Toyota Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes Auto Club Speedway - February 20, 2009

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 1st Can you describe your qualifying run? "I couldn't ask for much more out of the car. Ryan (Pemberton, crew chief) and the guys from the Red Bull team did an amazing job. The Toyota pulled strong down the straightaway. We fought tight in practice quite a bit and we found something right there in the last run that helped us. It really seemed to help on the lap. My only concern now is we did it so early. Qualifying starting this late in the day, at 3:40, with clouds coming in the track could pick up."

Will your time stay at the top of the speed chart for qualifying? "I don't know -- with the sun going down it's hard to say. If the shade gets on the track it's not going to help. Going early this late in the day -- going early at two is one thing but going early at 3:40 is another. We'll see, it's a really good lap."

Why do you run so well at Auto Club Speedway? "I have no idea. It's not all about me, I can assure you that. The Red Bull Toyota handled really well. We were tight all practice and Ryan (Pemberton, crew chief) made some changes at the end of practice and I think it paid off."

How important is a good effort in California with Red Bull and Toyota headquarters nearby? "A pole and or a win here would be great."

Do you feel good about starting on the pole for Sunday's race? "It always feels good to be on the pole and take the trophy home. Most importantly we start at the front of the field on Sunday and probably more important than that is the pit selection, that's probably the biggest advantage - that's really what you're fighting for in my mind on Friday."

Where did your car seem to work better on the track? Can you take us for a lap around the track? "It stuck the best all the way around. There's times when you have a car that works better on entry, middle or exit. During practice we really fought tight on entry to middle and were okay on exit, maybe a little loose. We made some adjustments at the end of practice and we weren't sure how they were going to turn out to try to make it turn better in through the center and still keep or improve the drive off on exit. I'd say we fixed all three because the car was fantastic in qualifying pretty much every turn all the way around the complete lap even coming down to the green. It got down to the corner good, to the white line, stayed there and when I got back on the gas I never had to check up. It was just a perfect lap and the car handled amazing all the way around. In this sport - in the Sprint Cup Series - you have to just about have a perfect car and a perfect lap to sit on the pole. I've had some really good cars and some really good laps and been fifth, much less second. That's why it's a nail bitter. Even when you lay down what you think is an amazing lap, I don't count it until the last car crosses the line because the competition is so strong from a driver perspective and from a team perspective. It really takes everything to sit on the pole in this series."

Can you win a battle with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the forum of public opinion? "I didn't wreck (Dale Earnhardt) Jr., I wrecked Jimmie (Johnson) and Jimmie hit Junior. Yes I did call both of those guys. I called them right after the race. I don't feel that I'm in a battle with Junior. I feel like maybe the fans see that and the media create that but there is not media battle that I am partaking in with Junior. What has happened so far and I've been pleasantly surprised by - and in a way I have to be honest with you I almost have to apologize to the fans - I just assumed that obviously with Junior being the most popular person by far and away that this was going to be my fault no matter what happened. Everyone was going to side with him. The fans as a whole have been very supportive and really judged the situation based on the actions and not on anyone's popularity. I don't really read a lot of racing news but there's been a lot of it sent to me this week. I saw polls where 90 percent of the fans said it was his fault and 60 percent of them claim to be his fans which has really been a shift in popular opinion from what I've seen in the past. It's really changed a lot. I think the media handled the situation a lot different than I suspected and I have to thank everyone for that. I've been pleasantly surprised. There's been no battle between Junior and myself. It was just one incident at one race. It was last week and as far as I'm concerned we're at California now and we're going to move on. If I were to let every incident that happened on the race track bother me I would be living one miserable life, that's for sure. There's 43 drivers out there with a lot of different agendas."

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 7th Did your car improve from practice? "Overall, I think we picked up from what we practiced. The car has been pretty good in practice. It was a little bit tight in the center and a little loose off, but it drove pretty good."

