KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting
Position: 5th
How was your qualifying lap? "It was a good lap for the M&M's
Camry. I'm real proud of the way the guys have worked together -- Dave
(Rogers, crew chief) and the 11 (Denny Hamlin) team. We've tried to
share a lot of information this weekend and it seems to be paying off,
at least for us. Unfortunately, fo r the 11 (Denny Hamlin) -- it wasn't
as good. We feel really good about the race, so I was surprised to see
that lap time come out of there."
How surprised are you by that qualifying lap? "I was expecting about
a fifty, so what we ran there, we were really pleased with. That was
cool. Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and the guys have done a lot of work
and Steve (Addington, former crew chief) has been helping us as well
back at the shop, giving us information before we came out here.
Everything has been going good so far. We'll have to keep working on it
and making it better."
How has it been working with Dave Rogers so far on the NSCS program?
"It's going to take time to really work into a great relationship.
Him (Dave Rogers, crew chief) learning the cars, me learning him and
getting the communication going. When you have good race cars, you
have a guy that you've talked to, you seem to be able to get a lot
accomplished. Steve (Addington) was a great crew chief and I tried to
spend a lot of time with him but the Nationwide deal kind of takes away
from that sometimes. So far, so good."
***
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael
Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 13th
How is your car here at Texas? "Our car is really good. We struggled
really bad in practice and we just were kind of behind, and never
really got a good qualifying run in. I kind of under-drove our car
and didn't do a very good job. The car was much better than what I
qualified it. The guys did a good job and gave me a good car. I just
didn't hold up my end of the deal. I'm a little disappointed in that."
How will the car be on Sunday? "I hope it will be okay. We'll find out
some more tomorrow with practice when we get into race runs and stuff.
We finally got it to a point where we had a pretty decent race run with
it, so I felt like we have a good starting point with it for Sunday."
***
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting
Position: 14th
How was your qualifying run? "The car drove pretty good. It wasn't
bad. Wish our car had a little bit more grip. Felt like I left about a
half-a-tenth out there, which would have put me on the pole right now.
It kind of is what it is there. We got a good car. Hopefully, we'll
beat out a few cars here and get a good starting spot."
Was there a place on the track where you lost some time? "I got into
(turn) three and I got to the gas a little bit too hard, initially.
It sent me off the line. I went through the first time and said,
'Wow, this thing has a lot of grip.' And, I went through the
second time expecting the grip -- and it did, just not as much as I
thought. In qualifying you'd rather get a little bit extra and slip up
a little bit than under drive it. Can't be too disappointed with it. I
wish we were P1, but overall can't complain that much.'
Was it a disadvantage going out so early? "I don't think so, actually.
When we looked at the notes from last race here -- the earlier cars
went out the faster they were. Hopefully, it pays off the same for us.
We'll see."
***
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Starting Position: 15th
Are you pleased with your qualifying run? "No, not really. I feel like
we could have went a little bit faster. The track picked up quite a
bit. The car was a lot better than it was in practice. I don't know. I
just felt like I could have got a little bit more out of it, for sure.
Any time you're that close --I think we were half-a-tenth off what is
currently the pole -- I don't think that's going to stick -- I think
the track has more grip in it than that. Maybe we just made our car
that much better. We definitely made some improvements from practice. I
wish we had gotten there a little sooner and we probably would have had
a shot at the pole."
***
MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Little Debbie Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Starting Position: 19th
***
DAVID GILLILAND, No. 02 Farm Bureau Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 21st
How was your car during qualifying? "I went out for our first lap and
in turn one the back almost came around -- that's how loose the Farm
Bureau Insurance Toyota was on the first run during practice. It was
extremely loose getting in the corner, which really made me get off
the throttle early, which pretty much killed my first few laps. So,
Wally (Brown, crew chief) and the guys went to work and we kept getting
better and better throughout practice."
***
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 25th
How was your qualifying lap? "Our qualifying run was faster than
morning practice, but not by enough to qualify at the top. The handling
on the FedEx Office Toyota was off, but we generally race better here
t han we qualify. We have struggled in qualifying the past few starts
here and raced well, so I hope the results on Sunday have us near the
top. The FedEx team and Mike Ford (crew chief) have worked really hard
to get us to run well at the one-and-a-half-mile tracks. We have two
practice sessions early tomorrow morning to work on the car, then on
race day we will see what we have for everyone. "
***
ROBBY GORDON, No. 7 MAPEI Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports
Starting Position: 29th
***
SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Starting Position: 31st
How was your qualifying lap? "It's not the lap we were hoping for. We
were better in our practice run. This car was just loose during that
run. Glad we are in the show."
***
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position: 34th
MICHAEL McDOWELL, No. 36 WAVE Energy Drink Toyota Camry, Tommy Baldwin
Racing
Starting Position: 37th
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip
Racing
Starting Position: 40th
MAX PAPIS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Starting
Position: DNQ
DAVE BLANEY, No. 66 Denny Hamlin Foundation Toyota Camry, Prism
Motorsports
Starting Position: DNQ
-credit: toyota motorsports
