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MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 2nd

How was your qualifying lap? “It’s been a good day for the NAPA Toyota so far. We’ve been happy with the car all day. We had a lot of speed in race trim and it was a good qualifying lap for us. The guys made good adjustments from practice and the track picked up grip. Obviously the speeds were up quite a bit from practice so it was a good lap. I wish that Carl (Edwards) hadn’t of beat us, but it seems like he wins everything anymore. I’m happy to be in here today. I feel like we kind of let one slip away here last year in the race. Led a bunch of laps and got a flat tire late so hopefully we can make up for that tomorrow and close the deal. It would be great to end the season on a high note and get this thing in victory lane.”

How much has your team improved over the last few weeks? “I think our team has done a nice job all year as far as bringing fast race cars to the race track. There’s been some other things that we’ve missed on — part failures and making mistakes and things that’s really hurt us in the points. But, we’ve had fast cars all year long. For us this season, it’s been a lot of what could’ve been or what might have been. Going into the offseason I feel like we know our strengths and our weaknesses and what we need to work on to be better. But, as far as the group of guys I have and the cars that we’ve been bringing to the race track, we’ve made huge strides especially at the end of the season here with the mile-and-a-half type tracks where we struggled through the mid part of the season quite a bit. We made huge gains there so we’re excited going into the offseason of what we need to work on and come out of the box strong next year. For us, we just need consistency. We’ve got the speed, we’ve got the team to do it and we’ve got great guys that go over the wall and pit the car. We just need to be smarter, race smarter and make less mistakes next year.”

How much has the grip on the race track changed? “The track just had a little bit more grip than what it had this morning. Anytime we run the single-car runs it’s easy to pick up some of that rubber that’s been sitting there getting hot. We listened to some guys earlier saying the track had more grip and we went with that and luckily it worked out good for us.”

What was your strategy for your qualifying lap? “I couldn’t figure out which groove to run. I ran some in practice up high and I was fast up there and I ran some down low and I was fast there so I said, ‘Heck with them, I’m going to run the middle.’ And it worked out. Our NAPA Toyota has been really fast all day long. I love coming here to Homestead. It’s a great track and I feel like we let one slip away here last year so hopefully we can get that win tomorrow.”

Do you have a favorite for tomorrow’s championship? “There’s no telling. Four hundred miles anything can happen. Those two guys are some of the best out there and obviously they proved that. That’s why they’re in that position and I just hope that I get to race with those guys for the win because I’m sure they will be upfront come the end of the day.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 3rd

How was your qualifying lap? “I felt really good. My Red Bull Toyota stuck really well. I felt like I waited on the front end a little bit getting into (turn) one — maybe a little too long — and then again in (turn) three. Wasted a little bit of time, but either way Carl (Edwards) ran a great lap. A really fast lap. And Martin (Truex Jr.) beat us too. It was still a good run for our guys. Each week they’ve been giving me awesome race cars and it’s been a lot of fun driving them lately.”

Are you happy with your season? “It’s been a really awesome year for myself. This time last year I was kind of making that move to Red Bull and prior to that I was wanting to make that move and ready for a change and ready to work with some new people and a little bit of excitement again. I’ve had that all season long. I feel great about where we’re at right now and how much we’ve gained as a team throughout the season and how strong our cars are, which everybody is a big part of that. And now it’s about over. We qualified third today and have a great car for tomorrow and then it will be another change. So, it’s been a great season. A lot of fun to work with everybody and they’ve given all of us a great opportunity. I wish it was halfway through. I wish the season was 50 percent of the way through and we had a lot more to go this year because I feel like right now is by far the best that I’ve been as a Cup driver and that we’ve had as a team. Everything put together, I think this has been our strongest time ever. It’s about over and hopefully we can finish strong tomorrow and do the best we can and maybe get another win. That would be a great way to end.”

Do you have a favorite for tomorrow’s championship? “I don’t know on the points race. It’s going to be exciting. Carl (Edwards) has probably been the best so far this weekend if you look at where he’s at. I think Tony (Stewart) ran a lot more — longer runs and things. Carl is starting on the pole. Carl was great here last year. He started second and won the race so it will be interesting. I think it’s going to be a good duel.”

What does it say about your team to run so well to close out the season? “I’ve been running really good. The whole Red Bull team has done a great job. It’s been a lot of fun these last 10 to 12 races — it’s been awesome. So, we’re just trying to finish strong tomorrow. We qualified good today. I just wish we could’ve got that pole. We were really close. The balance in the car was great there. Just barely missed it. We’ve had a really solid effort here in the last couple of months.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 10th

Are you pleased with your qualifying lap? “That was a pretty decent qualifying run for us. We usually qualify in the 30s here. It looks like we’ll be somewhere in the top-10 to 12 — a step up. We just struggled for speed all day long. We just couldn’t figure out where to find it — where to get it. Mike (Ford, crew chief) made some good adjustments right there with qualifying.”

Any benefit to running three races this weekend? “You learn some stuff, for sure. It helps you get up to speed a little bit faster. At least it does for me. Even though it’s a lot of work — it does help in certain ways.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 19th

How was your qualifying lap? “Our Interstate Batteries Camry wasn’t bad. Our balance was pretty good but just needed a little more speed in qualifying. I was happy with our car in race trim this morning, so I think we can race them with what we worked on in race trim.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 24th

Are you happy with your race car? “No. I’d like for the qualifying to be better. I’m pretty happy with the race car. Qualifying trim we weren’t as good as we needed to be. I just kind of lost the nose in the center and just kind of washed out a little bit. I’m not really happy with where my line is. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here — it’s been a couple years. I think the track has changed a good bit since the last time I was here. It’s been two years. So, I think it’s changed a decent amount — so still got to figure that out. In race trim, I think we’re pretty good. In qualifying we were a little off.”

Did you meet with NASCAR and Matt Kenseth? “Yeah. We did meet with NASCAR and it was a good conversation. It was good to air out everything. I think it was good for everybody to hear both sides of the story. NASCAR gave their perspective of how things transpired. Matt (Kenseth) gave his and I gave mine. I think that once Matt understood my perspective and I understood some of his — then I think now we’re more on the same page. When he first was describing kind of his perspective — I think there was a lot of information he didn’t have about like when I was underneath him at Martinsville. You know, we rubbed fenders a few times. I think that’s pretty common for Martinsville. I don’t think we were the first two guys to touch at Martinsville Speedway. I know I raced him clean, I raced him as clean as I was probably racing anybody that day. The only time I really got into him was when the 14 (Tony Stewart) hit me in the middle of the corner — you know was bumping me in the middle of the corner. I think that was a perspective that Matt didn’t really have. He didn’t know that. Even if that wasn’t the case, I still think him just dumping us at Martinsville — just flat pushed me up in the corner until I hit the wall — was a bit of an overstep.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 28th

COLE WHITT, No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 29th

Were you pleased with your qualifying lap? “Yeah. Just happy to be in (the race). That’s what we come down here to do — get in the race. First thing first. It’s pretty amazing for me. It’s a big step. So, I’m just glad we could come out and do this.”

Do you have any goals for Sunday’s race? “Seat time is definitely crucial. We’re not going to be as tame as we were in Phoenix. In Phoenix, we held back a lot. Here, now that we’re in the race, we’ll try and race for anything we can get. See what we can do.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 32nd

How was your qualifying lap? “There was no grip out there. We just haven’t had enough speed in our cars. Still got to figure something out here. We’re not very fast in race trim or qualifying trim right now. So, we have to figure something out.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, HP Racing Starting Position: 33rd

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Reese Towpower Project Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 35th

How was your qualifying lap? “It was okay. A little too free to come to the free and then we still struggled with something there. It was a little bit too free to come to the green and after that it was alright. Nothing special. It seemed like our car was balanced pretty good in race trim, just needed to have a little bit more grip on the front end. Other than that it wasn’t bad in race trim. It’s been a pretty calm day.”

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 37th

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 Hard Rock Vodka Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: 39th

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

Kangaroo Express

Whitt preparing for race at Homestead-Miami Speedway

CARY, N.C., Nov. 18, 2011 – The Pantry, Inc. (Nasdaq:PTRY), the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States, today announced it will sponsor NASCAR’s No. 84 Cole Whitt in the final race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Whitt has been racing in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series division and is now aiming to reach his dream of becoming a Sprint Cup driver by qualifying in the Ford 400 Sprint Cup race held at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 20th.

Whitt made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway this past Sunday, where he started in the 19th position and finished in the 25th. By competing in Phoenix, Whitt qualified to race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“We had a really good run in Phoenix for our first Sprint Cup race,” said Whitt. “I’m looking forward to getting back out on the track this weekend and am thankful to have the support of my fellow NASCAR fans at Kangaroo Express.”

Kangaroo Express, impressed with Whitt’s performance last week in Phoenix, jumped at the opportunity to work with Whitt in his efforts in Miami. “We have a common bond with the community of racing fans who are regular customers in our stores across the Southeast – a love of stock car racing, this great country of ours, and all the brave men and women who fight for it,” said John Fisher, senior vice president of marketing at Kangaroo Express. “We are excited to sponsor Whitt, arguably one of the most promising up and coming racers, as he heads into this weekend’s qualifying race.”

