JOEY LOGANO, No. 96 DLP
HDTV Toyota Camry, Hall of
Fame Racing Which cars have
you driven in this test
session? "I've been in the
02 ride and the 11B ride --
just to feel it out. The 02
is not up to scuff yet.
Coming over here was pretty
much a confidence booster.
It's cool that they allow me
to go back and forth. It's
nice of the 11 guys and
Denny (Hamlin) to let me
jump in the car and get the
cars as fast as we can."
Has this been a normal
Joe Gibbs Racing test for
you or have you been working
more with Hall of Fame
Racing? "Over on the other
side (Hall of Fame Racing)
we have to race that thing
so we're focused on getting
that thing fast. It's kind
of going like a normal test.
We're not as fast as we need
to be, but we are working
hard on it."
What has it been like for
you to work with Hall of
Fame Racing? "They're a
great group of guys and they
try hard. It's tough because
you don't know all those
guys. It's just a little
harder, but that's what
makes a man out of you. I
have fun when I go racing so
that makes me happy."
What are you expecting in
your first 'double-duty'
weekend at Kansas? "It's
going to be busy, but it
will be good. I think we
will be pretty strong with
the Nationwide car. I tested
there a long time ago and I
don't really remember it,
but I'm sure it will all
come back to me when we get
to Kansas this weekend."
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's
Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs
Racing How has the test
session been going? "Just
another test -- not a whole
lot different than what
we've tried and done and
proved doesn't work here in
the past."
Can you translate what
you learn at Charlotte to
other similar race tracks?
"You just learn what you can
here. The things that work
and the things that don't
work. A lot of it doesn't
work. Just going back to
what we've tried and trying
again. It translates -- some
of it. The big things that
work here will work in
Atlanta and Texas."
How much can you learn in
the daytime testing for a
night race? "You've got to
learn what the day time is
going to do in the night
time. Because you practice
during the day you need to
know like what things you're
working on during the day
and how your car is working
during the day so when it
goes to night you know what
to expect during the race."
DAVE BLANEY, No. 22
Caterpillar Toyota Camry,
Bill Davis Racing How is
this test session going? "I
think we're learning some
things. We had some
completely different set-ups
that we've come to try.
Later tonight we will make
some long runs on each of
them and see which one is
better. Hopefully it will
help us on this style of
race track."
How much will this test
apply to other
mile-and-a-half tracks? "The
stuff we're doing will apply
everywhere -- Kansas, here,
Atlanta, Texas, Homestead --
all of them. I think if you
can help yourself here then
you can help at all of those
race tracks."
How much will this
daytime testing affect you
in a night race? "I don't
know a whole lot, but if
you're testing basic things
back to back for
mile-and-a-halves then you
can do it during the
daytime. But learning for a
night race -- it's hard to
learn during the day. A lot
of that will be done
tonight. Some of the things
that we have wanted to try
we are able to learn whether
it is day testing or night
testing. So far it has all
been good."
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red
Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull
Racing Team How has this
test been going? "It's been
going okay. We always want
to be better. I think we've
learned some stuff. We still
have a little bit of testing
left to do and hopefully we
can learn some more stuff. A
lot of the first day we kind
of went through some of the
same things that we go
through on a regular basis.
Today, we've tried to branch
out a little bit more and
hopefully find done stuff."
How beneficial is the
data you are gathering at
this test? "It's very
helpful. As a driver I
definitely look over it and
work with the engineers to
try to decipher through it
to figure out what the car
is doing and what the car
needs."
Does this test only help
you for the upcoming race at
Lowe's Motor Speedway?
"Obviously, it will help the
most here, but it will apply
to other places as well.
There will definitely be
other tracks where what we
learn here we can apply at
other tracks."
Are you working on this
year and next year during
this test? "I would say both
-- working on this year and
always working toward the
future, but still working in
the moment as well."
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 00
Champion Mortgage Toyota
Camry, Michael Waltrip
Racing How has testing been
going so far? "I think the
test has been going well. We
made a lot of laps yesterday
(Tuesday) and we were really
happy with our car. We just
did a lot of race runs
yesterday. We did a lot of
runs where we would stay out
10 or 15 laps -- the car was
really consistent and didn't
fall off. We made some gains
and felt pretty good. Today,
we left off where we were at
yesterday. We didn't post a
big lap on the board, but
the car stayed really
consistent and runs really
well. We haven't done any
qualifying runs yet. It's
just gathering information
for coming back here and
trying a bunch of staff that
we wouldn't get to try on a
race weekend. Just gather
information and data to come
back a little bit better for
the race."
How helpful is being at
this track? "It's a lot more
pleasant experience coming
back here the second time.
The first time we really
struggled here and we
unloaded loose-in and we
stayed loose-in the whole
week. So for me, I never
really had the confidence I
needed. We came back here
for this test and the car is
a lot better and I'm just
working on my line and
working on trying to run the
top a little bit. Trying to
gain a little bit of
knowledge about how to get
up there, and when to get up
there and getting
comfortable doing it."