NASCAR Talladega Qualifying: Toyota quote board

Former Talladega winner Brian Vickers captured pole in a bizarre qualifying session.

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Starting Position: 1st

Were you surprised to end up with the pole in this format?

"It's crazy. I thought that coming to three (laps) to go that we had literally no shot. We were way back — like a half a straightaway behind the whole field and they all checked up and gave me a chance and gave me a run. I really get no credit for it. I just tried not to wreck. Billy (Scott, crew chief) and all the guys did a great job with the car and Billy had a strategy and a plan — we stuck to it even when I thought we were crazy and we were going to be in trouble we stuck to his plan. My spotter did a great job on top of the tower and we found some speed. This Aaron's Dream Machine was quick and we have a new car here for this speedway race — the Camry is running good."

What does it mean to earn the pole for this race at Talladega?

"I've always loved coming here. It's always been a special place. To be able to get your first win here and I think it's the first pole for the Aaron's Dream Machine, which his pretty awesome. This is a special track for Aaron's — they have the Aaron's 499 here so that's always cool. Honestly, people say this, but I really mean it — all the credit should go to the guys. They did a great job with the car. Billy (Scott, crew chief) had a strategy and I basically just went when he said to go and when we were about a half a track behind the whole field I definitely had some reservations, I'm not going to lie to you, about our strategy. But it panned out and he did a great job calling all three rounds. Roman did a really good job spotting from the top and just really proud of the whole effort. Hopefully we can keep this Aaron's Dream Machine Camry up front all day tomorrow. We know that's probably not likely — it is Talladega, but most importantly we have a great starting position, great pit selection and hopefully we'll be there at the end of the race. We had a lot of luck today and the cards fell our way and you can't discount that. There is no question about it. I think some of it came — I have an opportunity to stay with some friends that live not too far from here and we wanted to build a campfire and have some smores last night. We had no fire wood and no smores. We drove up the street to Dollar General, got some smores and then I drove all the way back out to the race track and stopped on the side of the road and saw Rusty — that's the only name I got was Rusty — to get some fire wood. Got three loads of fire wood, went back and had smores. I think that's what did it."

Vickers captured victory from pole at Michigan in 2009.

Can you win from the pole as you did in 2009 at Michigan?

"Hopefully we can have the same results. As you know Talladega is a different animal. I think we've got a good car and a good team. We've had great pit stops lately and hopefully we can stay out of trouble and up front. It's going to be a wild race. I'm excited to see it as a fan — the replays I should say. As a driver it's going to be interesting. There's a lot of strategies playing out and there's going to be a lot going on tomorrow with guys kind of going all out and going for a win to get in the Chase and some guys playing it safe and everyone in between and teams like us just trying to get in victory lane with nothing to lose. We're going to try to figure out what that best strategy is — I'm sure it will change like 20 times throughout the race and try to be there at the end. I think we're certainly capable of being in victory lane here. This whole team has done a great job, but we've got a lot of work to do between here and there."

Was this race circled on your calendar after being so close at Daytona?

"I think every race is circled on your calendar right? You want to win them all. I love speedway racing and I hated to see Daytona get cut short. I thought we had a shot at a win and we did have a shot at a win there, but that's that. It's the past and today is today and tomorrow will be tomorrow and that's our focus right now is getting in victory lane. I don't know that even if we would have won Daytona I don't know if I would want to win this race any less. Hopefully we can get out there and get it done tomorrow."

What has this season been like for your team?

