NASCAR Cup

Open: Toyota teams qualifying quotes

DAVE BLANEY, No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing: How was your qualifying lap? "It was actually good. We got some shade on the race track and I think that helped some. We picked up one second from practice, but everybody is at this ...

Published: May 20, 2007, 5:45 PM

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DAVE BLANEY, No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing:

How was your qualifying lap? "It was actually good. We got some shade on the race track and I think that helped some. We picked up one second from practice, but everybody is at this point. It's hard to know exactly what we had, but I think we had a pretty good lap. I might have been able to drive turns one and two a little harder, but we've had a pretty good day through practice so hopefully we can get a good run tomorrow night."

What are your plans for the race tomorrow night to get into the All-Star race? "With only two 20 lap segments, I think you have to start in the top two or three rows to have a prayer of getting into the All-Star race. But you never know -- I've seen some races where we get no cautions and some where they wreck half the field. I'm starting near the front and I have a good handling race car, so I have a shot."

How much do you use this weekend to prepare for next week? "All day today we were in full qualifying mode just looking ahead to next Thursday. I might have given up a little for tomorrow night because we were not working on race runs. But we know that we need to concentrate more on the big picture which is next Thursday night."

***

AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Team Red Bull:

How was your qualifying lap? "The car was hooked up the first lap and there's really not much different that I think I would have done. I probably could have gotten into the throttle a little quicker off of three, but other than that I think I gave it all she had."

What are your expectations for the race tomorrow night? "There will probably be a lot of carnage because there will be a lot of crazy people out there. The great thing about tomorrow night is that there are no expectations. We want to get up there and we want to do well, but more than anything I just want to get out there and get as many laps in as possible to get ready for next week."

How much will you use tomorrow night to learn for next week? "We have a different car for next week just because there's probably a pretty good chance this one will be wrecked after tomorrow night. For me it's just laps and for me it's just laps and that's never going to hurt for all of us."

***

JEREMY MAYFIELD, No. 36 360 OTC Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing:

How was your qualifying lap? "I was actually pretty disappointed with that lap. When we came here and tested a couple weeks ago we were at the top of the board and tonight we'll be closer to the bottom. We were a little loose in practice and then loose tonight in qualifying. I went into turn three just like I have been for the 14 years I've been racing here and I just about lost it coming off of three so I tried to gather it back up coming to the white flag and never could get it back. I was just real loose and I hate it because I thought we would have had a shot at it tomorrow night, but it's going to be pretty tough to get from the back to the front in just a few laps."

***

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Domino's Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing:

How was your qualifying lap? "We were just way, way too tight. We were never very good in practice today and we kept changing it all around. Then we made an air pressure change before qualifying and saw some of the guys spinning and hitting the wall so we went back the other way on the air pressure. We were just too tight, but it really doesn't matter for us at this point. We probably played it on the safe side so we'll just see how things shake out for tomorrow night and see what we can learn before qualifying next week."

***

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing:

"The car was extremely loose. A majority of the season we have experienced a push in the car and that's what I was expecting tonight. But the car reacted in a completely different way and it just broke loose."

-credit: toyota motorsports

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