Aaron's 312 - Ford Qualifying Quotes

KASEY KAHNE-38-Great Clips Ford Taurus (Qualified 2nd) - YOU PICKED UP MORE THAN TWO-TENTHS FROM PRACTICE. "I didn't expect two-tenths. I expected maybe a tenth or something with the brakes being pushed back, but three-tenths was pretty cool. It's just all about where you run and how hot your engine is. We had ours where we could run the final lap. I always run a little bit higher on my first lap than some of the other guys, and I guess it worked right there. I don't know if it made much of a difference, but that's just how I've always done it." THE CAR RAN FAST BY ITSELF, BUT HOW DO YOU EXPECT IT WILL DO IN THE DRAFT? "It will definitely draft good, it's just a matter getting it handling. We've got a really good Ford Taurus. Our Pro Engines are running good. I think it will run really good in the draft; it will just be a matter of making sure you can stay right on the bottom and suck up to the car in front of you." WHAT DID YOU DO THE CAR AFTER PRACTICE? "Mainly, we just tied the brakes back and tied the pads back off of the rotors, and there are a couple of other little things that they do. We picked more than I expected. I thought that we would pick up about a tenth; some cars were picking up and some cars were staying where they were. I think it will do good. We had a real good car at Daytona in the draft. It's the same race car and the crew guys have made some changes, Wes Ward and the whole crew. Pro Engines gave up a little more horsepower, too. I think it can only be better than it was at Daytona." YOU RAN UP FRONT ALL DAY AT DAYTONA. HOW MUCH WILL THAT EXPERIENCE HELP YOU THIS WEEKEND? "Daytona was only my second restrictor-plate race. I learned a lot there getting to run up there with the lead guys, the guys that do a really good job at drafting. Every time you're on the track they're teaching you something, especially with this drafting stuff. Daytona helped and I think we have a really awesome race car for here."

SCOTT RIGGS-10-Nestle Nesquik Ford Taurus (Qualified 8th) - "We think that's about what we could have run. Actually, my crew chief (Doug Randolph) said that we were going to run a 70, and I think that was what we ran. He knows more about it than I do. I feel good about it. The guys on the Nesquik Ford Taurus worked hard on this car. We didn't get a chance to go testing, so we really didn't get a chance to tune on it. We just want to come in here and have a good solid run and have a good solid finish and not end up on our top or in a crash. We just want to finish this race as good as we can and be able to tweak on this race and get it ready for Daytona in July. They gave me a good car and I think we'll be somewhere around 10th in qualifying, and I think it will be good for the race." YOU HAVE ONE RACE UNDER YOUR BELT AT TALLADEGA. DO YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE BEHIND THE WHEEL OF THE CAR HERE THIS YEAR? "I do. I have a lot more experience this year being able to go to all of these different race tracks. I feel a lot better coming back this year, of course, I hope we don't have any kind of big wreck this year. That would make me feel a lot more comfortable." DID THE WINDY CONDITIONS AFFECT YOUR QUALIFYING RUN? "The wind is blowing out there, but we're pushing so much air to begin with and the cars are so rigid and stiff, we don't notice it out there on the track; it just shows up on the stopwatch."

JASON KELLER-57-Albertsons Ford Taurus (Qualified 19th) - "This is a brand new race car, and every time out it's a little faster. We just have to work hard for the whole weekend to get some notes on this car and see how it drafts. This is all new for us. We tore up our good car at Daytona, so the guys did a really good job to get us going as much as we have. It's just going to be a learning deal this weekend. I'm looking forward to Saturday, but I wish we knew more about our hot rod here, but we'll learn." YOU AVOIDED THE BIG WRECK HERE LAST YEAR BY GETTING UP FRONT EARLY. HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE TO GET UP FRONT EARLY? "Really important. We knew coning in that it was going to be a long shot to start up front. We prepared the best we possibly could and did a great job to get the car here, a brand new race car between Daytona and here. With the lack of testing and the wind tunnel as well, we'll just have to do the best we can. We have some notes from last year, but everything from last year didn't work on this car for qualifying. We've got to be smart Saturday."

STANTON BARRETT-60-OdoBan Ford Taurus (Qualified 12th) - IT APPEARED THAT YOU HIT A RABBIT ON YOUR FIRST LAP IN TURN 2. "I don't know what it was; I didn't see anything. I think we were better than that. That definitely affected us, but we'll take it and try to start as close to the front as we can and try to have a good day with the OdoBan Ford." WHAT WILL THE CREW DO WITH THE DAMAGE? "I don't know; it looks ugly. It will definitely take some work. It probably ruined the grille work and that will take some time to fix. My guys will get it together; they know what they're doing and we'll get it ready for the race." AREN'T RABBITS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD LUCK? "Not if you kill the rabbit. It was an OK lap for the OdoBan Ford. I think we would have been better than that, we should have been better than that, but with the valance pushed in like that you can't expect anything more." DID YOU SEE SOMETHING ON THE TRACK? "I didn't see it. Your car is so loud, you can't feel and hear that kind of thing."

KASEY KAHNE PRESS CONFERENCE

TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP. "I'm actually a little bit surprised with where we're at. This is the same car that we had at Daytona. Our Great Clips team did a great job of making the car a little bit better than it was, and our Pro Engine is better, too. I'm excited. I was surprised to be first in practice and definitely surprised to be second now. I'm just looking forward to practice tomorrow and the race on Saturday."

"We ran a 32 in practice, and I thought we would pick up a little bit. Junior went out and we were still faster than him so I thought we may have a shot at pole, but at the same time you know Joe Nemechek is going to run at least a second quicker than he was in practice. I think he went more than second quicker. I wasn't surprised at all when he beat us."

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