Are you pleased with that qualifying run? "Overall, it was a decent lap. We felt like we were kind of in a hump and a little bit better than that. It drove pretty good -- I can't really complain. It was just a couple of little things that kept it from going a little quicker, but that's a ll it takes when you're around the company that you're around -- it takes being off just a tiny, tiny bit and you're not going to get the pole. I'm proud of what we've accomplished so far. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) made some good changes in practice and this is our first real test because of Daytona you can't do a whole lot. This is actually our first chance to get to work with one another in this venue, and I think it's been going pretty well so far."

SCOTT SPEED, No. 82 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 9th How did your qualifying draw affect your performance? "It was alright. The track was definitely a lot faster out there than it was in practice and certainly going out early is definitely where you want to go right now. At least, we know we have a car under us that's going to be pretty good for the race. That's the most important thing. We'll hopefully end up in the top-15 and be able to go from there. Both of the Red Bull cars ran really well here. These things aren't the most crazy, difficult to drive in qualifying. When the cars ride we're normally alright and the race is certainly going to be a lot tougher for us."

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 10th How did you feel with your qualifying lap? "I felt pretty good with it. That was a lot better than the way we were practicing. The car had a good balance to it and it felt pretty decent. We'll see where that puts us, I'm not sure it's going to be the pole but I think it's going to be a top-10 run. Hopefully, somewhere between 10th and 15th -- at the worst. The Interstate Batteries Camry was good there. It was a lot better than practice, so that's all we can ask for."

Did it help you going out right before in truck qualifying? "No, not really , because the trucks you can run wide open here so it's pretty easy. This you have to finesse it pretty well. Just trying to find the line that it needed, the braking points and everything."

How did you pick up quite a bit from practice? "For us, we were so far off in practice that we needed to gain something chassis -wise. So (Steve) Addington (crew chief) and the boys went to work. It has a pretty good set-up underneath it. I was proud of the way it drove. I'm not so sure that's fast enough."

ROBBY GORDON, No. 7 Jim Beam Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports Finishing Position: 12th Are you pleased with your car? "I was until I saw (Brian) Vickers' lap and I guess I'm not as pleased as I thought we were. He beat us two-tenths, almost three. It's pretty impressive."

Do you enjoy coming back here to California? "We have a lot of friends that come out and family in town. This is an important race for us. With that being said, it's always important to come to California and run. I'm back in the Toyota camp, they build our engines here in Costa Mesa (Calif.), so we're close to those guys that get down and dig for us. This will be a decent starting spot. We're going to get beat by the sun pretty much and if that wasn't the case I'd say we would have had a real shot at it."

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Little Debbie/Kingsford/Clorox Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 14th

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 23rd Did the track change from practice to qualifying? "I thought we were going to have a good qualifying run after practice this morning. We went out this afternoon -- three hours after practice -- and the track had changed and it wasn't good for us. The car was tight on the run and we just didn't run well. The FedEx Freight Toyota will run well on race day -- but on this run we just didn't get the job done -- plain and simple. Since the Daytona 500 the FedEx crew and Mike Ford (crew chief) have worked really hard to get ready for California and I think with some quality practice tomorrow we'll be where we want to be on race day. It's a 500 mile race and we all know anything can happen. Last August, we finished third in the race -- I think we can do better or improve on that tomorrow."

DAVE BLANEY, No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota Camry, Prism Motorsports Finishing Position: 30th

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 34th

SCOTT RIGGS, No. 36 Red Bank Outfitters Toyota Camry, Tommy Baldwin Racing Finishing Position: 36th

JEREMY MAYFIELD, No. 41 All Sport Toyota Camry, Jeremy Mayfield Motorsports Finishing Position: 39th Did you get what you expected out of the car for qualifying? "That was by far the best the All Sport Toyota Camry felt all day. Tony (Furr, crew chief) and the guys tuned it on in practice and we knew what we were looking for but we didn't seem to find it until just now. I wish we could have got there in practice and then I think we could have qualified even better but that's all I got right there. I'm just thrilled to have made the race and ready for second start with Mayfield Motorsports."

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 42nd

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 43rd

TODD BODINE, No. 64 Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Finishing Position: DNQ