Charlotte Test: Toyota teams quotes

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."

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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."

-credit: toyota motorsports