DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does it mean to get to Victory Lane at Daytona?
“This was a great effort by the team. That's what it's all about. The team did a great job preparing this car for me. It
feels great to get into Victory Lane at Daytona, and to get Toyota its first Cup win is special.”
Can you talk about the pass you made on Tony (Stewart) to win the race?
“We knew it was going to take one of us to pass the other for either one of us to win this race. We knew the 24 (Jeff
Gordon), 8 (Mark Martin) and 9 (Kasey Kahne) were planning something behind us. I did my best block the 24 on
the outside. Luckily, he gave me a break and didn't push the issue. He could've caused a wreck. Thanks to Jeff
(Gordon) for that. When he did, he gave me the push to get around Tony (Stewart). Luckily, Tony got cleared
enough to give us the push at the end.”
How did your car handle throughout the race?
“Our car handled phenomenally. I've never had a car that handled this well relative to other cars. I'm very pleased
with the team's effort. When the tires wore off, our car really started to excel. Even when there was a pack, we could
pretty much pass by ourselves on the high or low side. We need a little more practice, but we're going to be pretty
tough.”
Did you think you had a car capable of winning today?
“I thought we definitely had a very strong car. I definitely thank the motor room for doing such a good job of getting
these motors down here and prepared for us to try to run this race. You know, luckily we were able to find a problem
earlier in the week. So, we haven't exactly remedied it with this motor, but in the ones coming hopefully we will. I
definitely give credit to them and Mike (Ford, crew chief) for obviously the great-handling race car. I couldn't really
ask too much more of it. Just kind of made the moves there at the end that we had to make to ensure that one of the
two of us was going to get a win.”
What does it mean to get the first NSCS win for Toyota?
“Very proud. I definitely was a big guy that liked to switch over to Toyota. We knew they had a lot of resources that
we were not able to do with the 400 or so employees that we have at Joe Gibbs Racing. I definitely was a guy that
was behind it a hundred percent. It's finally starting to pay off. I think they had some engine issues last year they said
they wanted to work on, mainly being corner exit. It feels like from my standpoint they've got that fixed.
So, as soon as we drivers come up with something else that we need to work on with the engine program, I'm sure
between Joe Gibbs Racing and TRD they're going to get it fixed. That's something that we just can't do with the
allotment of people that we have at Joe Gibbs Racing. So really to give those guys their very first win, and so early
into the season, is definitely a proud moment for myself and everyone at FedEx.”
What did you and Tony (Stewart) discuss on the red flag concerning the run to the checkered flag?
“Tony kind of clued me in on Jeff's habits over the years of what he does on restarts to try to, you know, get guys at
the very end. I think I was more on the brake there after they threw the green than I was actually on the throttle --
making sure, you know, me and Tony didn't pull away and he had basically the whole field behind him with a huge
run. So, basically I just wanted to keep my rear bumper to his front bumper instead of him driving up to my rear
bumper. I was using the brake to make sure I was attached to his front bumper, that way I had a huge run on Tony.
Obviously, we knew with the huge run we had going down the back straightaway, if I would have chose to hit Tony
there that would have been a huge opportunity for Jeff to pull down and pass really both of us with relative ease.
We knew at the end it was going to be tough for us to finish one-two by simply riding that way. We needed to kind of
almost exchange positions to kind of get that finish we needed at the end, because we knew the 24 (Jeff Gordon), the
8 (Mark Martin) and the 9 (Kasey Kahne) were all planning something behind us.”
Is there the same sense of accomplishment winning with only half of the 43-car field in the race?
“It definitely feels good. We had opportunities during the course of that race where I think we were one-two- three,
myself, Kyle (Busch) and Tony (Stewart). That's what we were looking for. Unfortunately, Kyle got in the situation
where when we were one-two- three the rest of us can't sit behind, we have to make moves or the guys are going to
make moves on us. I chose to go with Tony during the mid-stages of that race. We knew with Jeff (Gordon) having
such a strong car he was going to be on his own as far as working. I think he wanted to work with us, and we wanted
to work with him. I needed him in the middle stages of that race, end of the race obviously to pass Tony. But I think,
really, we're going to look out for our team first and foremost, manufacturer probably second, and then the guys that
we work well with third. And Jeff's one of those guys. So really I think that's why you saw the finish at the end.”
Did finishing one- two tell you anything about Toyota's ability to be competitive out of the gate?
