NASCAR Cup

Sears Point: Toyota teams qualifying quotes, notes

DALE JARRETT, No. 44 UPS Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing: Starting position: 16th How was your qualifying run? "We talk about this every week, how much pressure it is, but that's when you have one lap or two and four corners, and you throw in -- I ...

Published: Jun 23, 2007, 3:17 PM

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DALE JARRETT, No. 44 UPS Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing: Starting position: 16th

How was your qualifying run? "We talk about this every week, how much pressure it is, but that's when you have one lap or two and four corners, and you throw in -- I don't know how many (corners) are here -- but you have a lot more chances to mess up. It is just an incredible amount of pressure. The guys did a terrific job of adjusting the car, we made a couple of changes before qualifying and all you can do is go out there and hang it out. I thought I might have overshot the last corner a little bit -- actually I did overshoot it, but the car was so good that it turned around there and we were able to get ourselves in the show. It's pretty exciting."

How does the Car of Tomorrow handle on the road course? "The car is fine. It's just different than what we've run here before and you have to approach things differently. It probably suits my style a little bit more. I enjoy it and I think you have to be more calculating in what you do. It's fun."

***

DAVE BLANEY, No. 22 Caterpillar Camry, Bill Davis Racing: Starting position: 19th

How was your qualifying run?

"Our lap was okay, we almost backed up our practice lap. The car has been pretty good all day. Butch Leitzinger really helped me last week (during the test) and today. It's just one off deal and he's doing a good job. I hope we'll both be in the show. It was a good solid lap, I just tried to go easy and not make any mistakes in the qualifying lap. These cars are just slower and they don't quiet have the grip. They don't seem like they can brake as hard. It doesn't matter if it is a second a lap slower everybody has the same thing. You still have to make your race car a bit better than everyone else's."

***

MARC GOOSSENS, No. 91 Commonwealth/RDM Camry, Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports: Starting position: 21st

How was your qualifying run? "I'm pretty grateful for being given this opportunity here. The team is new, the car is new and it's the first time for me on this track, too. Being in the race is kind of a victory for us. We struggled big time this morning with the set-up for the car and we were able to improve on our lap. I struggled trying to find my way around the track and then we had a big problem with the rear of the car sliding around too much. You get such short track time here before you go into qualifying. We'll work more on this Car of Tomorrow because I'm pretty sure that Toyota can further up front."

***

TERRY LABONTE, No. 55 NAPA Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing: Starting position: 25th

How was your qualifying run? "I'll tell you this has been a little bit of a challenge today. This is the first time I've been in the car all year and first time I've driven one of these new cars and we are just trying to get the thing just right. It's been a little bit of a challenge. We've made some gains on it, but we aren't exactly where we want to be. We are going to work on it and get it a little bit better. I'm not totally disappointed, but I'm not real happy with it either because I know there is definitely some left in the car."

How does the Car of Tomorrow handle on the road course? "It handles more like the car from yesterday, I thought. I really thought the car drove nice -- I like the car. It's just the fact of trying to learn a little bit about it and the characteristics of it is a little different than the car we had here last year. We have to make the right changes on it tomorrow to get it hooked up a little bit better."

How do you think the Toyota Camry handles and performs on the racetrack? "I think the team is doing a great job and the car is pretty decent. I think it has a lot of potential on there that we haven't touched on yet. It is so hard with a new team like this, people don't understand how hard that is to come out and accomplish what they are doing. We'll give it our best shot."

***

BUTCH LEITZINGER, No. 23 Caterpillar Camry, Bill Davis Racing: Starting position: 30th

How was your qualifying run? "It definitely wasn't what I was hoping for. This is an excellent team. I was a little bit sloppy in a couple of places and that hurt us. I'll try to redeem myself on Sunday in the race. You can definitely feel the weight in these cars. They've made the cars more difficult to drive, which is good because it puts it more in the driver's hand but it is definitely not as nimble as a Busch car."

***

PJ JONES, No. 00 Burger King® Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing: Starting position: 34th

How was your qualifying run? "It wasn't very good. I got into the turn and locked my front brakes for some reason. We haven't found our groove with this car yet. In testing we were really good, the car was great. We probably could have been in the top third if we could have gotten the car to drive a little better. We tested on different tires, what can I say. There's something not right with the car but we'll work on it for the race on Sunday."

***

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Camry, Team Red Bull: Starting position: DNQ

How was your qualifying run? "We definitely didn't have what it took today to make it into the race. It's really a shame but it just shows that we need to do more work on our Car of Tomorrow program before we get to the next race where we're running this car."

***

AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 84 Red Bull Camry, Team Red Bull: Starting position: DNQ

How was your qualifying run? "I'm very let down. We were off all day. These guys - they bust their butts in the shop, work so many long hours, and lose so much sleep. It's definitely not from a lack of effort or heart that we didn't make the race. My crew worked hard all day. We are a new team and we haven't had the opportunity to test as much as these bigger teams. We only tested at a road course (VIR) once preparing for this race and this series is too competitive for that. I hate it because I know if we could have been in the show, I could have done my thing. We are in this as a team. There is not just one thing wrong -- just as a whole we need to improve. And we will get there."

-credit: toyota motorsports

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