Kangaroo Express has strengthened its relationship with the NASCAR community over the past three years, raising funds for Victory Junction camp, founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their son Adam. Last year the fundraiser raised $634,000, sending more than 250 children to the year-round camping environment for children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses.

About The Pantry

Headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, The Pantry, Inc. is the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States and one of the largest independently operated convenience store chains in the country. As of August 8, 2011, the Company operated 1,655 stores in thirteen states under select banners, including Kangaroo Express®, its primary operating banner. The Pantry’s stores offer a broad selection of merchandise, as well as gasoline and other ancillary services designed to appeal to the convenience needs of its customers.

- Largemouth Communications for Kangaroo Express, Press Release

Kasey Kahne Does a Victory Donut at PIR

DRIVERS:

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kasey Kahne left a lovely parting gift, winning the Kobalt Tools 500 for Red Bull Racing Team’s second victory in NASCAR.

“Some of these guys haven’t won before and it felt like I haven’t won,” Kahne said. “It’s been a long season. The guys haven’t given up. We keep getting better as the season goes and it takes time to finish things up and get better when you come to something new. These guys have done an unbelievable job. It feels really good to get Red Bull in victory lane — I just wanted to win for them really bad.”

For Red Bull Racing Team, it was the second victory in the team’s five-year history and first since Brian Vickers won at Michigan in August 2009. For Kahne, the 12th victory of his Sprint Cup career ended an 81-race winless streak dating back to Atlanta in September 2009. It was his first victory and fifth top 10 in 15 races at Phoenix International Raceway.

“It feels so good. Been a long time coming,” said Kahne, the season’s 18th different winner.

Wrapping up a one-year deal in the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, Kahne has been the pesky fly that won’t go away as the Chase and the championship come down to the final race at Homestead. Last week at Texas, Kahne finished third behind Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards. This week, it was two positions better ahead of Edwards and Stewart, capping a late-season run that has Kahne running right with the championship contenders.

Kahne’s average finish in the nine Chase races is 7.89 — with five top fives — and he’s been the highest-finishing non-Chase driver in five of the past seven events.

“Just not giving up. I think one big thing is working with Kenny,” Kahne said of crew chief Kenny Francis. “That guy, as hard as he works, I want to work as hard and I want to do as much as I can to be up front. I know Keith (Rodden, race engineer) is the same way and all these Red Bull guys are behind him.”

As one of the longest standing driver-crew chief tandems in the Sprint Cup garage, Kahne and Francis are in their sixth season together in 2011. The two have combined for 11 wins, 38 top fives and 12 poles. They also own nonpoints victories in the 2008 All-Star event and 2010 Duels at Daytona.

“Couldn’t be prouder of the shop and Red Bull Racing,” Francis said. “As hard as these guys have worked all year … putting the cars together and building just superb equipment. I’m so proud we could win this. This is the biggest win ever for me, personally.”

The race at Phoenix, with its newly paved and reconfigured surface, came down to fuel mileage. The field pitted under the eighth and final caution period with 92 laps to go, and the race took on a one-more-stop strategy as it went green to the finish.

Kurt Busch stretched his fuel mileage a bit too far and pitted from the lead with 33 laps to go. Edwards assumed first, with Kahne in tow. And they all followed suit: Kahne pitted, Edwards, Stewart and Brad Keselowski. As the exchange cycled through, Kahne picked up about two seconds and found himself in the lead, which he held for the final 14 laps before finishing .802 seconds ahead of Edwards.

“If we didn’t have that little bit of a lead, we wouldn’t have been able to hang on,” Kahne said. “It was big to pop in there early, try to get ahead of Carl and then hang on at that point.

“We fell back a little bit early in the race and then came back and just kept getting it better. It was slippery early, but as the tires built heat and got rubber on the track, the tires came in pretty good. We just made adjustments, made the right adjustments. And the guys, they just kept working, thinking about it and they figured it out after a while. I felt Friday we were one of the best cars and by the end of the race today we were one of the best cars.”

Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth re-introduced themselves on lap 177, when Vickers’ No. 83 Red Bull Toyota connected with Kenseth’s No. 17 in turn three. Payback for the Martinsville incident, when Kenseth plowed Vickers? “I wasn’t planning on paying him back,” Vickers said. “He wrecked me at Martinsville, he got wrecked here. I’m not saying I wasn’t going to pay him back, I’m just saying that wasn’t it.”

Kenseth got the worst end of it, and the damage was bad enough to drop Vickers to the back of the lead lap. NASCAR then tagged the No. 83 with “too fast exiting” the pits late in the race, and Vickers finished one lap down in 23rd.

After qualifying 19th, 20-year-old Cole Whitt made his Sprint Cup debut in a third Red Bull Racing Team Toyota, the No. 84.

At the start of the race, the Camping World Truck Series rookie called Sunday a “big learning day.” He felt his first tight Sprint Cup car for most of the race, spun on the backstretch just past halfway and fought to get in free-pass position. Welcome to Sprint Cup with a respectable 25th-place finish.

UP NEXT: Homestead 400, Sunday, Nov. 20, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla.

- Red Bull Racing Team, Press Release

Kasey Kahne celebrates winning the 24th Annual Kobalt Tools 500, his 12th victory in 287 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Last win was Sept. 6, 2009 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This breaks an 81-race winless streak. - Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship hangs in the balance with one race left in 2011 season

(PHOENIX, Ariz.) – Kasey Kahne claimed his first victory of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season while Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart spent the afternoon in such close proximity at Phoenix International Raceway that they maintained the same three-point margin of their thrilling battle in the tightest Chase in history.

Edwards finished second to Kahne and leads by a trio of points over Stewart, who passed Jeff Burton for third place on the next to last lap. Stewart saved a point for himself by leading the most laps this afternoon.

During post-race interviews, the two drivers sat side-by-side, in similar proximity to their racing fashion during the day. They joked about settling the championship at a dirt track if they finish tied at Homestead-Miami next week in the season’s finale.

“He’s keeping me honest, and I’m keeping him honest,” said Stewart. “A lot can happen in 400 miles next week,” he added.

Proud of his team’s performance, Edwards also agreed the two teams have been terrific competitors: “It’s great to be racing Tony and their team at their best.”

Edwards also complimented PIR’s new racing surface and configuration, saying, “I think once the track sits for awhile, and we come back for the Subway Fresh Fit 500™ (in March) and also a year from now, it will be awesome. I’m a convert.”

Things started quickly in the Kobalt Tools 500 as the “Ragan and Regan Wreck” came on lap 2: David Ragan got badly loose off turn 3 and collected Regan Smith for the race’s first caution. But that was only a prelude to the two top drivers in the Chase posting their car numbers at the top of the scoring pylon. Stewart, who started eighth, passed pole sitter Matt Kenseth for the lead on lap 37, and Edwards took second from Kenseth on lap 50. But A.J. Allmendinger and Kenseth would have more to say about second place as each owned it during the first half of the race behind a dominating Stewart. Meanwhile, Edwards bided his time in the top five.

Running in fifth place, Kenseth slowed badly on laps 173-174 and was tagged from behind by Brian Vickers, the same driver who damaged the chances of the no. 17 Crown Royal Ford recently at Martinsville. Kenseth had to retire his car to the garage for repairs and limped to 34th to end his hopes for the Sprint Cup title. In fact all contenders were eliminated except for Edwards and Stewart. That included Jimmie Johnson, who came home in 14th place; it spelled the end to his team’s remarkable five straight championships since 2006.

Stewart and Edwards were left to duke it out in the top two positions with few threats except from Allmendinger and Kurt Busch. Kyle Busch’s opportunity to win went awry when his engine went sour while he ran in third place on lap 188. Kurt Busch showed the way after a lap 224 restart but lost his engine on the last pit stop almost 60 laps later.

All teams pitted for the last time under green between laps 273 and 298. And it was Kahne who came away with the lead, one he would keep. Stewart had faded slightly, loose on entry to the turns over the closing laps. But, he got around Burton in the late going to save the narrow margin in the Chase.

So, while Kahne celebrated in Gatorade Victory Lane, others were anxious to go to south Florida to settle the championship next week.

About Phoenix International Raceway
Since 1964, Phoenix International Raceway has served race fans as the premier motorsports venue in the Southwest. Be there for the Kobalt Tools 500 on November 13 to watch the brightest stars in NASCAR take on PIR’s brand new one-mile oval in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Tickets for the entire Kobalt Tools 500 weekend at Phoenix International Raceway can be purchased online at PhoenixRaceway.com/Tickets or by calling 1-866-408-RACE (7223). For more, visit PhoenixRaceway.com, Facebook.com/PhoenixRaceway and Twitter.com/PhoenixRaceway.

- Phoenix International Raceway, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

Kahne led the final 14 laps (of 312) to record his 12th career NSCS victory. It was also the first Sprint Cup Series victory at Phoenix for the Camry.

David Reutimann (seventh) also earned a top-10 result in the race at the one-mile oval.

Cole Whitt (25th) made his first career NSCS start in Sunday’s race. Other Toyota drivers in the field included Joey Logano (11th), Denny Hamlin (12th), Martin Truex Jr. (20th), Bobby Labonte (21st), Brian Vickers (23rd), Casey Mears (26th), Kyle Busch (36th), Michael McDowell (40th) and Joe Nemechek (41st).