“I'm actually a little more excited about the races to come -- the mile-a nd-a-half, two-mile racetracks -- California,
Vegas, those race tracks. All the hard work that we did in the off-season, that's where it's going to show up, not
necessarily here at Daytona. Here at Daytona you're going to see what hard work paid off in the engine room, both
from Mark Cronquist and the engine guys at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and TRD (Toyota Racing Development). That's
what's going to show up at the race track this weekend. Everything we worked on in the off-season will show up the
rest of the races throughout the season. We definitely know we have the engine thing heading in the right direction
right now. We just got to make sure we've got the mechanical stuff working.”
TONY STEWART, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How did you feel about your finish today?
“I’m happy, but obviously if the caution hadn’t come out then we think the outcome might have been different. The
important thing was to keep Joe Gibbs Racing one-two no matter what the order was. That’s what I told Denny
(Hamlin) during that red flag period -- that one of the two of us has to win this race, if he had a run then he had to go.
I told him not to try to help me and put himself in a bad spot. He got a run that he couldn’t stop and if he would have
tried to go with me, then we both probably would have ended up fourth and fifth. I thought he did a great job and I’m
really happy with our guys. We just kind of took it easy at the beginning and after the midway caution, we just went
ahead and tried to work our way forward and got there. Handling is at an all-time premium this year so everybody is
going to take what they learned today and try to make their cars better for Sunday.”
Can you talk about the run that Denny (Hamlin) got on you in the closing laps?
“It would have knocked the teeth out of my head (if he had hit me), I think. You know, Jeff (Gordon) tried to get a
run up high. By the time I saw him move up there was too much of a gap for me to be able to really do much with it.
I could have moved up, but he was going to end up going down anyway. That's what he did. It was just bad timing
for me. That's kind of the nature of the beast here. You look at every start and restart, it was hard for the guys up
front to stay there because guys were getting runs from behind and able to get a second line going.”
Is this setting up to be a Gibbs/Hendrick showdown for the Daytona 500?
“I think there are a lot of good cars also that are in that mix. But, I mean, if you look back, it kind of is the normal list
of suspects up there. For you guys (media) I'm going to say, yeah, just because it makes a great story line for you
guys. I know I can help you guys out a little bit today. Yeah, it's going to be the epic battle. It could be the battle of
a lifetime, of the century. May not be another battle of this proportion for the rest of my life, career, or for this
century. We'll start there. It probably will be, but I think you just can't limit it to those two teams. We got John
Andretti in the field. As long as he's in the race, he's a contender. There's a lot of good cars. You look at Matt
Kenseth's run today. He had a good run until he got shuffled. Like I said, I mean, if it helps us to make a better
headline for tomorrow, yeah, it's going to be the battle of a lifetime.
Do you know what’s making the cars slip around so much on the track?
“Well, if we knew that we'd fix it. You keep in mind, these cars were designed and built to not drive as good as the
cars we used to run. I can't say it's a surprise that they don't handle as good, because that's what they were built for.
But, you know, it's still our jobs as teams and drivers to try to figure out how to make them drive as good as we can.
You know, it makes you definitely -- I mean, track position is very important. You need to be as close to the front as
you can get to get the cleaner air. It helps your car drive quite a bit better. If you get in the back there, get behind a
bunch of cars, it's a handful for sure. You definitely want -- I think Dale Jr. said it best -- you definitely want to try to
take full advantage of when you have fresh tires at the beginning of a run to try to get as many spots as you can early.”
DALE JARRETT, No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
What does it feel like to know you will start your final Daytona 500?
“This day, as much as people say is about Dale Jarrett, is about UPS and Michael Waltrip Racing. That's who I
wanted to get into the Daytona 500. They let me piggyback along. I've been so fortunate to have such a great sponsor
in UPS for so many years, I wanted them to be a part of this. Certainly I wanted to be a part of the 50th running of the
Daytona 500. Now that we have the hard part over with, we have to go to work on this baby and tune it up a little bit
to see what we can do on Sunday.”
Was Michael Waltrip falling back to help you a part of the plan?
“I just wanted to make sure in that first part of the race that my tires were going to be okay. I didn’t think we were
going to have any problems. I just wanted to take care and make sure that we were okay there and then after that
restart I knew it was time to go. Michael came back there and gave me the pushes that I needed to get some of those
places. The car drove extremely well and that was the key to this.”
