NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

How do you handle starting next to Jimmie Johnson on Sunday?
“Carefully. More than anything I think it was just a product of being able to go out when the sun was going down. Nonetheless its two years in a row that we’re on the outside front row here. Eventually, I am going to want to be on the pole. The car is pretty good in race trim. Hopefully, we can work on it. When you start up front in a race like this, especially the way the restarts are working now with the lappers having to go to the back because you potentially don’t go a lap down and you stay on the lead lap all day and get a good result. We have to take advantage of it and run good all day on Sunday and come home with a good, strong end of the year.”

How close was that to being a perfect lap?
“Pretty far, honestly. It was average, definitely average. I think the lap that we put up on the front row last year was definitely better. We’ll take it and it was better than all the other ‘go-or-go-homers’ and they had the same conditions so we’ve made progress with the car. Hopefully it stays good on Sunday. Starting up there really helps for the overall big picture on Sunday.”

What is your plan going into the first turn on Sunday?
“Race car drivers don’t typically make plans, I’ll be honest with you. Certainly you don’t want to be the guy that takes out the 48 (Jimmie Johnson), that doesn’t look good on your resume. No plan, you’re going to give him room, you race him as hard as you can to race your own race, but I think the thing we all fear more than anything is being the idiot that takes out the 48 (Johnson) and ruins and perfectly good four-championship streak.”

What could Sunday mean for you heading into next season?
“I can’t say that one race is going to change so much. I think at the end of the season, we’re going to look back at the last three months and say that we’ve gotten better, run a lot better, had better finishes and what can we work on over the off season to make things better. Obviously, we’re in a great position to have another good result. We’re going to take care of that first and foremost, but regardless if something goes wrong, we get in a crash or I even make a mistake and don’t finish, I think we’re going to look at more of the big picture at what we can work on through the off season to get better for next year.”

What have the challenges been for you this season compared to your Formula 1 career?
“The challenges are totally different as I can and have improved do much just from race to race. By the time I made it to Formula 1, I can honestly say there was a lot I was learning about being a professional open wheel driver. You kind of already made it, there are always things you work on and you always try to get better, but for the most part you’re just really fine tuning things. Ever since I came back over the pond and started racing these things, every time I get into it, there’s something big that I learn. Honestly, it’s been a lot more exciting having done that just because I can physically see so much more progress in myself from where I started out. From my first Cup race to where I am now, it’s been fun and really exciting for me to be able to make those improvements and be able to better myself as a race car driver. That’s the most rewarding.”

How do you push yourself to make those improvements?
“The thing about this type of racing is experience means so much. The cars haven’t changed very much over the years and there’s a reason why a guy like Mark Martin can go out there and still run as competitively as he has. At some point, that experience is worth so much and honestly, the challenge here for me is to try to soak up as much experience as I can every weekend and really try to nail down and learn as efficiently as I can.”

What areas do you still have to improve on?
“One of them certainly is running the top side. There’s a reason why I was on the bottom in qualifying here, it’s not exactly my forte. I think the biggest thing is the feel of the car, what it’s supposed to feel like when it’s fast. What we saw last year here, we ended up putting the thing on the front row as well and thought everything was going to be super good and really went in optimistically for this year and then we get to the beginning of this year and when the cars not right, it was obvious that I had trouble conveying to my crew chief what we needed to do to make it better. I think what we are getting the most better at is that when the car is not right, making it right in the short amount of practice that we have every weekend.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 47 Little Debbie Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing
Starting Position: 3rd

How was your qualifying run today?
“It was great until Scott Speed just bumped me off the front row. We had a chance at our first front row spot and just lost it there on the last couple cars that ran. We’re really pleased – it’s about a second faster than what I qualified here last year. It’s pretty much got the same springs underneath so it just shows you how far I’ve come as a driver and how far we’ve come as a team. I really didn’t know how I was going to stack up this weekend, this track was my worst of last season. I was worried about coming down here, but I guess it worked out well and we had a great draw for qualifying. I drew 35th and you can’t do much better than that in those conditions. We made the most of it.”

How do you view Jimmie Johnson at the start of the race?
“I will be following him into turn one because I guarantee that he knows the right line around this place. I will just try to fall in behind him and try to stay at the front to the first pit stop. He’s got a halo bar around his car this weekend and you just don’t want to be the guy that takes his championship away. He deserves it and he’s clearly dominated the last four years and I just don’t want to do the wrong thing by him so I will be following him into turn one, but I won’t be on his bumper – I will be a safe distance behind and letting him do his thing.”

Where have you made your greatest gains this year?
“There isn’t one thing that you can pinpoint to say that’s what gave me half-a-second. I think inner confidence is very important, feeling that you belong in the sport, knowing that you can save a car when it gets out of shape because it gets out of shape about four or five times a lap. You just have to believe in yourself and have your crew believe in you and believe in what you’re telling them as far as feedback goes. Just learning to drive the heck out of these race cars because they don’t want to go as fast as we push them. You just have to really be on your game. There’s no where to hide out there in the Cup series. All the cars are very good, the drivers are very good and the competition is very high.”

