NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II: Mike Bliss qualifying report

Bliss Qualifies Seventh in 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevy at Lowe's Team's best starting position of the year Concord, North Carolina, (October 16, 2009) - Mike Bliss qualified the TRG Motorsports No. 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet Impala SS in seventh ...

Edited: Oct 17, 2009, 1:54 AM

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Bliss Qualifies Seventh in 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevy at Lowe's
Team's best starting position of the year

Concord, North Carolina, (October 16, 2009) - Mike Bliss qualified the TRG Motorsports No. 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet Impala SS in seventh for Saturday evening's running of the NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Driving the car for the only the second time and with minimal practice laps Bliss posted TRG's best qualifying effort of the season.

Rain for most of the day caused havoc with the Sprint Cup schedule. NASCAR was finally able to dry the track for an hour's worth of practice which started at 6:30 p.m. Bliss got off to a fast start in the 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevy by ending the days only practice in seventh place. In qualifying the Oregon native was able to carry the speed over and turn a lap of 28.360 and 190 mph. This effort will have him starting from the fourth row for Saturday's 7:30 p.m. start.

"I was a little more on the edge in qualifying than in practice, I was just trying to get more out of it," Bliss said. "The car had a good feel to it. I thought there would be more grip. I was trying to carry more speed center off, but it was getting tighter at the exit which is why I had that wiggle coming off of Turn Four. That messed up the lap a little. I just kept my foot in it and ended up backing up my practice time. I am not sure there was much more than that left tonight. If I would have been a lane and a half lower I would have been much happier with the lap. That is the name of the game - get the car in the race."

Speeds were up substantially. The pole speed is the fastest time that the new generation cars have ever qualified.

"It is going to be a crazy race. I am not quite sure what to expect. Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) says he has a good race setup for the car. The guys gave me a great car to qualify, so I will believe them when they also say that we will have a good race car as well."

Further proving his speed at Lowe's, Bliss had the fastest practice time in his in his No. 11 Nationwide Series car in practice today.

"The secret to being fast here is good cars. I have been floating around this season between a few cars, but I am lucky to be in two very good cars for this weekend."

TRG Motorsports team principal Kevin Buckler has a fast car for Saturday night.

"We had a very fast start to the weekend," Buckler said. "Mike went out and popped a fast lap and stayed at the top of the time sheet for the first half of practice. The guys did a great job preparing the car and it showed as it was fast right off of the trailer. We have been working with three different drivers this season, but we have been able to prove that our strong little team is capable of putting a great car on the track and running with some of the biggest names and biggest teams in the sport. This team is comprised of a strong group of racers and we are for sure the most efficient group on the grid. All of this is preparing us for our big launch in 2010. Who ever is involved with us is in for a hell of a ride! There are a lot of big time names and brands behind us and we are are really proud of the effort."

-credit: trgm

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