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 1st

How does it feel to be back in victory lane? “It feels so good. It’s been a long time coming. This whole Red Bull team has done an unbelievable job to keep working hard. Kenny Francis (crew chief) keeps on it — everybody at Red Bull, the car, the Toyota engine. It was a great run today. The guys did an awesome job. We fell back a little bit early and then came back and just kept getting it better. These guys haven’t given up in the last three months. It’s been really cool. It was really, really cool. It was slippery early, but as the tires built heat and got rubber on the track, the Goodyear tires came in pretty good. It ended up being a great race. I’m really excited.”

What has been the reason for your team’s recent resurgence this season? “I think just not giving up. I think one big thing is working with Kenny Francis (crew chief). That guy, as hard as he works, I want to work as hard and I want to do as much as I can to be up front. I know Keith’s (Rodden, engineer) the same way, and all these Red Bull guys are behind him. It’s been really exciting to do that. I want to also say this to my grandma. We lost my great grandpa last week — and it’s for her and my mom. It feels good to win for sure. He was a huge fan — a huge supporter.”

What does this win mean to you and the Red Bull Racing Team? “It means a lot. Some of these guys haven’t won before and it felt like I haven’t won. Kenny (Francis, crew chief) and the whole team that’s been together for a while that’s over at Red Bull, working with the Red Bull guys. It’s been a long season. The guys haven’t given up. We keep getting better as the season goes and it takes time to finish things up and get better when you come to something new. These guys have done an unbelievable job. It feels really good to get Red Bull in victory lane — I just wanted to win for them really bad before the switch. Man, they’ve been a big part of NASCAR. I hope in some way they are still a big part of NASCAR because I know everyone really enjoys them being here.”

Was the pit stop timing your race-winning strategy? “Oh, it definitely did for me. If we didn’t have that little bit of a lead, we wouldn’t have been able to hang on. It was big to pop in there early, try to get ahead of Carl (Edwards) and then hang on at that point.”

How have you put this streak together with the pressure of knowing the team is closing down after the season? “Well, we’re lucky that everybody kept working hard and has stayed after it, preparing great race cars. We’re bringing awesome cars to the track. Brand-new car. I wouldn’t say there’s anyone out there that’s building better cars at this time. The Red Bull guys are doing an awesome job and they haven’t given up It’s tough to hear you say it’s shutting down in eight days. Over the last three months, you have one of the top-five cars in NASCAR shutting down and that’s crazy. I think it’s just the people. They haven’t given up. They’re doing a great job. We’ve been able to stay focused. I love racing. If I’m in a race car, I want to do the best that I can. Kenny Francis has given me some cars in the last few months that we’ve been able to perform with and run with Carl (Edwards) and Tony (Stewart), who have been probably the two best.”

What are your impressions of the new Phoenix race track? “To me, other than the track being slippery, and that’s a hard tire a brand-new surface, it takes time to rubber in, takes time to get old and gritty and things. So, the entry to the c orners are slippery. The car slides a little bit more than you would like. That’s part of this place. It’s actually like that with the old track, too. It’s flat when you turn off the wall. It’s somewhat of a slippery, technical track at times. As the rubber went onto the racetrack, I really think this place is cool and I think it’s only going to get better as time goes on. I think it raced probably the best I can remember a brand-new race surface racing on the first race. I think it’s only going to get better, be a pretty exciting track. I think you’re going to have a lot of the drivers, teams, fans, looking forward to racing at Phoenix, looking forward to coming to Phoenix twice a year.”

What is the difference between your performance the results of your teammate Brian Vickers this year? “I think coming to Red Bull, it was exciting for me. It was something new, a change. I was really looking forward to coming over here and having one strong year here. I’ve been able to work with Kenny (Francis, crew chief) and Keith (Rodden, engineer). We just keep trying to get a little bit better each week. They keep trying to give me things to make me be able to go around the track as fast as I can. I’m not sure how Brian (Vickers) and those guys go at it, but he’s been a great teammate. Ryan Pemberton (No. 83 crew chief) has been great to work with. Always has a ton of enthusiasm. They’re both in victory lane after the race congratulating us. They’re right there in all of our debriefs and things. It’s been a lot of fun working with those guys. Like I said, I was excited to go to Red Bull this year, to be able to have fun and have a good teammate and work with a lot of good people over there. It’s been cool. It’s been a lot of fun.”

KENNY FRANCIS, crew chief, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team

How was your view of the race? “From the pit box, the track changed a lot. It wasn’t really surprising. I think everyone knew it was going to do something, we just didn’t know what. Everyone was kind of guessing. We started, went in one direction, then had to turn around and go back in the other direction to get the car to work. All in all we made a lot of adjustments on the car. Actually got it reasonable and pretty fast at the end. So we were pretty happy with it.”

What are your impressions of the new Phoenix race track? “For my part of the question, what kind of information we had to work with. We had the test back in October where we gathered a lot of information, ran a lot of laps here. Kind of got an idea what we thought the car kind of liked as far as the setup, which was different than what we had run here in the past, because we ran good here in the spring here on the old track that was completely different from that. We felt like it was sort of similar to Loudon and we used that kind of as a basis for our thoughts. We raced a different setup than we tested. We raced a different setup than Loudon. You’re thinking in those kind of directions. Once we started the race, we knew the track was going to be a lot different than how we practiced. We knew it was going to change through the day, we just didn’t know what it was going to do. We we re fortunate to be able to adjust correctly and get our car pretty good.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 7th

How was your race? “We had a good race today in the TUMS Toyota. The new layout and surface made things a little interesting, but we qualified in the top-10 and we were able to stay up there all day long. I’m proud of the crew guys for the job they did today. They really stuck with me and turned out some great pit stops. And, I have to thank Pat Tryson (interim crew chief) for stepping in to help us out — he called a great race today. This team is capable of racing like this all the time, but for one reason or another we just haven’t shown it much this year. This is a great group of guys! Probably one of the best in the garage and they have been with me a long time. We have one more week together and I was to go out on a high note at Homestead.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 11th

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 12th

What are your thoughts on the race track? “Nobody could pass anyone — so it was really, really difficult from that aspect. We did the best that we could with what we had. We just missed the set-up pretty bad today. We just didn’t run that well.”

Was there a problem with the front end of your race car after the race? “(I) was running in off that apron. Just trying to get a look and see if it bent the splitter or anything. It looks like it just got side skirts and that was about it.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 20th

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Wounded Warrior Project Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 21st

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 23rd

COLE WHITT, No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 25th

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 26th

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 36th

Did you have any warning that something was wrong with your race car? “No, no indication this time, just a catastrophic failure. Just really, really unfortunate, too. These guys work their butts off two weeks in a row — all season long. It’s just devastating. To go through turmoil like this, all you can do is group together and pull through it and try to persevere and move on. We have one more chance, one more opportunity next week to win a race before the year is out to end it on a high note. Look forward to next year with everything going on. Can’t say enough about all these guys on this Interstate Batteries team this weekend, too. Changing the engine, starting behind, coming through, how to worry about qualifying and just getting in the show. All the way to third, you know, we had a shot. We were there. It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to finish the race today.”

What happened to your race car? “Catastrophic engine failure. It’s terrible to have one in a weekend, let alone two in a weekend. I can’t say enough about this whole team. All these Interstate Batteries guys do such a phenomenal job and you know, it’s times like these where you feel like you’re down in the dumps and all you can do is try to pull together, persevere and move on through it. It’s certainly a tough few weeks and all we can do is look forward to next week at Homestead. It’s the season finale, but it’s a great opportunity for us to go out there and win a race in the final outing and get ready to build upon for 2012. Again, I hate it for these guys. They just don’t deserve this. All we can do is work forward.”

How did the track evolve during the race? “It’s slick. Man, you’re on tip-toes all the time. It’s tough, it’s very tough but some of us make it look easy, but it might be because we’re all considered the best in the business. Again, that’s a great point. I can’t say enough about my guys for giving me a great race car, too. We were up to third, we battled through the field and up from the back pack. We were running third there behind the 14 (Tony Stewart) and 99 (Carl Edwards) — the two championship contenders — we were right there with those guys having our own story battling out front and possibly having a shot for the win, which meant a lot to these guys.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, HP Racing Finishing Position: 40th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 41st

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

Kasey Kahne celebrates winning the 24th Annual Kobalt Tools 500, his 12th victory in 287 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Last win was Sept. 6, 2009 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This breaks an 81-race winless streak. - Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

Kahne, who broke a 81-race winless streak, received his 1st series win of the 2011 season, his 12th series career win and his first series win at Phoenix International Raceway.

With Edwards finishing in second and Stewart third (and leading the most laps) brings the two drivers coming to the final race of the season (Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway) with the same 3-point deficit for Stewart, and the battle for the championship coming down to the two of them (all others have been eliminated).

Following Kahne, Edwards and Stewart was Jeff Burton finishing in the fourth position, Ryan Newman finishing fifth, AJ Allmendinger sixth, David Reutimann seventh, Marcos Ambrose eighth, Paul Menard ninth and Clint Bowyer rounds out the top-ten finishing positions.

