do it.’ And, then we’re going to follow him and we figured Elliott would probably get the fastest lap being third in time and running for a championship. Anyway, it worked out good. Superspeedway stuff is so different than everywhere else. It’s all about trying to get that draft and be behind and get caught up. Kyle did a good job of that. Like Elliott said, we passed a lot of cars and still somehow put up a decent lap.”
Would ‘fun’ be a good word to describe the new qualifying format?
“Yeah, I mean, it’s a little nerve-racking but I was just following Kyle (Busch), so wherever he went I was going to go and Elliott (Sadler) was following me. We saw some slower cars merging and causing packs and all of that, but that’s what you’re trying to do to get the most speed you can get. Whenever you do that you’ve got people going different speeds and everything there’s always that chance of having a big wreck. Definitely more interesting to watch than superspeedway single car qualifying.”
Is it the best case scenario for you and your teammates to make a fast lap early and come off the track?
“To make the first 24, yes, assuming you’re going to have the next two sessions to try to get our lap and then get off the track and just wait for the next one because when you’re at a plate track the more cars on the track the more potential for somebody to get a faster lap catching the group. So, we wanted to just get our lap and get out of there to try to get the air less turbulent, less cars out there.”
JEFF GREEN, No. 91 Supportmilitary.org Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Starting Position: 8th
JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 80 Goodyear Toyota Camry,
Starting Position: 9th
DAVID STARR, No. 10 BYF.org Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Starting Position: 10th
BLAKE KOCH, No. 44 Son of God Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Starting Position: 11th
MIKE BLISS, No. 19 Tweaker Energy Shot Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Starting Position: 12th
ERIC MCCLURE, No. 14 Hefty Ultimate/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Starting Position: 13th
JAMES BUESCHER, No. 99 Rheem Toyota Camry, RAB Racing
Starting Position: 14th
What did you think of the new style of qualifying?
“It was definitely an interesting way to qualify. I feel like our Rheem Toyota Camry was good. Dragging the race track a little too much. Hopefully we can make a slight adjustment and fix that. I think 14th is a decent spot and that was enough to transfer us to the next round and we were just hoping to get some more out of it in the next round.”
Did you lose the draft off of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars due to the car dragging the track?
“That was my car bottoming out and not being able to hang with them. I was drafting off of them and their fast lap was also my fast lap, but I was two-tenths slower because of how much I was hitting the race track.”
What do you expect in race conditions tomorrow?
“The starting line-up the way it is, I think you’ll see a pretty exciting beginning of the race. I think there’s some good cars up in the top-15 and there’s also some that aren’t normally in the top-15. It’s an interesting qualifying, but I’m sure it was pretty exciting. You had to be on your toes as a driver. I like it — it’s pretty cool.”
HARRISON RHODES, No. 24 Hoodz-Ductz Toyota Camry, SR2 Motorsports
Starting Position: 15th
SCOTT LAGASSE JR., No. 29 FL DOT Alert Today-Alive Tomorrow Toyota Camry, RAB Racing
Starting Position: 22nd
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 D.A.B. Constructors/pelletgrillusa.com Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position: 25th
JASON WHITE, No. 00 Police Sunglasses/Friday Night Tykes Toyota Camry, SR2 Motorsports
Starting Position: 28th
CARL LONG, No. 13 OCR Gaz Bar Toyota Camry,
Starting Position: DNQ
