NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 12, 2015
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
“I got through (Turns) 1 and 2 pretty good. I just got a little free but was able to stay in it. And then in (Turn) 3 I was like man, I was a little loose there and I’ve been back-pedaling more than I wanted to. So, I pushed harder in (Turn) 3 and I started to kind of slide the nose, so I had to backpedal and go back down. I knew it killed my exit a little, but it was still a great lap. Our Great Clips Chevrolet has had speed all three runs, so I knew we’d have a shot today, so that was cool. It’s been a while since we’ve had a pole.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT GOING TO BE TO BE OUT FRONT IN SUNDAY’S RACE?
“It’s going to be really important. The track is going to change a lot, though, come Sunday, with all the racing going on this weekend and then our practices tomorrow. The track will be a lot different Sunday. So, there will be some passing for sure, but it’s not going to be easy. So, track position will play a big role in being there at the end of the race.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER/JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 2ND
IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO BE THE GUY TODAY. DID YOU GET EVERYTHING OUT OF THAT LAST LAP?
“I don’t know that I got everything out of it, but all the rounds were within seven-hundredths of each other. The guys were doing a great job and Kasey (Kahne, pole winner) just got a little bit better lap there, than we did.”
WHAT’S THE FOCUS WHEN YOU COME HERE TO MICHIGAN?
“I think the biggest focus is just trying to get as much speed out of the car and still keep the handling in the car. The weather is going to be a little bit different. Today was one of those days where you kind of chased the radar and tried to decide whether you’re going to make qualifying runs or not because the rains were coming. You didn’t know if you were going to get to qualify today. All-in-all, you just try to get the car to go as fast as it will go and handle as good as it can.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/VISSER PRECISION CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 9TH
YOU BARELY MADE IT INTO THE FINAL ROUND, BUT THEN YOU FOUND SOMETHING:
“Yeah, we made some adjustments for qualifying guessing on what the track was going to do. It seemed like it was getting hotter outside and then the clouds came back. We just missed it. We were too tight. We spent every run trying to free it up. The last run was the best we were which is always what you want. You want to keep getting better. We were still a little bit too tight at the end. Good adjustments by the guys and good recovery for sure. We had to go twice in the second round that is usually not a good thing, but here the tires really seem to get faster as you run, so it didn’t hurt us. Wish we could have got a little more, but a top 10 we will take it.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 14TH
A LITTLE SHORT MAKING IT TO THE FINAL ROUND WHAT DID YOU NEED OUT OF YOUR CAR TO MOVE ON TO THE TOP 12?
“Just another two tenths it looks like. We weren’t holding the throttle down as long as those other guys. This place is pretty fast. You have to run a lot of corner speed and a lot of throttle. We just weren’t able to carry enough throttle through the corner.”
HOW ABOUT THE SET-UP UNDER THE RACE CAR?
“We didn’t run any race set-up this morning because of the rain. We didn’t know whether we would get qualifying in so we were in qualifying trim all morning. I think we will race good. This place is a lot of fun, wide race track. We will have a good competitive car. We haven’t qualified well all year. I don’t get too worried about it when we don’t do well there. We should race well and have a lot of fun.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 25TH
WHO MAKES THE CALL TO GO BACK OUT?
“Well, it’s a team decision. Danica (Patrick) was the last car on the track and you’re kind of basing it on what they ran in the first time out and it seemed like she needed to pick-up a lot. You don’t want to go out unless you have to. Obviously now, we wish we would have. I didn’t really drive the car hard enough the first run. We made our sticker run right before the rain came in practice. I was extremely loose. I had to abort the entire lap. So, I tried to just put in like a 90% lap that I thought would get through to the next round and it just came up a little bit short. So, it’s super-frustrating. It’s so much fun, this qualifying effort, when you make it through to each round, especially the way it is now because if your 24th, you have a chance of still being on the pole. But on days like today, it’s really frustrating.”