TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes
New Hampshire Motor Speedway — July 11, 2014
1st, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
8th, CLINT BOWYER
15th, MATT KENSETH
17th, BRIAN VICKERS
30th, JEFF BURTON
35th, COLE WHITT
36th, ALEX BOWMAN
38th, RYAN TRUEX
41st, MIKE BLISS
42nd, TIMMY HILL
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 1st
Did you know your qualifying lap was good?
“No, I didn’t. I gave it everything I had. I thought I was a little too tight, but I guess I was driving through it enough that I still got some good speed and got the throttle down on both ends. Lap felt good and I thought it was going to be a solid top-four. Real proud of the guys on this Interstate Batteries Camry. We didn’t unload great, but made some good changes and made up some good ground and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow.”
How was your Camry in race trim?
“We’ve been close here. I think the biggest thing is I always like to be able to take off and go and when I can take off and go — it usually means I’m too tight halfway through the run and on after that — and that’s when those guys seem to be able to beat us. The second race last year we ran a lot better on the long run, but the race was a little too short and ran out of time to our teammate (Matt Kenseth). All in all, one-two (finish) by JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), so we’ll see if we can put the 18 out front.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 3rd
How was the new qualifying format here at New Hampshire?
“It was about the same as all the rest of them. Really knew that the 18 (Kyle Busch) had a pretty good advantage there getting it all on the first lap in the first session. Obviously, it gives you a one lap advantage on tires. That was a good move by them. And, really it’s good that our cars have got some speed here.”
Did your team consider testing here at New Hampshire?
“I feel like our short track program has been off the last couple years. And even though they won last year, still our performances at Richmond (and) Martinsville — those type of race tracks — Phoenix, has not been good by any means. Trust me, I was trying to talk my teammates into testing here, but they had other ideas of where they wanted to test so we jumped on that bandwagon with them and obviously have some pretty good results here just in qualifying so far for the weekend. But, trust me I would have liked to test here for sure.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 8th
How was qualifying?
“We did what we needed to do. Obviously, we need to find a little bit, but we spent today in qualifying trim. We came here last year and had a really, really fast car and just missed the boat bad in qualifying trim because we didn’t spend enough time with it — it cost us dearly and ended up behind track position all day long. Top-10 starting spot will be just fine for us.”
Are you pleased with your car for the race?
“Yeah. We were here testing a couple weeks ago. We’ll switch over to race trim tomorrow and figure out where we need to be.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 15th
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 17th
How was qualifying?
“That certainly wasn’t what we were looking for. We were pretty quick in practice so I feel confident we’ll be good in the race. We’ll work on the Aaron’s Dream Machine tomorrow in practice and be ready for Sunday.”
JEFF BURTON, No. 66 Toyota Let’s Go Places Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 30th
How was qualifying?
“We were really disappointed. All day we’ve been way off in qualifying trim. We had a great test here. We made one qualifying run here at the test and it wasn’t very good — I didn’t think it was very good. Honestly, that’s about what we ran right there. I’m pretty optimistic about the race. Today, in qualifying trim we just weren’t in the ball game. Disappointed, but tomorrow’s another day.”
Is this your final race?
“I can give you a positive that I don’t k now. I think it’s a good chance. I’m okay with that. I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing. It’s fun being here. I have a lot of friends here. I’ve been going to quite a few races this year. If this is my last race, it’s cool with me for it to be here. This isn’t my home track, but this is certainly a track a lot of my career has been shaped at this race track.”
COLE WHITT, No. 26 TapOut Muscle Recovery Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 35th
ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 36th
RYAN TRUEX, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 38th
MIKE BLISS, No. 93 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 41st
TIMMY HILL, No. 87 Toyota Camry, Jay Robinson Racing
Starting Position: 42nd
