NASCAR Cup PR

Daniel Hemric was the fastest qualifier for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) playoff race at Kansas Speedway with a quick lap around the 1.5-mile tri-oval of 178.047 mph in 30.329 aboard his No. 8 Caterpillar Camaro ZL1. He was the only driver in the 40-car field to surpass the speed of 178 mph, and it marked the first MENCS career pole win for Hemric.

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 8 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Winner - GOOD JOB BY THE WHOLE TEAM! THIS IS YOUR FIRST CAREER POLE. HOW DOES IT FEEL? “Yeah, it’s pretty special. I kind of just feel crazy. I got out of the car and I thought I’d be maybe fifth to eighth but man, these guys on this Caterpillar Camaro ZL1 have done a great job all year of no matter what’s thrown at us, kind of just rising to the occasion and showing back up at the race track every week ready to work."

Martin Truex Jr. leads Toyota with an 11th-place starting position for tomorrow’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway.

DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 MDS Ford Mustang -- Qualified 2nd “I hope we can be the fastest on Sunday too. We made adjustments on our Ford Mustang last night anticipating a little warmer race on Sunday. We looked at the weather and we looked at what we did here in the spring and so we really didn’t think much of qualifying."

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media at Kansas Speedway:

HOW IS THE BACKUP CAR? “We were just super, super loose. We made some adjustments and we’ll go at it again. I will say it was turning pretty solid.”

“I feel like we’ve come such a long way at Ganassi from our first race at Martinsville. I’m looking forward to going back to apply all the season-long trends. Martinsville is so early in the year and we were such a new team. I think we finished 12th. We learned so much together as a group. That’s what’s cool about going back to these tracks a second time.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU FELT IN THE FIRST PRACTICE. “I thought it was OK. We started not very good I thought. Once we kind of got back in the ballpark, I thought we were decent. We’re just trying to get it as close as we can and I think, now, there are going to be a handful of guys that will have their cars driving the way that it should. Hopefully, we’re amongst that group and can give ourselves a shot. We have to try to be the first guys off pit road or be the guy with the best restart at the end of the race because there are going to be a few guys that will have the car driving well enough to win.”

ARE YOU LOOKING AT KANSAS AS A MUST-WIN SITUATION? “Yeah, I think it’s definitely a must-win situation. I think we can look at the stages and try to get a bunch of points in those. Ultimately, we’re going to have to win and that’s our goal.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Dekalb Ford Mustang -- HAVING YOUR CONTRACT EXTENSION HANDLED AND GOING INTO THIS RACE SUNDAY, DOES IT MAKE IT EASIER THAT YOU AREN’T RACING FOR YOUR CAREER OR SOMETHING? “It is always a good thing. I don't feel like I was racing for my career anyway. I race because I love to do it and I love to come back here and everything else. There is a lot of pride to be a part of a sport like this, something you grew up doing since you were a little boy. A great deal of pride that goes into being a part of this. As far as the aspect of doing it another year, yes, that is great and according to plan. Right now the plan is all about trying to stay alive in these playoffs and our quest for a championship.”