RACE NOTES:

Average Speed: 112.918 MPH
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 45 Mins, 47 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.802 Seconds
Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers
Cautions: 8 for 30 laps
Attendance: 85,000

Unofficial Top-Twelve in the Points Standings: 1. Carl Edwards – 2359 (Leader) 2. Tony Stewart – 2356 (-3 Points Behind the Leader) 3. Kevin Harvick – 2308 (-51) 4. Brad Keselowski – 2294 (-65) 5. Jimmie Johnson – 2291 (-68) 6. Matt Kenseth –  2289 (-70) 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2257 (-102) 8. Kurt Busch – 2252 (-107) 9. Ryan Newman – 2252 (-107) 10. Denny Hamlin – 2249 (-110) 11. Jeff Gordon – 2247 (-112) 12. Kyle Busch – 2224 (-135).

Next Up: The final race of the season with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 20th, with ESPN beginning their (pre-race) television coverage at 2:00 PM (ET).

2011 NSCS Kobalt Tools 500(k) Race Results

(i) Ineligible for Points in this Series
# Denotes Rookie

Toyota Motorsports Logo

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 5th

How was your qualifying lap? “Hairy to say the least. Slick as slick as slick out there, it’s a lot slicker than yesterday. We ran at least two-tenths quicker yesterday in race trim, so that just tells you how slick the track is. We were really good in race trim yesterday with our NAPA Toyota and we were off in qualifying and the guys made a lot of changes for qualifying. Based on the speed, it was an improvement. The feel wasn’t any good, but the speed was good so we’ll take that.”

How did the track feel in qualifying? “Slick, we really haven’t been on this track all weekend with the sun on it. This track, since it’s been paved, it’s been changing a lot as we run and put rubber down. When you run all weekend and it’s cloudy and changing a lot and then the sun pops out, you really know it’s going to change a lot. It’s just really slick out there right now.”

Can your team be a Chase contender in 2012? “You know, I’d like to think we can. We’ve worked very, very hard. Everybody at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) has worked very hard on this NAPA car. We’ve had a lot of speed this season, we’ve just beaten ourselves a little bit here and there. We’ve had a lot of tough luck. If we can correct those little things, I think we have the speed and the people and the equipment to do it. It’s just a matter of time and we’ll have to wait and see.”

How much do you want a win in 2012? “A win this year would be huge, it’s not over yet. We have two great tracks — here and Homestead — for me. That would be good to be able to win before the season is out. We’ve been in position this year to have a shot at winning two or three of these things and we just haven’t taken advantage of it. Like I said, we’ve had good speed in our cars, especially here lately and it’s just a matter of us racing smarter, being better prepared and making better decisions. I’m confident in this team that we can get the job done. I feel like we have a great race car for tomorrow. I was worried about qualifying, and now that we’re up somewhere towards the front, I feel really good about tomorrow. Homestead last year was probably our best run of the year. We led a bunch until we got a flat. I’m looking forward to going there. It would be awesome to close the year out with a win.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 7th

How was your car in qualifying? “It wasn’t so good. We were loose and not very good. Disappointing for sure. It’s a bit tough to figure out right now.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 10th

What do you think of the changes to this race track? “The track is great. It just needs rubber on it. When you start qualifying at the beginning of the day there’s not a lot of rubber, so it’s really slippery. Tomorrow’s race it will get better and better as the race goes on. It’s a pretty cool track. It’s neat what they did to it.”

How was your car handling during qualifying? “I just slid a little bit there. I’m still pretty happy with it. I think for tomorrow we should be in good shape and look forward to the race. Just trying to stay out of trouble early on and then I think we’ll be able to race pretty good.” – more -

How good does it feel to put together a string of strong finishes the last several races? “It feels great. It has been really nice how strong our Red Bull Toyotas have been. It has been a lot of fun driving them. We want to win. We haven’t yet, but we’ve been really close. We’ll just stay after it and try to get a win here, and just keep it around the top-five.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 18th

How was your car during your qualifying run? “It was all over the place. The track is just very slick right now. We were to loose for qualifying. We had such a good car yesterday, such a bummer because I thought we had a shot at the pole but the track has changed so much that I think whoever really gets lucky, maybe they ended up sketchy or whatever. I still think we have a really good car for the race once the grip comes back into the race track when there’s a lot of cars on it.”

What type of racing will we see Sunday? “I think in general it’s going to be a good race. The track really seems to come in yesterday when there’s a lot of cars on it, more so than I anticipated. If you get out of the groove, you’re going to be in trouble though. If you get out of the groove, I think there’s going to be a lot of wrecks.”

COLE WHITT, No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 19th

How was your qualifying lap? “It was a good lap. I got in on the first one – so that was enough for me. When they told me that we were in it was just kind of get the next one a little bit faster and pick up a couple spots. It was a great effort for us. I got to thank Red Bull for giving me the chance to even be out here to do this. Hopefully, we can impress some people and go to Homestead.”

How has the experience been this weekend driving the Sprint Cup car? “It’s been pretty crazy. I haven’t gotten much sleep — I can tell you that. More than anything, just happy to have the opportunity to be here. Between Toyota and Red Bull Racing, we wouldn’t be here. I got to thank those guys for giving me a chance to prove myself and make something for next year.”

When did you find out you were going to try to qualify for the Sprint Cup race? “To go to Phoenix — we’ve only had about a week-and-a-half to get ready. It’s been a little nerve-racking getting down here. We were pretty focused on going to Homestead. Then we found we had to come here to even go there (Homestead). Just trying to keep up with how everything changes.”

Will you be racing in Homestead? “I can’t say yes right now. But, I think with the way that we’ve already started here with yesterday and today – I think they would probably consider it for sure.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 25th

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Wounded Warrior Project Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 31st

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 32nd

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 33rd

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 34th

How will Sunday’s race be on the new track configuration? “I don’t know. I think a few of us are a little skeptical about it. We’ll see. Our qualifying run meant nothing to us. We have to start in the back anyways. Just to get a couple good laps to see where it puts us, see where we stack up with everybody. I definitely did not get everything out of that car that I could have and it was still on edge and difficult to drive. We’ll see what it ends up being with everybody out here today and put it back in race trim and get ready for tomorrow.”

How important is your race team? “Most importantly, I can’t say enough about my guys and everybody on this Joe Gibbs Racing team and Interstate Batteries and Toyota and all the folks that are here with us this weekend. Everybody always says our team works so hard, I think they’ve proven they work harder than anybody else out here with last week and of course having to change an engine first thing yesterday and doing everything we had to do to get back up to speed yesterday during practice to at least get time on the race track in the first session to get some notes put together and some plans for the second session. That helped us a lot.”

How will you be able to work through the field at a track like Phoenix? “It’s going to be really, really hard to work through the field because right now it’s a single lane and it’s very slick. We’ll see how it plays out. The more heat we get on the track, the more time that we make laps around here, the better the track is. It’ll be better the more the race gets going, but certainly the first few laps of tomorrow’s race is going to be pretty treacherous.”

How was your qualifying lap? “Our qualifying lap meant absolutely nothing to us. We have to start in the back anyways. Pit road is new here and it’s wider and the pit stalls are pretty lengthy, so I don’t think pit selection means a whole lot. It’s about getting a solid lap in, not tearing up the car and not doing anything dumb and getting ready for tomorrow. It was slick, I’ll tell you that. I only drive 70 percent and I already still had my hands full.”

How do you think the tires will hold up in Sunday’s race? “I would say look at Loudon mostly, Loudon is definitely a track position race. A lot of guys would just stay on their tires for 150 laps and not do anything, just put gas in the car so they can keep going.”

What does it take to be fast at Homestead? “It’s been a good track to us in the first third of a race, but then in the last second third it’s been tough. I like going to Homestead. To be fast there, you have to be able to get your car comfortable getting into the corner — that’s the biggest thing. The corners there, you can build so much speed through them that you have to be comfortable carrying that speed into the corner just as much as coming out of it.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, HP Racing Starting Position: 35th

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: 38th

How was your car in qualifying? “It was all over the place. We were really — conditions are a lot different. Everybody is fighting the track being slick. We were definitely way to loose for these conditions. We worked on race trim all the first practice when it was probably going to be closer to these conditions. Then the qualifying runs last night when it was nice and cool and the track had a lot of grip. Going out right now it was a lot different. We were loose.”

SCOTT RIGGS, No. 23 Toyota Camry Starting Position: DNQ

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

2011 Red Bull Racing Teammates Brian Vickers & Kasey Kahne - Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

DRIVERS:

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Chase held to form Sunday. There were two cars … and Kasey Kahne.

Kahne again had a front-row seat for the championship fight between race winner Tony Stewart and points leader Carl
Edwards. While those two finished 1-2 in the AAA Texas 500, Kahne was right behind in third. Right where he’s usually been in the 10-race Chase.

“I watched Tony and Carl. They’re going for it,” Kahne said. “Tony raced me as hard as he ever raced me. I had to race as hard as I could. They’re trying to get as many points as they can. It’s intense trying to win these races right now.”

Aside from Stewart and Edwards, no driver has performed better in the Chase than non-Chaser Kahne. Four times in the past six races he has been the highest-finishing non-Chase driver. He has a sixth, two fourths, a three and a second and only once has finished outside the top 15.