"It's been a bit of a roller coaster for us this year. First year together as a team, first year working with Billy (Scott, crew chief) and it's been bittersweet because I love this team and I genuinely mean that. The group of guys that Michael (Waltrip, team owner) has put together and everyone at MWR for me to drive in this Aaron's Dream Machine has been one of the best teams I've ever worked with and I've been fortunate to work with some great teams over the years. I just love these guys and they work their butt off and I just enjoy going to work every day. It makes me happy. I've been through a lot and I've learned the hard way how much you have to appreciate the days you have and the opportunities you get and to be in a race car going 200 period no matter what team you're on. I just really enjoy being with my guys. On a good day, we've had a lot of good days and we've had fast cars and we've run really well throughout the year, but we've had some rough days. Like you talked about last weekend, we had a fast car and it didn't work out for us. We've all made mistakes, but we've learned from them and we're growing as a team. We came into this year wanting to win the championship — that's our goal, that's what we do and that's why we all show up. When that opportunity slipped away from us it was frustrating, but I still just enjoyed showing up to work every day. It's just a great group of guys. It has been a roller coaster, but definitely the highs have been higher and I've had a lot of fun this year. Days like today are what makes it worthwhile. To see all those guys on that team and to see how happy they were — they're the ones that put the hours in. My gosh, they've probably put like 48 hours in or maybe 70 hours in just this weekend. They show up at like 6:00 AM and they bust their butts and for them to get some credit for it is important."

Did Billy Scott give you direction about today's qualifying before this weekend?

"He (Billy Scott, crew chief) gave me a lot of direction. I always do what he says. I have found that life is just better that way — I just do whatever Billy says and my wife says of course. Honestly, he had a great strategy, he's thought through it and revised it like 10 times throughout the weekend and I just trust him. I'd like to think the reverse is true. If I feel sure about something, he's going to go with me. He really studied this and how he thought was going to be best. He did a phenomenal job. He will be the first to tell you that we had some luck on our side too. I think unquestionably his strategy and the way he called it put us in the position that the luck worked for us. Had the pack not slowed down we would have been in trouble. That's part of the game and that's part of Talladega. The most important part is that he put a lot of thought into what he could control and I just listened and it worked out."

Matt Kenseth seems rather lukewarm on NASCAR's new qualifying format.

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Starting Position: 13th

What did you think of that qualifying format?

"I don't know. You don't really get the fastest cars out of it necessarily. It's more about who lays back and how much you can lay back. Everybody can't lay back because nobody would lead it. It's a little bit of a mess. It's interesting, but it's hard to time it. Even for me, we didn't have anything to gain because we have to start in the back with the engine deal, but you get in it and you get competitive and you're getting mad and you're trying to lay back. One of the drivers came up with the idea of drawing numbers odd and even and then just running duels at all the speedways — running 20 laps with no pitting or something like that. I think that would actually make a lot more sense — I think the fans would love it. Then at least we're all racing. Everybody from the time they throw the green drops the hammer and goes and races."

Would you be for duel races with the chance to damage the car?

"You have a pretty good chance here too. I think then at least we're all racing. I don't know that as far as putting your car in a bad situation it's that much different. As long as you have a short enough race and all that. I don't know — it doesn't really matter that much to me. It just seems like it would be more racing."

Alex Bowman turned in a strong qualifying effort.

ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 14th

How was the qualifying round?

"We were decent. I think you just have to plan the draft right and get lucky suck-ups there. Our cars don't suck up that well unless I have somebody pushing me. I had to cut off the 95 (Michael McDowell) there to get in that group of Penske cars and he pushed me and I think that was a pretty solid lap. I don't think starting position matters for tomorrow. My Dustless Blasting Toyota will be ready for tomorrow."

Cole Whitt

COLE WHITT, No. 26 Bad Boy Mowers Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Starting Position: 22nd

How was qualifying?

"It worked out pretty good — just found a good car to follow. That was really the biggest thing. We didn't have really good speed for our car so we know we needed to find someone who was fast and drafted well. Just picked some good cars and followed them and trusted they would get a good lap and we did. It worked out."

Denny Hamlin says the new qualifying format is dumb.

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

What did you think of the qualifying format?

"It's kind of a dumb format, but what can you do. I guess it's supposed to be entertaining, but I don't know. We just wanted to get a lap in and the object of this is to make sure we start the race with the same car we practiced. Our strategy early in the race is going to be to hang out and just see how things all go for the first part and we'll see how it goes from there. Overall, just really didn't expect to qualify that well."

Why did you run the laps alone early in the session?

"We just wanted to run a lap and if we happen to catch the pack just right great and if not then oh well. Just didn't catch it right."

Toyota Racing