Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup

Disappointing qualifying for Toyota at Chicagoland

Edited: Sep 15, 2012, 10:26 PM

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 8th

Are you pleased with today's qualifying run? "Going out late it's tough to really get a good lap. It will only be a tenth or so off the pole. I left that much on the race track. So, we're excited about the speed this car got."

Do you have a strong car for the race? "Yeah. We're pretty happy with the balance. I think that it's pretty close to where it needs to be. We definitely have something to work with."

Are you spending any additional time talking with Joey (Logano) or Kyle (Busch) this weekend? "No. Not really. We've just been concentrating on our program so much. They're kind of in a different box right now.

They're thinking about 2013 -- applying some setups that they think will work in the future. If they hit on something then we'll obviously use it. Right now, we're kind of riding the horse that's been so good for us on the mile-and-a-half's."

CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing - Starting Position: 9th

How was your qualifying lap? "I think it was a good lap for the timing. I think we've got a really good car for tomorrow. If we can start in the top-15 then we'll be able to race from there. I think I got everything I could out of (turns) one and two, but slipped up a little in (turns) three and four -- didn't get through there, didn't hook the bottom quite as good as I needed to run any faster. With the timing, it wasn't bad."

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 10th

How was today's qualifying run? "Qualifying is so much fun with these cars. You're always so on edge and you get out of the car and you got a little shake going on, and your adrenaline is just pumping like crazy.

Not as fast as we wanted to be, but it's an improvement from practice. I feel like I messed up turn one just a little bit. Besides that the car was pretty good, and we got as much out of it as I could get. I'd like to run turn one again. Usually, there's one little section that you'd like to do again."

MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing - Starting Position: 15th

How did your car handle in qualifying? "I was real loose yesterday in (turns) one and two and I got a good run off of four coming to the green -- had every confidence that we were going to go after it. I had plenty of speed up. I'm glad to have got the lap that I got.

I was a little conservative in three and four -- closer to getting backwards than it looks I'm sure. Certainly felt like anymore and it would have been beyond recovery. That's what you've got to do. You've got to make good laps out of your slips -- they still have to be good and that was pretty decent."

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing - Starting Position: 18th

How was your qualifying lap? "It wasn't what we were looking for. We did our qualifying run yesterday to start our practice again like we did at Atlanta and it bit us. We need to rethink our strategy a bit. The car has been pretty good all weekend -- we'll be in good shape. Would have liked to have started a little further up than that -- we were just too tight."

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 21st

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Bubba Burger Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing - Starting Position: 23rd

LANDON CASSILL, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing - Starting Position: 26th

DAVID STREMME, No. 30 Toyota Camry, Inception Motorsports - Starting Position: 31st

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports - Starting Position: 33rd

MIKE BLISS, No. 19 Plinker Tactical Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports - Starting Position: 34th

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing - Starting Position: 38th

REED SORENSON, No. 19 Plinker Tactical Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports - Starting Position: DNQ

JASON LEFFLER, No. 49 Robinson-Blakeny Racing Toyota Camry, Robinson-Blakeny Racing - Starting Position: DNQ

Source: Toyota Motorsport

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