Coca-Cola 600 - Dodge Qualifying Quotes

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Intrepid) - Wins Pole, Third of Season

"Hopefully that'll be a top five start for us," Newman said immediately after qualifying. "We could really use it. Starting up front in a 600-mile race is pretty important. I just hope we can have a good run on Sunday. That's what we really need. I'm looking forward to another race so we can redeem ourselves. When you've got conditions that change the track as much as they do here, the possibility of starting out with the right setup is not too great. We haven't made the 600 miles yet. I don't think we've even made 300 miles before. I'm always looking forward to it. That's what I'm here for."

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Intrepid) - Pole Winner's Interview

"Buddy Baker taught me. He was the first guy to ever take me around this race track. I looked at him after two laps and told him I was going to like it. I have ever since. Obviously it takes a great team and great engines and everything else to go with it, but obviously I enjoy this race track. I enjoy qualifying. Today was our day to be on top I guess.

"I was real happy with our first run and second run, but our third run on new tires today wasn't what I thought it was going to be. That threw me off a little bit. I didn't know what to expect in qualifying after running a .66 and 29.50 in practice on new tires after (Jimmie) Johnson ran his .08. I'm like, 'man, we're four tenths off.' That on top of the fact that Busch practice had the wreck and a bunch of oil off turn four. It was like we weren't real confident after practice, plus we had a bunch of oil on the race track. We unloaded fast and we put the car back to where we unloaded before qualifying and that was what we needed.

COMMENT ON PENSKE STARTING ON POLE AT INDY AND CHARLOTTE "It's our goal, and I think it's cool. When you said that, that's the first time I thought about it. Their deal started three weeks ago, but it's definitely cool. We look forward to both having great runs. Not just me and Helio, but Rusty and Gil. Sunday is a big day for Penske Racing. We'll race as hard as we can, whether it's for Roger Penske or Don Miller or ever who we've got on the race team."

DO YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT MINDSET FOR A 600-MILER? "I've got to talk to Buddy about that. We haven't made 600 miles yet. The first race here two years ago I tried too hard and spun out by myself. Last year the engine blew up. Bottom line, it's just a little extra longer race. You've got to be patient and do everything else you do for a 500-miler or a 300-miler. Bottom line, you've got to have the car underneath you and be in position at the end just like any other race. It just so happens it's a little tougher on equipment."

COMMENT ON SEASON "We've had an up and down season, more downs than ups and sometimes some overs. The best part everybody says keep your head up and things will turn around. To me, we've been running fast. We've been doing good. We've just had some freak instances, whether it's Talladega or whether it was Daytona. The first lap at California, I'll forever say it wasn't my fault. The bottom line is you've got to go on. You've got to keep your chin up. We've been fast, and that's what's pulled me through it all."

"You create 99 percent of your own luck in this sport as you do in anything else. If you go over the line just a little bit going down the highway, then it's your fault. You're the one in control. I'm the one in control in that driver's seat. Matt's in control as the crew chief, and every other guy has some form of control. There's been times when we let that slip a little bit, whether it's me in The Winston or burning up a rear gear at Richmond. The bottom line is we've been going out there and trying real hard. We just haven't put everything together. There is what you call racing luck where you blow tires or get involved in a wreck when the race track's block, but again, that's part of it.

"I just got loose (in The Winston). In fact, I went up to Tony (Stewart) before qualifying and told him I had to blame it on somebody. Obviously, it was my fault. I was just upset because we had a car capable of winning, in my eyes pretty easily. We had a really fast race car. I took us out of contention. A little bit of it was impatience, but a part of it was I knew that once the competition got single file and spread out a little bit it was going to be hard to get to that eighth or ninth spot. In hindsight for sure that was the ideal spot to go for.

"He (Stewart) was cool about it. I told him I would have sworn 99 percent somebody would have hit me. I want you guys to understand what it's like to drive the car because when Mark was next to me and I got the air off my car, Tony was four feet behind me, it felt like my car lifted itself off the ground. When I spun around I was on the tip going backwards. It gives you an idea that race car was not touching the ground. There's a picture in Winston Cup Scene of the front tires lifting up off the ground, the left front is for sure. That's what happens with the air. I put myself in the wrong spot and tried too hard at the same time.

"I think the sun came out and got a little warm but at the same time it cooled off back again right away. I think overall it was more consistent than it usually is here in qualifying. Usually we're translating from 7 o'clock to about 9:30 at night."

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid)

"My foot's not hurting me. I've just got to figure out how to brake correctly with this new deal. I don't usually brake with my right foot on superspeedways, but I do on some tracks. We'll just see how it goes. It'll all work out."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light/Brooks & Dunn Dodge Intrepid)

"I just don't understand it. We were faster than that in practice. This lap felt like it might have been a .40 or .50 and it ended up being a .90 We just can't pick it up in qualifying. It seems like everywhere we go we slow down. This is a different car than we had here last weekend in The Winston, and it feels a lot better. We've just got to get going a little faster in qualifying."

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Havoline Dodge Intrepid)

"I was smiling afterwards. It felt really good. The crew picked me up quite a bit. We made some changes after practice, and obviously those changes worked out. We changed shocks and some other stuff, and each week the guys pick us up for qualifying. All three teams came with different setups. I called Donnie Wingo on Sunday night and we talked for about two hours, so we came with some different stuff."

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid)

"I feel pretty good about that lap. Obviously we wanted to be faster, but it was a big pickup for us. A lot of it has to do with me running these ARCA races and Busch races. I felt so much more comfortable qualifying today. I'm so excited about the Busch race tomorrow. The bottom line is I ran a year of Busch, and then I got right in the Cup car. These guys have been in stock cars their whole lives, and whether I like to admit it or not, I've got a lot to learn. There's nothing to be said for experience, and that's what I lack right now. I feel pretty good. I'm ready for that 1,000 miles of racing. I'll be ready to go 600 miles on Sunday."

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)

"We've struggled since we came off the truck, but we got it better. We need some more time because I know which way to go with it now. We've been loose since we unloaded. It's a different car than we had last weekend, and it's doing some radically different things. It's got different looking fenders on it, and I think we might have overshot with the fenders a little bit. We've got to get working on it and get it tightened up. I had it real tight for qualifying, and when it was all said and done, I had it too tight. It pushed from the center of the corner."

JIMMY SPENCER (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid)

"I really felt like we had an opportunity to qualify in the top five. We didn't tighten the car up enough. We made a bunch of changes. Tommy wanted to do one more thing and I wouldn't let him. It was my fault. He's got confidence in everything he does, and so do I. The other thing he wanted to do wasn't a major change, but it would have helped it pick up three or four more tenths. If you don't have a balanced car here, you can't qualify. A .57 here isn't all that fast. Everybody else was just a lot slower. Usually a .57 here is good enough for about 25th. We didn't get a lot of practice, and all in all this was a good effort. I'm excited about the car. It's a lot better feeling car than we had in The Winston. Tommy knew that I trust him."

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid)

"We slowed down a little bit. I don't know what everybody else did. I thought we had a good lap. The team worked good together today. Now we'll just get ready to race."

KENNY WALLACE (No. 23 Stacker2 Dodge Intrepid)

"The car wasn't that bad. I was a little loose. I got through one and two good, but I got loose in turn three. I'm a little disappointed, but it's a long race."

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