NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
OCTOBER 19, 2012
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER:
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“Our Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was awesome right there. It was great. I tried to get a little…I went into (turn) three, and felt like I could go wide open. So I went back to wide open, and then I started just chattering a little bit. So, I eased off the throttle and back down. I definitely gave up a little time doing that. So far so good though.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 CODE 3 ASSOCIATES CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED SIXTH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“It was a good lap for our Code 3 Associates Chevrolet. The guys did a good job making it better. I don’t think we made it good enough; that is the problem. I think a couple other guys are going to be really fast, probably pushing the 27 second bracket.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED SEVENTH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP: DID YOU SEE ELVIS ON THAT RUN?
“I did, I saw him again. There is an old saying, drive it in the corner and don’t hit the brakes until you see, and there’s a few names that come about, and Elvis is the one I grew up hearing about. So, I saw Elvis again, and went a little further yet. I had a great lap. The car is very fast. It’s awfully close up there at the top. It’s hard to look back at the lap and see where I could have been faster because you are just driving your guts out, and really doing all that you can all the way around the track. You know it is fast; you just don’t know if it is fast enough. We had a very solid lap with my Lowe’s Chevrolet. I think we are going to be strong on Sunday. We’ve been here so many days, I can’t figure out what day we are on, but we’re on Friday, so come Sunday we’ll be great.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 10TH
HOW MUCH OF YOUR NOTES CAN YOU USE GETTING AROUND RACE TRACKS LIKE THIS ONE THAT ARE NEWLY REPAVED?
“Well you never really know exactly what you need as far as travels and what the speeds are going to be. So you have to kind of get here. You have a basic plan and it’s like a lot of places we go to that are really smooth. We have had a lot of experience with repaves this year so we take that same kind of approach and go from there.”
WHEN IT COMES TO THE RACE ON SUNDAY WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU ANTICIPATE FACING UNDER GREEN FLAG CONDITIONS?
“I think the hardest thing is just going to be passing. Hopefully, in the Nationwide race and the ARCA race the groove gets spread out. The bottom lane is still the fastest right now and that is going to be the way around.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 51 PHOENIX CONSTRUCTION CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 13TH
HOW WAS YOUR QUALIFYING LAP?
“It was pretty good. This place is really fast right now so when you kind of are in practice you get that rhythm of going out there. We have been fighting just a little bit tight in practice. I got down into (turns) one and two and got right along the (white) line and it just got me a little free so I had to pedal it just for a second. When the speeds are this high if you pedal it just a little bit you lose a little bit of time. I’m happy overall so far the whole week has been really good. As a driver you always want a little bit more, but that should I think keep us right inside the top-15 which will be good for us and we will try to get it good for 400 miles.”
HOW DO YOU THINK YOU CAR IS GOING TO BE FOR SUNDAY?
“I think it’s got out right speed so far the whole weekend. I think the speed is there, but the biggest thing is the fact that as you keep going out there on tires you keep getting quicker. Nobody has really gone out there on new tires and just run a ton. I think we will be alright. We definitely have good speed and track position is going to be everything so it’s the way that is going to play out. All of us have to be smart and not make any mistakes. I think if we can do that we can have a solid top 15 if not better on Sunday.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 7 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 41ST
HOW WAS YOUR QUALIFYING LAP?
“I feel like anytime I’m not last it just feels good (laughs). For me the big indicator of how comfortable I am is how I can qualify the car. I definitely feel like we were making a little bit of progress today. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do as many qualifying runs as I would have wanted to in practice because I came across the line after my second run and lifted, popped it out of gear, but when I popped it out of gear it ran into third gear. So, they had to change the engine and we weren’t able to do anymore qualifying runs. Shortchanged myself there, but I will definitely push the clutch in every time I take it out of gear from now on. We are steadily making progress and that is what this is for. I’m sure that the race will be even more as it seems to do every other time. I know it’s going to be tough to pass and I know we are not going to start in a great spot, but we will make the most of it and we will be better off next year that is what I keep saying. That is why we are doing this.”