How much of a factor was going out in cooler temperatures?
“No doubt it helps. If we had gone out in the top-10, we wouldn’t be up here. This practice and qualifying time is critical. Some tracks it doesn’t matter as much when you qualify early in the afternoon, but when you have the sun going down like it does here in the South fast, the track cools off a lot. We all know a cool track has faster lap times.”

What are your plans for the off season?
“My off season started yesterday – I left the house, locked it up and I’m not going back to it. Basically, I’m flying out from Miami on Monday straight back to Australia. Going to hang out with my friends and family and just get my mind and body back in shape. I’ve got some TV stuff to do down there. I’ve got an American film crew coming down to do some filming during testing in Tasmania, which is exciting. I’m going to go to the last round of the Australian V8 Super Car Series and do some television work as well for Speed. We’ve got a little bit of stuff to do, but primarily it’s just about getting back home, forgetting about turning left for a while and get back to normal living. I’ve got a little townhouse in Lanxess, my hometown and I like going down and getting the milk and paper in the mornings from the local store. Just being a normal, average Joe. It’s a crazy world we live in and sometimes you just need a moment to reflect on what you’re all about and I use my off season well. I really try to get back, get my feet on the ground and not move for a while.”

How much racing should you be able to do with Jimmie Johnson?
“I try to race people hard, but fair. I’m just conscious of the fact – the way the points are and the way the Chase is run and everything. With the exception of Jimmie (Johnson), you don’t win the Cup, you avoid mistakes to win the Cup. You could see with the disaster he had at Texas, how easily it came undone. You don’t want to be the guy that does that to him, he’s not going to do it on his own, most likely – he’s so talented. It’s not that we don’t race him – if I’m faster, I’m going to pass him. You just have to treat everyone with respect because of what they’ve done and where they’re at in the points. You know that what goes around comes around and if I get myself in a position like he’s in, I would like to be treated a little kindly as well. It’s a fine line between looking out for yourself and looking at the bigger picture.”

Would you consider running at the V8 Super Car final?
“I tried to, but they wouldn’t give me a license. I got turned down – I had sponsors in play and everything ready to go. I was going to go back and do it this year. The last race is in two weeks, it’s at a street track around Sydney. I thought it would be very cool to go back and see old friends and have a race or two and they wouldn’t let me in. The series is different down there, they have franchises. The teams own a contract to race, a Racing Enterprises Contract or something. There’s 30 of them, one of them went broke so they didn’t renew it. One of them the series bought back and kept in their back pocket so they were reduced to 28 so I wanted to buy the 29th license for that one event, which the series owned and the series said they didn’t want to do it.”

DAVID GILLILAND, No. 02 Farm Bureau Insurance Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 17th

Are you happy with your qualifying lap?
“I’m really proud of all of the guys.  We’ve struggled in practice with this deal this year and all of the guys made some great changes for actual qualifying laps and we were able to put down a solid lap there and into the race.  We’re in a little bit different situation than a lot of people.  We come here and first and foremost we had to qualify in the race or we won’t be here on Sunday.  So that’s our first and foremost goal.  I’m real proud of what we’ve been able to do and we’ve been able to go back on some notes that we learned from earlier in the year the first two races that we did.  I’m real proud of all of the guys.  The Farm Bureau Toyota Camry drove great.”

MICHAEL McDOWELL, No. 36 WAVE Energy Drink Toyota Camry, Tommy Baldwin Racing
Starting Position: 18th

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 22nd

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 30th

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team
Starting Position: 33rd

How does it feel to be the first person on the race track during qualifying?
“You don’t want to be the first one out.  Honestly, the track’s lost grip.  I was expecting the sun going down, maybe losing some temp and gain some grip but the track temperature is about the same when we checked it.  I think the Nationwide rubber took a little bit of grip away.  The track seemed really slick to me.  Our car was sliding around.  Hopefully it keeps sliding around for everyone else.”
 
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 35th

MATT CRAFTON, No. 7 Toyota Camry, Robby Gordon Motorsports
Starting Position: 37th

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 38th

How was your qualifying run?
“I had my hands full for sure with our FedEx Camry.  Today we really haven’t had a whole lot of speed in our race car even though the balance was fairly close.  We had a lot of days like that but come Sunday I’m sure we’re going to be towards the front where we should be.”

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 39th

TERRY LABONTE, No. 08 FanCar Toyota Camry, Carter-Simo Racing
Starting Position: 43rd

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position: DNQ

DAVE BLANEY, No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota Camry, Prism Motorsports
Starting Position: DNQ

MAX PAPIS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Starting Position: DNQ