Official Release

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Fusion – “That was a bad deal. I just passed Sam Hornish up in seven and went through the esses and I just told Donnie, ‘I think I’ve got a left-front going down. It’s soft.’ We were gonna come in and pit that lap and I eased up a little bit going through 10, but it never turned and once you get off in the dirt there that’s a bad place to get off. It was a big hit, but I’m OK. I’m just bummed out for the situation. This is a great race track. We really love racing out here and I’ve had some great finishes here, but we’ll have to wait until next year to try again.”

“You don’t know how good this feels. It’s been so long coming; it’s awesome! Went we went back to 16th I was definitely a little worried there. I knew my car was really good. It wasn’t the quickest up front, I struggled when I got to the front to be as fast as the Chevy’s but those last couple of laps worked. I hung onto the bottom line. I’m just proud of these guys."

AJ Allmendinger piloted the No. 47 Kingsford Charcoal Chevrolet SS to the number one starting spot in Saturday’s qualifying session for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway. Allmendinger set a quick time of 74.385 seconds/96.310 mph to earn his third career Cup Series pole. This is his first pole in seven races at the 1.99-mile road course; his previous best start was second last year. The run also marks the third consecutive pole win for Chevrolet at Sonoma.

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."

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AARP MEMBER ADVANTAGES CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH - ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT: “After the first run we were third and I certainly got encouraged that I could make a few adjustments and hit my marks. I think the car was capable of being at least first or second. I missed one corner there on that last run and I don’t know how much that cost me, but overall it was a really solid effort. I’m excited to have AARP Member Advantages on board this weekend. We are trying to take advantage of somethings ourselves here and having fun this weekend.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion – “It was great teamwork and great strategy for the team today to really make the most of our day. We didn’t have the speed we wanted, but we overcame that with just great execution by the team. I’m very proud of that. We’ve got to find some speed for tomorrow to have a shot at winning and we know that, so we’ll keep working on it.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KINGSFORD CHARCOAL CHEVROLET SS – Pole Winner - IT’S NEVER A PERFECT LAP, BUT HOW CLOSE WAS IT? “They were both pretty good."

Genesee Brewing Co. announced that it will be the primary sponsor for Go Green Racing's No. 32 Ford Fusion driven by racing legend Boris Said at Watkins Glen this August.

“I’m happy with the speed we ran which was way, way better than I expected based on the speeds I did earlier today. I knew qualifying was going to be our weakness but I think the race car is pretty good. I don’t want to start too far back obviously but I told my guys I thought we would qualify between 15th and 18th. Everyone adds so much downforce back on the cars for the race."

CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How much do you enjoy this race track? “This is just pure driving. We get to drive these race cars for really 90 percent of the lap you’re doing something. You’re sliding the car around, you’re shifting, you’re choosing your line – the braking is tough."