Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup

Kyle Busch takes second position in Atlanta qualifying

Edited: Sep 1, 2012, 6:46 PM

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 3rd
How was your qualifying lap? "I've qualified third here the last few times -- just can't get enough to get the pole, but whatever. The Doublemint Camry was good -- just missed it a little bit. We'll just see what it gets when we race."

MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 6th
How was your car in qualifying? "Well, it was a lot better than practice. The race track has already cooled down a lot and it feels a lot better. Kudos to Rodney (Childers, crew chief) -- we've had a tough day for sure with the Aaron's Dream Machine and they improved the car quite a bit right there. We were 30th in practice. We're going to be able to top that at least and we've got all day tomorrow and enough tires. We saved tires for tomorrow's practice. We've got enough tires to learn what we need to learn and get it driving good in race trim."

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 7th
How was your qualifying lap? "We're excited about the lap -- it puts us in the top-10. This is a track where you can pass as long as you have a car that works well. Really, our Sport Clips Toyota has been strong all weekend -- at least through the first practice and really the last few years here. We're excited about our outlook going into the weekend."

Is your team focused on wins in these final two races before the Chase? "That's kind of the mentality for us at this point is wins and wins only. You're experimenting with some different motor stuff -- different chassis stuff for the Chase, but you're starting to hone in on what you're going to be running for the Chase right about this point. This is the point in which you want to start hitting your peak -- you want to start winning races and being competitive and I feel like we're at that point now."

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Starting Position: 9th
How was your car today? "We've just been struggling since we unloaded today. As soon as we -- first lap on the race track, we were way up top. The guys are working really, really hard. They threw everything but the kitchen sink at it in practice and then for qualifying here we threw the kitchen sink at it. It's definitely better than what it was. It's not doing four different things at once, but it's getting a little bit closer so. The good thing is we have practice tomorrow and then we'll keep working on it and we'll improve from where we were in practice."

How much of a factor will tire wear be on Sunday? "Big drop off here -- as much as we've always had here before. That will be there for sure, which makes it a cool race. I'm a big fan of this race track, but I've never gotten around it with a crap before, so I'm not a huge fan of it. I don't know. I just haven't ever really gotten the right feel for the car and what I'm looking for out there."

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Shocks Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Starting Position: 28th
How was your qualifying lap? "It was pretty terrible to be honest with you. Being quickest in practice, we quit early trying to save tires for race trim because we get a lot of practice here and we don't have enough tires so we put ourselves in a box here. I was all on board with it and thought we were doing the right thing. I went out there and didn't have any grip at all -- I was really surprised. Just have to work on it tomorrow and hopefully race better. We always race well here. Just pretty disappointing to think you have a shot of sitting on the pole and you're 28th. It's a humbling sport, that's for sure."

Source: Toyota Motorsports

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