3rd, MATT KENSETH
6th, CLINT BOWYER
9th, DAVID RAGAN
11th, KYLE BUSCH
14th, CARL EDWARDS
15th, DENNY HAMLIN
30th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
34th, JJ YELEY
43rd, JEB BURTON
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 3rd
Are you surprised to start the Sonoma road course race from the third position?
“Yeah, we kind of overachieved today. We were really bad yesterday, we were really bad the first round. All the cars that went out earlier struggled a little bit except for a few of the real good cars. Made some adjustments and got really good our second round. The third round we weren’t as good, but still put up good speed. I’m pleasantly surprised and kind of confused as far as we’ve been off, but we’ll take that.”
Could this be one of your best road course weekends in your career?
“I don’t know, up until two laps ago, it was probably one of my worst. Really struggled with our Dollar General Camry yesterday, the first lap of qualifying was bad and we made some adjustments. The warm tires seemed to help us for some reason on that one really good, decent lap there. It was a pleasant surprise to qualify third. Hopefully we’ll get it where it races good tomorrow.”
Are you surprised by qualifying third for Sunday’s race?
“We really struggled bad yesterday and the first lap we made on the track today was really bad, too. They made some adjustments and I think going out early kind of hurt a little bit. It was a lot better the second lap and the third lap it wasn’t quite as good, but we still put up some good speed. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least.”
Do you have a chance to drive to victory lane on Sunday?
“I feel like we have a one in 43 chance, for sure. Honestly we ran really bad and today this is encouraging. Race trim and qualifying here is so different. In qualifying, it’s about keeping your momentum and you can afford to be a little free. In the race you have to keep the rear tires on it and you have to turn. It’s a lot different, but I don’t know. We’ll look over everything and hopefully we’ll have it running decent for tomorrow.”
Is it easier to stay out of trouble early starting up front?
“Hopefully, at least you shouldn’t be until you get to turn two. You never know what’s going to happen in these races – the strategy is always different and you never know when the caution is going to fly so you have to have a car that’s good on the long runs. It’s a good place to start up front and get a good pit stall for sure.”
Do you expect fuel mileage to be better with reduced horsepower this season?
“It will probably be a little bit better. I think people in the past, this was one of the few tracks we go to where we had excess horsepower before they changed the rules so people would detune stuff and try to get good fuel mileage. It’s probably not going to be a lot better than what it was, but I would think if they wanted to they could make it on two stops. This tire is a lot different than what we ran last year and what we’re running this year is a lot different than what we ran in years past. It seems like tires mean a lot and I think you just have to watch it.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 6th
How strong is your race car?
“All the Toyotas are really good. All of us were in the top-15 after the first run I saw. Our 5-hour ENERGY Camry is good and it’s been good all weekend long. I’ve got to take care of business and get this thing to the end. You never know what’s going to happen – what the recipe is going to be to win this race. Good speed always trumps a lot of things and we certainly have that.”
How difficult is it to put a perfect lap together at Sonoma?
“It is hard. After practice you go home and if you’re me, you’re scatter-brained and you go out and you enjoy wine country and you get here at noon the next day and you expect to put the fastest lap of the weekend up your first lap on the track. I just get too wound up and too jittery and usually end up screwing up, which I did, but the good thing about this new format is you get another couple stabs at it and was able to get a good starting spot. Pretty pumped about sixth. I was going to say anywhere in the top-12 – we can get the job done from there and certainly can. I’ve always been able to be pretty decent on the long run and make some good passes. Hopefully we can continue that trend.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 9th
How was your qualifying effort?
“That is a decent Saturday for our Michael Waltrip team to have two Toyota’s in the top-10, that’s a good starting spot. We can win the race from there. I’ve come a long way here in just a couple days here. They have a really good road course package and we’ll just focus on the race and have a little bit of luck. Brian Pattie (crew chief) and our team will have a good strategy. Looking forward to Sunday, it’s going to be a lot of fun running here at Sonoma.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 11th
How was the car in qualifying and what happened when you spun in the final round?
“Our M&M’s Crispy Camry was pretty good, but our qualifying session was really eventful. We were on our lap in the first round and the caution came out so we already had a cycle on my tires. And there in the final round, I got on the rumble strips there in turn nine into (turn) 10 and shot me sideways, then I’m thinking to myself, how am I not going to wreck? We were fortunate that Kurt (Busch) missed us there and we didn’t have any damage from the spin. We were able to make a lap after that but our tires were obviously used up big time already. We’ll take our 11th and try and race them from there.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 14th
How has your Camry been so far this weekend at Sonoma?
“We just weren’t quite as fast (as yesterday). We went out early and I don’t know if the other rubber on the race track hurt us a little bit, but then we went a second run and we weren’t quite as fast as we thought we would be. We did make some changes and maybe they weren’t the right changes and I could have done a little bit better job – this is one of those places where you try to minimize your mistakes and I had a couple little spots I could have done better. Overall, I feel like we have a good race car, so we should be good.”
What will your race strategy be as the defending race winner?
“This changes our strategy a little bit, starting farther back than we thought we would. I think it gives us more opportunity to think about pitting more. This track and this race – you can have a strategy and make adjustments on the fly and Darian (Grubb, crew chief) is the best at that, so I feel pretty good about leaving that in his hands.”
How does fuel mileage play into the Sonoma race?
“Fuel mileage always seems to be a factor here. We get really good fuel mileage, so if that’s the case it will be really good for us.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 15th
How was the qualifying effort?
“It wasn’t bad. We picked up a second from where we were yesterday on our mock run. Decently happy with that. I knew we’d be about 15th or 16th and that’s kind of where we ended up. Just a little bit off here and there. You can be off a second here and not even realize it just from the little parts of the corner that you have to make better. I just have to study some more film, study some more data and figure out where I can get better.”
How difficult is it to get a perfect lap at Sonoma?
“I don’t know, I’ve never had one. My guess is that it’s been over 10 years and I still haven’t hit one perfect. It’s just a tough track, very technical – a place with this many tight corners, there’s a lot of speed to be had if you can get your stuff just right. We’ve just kind of missed ours a little bit.”
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 30th
JJ YELEY, No. 23 Dr. Pepper/Heinz Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 34th
JEB BURTON, No. 26 Maxim Fantasy Sports Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 43rd
