NASCAR Cup Series

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th GREAT FINISH! "Yes, we are definitely moving in the right direction! Car was good in clean air and had a lot of speed in it, so I think we have found kind of center for our cars and what has to happen. It was a little evil in traffic, and I had a heck of a time on green flag restarts, but really worked hard to get it up underneath me and tightening the car up a little bit for us to race. Ended up having great pace and decent drivability, so are working in the right direction. I am just so proud of everybody on this Ally team. We've had a lot of pressure on us, and everyone has stepped up and getting it done."

Denny Hamlin overcame a pair of pit road penalties and the sweep-bound agenda of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to win the 23rd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 41 Ruckus Ford Mustang – “I’m happy. The entire weekend was strong for us. We had the speed all weekend long. I feel like we had for sure a top five car and at times probably the best car out there on the long run. We were just trying to find the right balance back and forth, but I’m just very proud of everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford Performance, and especially from the 41 guys. They worked extremely hard to bring a good piece for Texas and we did it, so I’m grateful.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1, who was the fastest Chevrolet driver in the final practice session, met with media for a brief chat. Full Transcript:

Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang, had the fastest time among Ford drivers in today’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session. Blaney was third overall on the single-lap speed chart and will start 13th in tomorrow’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

For the 36th time in his illustrious Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) career, seven time Series’ champion Jimmie Johnson will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – “You just can’t qualify these cars this way. I love group qualifying, but I just laughed all the way out to the race track.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1- Pole Winner GREAT WAY TO SHOW SOME RESULTS OF YOUR EFFORTS TO COME BACK: "It's been a long couple of years, and we still have a ways to go. And, certainly race daquy is much more important than Friday, but we've been working so hard, and I think we are a bit guilty of trying too hard and maybe stepping outside of our comfort zone at times, and putting setups on the car at times that just aren't proven yet. With all that said, we were very aggressive coming here and changing a lot of stuff on our mile-and-a-half program. Top of the chart all day long, and a great start for this Ally tean. I'm really proud of everybody for keeping the faith and working hard."

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Qualifying Position: 6th How do you feel about what’s happening in these qualifying rounds? “It’s frustrating and that’s all you can really say about it. It’s just frustrating.”

Seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson returned to form Friday evening at Texas Motor Speedway, qualifying on-pole for Sunday's 23rd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 500.