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TOYOTA NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Qualifying Notes & Quotes Dodge Dealers 400 - Dover International Speedway

AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Team Red Bull:
Starting position: 11th
Talk about your qualifying lap and that being the only lap you made in the car today.
“I really didn’t know what to expect for that lap. Basically we had a bungee cord holding the car in fourth gear. First of all I have to thank my guys for working so hard -- they were really down because they couldn’t get me back out in practice, but the motor was just destroyed. We had to put everything brand new in there so there was just no way we were getting back out there. I have to thank BV (Brian Vickers) and all his guys because that was his set-up in the car. All we could do was take what they had in their car in practice and they were fast and happy so that was our best shot. It wasn’t really fortunate for him because he had to go out early, but we were able to listen to what he had to say. But I have to thank them for that set-up because that is all we had to go off of for that lap.”

Did you ever expect to earn your best starting position to date at Dover in this fashion?
“Just getting in the race at Loudon (NH) like we did and then getting in this race like we did shows that we can conquer just about anything this season. I mean I really wasn’t convinced that we were going to get in this race much less earn my best starting spot of the season so far. That was probably one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced this season with not getting any practice laps and having to go for it in qualifying.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Domino’s Pizza Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing:
Starting position: 13th
How was your qualifying lap?
“We picked up from our practice laps and anytime you can pick up from practice when you are pretty good then you know you’re having a good day. I’m real happy with that lap, but as long as we make it in the race then I’m usually happy. Tomorrow we can focus on race runs during practice because today we focused only on making this field.”

You have been fast in your Busch car today -- will that race tomorrow help you for Sunday’s NNCS race?
“The COT drives totally different from the Busch cars so you can’t really transfer a lot from one to the other. But any time you can get on the race track is a good thing and I missed this race earlier this season so just running circles around this place will help me learn that much more.”

DALE JARRETT, No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing:
Starting position: 19th
How was your qualifying lap?
“The most important thing right now is getting our UPS Toyota Camry into the race. The car was good from the very first laps that we took on the race track today. This is the same car that we brought here in the race this season and we qualified pretty well in that race -- ran well until something went through the radiator. I was looking forward to coming back here -- I was telling the guys that this was a really fun lap when you have a good race car. It’s not so much fun if you’re not running well, but we have a good car this weekend and that lap was a lot of fun. You can really get through the corner fast and come off the corner really fast. We made a good lap and a lap good enough to make the field so that is what we were focused on.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Team Red Bull:
Starting position: 23rd
How was your qualifying lap?
“Our lap was okay, but I really thought that we could have been better. Our practice laps were better than that -- we knew we were a little tight and we had been last time we were here. Normally we’re too loose in qualifying so this time we leaned more toward the tight side. That kind of hurt us this time, but we made it into the race and that what we were focused on.”

What has your team been working on to help improve your COT (Car of Tomorrow) program?
“We’ve looked and worked on every single area that we can work on to improve our COT program. We’ve either not been looking at the right spots or aren’t working hard enough because our COT program is still not where we need it to be and we know that. But we have been making gains and that’s what’s important.”

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 55 NAPA Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing:
Starting position: 43rd

DAVE BLANEY, No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing:
Starting position: DNQ

JEREMY MAYFIELD, No. 36 360 OTC Toyota Camry, Bill Davis Racing:
Starting position: DNQ