Toyota NSCS California post-qualifying quotes

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (Starting Position: 1st)

How was your qualifying run? “It was good, obviously. We unloaded and had some really good speed. We worked on race trim a little bit. It wasn’t driving quite like we hoped, but we did have some really good speed and that translated into qualifying trim. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) did a really good job the last two weeks of making good adjustments through the round and making it how we needed it for the last one. They gave me the car and really all I did was not mess it up, so they did a great job and glad we got it.”

What did you mean when you told your crew chief after your fast lap that you’d talk about the speed of your lap? “If I wasn’t going to talk about it on the radio, I’m probably not going to talk about it with anyone else. I wanted to talk to him (crew chief Jason Ratcliff) about the adjustments and the balance change just so we’d have good notes when we come back or when we go to some of these other tracks that we’re racing with three round qualifying like Texas -- places like that. I wanted to talk about that and tell him a little bit of the lap while it was fresh in my mind so they could get their notes made.”

What does winning the pole do for you as you prepare for Sunday’s race? “I tell you track position is important everywhere. This is probably one of the best tracks we go to as far as passing with all the different lanes unless you’re stuck on the top. There’s a lot of options here. This place is really wide, it’s very challenging as a driver, but very fun as well. If your car is handling a certain way you can find a groove that can help your car and move around a lot. Even in qualifying it was interesting how drastically different our grooves were when we qualified. It’s a really fun race track, especially when your car is driving good and doing the things you need it to do. Track position is important, but I feel it is a track you can come from anywhere if you have the best car and get up through there and get some passing.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 PEAK Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing (Starting Position: 5th)

How was your qualifying run? “Yeah, just came up a little short. You’ve got what you’ve got when you get out there. Obviously there was a couple adjustments you can make there. But, if you’re off that tenth-and-a-half or two-tenths. I was afraid we weren’t going to be able to back around a wedge out of it and get it. I’m proud of our PEAK Toyota so far. It was fast off the truck again. We need a good run here at this really fun race track. It’s neat to see Matt (Kenseth) win the pole.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 13th

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 14th

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 TreatMyClott.com Aaron’s Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing - Starting Position: 19th

How was your qualifying run? “We were just too tight center-off. In the first run we were eighth or ninth and had a decent lap. The second round got in the splitter hard and tight center-off and lost it trying to run up top. It’s frustrating, obviously you want a much better effort the TreatMyClot.com Aaron’s Toyota, but it is what it is. The guys will do a good job getting it fixed for tomorrow and we’ll be there for the race. There’s plenty of opportunity to pass here at this race track, so I’m not too worried about it.”

PARKER KLIGERMAN, No. 30 Swan Energy Toyota Camry, Swan Racing - Starting Position: 32nd

COLE WHITT, No. 26 Toyota Camry, Swan Racing - Starting Position: 34th

RYAN TRUEX, No. 83 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing - Starting Position: 39th

ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing - Starting Position: 40th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 66 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports - Starting Position: 42nd

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