Carquest Auto Parts 300 - Ford Qualifying Quotes

ROBERT PRESSLEY-47-Clorox/Wisk Ford Taurus (Qualified 14th) - "It was a good little pickup from practice. We were 13th in practice and picked up a tenth, so I can't complain. I know we have something better than that, and we had to lift off of four; we got a little bit tight. I'm just proud of these Clorox guys. This is the first car that we actually got to build from the ground up, so we're making progress." WITH THE CLOUDY SKIES TODAY, WILL QUALIFYING BE HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY THE WEATHER CONDITIONS? "I think whoever has the cloud cover is going to be the man that is going to benefit the most. Right now if it could stay like this it could be equal for everybody. If we can get in the top 15 with that right there, we'll be good for the race tomorrow." IS BOTTOMING THE CAR OUT IN TURN FOUR A GROWING PROBLEM HERE IN QUALIFYING? "This race track is so bumpy and every year it gets a few more bumps. It just makes it where you never know what you're going to get. Everybody is wanting to get lower and lower on the race track with the chassis and the race track gets bumpier and more sparks fly."

GREG BIFFLE-60-B.A.S.S./Charter Communications Ford Taurus (Qualified 1st) - WHERE DID ALL OF THAT SPEED COME FROM? "Brad Parrott and all of the guys. They made some adjustments on the car. I told them it was a little bit tight. I told Brad it was a little tight and they just made some changes on the car. I really don't even know what they changed. We just put down a heck of a lap. We were worried about it getting hot. That was a fast lap for how hot it is right now and the sun out. The track temp was up nine degrees from the when 38 ran. That was the same lap I turned in my NEXTEL Cup car the other night at night. It was an awesome lap for the B.A.S.S. car. These guys have done a good job with it. I'm excited for them and hopefully we'll be on the pole, but if not, a top-five starting spot." SHOULD WE BE SURPRISED TO SEE THE CUP DRIVERS QUALIFYING UP FRONT TODAY GIVEN THAT YOU HAVE BEEN AT THE TRACK FOR TWO WEEKS? "We have to have a little advantage on them, but I think a lot of guys tested here, too. This place is so hard to test at; it changes so fast. The sun is out and it probably helped me. I was probably too tight and the sun came out and heated the track up, freed my car up and I went faster. You just don't know what's going to help you and what isn't. I'm sure it's made an influence on it to just have a little more track time."

BOBBY HAMILTON, JR.-25-Team Marines Ford Taurus (Qualified 13th) - "It was a decent qualifying run. I wish the sun would have stayed in a little bit, but it didn't work out. We backed up what we did this morning, and that's about all we could do. It was a bit snug in that late corner off of four. This place, you know how crazy it is when the sun comes out. I think that will be a top-12 effort, we'll get a decent pit stall and we'll go after them on Saturday." HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO SET THE CAR UP WHEN THE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING LIKE THEY ARE TODAY? "It's just the luck of the sun. When some of them go out early, you had the advantage today. But, look at the 5 car. He ran almost as fast as the 60 car did when the sun's out. It all depends on how you set it up. I have never qualified good here, so it didn't matter to me if the sun the came out because I knew it was going to be hopefully in the top 12." ARE THE BUMPS BECOMING MORE PROMINENT IN TURNS THREE AND FOUR, AND WITH THE EXTRAS WEEK OF PRACTICE THE CUP DRIVERS HAVE HAD HERE, IS THAT THE ADVANTAGE THEY HAVE IN QUALIFYING? "They're up front every week. It doesn't matter if it's bumps or whatever. They have their stuff together. They've got the shock packages down, they've got everything down and when you get that, you're going to be good. The track is about the same. I know my guys have really picked up the shock program as far as getting over the bumps better. Sure, it's bumpier on the back straightaway, but that's not affecting us. As long as those Cup guys run, they're always going to be the show. They have great equipment, great drivers and great crew chiefs. We just have to keep building our team to get to that point."

GREG BIFFLE PRESS CONFERENCE

"We've been talking about that, practicing in the morning tomorrow. I really feel like practicing in the morning tomorrow with the NEXTEL Cup car is probably going to help us for night race on Sunday night because it's going to be cool in temperature and the track conditions may be closer to what we're really going to have in the evening on Sunday. It's kind of a guess, so it's a possibility, but at the same time, it will probably get you warmed up for the Busch race, I guess. We can't really make any changes on our Busch cars after NEXTEL Cup practice; they won't really let us do that. The cars are a fair amount different anyway, so this Happy Hour here is going to be best determining thing for us."

TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP. DID YOU GET EVERYTHING OUT OF IT? "I really did. It was a great lap for our Ford. Brad and the guys did a great job getting it ready. I was a little bit tight, a little bit tight and they kept making some small changes on the car. We were concerned with what the weather was going to do; this place changes so fast. I was nervous. Right before we went out, it got hot and I thought we were done; our chance at the pole was gone because it is so temperature sensitive here. It warmed up. It was a 111 when Kasey went and it was 123 when we went, and that's a pretty big swing in track temperature. It must have suited my handling of my race car because the thing was perfect. The lap was absolutely perfect, right across the bottom in one and two, and down here in three and four is where I got all of my speed. I drove it in there pretty far and it cut to the bottom, and I was right back to the gas earlier than I had been ever before in a qualifying run. The car, Brad and Al (Tully) and all of the guys just got the car just perfect for me. When you have a perfect car it's easy to drive a fast lap."

"I've been questioning myself with that because we're kinda out of the top 10 in points. Our opportunity to make the top 10 in the NEXTEL Cup points is kinda deteriorated because of the mechanical failures we've had leading up to this point in the season. And, the loose wheel was kinda the straw that broke the camel's back at Richmond. We were running fourth. We just passed Jeff Gordon for fourth and I had to pit for a loose wheel and ended up finishing two laps down. It's hurt us in points. I should have taken the engine, but I'm concerned with the longevity of the engines. It's not proven yet. It's a brand new piece. Nobody knows whether it makes 600 miles. Nobody will know whether it will make 300 miles. I really don't want to fall out of the race just to test something. Certainly there is an advantage to it; you're going to have more power than everybody else, or all of the other teammates. Of course, I don't know about the rest of the field. I'm certainly probably not going to have more power than everybody in the field. So there is an advantage there, but the risk to take that advantage is probably greater than I wanted to do in the 600. Plus, it's our home race track and I don't want to fall out of the race here under the lights. The Charlotte race is a popular race, and it's fun to race in the Coco-Cola 600. That's basically in a nutshell why I didn't want to do it. I'll take it for Dover and some of those other places where the races aren't as long, but certainly didn't want to take it here."

"It doesn't matter to me. I was just making a wisecrack when I didn't get one for The Winston. Kurt Busch, I was just kinda giving him an excuse to jack my wheels off the ground in the straightaway. It really doesn't affect me how they distribute the engines, but I'll be more than happy to run one the rest of the season after this race. Unless, of course, they break. Unless we have some failures immediately, then maybe I'll shy away from that. Of course, you have to keep in mind, that's how we make a living is finishing races, so that's important to us."

"I really like this track Busch racing. I don't do as good here in the NEXTEL Cup car. I haven't had the race car I think I need here, but I've always had a really good Busch. Joe Nemechek gave me a great car to drive here last year. Eric Phillips was the crew chief; the guys did a great job. It was the only race I ran here last year, the Busch race and won it, the fall race. I think I won here in a Busch car in 2002 as well. I really like running here. It's fun to run here in the Busch cars. It's a great race track for them, these types of race tracks. I just wish I could get my NEXTEL Cup car more like my Busch car."

"I guess half and half. Not that I don't like racing every week, but we've had two weekends off this season in the NEXTEL Cup season and both weekends I've gone and raced the Busch car and blown up and fell out of the race. That tends to not make a guy feel real good about doing it. You feel, 'Geez, why did I waste my time off to come and do this?' That kind of disappointed me, but I certainly don't regret taking the challenge of racing both series the whole year. Ironically enough, we go to Nazareth and fall out of the race there toward the end. It kind of wears on you when you have failures like that. It gets you frustrated anyway."

"It does change your line some. It's getting bumpier back there; maybe the track is settling a little bit. But, I've noticed it upsets the car a little more getting into that corner, but it's kinda neat with the race track having bumps or dips or whatever else because it makes each race track have its own characteristics. But, it does change the way you drive it a little bit. You have to be a little more cautious over those bumps back there it seems like. It's hard to notice much of a change in the race track, but we do see some."

"I don't think so. I think a lot of what it is is the car itself, the body and the chassis. Our cars today are so aerodynamically dependent. If you can get a Busch car to go fast and drive around here and be decent, there's no reason why you can't get a NEXTEL Cup car, too. You don't drive them that much different. You drive them some different, but not that much different. I had this discussion with Kevin Harvick and a bunch of other people about it, and they said, 'Oh, my NEXTEL Cup car is just pinned to the race track and it drives so much better.' I'm thinking what am I missing because my Busch car drives pretty good like their Busch car does, but my NEXTEL Cup cars doesn't drive anything like what they're describing, the differences. It's a balancing act. It's getting a good race car and that's a lot of it."

WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT YOUR FUTURE WITH ROUSH RACING? "At this time I can't really talk about it. I wish I could, but right now I'd rather not discuss what we've got going right now."

HOW LONG IS YOUR CONTRACT? "That's kind of up for discussion as well. All of that contractual stuff and what's going on, and everything that is happening, we're working on it. We're focused on the race team and winning races and making the sponsors happy and trying to move forward into the future. As soon as we get all of our differences ironed out, I'm sure we'll be more than happy to talk about it."

IS THERE A POSSIBILITY YOU WILL LEAVE ROUSH RACING BEFORE THE YEAR'S END? "No, there's not a possibility for that at all."