Catchfence


May 29, 2009
Friday
Toyota NSCS Teams Post-Autism Speaks 400 Qualifying Recaps
Press Release
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Toyota Motorsports Logo
Toyota Motorsports Logo
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 1st

How was your qualifying lap?

“It seemed to be pretty good. We unloaded and felt like the car was pretty good and made some small adjustments to it as the course of practice went on and in the end I was actually a little concerned about it if it was going to be fast enough because the car got pretty tight compared to what we had in our practice run. We lost a little bit of time from what we did in practice, but the Aaron’s Dream Machine was good. Rodney Childers (crew chief) made the right adjustments. We were just a little bit tight. That TRD horsepower got us to the corners there and got us to the other end. So it was a good enough lap and I wasn’t really sure it was going to hold up but I’m thankful that it did.”
Does your win help boost your confidence coming in here to Dover?

“I’m kind of a nervous person anyway. Waiting around for them to decide if we won the race or not and then waiting around all day so everybody had a shot at us to try to knock us off the pole kind of becomes nerve wracking over time. In the end, we had a good car. The way things went down last weekend — we won the race and I’m really proud of that and it feels really good. I think it gives the shop a little momentum because those guys work so hard on everything. For me, I would like to win a race a little differently than that, but you take them anyway you can get them. I’m none the less proud of the call Rodney (Childers) made last week that won us the race. So I do think we have a little momentum going right now and a really good race team. So those things help my cause greatly every week when I get in the car.”

Did the track change during the afternoon?

“I worried a little bit about the earlier draw. It seems to be your mindset because most of the race tracks that you go to when you go out and it’s hotter the track is obviously slower. It just seems like the concrete surfaces like we have here in Dover don’t seem to react as drastically to temperature change as a lot of the places that we go to. When we went out the temperature was about the same. I think about three degrees hotter than when we were at practice so it wasn’t a great deal different. I felt pretty good that the car was going to be pretty decent and it was — just a little bit on the tight side, but at the end of the day I don’t think going out early was a factor. I don’t know if any cloud cover would’ve come that it would’ve helped anybody that much just because the track surface doesn’t seem to react that much.”

How good is your race car?

“It’s really good. Rodney Childers (crew chief) and the guys brought me another great Aaron’s Dream Machine. We just had it a little bit too tight for qualifying but off the trailer it’s been really, really good and I think we’ve got a pretty good race car so hopefully our time will hold pretty strong and give us a good pit selection for Sunday. We’ll work on this thing tomorrow in race trim.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 6th

How would you describe your qualifying run?

“A little bit free-er than what it was here earlier in the day. Loose is fast. So, hopefully it’s fast. It was about the same as what we ran in practice, maybe just a titch slower. It was a balance change so at least we’ve made some sort of improvement on getting some balance back in this thing. Overall, the M&M’s Toyota has been good and if we can just make it a little bit more better tomorrow for Sunday I think we’ll be okay.”

Is running all three races here an advantage?

“I think it will be alright. We’re just wearing ourselves out today, but after today it should be alright. We won’t have as much to do tomorrow and even less on Sunday. It’s been good to get some laps in for sure and see the track change.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Starting Position: 9th

How did your car handle during your qualifying lap?

“It was tight. The car was just a lot tighter than it was in practice and that hurt us a lot. It just really washed up in the center. We expected to maybe get a little tight but not that much. I didn’t expect it to change that much.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 16th

“We have just struggled with qualifying all year. When we race we are fine but when we qualify we are all over the place. The FedEx Office Toyota was good this morning in race set-up so once the race starts Sunday we just need to work our way up through the field. We will continue to work hard tomorrow during the two practice sessions to prepare for Sunday — that’s all we can do right now — work hard as a team and stick together.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Racesavers.com Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Starting Position: 20th

How was your qualifying lap?

“I was just driving my heart out during that lap. We needed one-tenth probably to be in great position for the race, but I feel proud of my guys. It’s a really tough track. I felt good at the end, we just missed it by a tenth or so. We’ve got some stuff to work on tomorrow.”

How is your car handling?

“We had a difficult practice session. I felt like the best lap we had done was in qualifying trim. We’ve got some stuff to try tomorrow. (David) Reutimann has done a great job and we’ll look at his notes to see what they’re doing and hopefully gain some more speed.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 21st

Are you happy with your qualifying lap?

“I’ve been struggling all day here. I don’t know what the deal is. We were okay in race trim, started our mock runs not good, got a little bit better and a little bit better. This place is tough to get a handle on. This is the third time I’ve been here with the Nationwide car and I feel like we just now got that thing where I need it. Over here, I don’t feel like I got it quite yet. It’s just one of those tough places.”

What makes this race track so difficult to figure out?

“It’s getting in the corner starts the whole problem there. How much speed you get in the corner. It’s a tough race track. This place will eat you up and spit you out in a heartbeat. It’s one of those tough joints that I’m going to have to figure out. I’ll get it. I’m confident we’ll get it. We’ve been doing great lately so we’ll go back and see what I can do better, make the car a little better and we’ll be fine by the race.”

Is Dover similar to any other track that you’ve raced at?

“It’s an oversized Bristol. That’s the only way I can look at it. It’s Bristol times two. I ran my Nationwide car earlier — I ran a 10-lap run and I came in huffing and puffing. I ran that qualifying lap and I’m huffing and puffing. This place takes your breath away. It’s just one of those tough places. Tough race track — that’s all there is to it.”

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Starting Position: 23rd

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 29th

MIKE SKINNER, No. 36 Toyota Camry, Tommy Baldwin Racing
Starting Position: 34th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position: 38th

DAVE BLANEY, No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota Camry, Prism Motorsports
Starting Position: 39th

ROBBY GORDON, No. 7 RGM Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports
Starting Position: 40th

MAX PAPIS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Starting Position: DNQ

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release


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