The timing of the race’s second caution worked in Kahne’s favor. The No. 4 Red Bull Toyota safely made it off pit road just as an incident involving Geoffrey Bodine and Juan Pablo Montoya unfolded on the backstretch. Lead-lap cars came in to pit, leaving Kahne on point. He led twice for five laps, later dropped to eighth after a four-tire stop and climbed to third at the finish. 

“The car was just a little bit too loose to get much further than that,” Kahne said. “We were battling there with Tony, who I felt was definitely the best car throughout the whole race. We battled with him for a while. Track position was a big deal. Even on those long runs it would get spread out. The guy out front could make up some ground. You needed to be as close to the front as possible.

“We just weren’t quite as good as the 14 (Stewart) and the 99 (Edwards) there at the end. They were a little better than us, but we were close. We were there all day and it was a good race.”

No. 83 driver Brian Vickers chased track position during long green-flag runs that consumed the first two-thirds of the race. It had been a slow climb to the top 15 and under the third caution, Vickers made contact with Kurt Busch’s No.
22 entering the pits, which proved costly at the high-speed, aero-dependent track.

“Car was great at the beginning. We picked them off one by one. We were making progress,” Vickers said. “The pit crew was awesome today, but I made a mistake and hit the 22 car coming into pit road and that really messed up the aero of the car.”

The No. 83 Red Bull Toyota cycled to as high as fourth during a late run to the finish, but like all the others Vickers was forced to pit — he finished 21st — and hand over the show to Stewart and Edwards … and Kahne.

UP NEXT: Kobalt Tools 500, Sunday, Nov. 13, Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.

- Red Bull Racing Team, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 6th

How was your car in qualifying? “It’s good. We were a little bit tight in turn four and it cost us some speed. We fought that a little bit in practice. Overall, it’s a decent lap, just not quite enough for what we wanted to do.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 9th

How was your car in qualifying? “It was good. The guys did a good job. We’re just a little bit tight and I missed it a little bit, but we were really close and the car has felt great ever since we got here.”

What were you looking at on your car after your qualifying run? “I was looking all the skirts and kind of the travels and things to see where we were. Everything was really nice, we just needed a little bit more.”

How will you approach practice for Sunday’s race? “We’ll try to be as smart about it as we can when we practice compared to when we race and how we go into the night and how things change. We’re trying to be prepared and have some good adjustments in the car built in so we can keep up with the track on Sunday afternoon.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 17th

How was your qualifying lap? “The balance wasn’t bad on our M&M’s Camry. We just lacked a little bit of speed there on our lap. We were pretty happy with the car in race trim in practice earlier today, so we’ll work on it tomorrow morning in practice and hopefully have a good race car for Sunday.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 19th

How was your qualifying lap? “We were about like practice, just too loose.”

What do you need to do to get ready for Sunday’s race? “Well, tomorrow will be a whole different story. You know, we take the tape off and have to be good for a tire run and fuel run instead of just one lap. Hopefully that will go better tomorrow in our NAPA Toyota.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 20th

How was your qualifying effort? “It was good. I was tight coming back to the line in turn four. I think that’s where I lost most of my time. I felt really good about one and two, just got too tight on three and four. I was hoping for a little bit better lap.”

Do you like qualifying on Friday and having more practice on Saturday? “I like the schedule we have here. If we’re going to run three-day shows, I think we should do a practice and qualifying and then two more practices on Saturday and then race on Sunday. The two practices, and then qualify on Saturday and race Sunday, we should just do two-day shows. If you really want to save the sport, do two-day shows instead of three-day shows and I think in that scenario I think two practices, qualify and race is good, but this year they started doing some of the racks did two on Friday, qualify on Saturday and race Sunday and Saturday just seems like a waste just to come in for two laps. I’m pretty happy with the Red Bull Toyota. It was good in practice. I liked to have been a little bit better in qualifying trim, but that’s alright.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 25th

How was your car in qualifying? “We’re struggling for speed right now. Even race trim, the car just doesn’t have a whole bunch of speed in it right now, so trying to find something. Working on stuff here and there. Going to be practice tomorrow. Hopefully we find something there.”

What do you need to do to get ready for Sunday’s race? “Well, tomorrow will be a whole different story. You know, we take the tape off and have to be good for a tire run and fuel run instead of just one lap. Hopefully that will go better tomorrow in our NAPA Toyota.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 28th

How was your car in qualifying? “We’re just struggling for speed. We are half-a-second off pretty much all day and just still can’t find where the speed is at. I’m driving the car pretty aggressively — it just doesn’t have any speed at the moment. It’s pretty typical for us in qualifying here.”

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Wounded Warrior Project Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 32nd

How was your qualifying lap? “We just kind of scratch our heads a little bit. It felt like it was going to be faster than that. We only made two qualifying runs during practice and the second one we made felt like it was going to be faster and never was and this one felt like it would be faster, too and wasn’t. I don’t know if we have something just not helping ourselves speed-wise or what. The car felt pretty good. I used a ton of throttle and no brake and free-rolled pretty good. I don’t know. I’m a little confused as to why we didn’t go any faster — at least a .10th or so.”

What do you need to do to prepare for Sunday’s race? “We just have a lot of things that we did this morning. We really concentrated on our race trim package a little bit and then we did our qualifying package. Tried three or four different big things and I think we have some ideas there that will be beneficial for us on Sunday.”

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: 33rd

How was your qualifying effort? “It was okay. It’s a new car for us, so it’s been a better weekend in general for us. Ended up a little bit tight right there in qualifying. Ended up just off the bottom, so we lost a good 10th just being off the bottom of the race track. It’s not bad. I’m looking forward to seeing what it has in race trim tomorrow.”

Did you damage the splitter? “No. I just wanted to see how hard the splitter hit and it didn’t hit that hard. Just too tight in general and we’ll just see where it goes from here.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Starting Position: 35th

How was your qualifying effort? “It’s so fast around here at Texas Motor Speedway. Turn one and two is actually kind of shaded right now, which we weren’t expecting, so a lot of grip in the race track. The HP Racing Toyota Camry is pretty good. Just hit the splitter a little bit in three and four, but I had a pretty good lap going. I was feeling pretty good getting into three and just drove it in a bit too far, but thankful to get in the race and we’ll be out there on Sunday.”

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 40th

How do you feel to be locked into the field? “Well, you know the crew chief is on the radio with me and talking and he’s like, ‘I’ll tell you if you’re locked in after your first lap,’ but he never said anything. That’s the time you’re going into turn one, so I just tried to get everything I could. He never said anything and just thank goodness I picked it up just a tick on my second lap and we’re in the show.”

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

Hamlin led the field twice for 58 laps and Kyle Busch was at the front of the field four times for a race-high 126 laps.

Camry drivers Martin Truex Jr. (eighth) and Casey Mears (12th) also recorded top-15 finishes at Martinsville.

Other Toyota drivers in the field included Joey Logano (18th), David Reutimann (20th), Kasey Kahne (25th), Kyle Busch (27th), Brian Vickers (30th), Bobby Labonte (32nd), Michael McDowell (39th), Joe Nemechek (41st) and Mike Skinner (43rd).

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 5th

Are you pleased with a fifth-place finish? “We didn’t run fifth — that’s where we finished, but we had a great race car today. I felt like the best car most of the day. It’s just so tough starting on that outside line. You can’t get down and when you can’t get down you just have to wait until there’s a hole. We had to wait until we got back to about 10th or so before we could find a hole, and that’s when we had to come back forward.”

How difficult was it to restart in the outside line? “It’s tough. Everyone out there — you can see it. Whoever starts on the inside line goes forward and whoever is on the outside goes backwards. We thought it was a blessing that last stop when we beat the 24 (Jeff Gordon) out — the pit crew did an amazing job getting us out. It was the dagger for us because it put us on the outside line with those guys that stayed out. We just needed to start on the bottom one of two of those restarts — then we would have been fine.”

Did the multiple restarts late in the race hurt your chances? “They killed us. There was one point where I caught the 31 (Jeff Burton) right before that last restart and I knew a caution was coming. I said, ‘Man, I have to get around him because he’s going to start on the inside line.’ The caution came right as I got beside him. When I needed to go I could go, but the fastest car doesn’t always win. We know that in this sport. It’s strategy and things like that play into it. I was lapping Tony (Stewart) 100 laps ago. Frustrating day, but that’s how it goes.”

Did it feel good to have such a strong car? “It feels great to be fast. To be competitive like we were today — it’s a great feeling. Every time I step into this car at Martinsville — Mike (Ford, crew chief) and the guys have got me a car that I can win with. That’s all I can ask for. Whether I come through and win or not — sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t.”

Did the race feel like it was out of control at times? “There’s a point and it’s almost like it’s out of control. Eventually, someone’s going to get hurt in this whole thing because we keep sending guys in the corner and in the wall. These are deadly machines. Everyone who gets run into then pound the guy that runs into him. Eventually, there’s nothing good that’s going to happen from everyone to keep retaliating like this.”

Was it a crazy race — even for Martinsville? “For Martinsville for sure. People just have no regard. I would get into guys and then I know it’s coming — I’m going to get slammed in the next corner. It’s just one of those things where it’s frustrating to watch because you see some of these cars getting torn up on accidents. Accidents happen and some these drivers need to realize that.”

