Catchfence

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How was your qualifying run?

“We figured with the draw that had a top-seven start was going to be a good accomplishment so I’m pretty happy with that right now. We were a little tight. I feel like we definitely could’ve been better but we weren’t but it’s still a decent time.”

Do you think you could’ve been faster?

“I felt like we could be a little bit better but it’s still a decent lap for us. It’s right around where we ran here in the spring. The track usually gets a little bit slower but guys really start to pick up here. It’s a good accomplishment especially with the draw that we had.”

Does being in the Chase take pressure off of you tomorrow night?

“It really does. I’m driving this weekend with no regard to the fenders on the race car I guess you could say. We know we’re going to have to be around there at the end but I’m definitely going to be more aggressive in traffic and things of that nature. It definitely makes us a dangerous race team when it comes into today. To be honest with you, this is the first time that I’ve been able to go out right before qualifying and take a deep breath and not be nervous at all.”

Are you confident going into tomorrow night’s race?

“It was a good run for us. I didn’t think we’d be that close to the pole actually. I thought we had a lot left in our car. I’m pretty excited about tomorrow. We’ve got a good starting spot. When we dominated here in the spring we started third so we’ve got a good spot.”

What would it mean for you to win a Cup race at Richmond?

“It definitely would be big especially on this weekend. I feel like with the momentum that we have going into this weekend alone we’re already going to go into the Chase on a positive note no matter what happens tomorrow. A win would just kind of put us over the edge and have us perk our chest out pretty big. I think this win right here would come at the key moment at the right time to try to make that championship push.”

Would it be bigger than your win at Martinsville?

“Yeah, I think so. Martinsville is a track that’s very similar to this one and I led a ton of laps there in other series before I got a win in the Cup Series. This one in particular would mean a lot just because of the season tickets that we still have here and just being so close
to home. Martinsville was more of a racing home. This is the actual kind of residence home track for us.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Starting Position: 6th

Did your car pick up time in qualifying from the practice session?

“We definitely gained a lot from practice. We were really late getting into qualifying trim in practice and our qualifying trim is a bit
different so that hurt us some for sure. That hurt us in practice and probably hurt us in qualifying. The guys did a really great job
getting it as close as they did. The car was tight in the center, but we have a decent starting spot.”

Were you able to see the benefits you were hoping to on the long race runs in practice?

“Some, but not as much as we would like. What we were really trying to work on was our race stuff. We did improve the long term stuff, but at a little bit of a detriment to the short term. We still haven’t found that right balance in race trim. We’ve got a pretty good
qualifying package here – we just can’t seem to find exactly what we need in race trim yet.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 8th

Were you able to pick up time from practice to qualifying?

“We picked up pretty good. It was decent for us. I wish I didn’t mess up (turns) three and four as bad as I did on the second lap, it would have been a little bit better I think. The guys on the M&M’s Camry did a great job today. I thank them for working as hard as they have these past few weeks and we’ll see what we can get out of today – hopefully a good starting spot for tomorrow and again, just a solid run for tomorrow.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Kingsford/Clorox Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Starting Position: 16th

Are you happy with your qualifying run?

“Yeah, we had a really tough practice session getting ready for qualifying today. We didn’t really know what we had. When you get days like that you’ve just got to take what you can. I looked a little bit better out there but it’s raceable.”

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Starting Position: 20th

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 23rd

How was your qualifying lap?

“The car was good, I just didn’t get after it like I should have. I just didn’t do a very good job in qualifying so I’m disappointed with that. I think we have a decent car for the race, but we’re certainly not going to start very good. That’s disappointing. But Richmond is a good, solid race track and it can be fun if you have a good car.”

What strategies will your team use tomorrow night to try to get into the Chase?

“Still do the same stuff we’ve been doing all year and not change a whole lot. We know it’s a long shot, but we are going to get all we can.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 27th

ROBBY GORDON, No. 7 Jim Beam Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports
Starting Position: 30th

DAVE BLANEY, No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota Camry, Prism Motorsports
Starting Position: 32nd

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position: 36th

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 40th

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 36 WAVE Energy Drink Toyota Camry, Tommy Baldwin Racing
Starting Position: 41st

MAX PAPIS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Starting Position: 43rd

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release