Aaron's 312 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

CHAD BLOUNT, NO. 19 APP PRE-PAID GAS CARDS DODGE:

"We had a pretty decent run. We only got three runs out on the track today. We gained and that's positive. I know our car will be real good when it comes race day so we'll take what we can get here and be ready for Saturday." YOU QUALIFIED AND RAN WELL AT DAYTONA. DOES THAT MAKE YOU LOOK FORWARD TO SATURDAY EVEN MORE? "It does. This is the same car we had at Daytona. We just had to put a side on it since we got caught up in a last lap wreck there. We know this car drafts well. We know it won't qualify real well but we know it will be good in the race and that's the main thing." WHAT'S THE MAIN THING YOU LEARNED AT DAYTONA? "We learned a lot about how everybody else runs so hopefully we gained some respect from a lot of these guys that we are going to be running with. Maybe that yellow stripe won't come in and affect us like it did in Daytona." WHAT CAN YOU DO TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE HERE? "I'd rather be lucky that good any day. Hopefully we'll just be lucky and stay out of the big wreck and just move on from there."

COY GIBBS IN NO. 18 MBNA CHEVROLET WAS THE TOP QUALIFYING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE AT TALLADEGA. GIBBS TAKES THE HONOR FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON. HE WAS THE HIGHEST QUALIFYING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE LAST WEEK AT THE O'REILLY 300 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.

"That's a good run for us. We had a good run at Daytona in qualifying and we didn't finish the race very well so I'm hoping that we will have a good qualifying effort and a good race." YOU HAD A TOUGH DAY HERE LAST TIME AT TALLADEGA. "Yeah, thanks for bringing that up (smiles). I'm one for four at the speedways so we're hoping to improve that." WAS THERE A LOT OF WORK DONE ON THIS CAR SINCE DAYTONA? "That's a new car. We had to work on it a little bit after Daytona so we have a new front and rear clip on it and almost a whole new body on it. We didn't get to test it. I'm real happy with it. The guys did a great job and we're just happy to be out here with MBNA." WHAT DID YOU LEARN AT DAYTONA THAT WILL HELP YOU HERE? "I think I learned a lot on setup that will help us here so I'm excited about that." HOW ABOUT DRAFTING? "If you have a good car, drafting is easy but I haven't been up front battling for the lead or anything. That will come when I learn that when I need to. For now, I'm trying to stay behind someone and not wreck." CAN YOU AS A DRIVER DO ANYTHING TO STAY OUT OF "THE BIG ONE"? "There's really nothing that you can do. It happens at the front of the pack, it happens at the back of the pack. You'd rather be up front, obviously. It's probably more likely to happen behind you but I've seen it happen both ways." WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD DAY FOR YOU IN THE RACE? "At top-10." IS THAT REALISTIC? "Yes. I think we have a good car. We have a top-10 car for sure. I know I have a top-10 motor. I know I have a top-10 crew. Those guys have been around and they know what they are doing so it's just up to me." DID YOU CHANGE ANYTHING FROM PRACTICE TO QUALIFYING ON THE CAR? "I stopped touching the brake and it picked us up quite a bit. You know they change everything when they come to these speedway deals, especially for qualifying. They go nuts. I can't keep track of all the things they change and every time it works. My hat's off to the guys. They did a great job."

CHASE MONTGOMERY, NO. 27 TRIMSPA PONTIAC:

"We slowed down a little bit. I think the wind picked up and it's a little warmer. I think it's right in there where we practiced. We would all like to go faster but we'll take what we can get. Saturday is when it's important." YOU FINISHED 10TH AT DAYTONA SO YOU MUST BE EXCITED ABOUT RACING HERE SATURDAY? "I love superspeedway racing and Brewco has a really strong superspeedway program. I think we are going to be in contention. This car has traditionally raced a lot better than it's ever qualified so I think we are going to be pretty good." IT SEEMS LIKE YOU HAVE ADAPTED QUICKLY TO THIS TYPE OF RACING. "This is the crew's race. I put it on the floor and hold the steering wheel. Those guys are what make the difference so this is one for them. It's something that I've enjoyed and something that I've been successful on. Anytime you are successful I think you enjoy coming back." WHAT DID YOU LEARN AT DAYTONA THAT YOU CAN APPLY HERE? Coming out of ARCA it was a lot of single file racing and at Daytona I really got used to the two and three wide racing all day. There is a lot of stuff that I think I'm just getting used to. I hope that I've got some people that will work with me now and I think that we will be all right." IS THERE ANY WAY TO AVOID THE "BIG ONE"? "Close you eyes and hope that your spotter tells you to go the right direction (smiles). I don't know. I've been pretty fortunate. We haven't had to go through too many big ones. I'll tell you as soon as I have to go through one."

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