What happened when you spun on lap eight? “There were some anxious cars up in front of us and they got together. When they did, we got caught in it. We locked up the brakes and someone hit us from behind. It’s a small enough track to where the speed was slow enough and we knew we didn’t have much damage, so we knew we still had a car that was capable of winning.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 8th

Are you pleased with a top-10 finish at Martinsville? “This is by far my toughest track. I want to thank Pat Tryson (crew chief) for helping us out this weekend and the rest of my NAPA team for stepping up and making it through a very tough week. I’m so proud of my team. My biggest challenge today was all the restarts. I pretty much lined up on the outside for all but two or three of them. Fortunately, I was on the inside for the one that counted the most — the last one. It was pretty crazy out there so I’m happy to end up eighth. We’ll take eighth and go to Texas.” – more -

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 12th

How does it feel to get your best finish of the season? “I’m so proud of all the guys on this GEICO racing team. We’ve known all year that we could run this well and it’s a nice feeling to have two weeks in a row where we have run up front. I want to thank Bob Germain (team owner) for giving us the chance this afternoon and we are making great strides as a team. Bootie (Barker, crew chief) and all the guys on this team deserve a lot of credit.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 18th

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 20th

How was your race? “What a day. We fought hard and tried to get everything we could. We got spun early, lost a lap, battled back and just kept at it. Once we got back on the lead lap we tried to take a couple chances late to gain track position to get the Aaron’s Dream Machine up front, but we got hung on the outside on old tires and couldn’t keep it on the second to last restart. Then we restarted 18th on new tires with three laps to go and cut a tire. Luckily, we only fell one spot and we finished in the top -20. Not our best day, but far from our worst — I just wish we could have done a little better. I want to thank all the crew guys for giving it everything they had today. We battled all day and I’m proud of that. Now I’m ready to get to Texas — that’s one of my favorite races all year.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 25th

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 27th

DAVE ROGERS, crew chief, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How was the race today? “I’m really pleased with most of the race. This M&M’s Toyota Camry was really fast. We led the most laps again — this is the second time this year that we’ve led the most laps at Martinsville. We’re going to get a clock from here one day, but it’s not going to be today. Really proud of Kyle (Busch) for the way he raced today on the race track and then the way he handled adversity when adversity struck. There’s just hard racing at the end there. The 17 (Matt Kenseth) got into us coming off turn two — I don’t know if he cut his right-front (tire) or not. Then got into turn three and 17 (Matt Kenseth) had his tires locked up and drove into our left rear quarter. I’d like to think it’s good, hard, clean racing at Martinsville and we’re a victim of circumstance at a short track. It caught Kyle by surprise and he didn’t know he was going to take a shot in the left rear and he did. Unfortunately, we backed one in and then we made some errors on pit road. Our day was done as soon as we made contact, but we were trying to salvage as many laps as we could. We made some errors there and we’ll take a look at the tape and talk about it as a group and see what we can do better.”

What happened when the wheel came loose? “What happened is the right front tire changer was working on the right front and to speed up time, the rear changer comes over and knocks the lug nuts off the left side. So there was no lug nuts on the wheel and I knew that and initially it was, ‘Hey, let’s not lose a lap, let’s try to stay.’ My fault — trying to get too greedy. I should have just took the one-lap, two-lap penalty and got what we could. I didn’t and instead I initially told Kyle that we were going to try to beat the pace car off. They started putting the lugs back on the left front and all heck broke loose. So much went on that I can’t remember what happened.”

Do you chalk your bad luck today to just short track racing at Martinsville? “It’s not this place — it’s life. In life you have to go through tests and last year we were in the Chase and we had a number of tests come our way and quite frankly, we didn’t handle them that well. I think that as a team we’ve handled a lot of tests this year really well, but none in the Chase. Now the Chase comes and we’ve been dealt a lot of tests and I’m really proud of how this team has handled it. I haven’t seen people bow their heads. I haven’t seen people complaining. I haven’t seen Kyle get frustrated. We just go to the race track and work as hard as we can. This is another one of those tests and it clearly hurts any realistic shot at winning a championship this year. There’s still a chance — we won’t give up, but realistically we know it’s over. But in the end — a year from now, two years from now, 10 years from now — this will make us better people and a better race team and that’s how you go forward.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 30th

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Scott Products Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 32nd

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, HP Racing Finishing Position: 39th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Pellet & Wood Stoves Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 41st

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

Kasey Kahne Giving Teammate Brian Vickers Drafting Assistance at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — There was no Tango or Mambo. No Samba or Rumba. Rather, Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne danced the Talladega Two Step all the way to Red Bull Racing Team’s best combined finish in the organization’s fiveyear history.

Vickers finished fifth and Kahne sixth in Sunday’s Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Before the combined total of 11, the team had two 13’s to show for itself — the most recent coming last April when Kahne finished third and Vickers 10th at Richmond.

Restrictor-plate racing at NASCAR’s biggest and fastest track has evolved into mini two-car packs — a 180 from the one mega pack that made Talladega famous and infamous at the same time. These days, a single dancing partner is the fastest way around the 2.66-mile layout.

Naturally, the two Red Bull Toyotas were partners from the very start. Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and the two pulled and pushed each other into the top five within 10 laps. They were inseparable and at one point — with 59 laps to go — became too close.

Kahne made a move for the lead to the outside of the Robby Gordon-Trevor Bayne tandem. Vickers followed, but his No. 83 tagged the team car, sending Kahne’s No. 4 spinning down the frontstretch. “Sorry about that, Kasey,” Vickers radioed to Kahne. “You pulled out so quick, I just turned you around.”

No harm. Kahne didn’t hit anything and kept the car straight. Both cars pitted and reconnected soon after under green. They restarted in the back, but were back in the top five within 17 laps. Their final pit stop, under the race’s seventh caution, put them back in 30th and 32nd and within eight laps were the third tandem in line.

After a five-car accident in turn two, the ninth and final yellow flag waved with seven laps to go set up a green-whitecheckered finish. Vickers and Kahne restarted third and fourth, but had nothing for the lead tandem of race winner Clint Bowyer and teammate Jeff Burton. And a second tandem — Dave Blaney and Brad Keselowski — stole third and fourth.

“This racing is nerve-wracking. Takes about two hours to go to sleep after this. Your mind is going 100 miles per hour,” said Vickers, a former Talladega winner who earned his third top five of the season and fourth at the track.

“The Red Bull team did a great job working together. Either Kasey was the leader or I was in the lead. We had to go to the back like four or five times and always made it back to the front. We just didn’t have enough at the end. Guys got on our door and the 33 (Bowyer) and 31 (Burton) got away. They were strong all day. So we knew they were going to be tough at the end.”

For Kahne, it was his 13th top 10 of the season and fifth consecutive finish of sixth or better. Never in his eight-year Sprint Cup career (284 races) has Kahne put together so many solid showings in a row.

“We worked well all day with Brian. Great communication between both Red Bull teams,” Kahne said. “Once we got together we could work our way up front. This team continues to work hard, and we have been so close the last few weekends. Just needed a little more for one of us to win, but this momentum is good for us and for the entire Red Bull organization.”

The Red Bull Toyotas combined to lead five times for seven laps, a mere footnote as there were 72 lead changes among 26 drivers.

Kahne improved to 14th in the driver standings. He’s 19 points behind Bowyer in 13th — the highest position a non- Chaser can achieve. Vickers remained 25th in points with four races remaining.

UP NEXT: Tums Fast Relief 500, Sunday, Oct. 30, Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.

- Red Bull Racing Team, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

Camry drivers Kasey Kahne (sixth), Denny Hamlin (eighth), Michael Waltrip (ninth) and Martin Truex Jr. (10th) also claimed top-10 finishes in the 188-lap race.

The Camrys of Vickers (three), Kahne (four), Waltrip (one) and Kyle Busch (five) all led laps in the 500-mile race.

Other Toyota drivers in the field included David Reutimann (13th), Casey Mears (17th), Joey Logano (24th), Busch (33rd), Bobby Labonte (35th), Michael McDowell (40th), Joe Nemechek (41st) and Kevin Conway (43rd).

Busch dropped two positions and is now sixth in the unofficial NSCS point standings — 40 points behind leader Carl Edwards – after six of 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup races. Hamlin moved up one spot to 11th in the standings — 84 points behind the leader.

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 5th

How was your race today? “It was a long day. This racing is nerve-wracking. It takes about two hours to go to sleep after this because your mind is going 100 miles-per-hour. The Red Bull Camrys did a great job working together today. Kasey (Kahne) and I — whether he was in the lead or I was in the lead — we had to go to the back four or five times, but we always got back to the front. We got hooked up there at the end and some of the guys got on our door and the 33 (Clint Bowyer) and the 31 (Jeff Burton) were able to get away. Them and the 42 (Juan Pablo Montoya) and the 1 (Jamie McMurray) were the only pairs that could pass on the outside so we knew they were all going to be strong today coming to the end.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 6th

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 8th

How did the race play out? “It was one of those races where it was just one of those days. The guy we had worked out to work with didn’t work out at all, so obviously there’s 43 cars and I was the three — I was the odd one for the whole race. The best I can describe it is we were stuck without a date to the prom, so I was just hitting on everyone’s mom.”

