NASCAR Cup Series

“We were close. We just missed it a little bit. The Craftsman Camry had good speed. We just didn’t quite have the balance we needed. That was good from practice. We didn’t really practice in the PJ1 so the transition into qualifying, we had to make some big changes and we did a good job of it. We just didn’t have quite enough. It’s good to start up front and get a good pit stall here which is really important. Hopefully it will play out good on the initial start and we’ll stay up there all day.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Winner HOW BIG OF A DEAL IS IT FOR YOU TO GET THE POLE HERE AT BRISTOL? “It’s awesome. I’ve really been wanting a pole outside of Daytona and Talladega for a long time now. So, I feel like I was finally able to contribute from my end a little bit more and get a pole that my team certainly deserves. We’ve got a fast NAPA Chevy. I appreciate everybody’s efforts at Hendrick Motorsports and the engine department and the chassis shop and everybody back home. They’ve been working really hard to try to get better and this is a big deal. We have some work to do, I think, for Sunday and we’ll go to work tomorrow and try to get it driving good for 500 laps. That’s a long time.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – IS THE TRACK MORE SLICK THAN USUAL? “No, not really – just more unpredictable than before.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway. Selected questions and answers.

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 PPG Ford Mustang – WHAT WAS THE TRACK LIKE AND HOW WILL QUALIFYING BE? “It was interesting. No one went down in that bottom lane and it looks like no one still is going down in it. I was kind of surprised, to be honest, but I was kind of surprised we didn’t go down in there. I hit once with my left side tires and it was pretty slick. You just need a lot of cars running on it to get it going."

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 BLUE-EMU CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway. Selected questions and answers. WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM IS AT THIS POINT IN THE YEAR? “We are kind of behind. I think the biggest thing is dollar signs and over the years we have kind of tip-toed around that, but that’s enough of that. We are kind of behind on money. It’s all about being up front and being blunt."

RYAN PREECE, NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 met with media and discussed the season thus far, what improvements need to be made, the importance of qualifying and more. Highlights:

How special was the Niswonger Children’s Hospital visit and the special program that you’ve got going on with Craftsman?“Yeah it’s been great. I obviously have had a few opportunities to do stuff where the sponsor gives back to the community and this is by far the largest one with Craftsman. They’ve already given $100,000 to Children’s Miracle Network and then the possibility for one million dollars on Sunday if we win, so that’s obviously a huge deal. As far as that goes, going to the hospital and seeing the kids is just a neat opportunity. Any time you can brighten up a kid’s day a little bit, especially the kids that are in that position is a great feeling as a person. Not as a driver or as an athlete, but just as a person.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 met with media and discussed the track conditions at Bristol, his expectations on the new package next week at Richmond, the start of the season thus far, and more. Full Transcript:

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media in Bristol: DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Do you have a benchmark of how you’d like to be performing in two months?