Could you get in the Daytona 500 without Michael Waltrip's help?
“No. It made my job easier knowing that I had someone back there. But, no, my car was good enough to drive up
there and do what I needed to do. I told the guys early on when they asked about my car. I knew my car was really
good. I was just free enough that I knew I shouldn't be hurt in the right front tire, and that I could run around the top
when I needed to do that. But, he got lost there a couple of times from me and I was still okay. My car was good
enough to do what I needed to do. Kind of like an insurance policy basically, and we all have that. So it was nice to
have that there. Again, we were good enough to make it even without that.”
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
What happened at the start of the race when you were penalized for jumping the start?
“Michael (Waltrip) told me before the race he was going to be a little soft on the original start. I didn't anticipate him
not -- I didn't anticipate him being in a coma when they dropped the green. My spotter said; ‘Green, green, green.’ I
took off. Michael was still sitting there. Before I realized it, it's like; ‘Oh, dang, here comes the start/finish line.’
Then I thought; ‘Well, maybe they didn't see that.’ What do you think the chances of that were? I knew as quick as it
happened; ‘Oh, I'm in trouble.’ We came down, did the pass-through, and then run around there by ourselves for 15
laps or whatever before we got a yellow. It ended up working out okay -- just disappointing, pretty disappointed in
myself. You're not supposed to beat the leader back at the start/finish line. It's only been like that for like a hundred
years and everybody knows it but I managed to do it anyway.”
How aware are you of all these different scenarios regarding making the Daytona 500?
“You go out there and you know kind of the format or what you think you need to do. Trust me, all the guys at
Michael Waltrip Racing weren't going to not let me know what we were supposed to be doing at any given time. We
knew the No. 44 (Dale Jarrett) car needed to finish ahead of me. It's irrelevant where you start, to me, at this point, as
long as we get three cars in the field. That's what our goal was. So, yeah, I hated it for Boris (Said). He got me in
last year, so I definitely feel like I owed him one. I feel like we let him down there. Yeah, all these guys wanting you
to do -- you do what you can when you can. You run as fast as you can and try not to knock the fenders off of it.
That's what I was concentrating on doing the rest of the race. One part of the deal was we got the No. 44 car in. At
the end of the day, as long as we got three cars in, that's kind of all that matters.”
MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
How does it feel to know that you were able to help your teammate Dale Jarrett, make the Daytona 500?
“It was a good time out there. I just concentrated on our main goal. We needed to practice for a few laps to make sure
we knew what we were doing. We did, obviously. Dale (Jarrett) just had an awesome car. He did a great job. He
could have made it without us, but there was no sense in taking that chance.”
DAVE BLANEY, No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing
What happened that took you out of the race?
“The battery went dead on the pit stop and it took a minute to find it and change over. It was running fine.
Something just let go in it. Our cars have been really fast down here. Maybe we should've just rode around. I tried to
take the lead, but nobody went with me. That's fine because our car is plenty fast. We just needed to run all day to
see what the car is going to do. I think we'll be fine on Sunday.”
Did you have any indication of the battery going away?
“I didn't think the battery was an issue. Once we got it switched, we ran a couple laps before it completely came
apart. We haven't had any trouble at Bill Davis Racing with the engines. We have a ton of power down here. I
thought we had one of the fastest cars down here. If it's going to happen, it's good that it happened today, and not
Sunday.”
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
How good does it feel to know that you’re qualified for the Daytona 500?
“This feels about as good as that skydive the other day -- not quite. This feels like a win. We had so much adversity
to overcome and we had a lot of friends out there that helped us, but most importantly it was all the hard work from
Red Bull and Toyota. We had to overcome the ignition box in qualifying, the spin at the beginning of this race, the
right-rear coming apart, and pitting to get new tires, but it all worked out.”
What happened that caused you to spin early in the race?
“That was my second spin today. I got spun off of turn four in Nationwide practice this morning -- it’s a good thing
that I had that practice. I was thinking; ‘Oh no, not again’. I was afraid that was going to happen, it was three-wide
and it was kind of early, but I really didn’t have a choice. The No. 15 (Paul Menard) went to the outside and I went to
block him and when I did that it put us three-wide, and I didn’t have much of an option there. I don’t know if Boris
(Said) got tight or just misjudged it, but he got into us and spun, but I was able to keep it off the wall and then came
back to make the race.”
What did you learn that you need to change on the car for Sunday?
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