MIKE FORD, crew chief, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What happened to your plans to partner with Ryan Newman? “You would have to ask them. That’s a question for them. We had a game plan going in and it didn’t work out that way, so you have to ask them.”

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 15 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 9th

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 10th

Did you feel like you had a chance at the win on the final restart? “We were right where we needed to be. I thought we had it. For whatever reason, David (Reutimann) and I just couldn’t stay together when it mattered most. We really needed this. We’ve had good cars this season, but not a lot to show for it especially over the last couple of races. I’m really happy. We almost had the win.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 13th

How was your race today? “We had a pretty solid day in the Aaron’s Dream Machine. I thought we were going to be a little better there at the end, but we just couldn’t stay hooked to Martin’s (Truex Jr.) bumper in the closing laps and that hurt us a bit. We had good stops and a good strategy and the entire crew did their part to put us in contention at the end.”

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 17th

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 24th

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 33rd

DAVE ROGERS, crew chief, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What caused the accident? “It looked like the 9 (Marcos Ambrose) car got a little impatient coming to the tri-oval and he’s trying to push his teammate, the 43 (AJ Allmendinger), which is the name of the game around here, but he jacked the 43 up pretty good, got his rear wheels of the ground it looks like and that turned the 43 across our nose. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wish there was a recipe that we could tell Kyle (Busch) to let him know where to be when we race in Talladega, but it’s so hard to say. The 99 (Carl Edwards) and 48 (Jimmie Johnson), they rode out back and finished. We were up towards the front and we got wrecked out. It’s so hard to know where you need to be and this race is so circumstantial, but our M&M’s Toyota Camry was really strong. I felt we were really good when we were hooked up with the 20 (Joey Logano) and then when we hooked up with the 11 (Denny Hamlin) we had really good speed. I thought we were going to be a contender at the end, but unfortunately we got taken out a little prematurely. Just really proud of this M&M’s crew. We had a lot of work to do and they got the car out there fairly quick and we picked up five, six spots just with our crash repairs, so that’s the silver lining of the day.”

What is your perspective moving forward? “The mindset doesn’t change. We sat down in December and we said, ‘We’re going to race every lap, every race as hard as we can and try to lead as many laps and win as many races as we can.’ That’s what it takes to win this championship. I don’t know — everyone asks that question, ‘How is the mindset? How is the mindset’ I’m a racer. I want to go to Martinsville and I want to sit on the pole, I want to lead every lap and I want to win the race. That was my mindset four hours ago and it’s going to be my mindset in six, seven days. We’re going to try to lead every lap and win every race from here on out and wherever that puts us in the points at the end of the year, we’ll take it.”

Are you proud of the way your crew fixed the car? “Yeah, I am. Absolutely. There were a lot of repairs to be done — all four corners of that car, the suspension and body were damaged. We got out there in a timely fashion and picked up spots. It was a team improvement and I was pleased.”

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Scott Products Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 35th

What happened in the accident? “It just a product of it sometimes when you get late in the race and pushing real hard like that, so got turned around. Couldn’t hold onto it at that point in time. That was not what we wanted to see.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Finishing Position: 40th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Pellet & Wood Stoves Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 41st

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 97 Extenze Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 41st

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 97 Extenze Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 20th

How was your qualifying lap? “We were real happy with the lap that we got for our Extenze Toyota Camry. For a small team like NEMCO Motorsports to come out and put an effort out against the mega teams — for a small handful of guys, it’s a really solid lap for us and we’re excited about tomorrow. It will give us a good starting spot and locks us into the show.”

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Scott Products Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Starting Position: 21st

How was your qualifying lap? “It’s kind of one of these things at Daytona and Talladega — it’s what these guys do to it to make the car go fast. I feel like what they did in preparation and getting it to this point was obviously the key and that made it be faster than some other guys. The race is a whole different strategy and a whole different thing, but hopefully it will be good.”

How do you think the rule changes will affect the racing? “I don’t know — at least we have cool weather this weekend so it probably won’t make that much of a difference. I think that as the race evolve and NASCAR makes a change, the teams are really smart and they always come up with a way to get better when they are presented with an issue like water pressure. It’s going to be hard to say because in a pack of 40 tomorrow will be different than what we practiced yesterday.”

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 15 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 23rd

How did your car feel in qualifying? “It’s good. I can tell it’s got great power — it never really runs out of power, which when you qualify at 170-something and race at 200 (miles per hour), you better not run out of power at 170 or something or you’re going to be in trouble when they throw the green because of the increase in speed. You can really feel the engine wanting to keep going and it’s a great feeling. Looking forward to tomorrow.”

What does it mean to run the special paint scheme this weekend? “It’s just an honor to say congratulations to my brother and it’s an honor to have shared some of the memories that we have together. I’ve never taken anything for granted. I’ve always just been a really thankful person. He (Darrell Waltrip) is the reason why I got to race cars. Maybe I would have thought of it on my own — I don’t know, but ever since I’ve been on this earth he’s been racing a car, so when I was born he was 16 and that meant he wa s out and on. I’ve admired him. I looked up to him. I respected him and I always wanted to be like him. The cool thing was that some 40 years later he never has let me down and he’s always been that guy that I wanted to be like. It’s just fun to say thank you.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 26th

How was your car in qualifying? “It seemed alright. That was the first time we made a lap by ourselves. It feels so slow on this big of a race track. You just kind of go around. But I think that was a pretty good lap for a Toyota to this point. I think we are one of the better ones as far as just single lap speed. Feels good to have a good car. We were really good in the draft yesterday. I look forward to that tomorrow.”

What do you think about before the race Sunday? “Just how to make sure you do the best you can in keeping the cars hooked together. Just all the little things you learn throughout the year doing this type of racing. Just trying to do it right and not make mistakes or not put yourself in a bad spot to the best of your ability.” – more -

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Starting Position: 27th

How do you feel about competing at Talladega? “I’ve got to thank all the guys on this NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Racing crew. This is the same car that we ran at Daytona — we started last in Daytona, drove up and took the lead, went back, came back to the front and on that last green-white- checkered, we got in a big sandwich there. Basically, we have a new body on our car. We haven’t been to the wind tunnel. Just tried to put it back like it was and we’re off a little bit from where it was, but we’ve had to work really hard and a lot of late nights getting this thing done. It’s fun coming here to Talladega. It’s a special place and I’ve got a lot of poles here. We just need some backing. If we can get some funding, we can get out here and compete with these guys. The way the plate rules are, I think it’s equal for anybody. You never know who is going to win and it’s like a chess match. Whoever can be in the right spot at the end is going to have a shot at winning. We’re doing all we can do.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, HP Racing Starting Position: 29th

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Starting Position: 30th

How was your qualifying lap? “It was fine. It was just qualifying at Talladega and you just hold it wide open. Doing 200 miles-per-hour is always fun, but it was a decent lap. We were hoping to do better, but I think the wind has picked up a lot and I think that hurt us a lot.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 31st

How was your qualifying lap? “They restrict us down so slow and we have such a big blade on the back of these cars slowing us down and such a small restrictor plate that you do everything you can to just keep wheel out of the car, make sure you drive a straight line, use all the race track as possible on that first lap to try to gain speed and that’s all you can do. We’re running such a slow speed that there’s not much to it.”

Would you be in favor of larger restrictor plates? “We need to go a long way. I just feel like if you opened it up a little bit to where we could run 185 (miles per hour) by ourselves or somewhere in that range — you’re not going to be able to use the two-car draft. Then the peak speed won’t be as high because we won’t be in a pack. I’m in favor of opening them up. Make handling be more of a factor and get away from the two-car draft.”

Who will be your drafting partner on Sunday? “We’ve worked with the 39 (Ryan Newman) for the last three years or so on superspeedways and even before this pairing up started, we were always working together. It’s a good combination. It’s interesting that he’s got a faster car than what we have, but he’s not as fast pushing as what I am pushing him. There’s just something to that and we’ve scientifically figured it out.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 34th

How does the back-up car compare to your primary car? “The back-up car is just as good. It didn’t feel much different at all when we got out there. The first couple laps when we got out there, we got hooked up with Joey (Logano) there and he pushed at the exact same speed and got pushed at the exact same speed as the other car. The fast time in the other car came from a pack of cars where we sucked up on them and got a good run with them. Overall, we feel comfortable with this M&M’s Camry and it should be good for tomorrow. We will get teamed up with Joey and see how our day unfolds.”

Do you think about qualifying near Joey Logano so you can get hooked up early? “Not really — not at all. If Joey (Logano) ends up qualifying 12th and we end up 35th, it doesn’t really change anything. It’s just a matter of running at it the first little while in the race and then getting hooked up eventually. If we get separated a little we’re not worried about it. It’s the end of the race that you don’t want to get separated too much.”

Are Chase contenders more conservative in this race? “Typically, you want to get a good result out of here too. There are 22 or 25 cars that finish on the lead lap here so you certainly don’t want to be at the tail end of that. You still have to run hard and finish with a good top-10. I think if we can come out of here with a top-10, it would be like a win for us. Just to be able to move on.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 35th

Are you pleased to be starting near Kyle Busch? “We’ll be really close. We’ll work our way up there once the race starts. We didn’t expect to qualify very well and it is what it is here. It doesn’t really matter a whole lot where you qualify — we’ll just work our way up there and position ourselves and see how the race plays out at that point.”

What can you do to adjust on the cars during the race? “There is not actually too much that we can do. Maybe when you are pushing, you can try to make the car a little more stable or maybe some little things you can do to maybe get a little more speed in the car. For the most part we are just wide open and mainly just trying to find a way to work with the guy that you are working with and be able to work with Kyle (Busch) better. With the way we’re pushing and trying to find more speed doing different things with the driver in the car more than what you can do with the chassis of the car.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 36th

How was your car in qualifying? “It was okay. It’s really hard to tell anything. You’re out there by yourself and there is nothing exciting going on. I will try to have some meetings and stuff with the guys before the race and figure out some different scenarios that may happen during the course of the day and how we will react to them. Other than that, there is really not much else you can do.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 37th

How do you think the rule changes will impact the race? “Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be a whole lot different. We could push just as long yesterday as we could in the spring. I think NASCAR changed the rules to keep us from pushing as long, but we’ve worked on our cars since then so it kind of equaled out and I don’t think it will be a whole lot different.”

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Starting Position: 42nd

How are you able to move up during the race at Talladega? “Depending on how well you can work with somebody — that really determines how you can do in the race. Not so much whether you have the fastest car, but who works well together and who can stay connected the most. It will be interesting to see how the first half of the race goes, but at the end if you have the right car then you can definitely get to the front. This is definitely one of those places where in five laps you can be leading this race if you get connected with the right guy. That’s the big thing tomorrow is to stay out of the mess and hopefully be connected to the right person and get to the front.”

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

Brian Vickers chats with Red Bull Racing Teammate Kasey Kahne - Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

CONCORD, N.C. — The No. 4 Red Bull Toyota wasn’t perfect early Saturday night — far from it, in fact. But as driver Kasey Kahne said: “These races are so long and you have so much time to move up and think about pit stops and making your car better. When you have 500 miles, you have enough time.”

After a green-flag pit stop for adjustments with 139 laps to go in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kahne, who had fought a rear-end up and front-end down handling issue most of the race, radioed to his team, “Oh, yeah. It’s going now.”

He was ninth at that point — driving the fastest car on the track — and moved into the top five 40 laps later. Then he improved to third after a speedy stop by the No. 4 crew under the race’s fifth caution flag. Kahne seemed to be in contention for his fourth Sprint Cup victory at the 1.5-mile track.

Enter lap 293, when Matt Kenseth had a slow restart, pinching Kahne between David Ragan’s No. 6 on the bottom and Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 on the top. The result? All three went spinning, and Kahne retreated to the pits for tires and to repair cosmetic damage. He went from third to restarting at the tail end of the lead lap. “We can get back into the mix,” crew chief Kenny Francis told his driver.

Indeed he did. With only a dozen or so cars on the lead lap, Kahne moved into the top 10 with 25 laps to go. With 17 laps remaining, Jimmie Johnson absorbed a hard hit to bring out the eighth and final caution. Some cars pitted, Kahne stayed out and pulled out a scrappy fourth-place finish.

It was the third consecutive top five for Kahne and his sixth overall at Charlotte. For Red Bull Racing Team, it was the best finish at the track since Brian Vickers finished fifth in the 2009 600.

“We had a great Red Bull Toyota. The guys did an awesome job,” Kahne said. “It was just a fine line of being really good or a little off. We kind of went over it throughout the race. That one restart — Matt got a bad start and I was trying to push him and Ragan got to my inside and Jeff must have thought that we were only two-wide and we were three and we ended up all wrecking. Then we had to fight back after that. It was just kind of being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. We had a really good car and it was another positive race for us.”

No. 83 driver Vickers had an unexpected passenger leaving the pits during a stop on lap 45. Apparently, the jack called shotgun and went along for the ride as Vickers exited his pit box — a definite no-no in NASCAR’s eyes.

Moments later, Vickers was slapped with a stop-and-go penalty for “removing equipment from assigned pit area” and returned to the race two laps down in 36th. “It’s a long race,” crew chief Ryan Pemberton said. “We got ourselves in a pile of crap early. We’ll get our chances to get it back.”

Vickers spent the rest of the night fighting for free passes and taking wave-arounds, which eventually put him only one lap down in the closing stages. But by then, his chances of ever returning to the lead lap were nil because only 15 cars completed all 334 laps. He finished 20th.

With five races remaining this season, Kahne improved a position in the driver standings to 15th — eight behind 14thplace AJ Allmendinger and 11 behind Clint Bowyer in 13th. That’s the best ranking a non-Chaser can achieve. Vickers moved up to 25th — still 40 points behind Jeff Burton in 24th.

UP NEXT: Good Sam Club 500, Sunday, Oct. 23, Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala.

- Red Bull Racing Team, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

Busch led a race-high 111 (of 334) laps in tonight’s race. Camry drivers Kasey Kahne (fourth) and Denny Hamlin (ninth) also earned top-10 results at the mile-and-a-half oval.

Other Toyota drivers in the field included Joey Logano (12th), Brian Vickers (20th), Martin Truex Jr. (23rd), David Reutimann (26th), Bobby Labonte (29th), Casey Mears (32nd), Michael McDowell (39th) and Joe Nemechek (43rd).

With his second-place finish, Busch gained four positions and is now fourth in the unofficial NSCS point standings — 18 points behind leader Carl Edwards — after five of 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup races.

Hamlin remains 12th in the standings — 86 points behind the leader.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 2nd

What did Carl Edwards say to you after the race? “He (Carl Edwards) just said he didn’t like the way I raced him off of turn two that one time when he got under me. It made me loose and it was steering me down the track instead of my butt going up the track. I was just trying to hold on and not do anything. I side-drafted him and stayed alongside of him down the backstretch and that was it. I was just trying to keep my position. That 17 (Matt Kenseth) — he found something that none of us could find tonight and made something out of nothing. He just out drove me. Great run by the M&M’s Camry. The guys did a great job and gave me a great car. Best run we’ve had here in a while. Still coming up short.”

How do you feel about your chances in the Chase after five races? “We have to keep finishing like this — it’s all it takes. It’s not that hard. We finally finished where we ran except we didn’t. We still lost a position, which is four points essentially because you get three for bonus points of winning a race. Again, it’s frustrating, but we’ll take it and if we can finish second from here on out then we might win this deal. These other guys — the 99 (Carl Edwards) and the 29 (Kevin Harvick) finished too good tonight too.”

How good was your race car to come from the back to the front? “Just not good enough. (Matt) Kenseth just out drove me. He found something out of nothing where there wasn’t anything to be found for us. You try to run that extra 10 percent and sometimes you can find speed — most of the time I can’t — he did. I’m already there. I can’t get no more. Those guys just made something better there at the end. The guys gave me a great race car. This M&M’s Camry was awesome. I didn’t make a change to it all night. Just come home and rode with what we could.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 4th

How was your race tonight? “We had a great Red Bull Toyota. The guys did an awesome job. It was just a fine line of being really good or a little off. We kind of went over it throughout the race. That one restart — Matt (Kenseth) got a bad start and I was trying to push him and (David) Ragan got to my inside and Jeff (Gordon) must have thought that we were only two-wide and we were three and we ended up all wrecking. Then we had to fight back after that. It was just kind of being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. We had a really good car and it was another positive race for us.”

How difficult was it to pass tonight? “It was tough. You would come off the bottom and for whatever reason you would slide the nose. You weren’t even loose up there — you were just tight. It was just tough to pass. Usually there’s a top here and there just wasn’t tonight so you had to just rip the bottom all night and try to get people off the corner or when they get hung up or miss the bottom. That was your opportunity. It was frustrating, but these races are so long and you have so much time to move up and think about pit stops and making your car better. When you have 500 miles, you have enough time. When you restart 20th or 24th, you just can’t waste it at all because it actually takes a lot longer than you think.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 9th

What happened in the final restarts? “Those last two restarts we were in the bottom line and the bottom line went nowhere all day long. Just don’t know why this tire this year — the high line is just not working throughout the race. Usually you see guys up against the wall here and you just can’t do it nowadays. Everyone runs the bottom and it’s just so hard to pass. When you get pinched on that bottom lane — those last couple restarts we restarted in the top lane and we’re talking about a top-three or four finish here. It was still a good day for our FedEx Camry. We’re making strides and we’re heading in the right direction. We’re still trying to dig through all this information that I’ve got to give these guys to head us in the right direction for the future.”

What do you think your team is struggling with this season? “It seems like it’s a tire thing because it’s Dover and here and a lot of different race tracks — there is a lot of trash on the race tracks that the rubber is laying down. Then when we go out there and try to restart, you just slide around with no grip at all. There is something different in this tire than we had last year and obviously that goes a little into our struggles as well. We’re just trying to dig through some information right now and try to end on a good note so we have something for 2012.”

Have you had to adjust your driving style this year? “We’ve had to adjust all year long because what worked last year is not working this year. The tire is different and I do think that Goodyear is using a different tire and I think it’s throwing us for a loop and it’s taken us this entire year just to get to the point where we’re at right now.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 12th

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 20th

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 23rd

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 26th

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Lance Snacks/Tom’s Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 29th

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 32nd

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, HP Racing Finishing Position: 39th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 43rd

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release