GFS Marketplace 400 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

GREG BIFFLE IN THE NO. 16 GRAINGER FORD WAS THE HIGHEST QUALIFYING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE AT MICHIGAN. HE TOOK THE HONOR FOR THE EIGHTH TIME THIS SEASON.

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT LAP? "Yeah, I've got to be. We've been fighting this car a lot since we got here. We've changed a bunch of stuff. We've come a long ways. The very last run on the racetrack I ran a 40-flat in qualifying trim and it was really, really loose. I could hardly drive it. Then we came back and it rained and we tightened the car up a lot and came out with a 38.2 so you got to be pretty happy with that." DID THE TRACK CHANGE A LOT? "Oh yeah, tons of grip."

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 42 HAVOLINE DODGE:

"Something sounds like it happened in the motor. I think it may have blown up. It just wouldn't go. I don't know. We've struggled since we've been here. It's very frustrating."

LARRY FOYT, NO. 50 HARRAH'S DODGE:

WHERE DID THAT LAP COME FROM? "They told me to drive it in until I saw God and I think I did (laughs). I saw everybody picking up at least a second so I knew the track had a lot of grip and we made some changes to the car that I felt like were the right way. The rain kind of helped us out. It washed that rubber off and gave us a green racetrack and really went to our advantage, I think. We pulled off a good lap." THIS IS YOUR BEST QUALIFYING RUN SINCE DAYTONA IN JULY. "We just keep stabbing in the dark without being able to go to the wind tunnels and things like that. This was a good car that we qualified at Chicago with so I think we will make it again. We crashed it but it was the car we made the race with on time at Chicago so we felt like it was a good piece and just glad that the Harrah's Dodge is in, I think, again." HOW MUCH WORK DID THE YOUR GUYS DO TO THIS CAR? "The biggest thing was getting the new body hung on. We've been kind of taking pictures and looking at other cars, just trying to get our cars closer to what everyone else looks like. This car is more like that and I think that's what helped us out a lot." ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THAT LAP? "Yeah, real happy with that. That's the best that the car has been. It's been a struggle all day and I saw everyone picking up at least a second. We made a lot of changed before qualifying but I think the rain really helped us. I knew the track was going to be pretty grippy, green racetrack and just drove it in as far as I could and it stuck so that was good." HOW MUCH MOMENTUM DOES THIS GIVE YOUR TEAM? "Any time for us that we can make a race on time that's a win for us. That's been our goal from the beginning of the year and we haven't been able to do that for Harrah's like we've wanted to and it's been a struggle. I've been pretty down on myself but everybody has stuck behind me. Hopefully we'll just get in on time. Now we can work on the rest of the weekend."

CASEY MEARS, NO. 41 TARGET DODGE:

"It was a good lap for us. We were really loose to start practice: really, really tight at the end of practice. We made some changes and I was just a little bit loose. We were about two tenths loose. If we would have had the balance just right we could have run a flat, maybe a 38.90. We're happy with that. It's a pretty good effort. It's a lot faster than what we ran in practice, which we improved a lot. I don't know where that's going to put us on the board. Hopefully the track slows up here; the sun seems to be coming out. And it's slowing the track down. Those first 10 guys that went out really got a good track. Hopefully it will keep slowing down and keep us a good spot. I would say it was good from where we were in practice. We definitely gained a lot. We wanted to be faster than that, watching the first few guys that went out but obviously the track was fast just after that rain and the track is heating up as we go here with the sun being out like it is. We probably lost a little bit to those guys that went out first but overall this is a great improvement from where we were in practice. The car was real loose but it's better than being real tight like it was in practice so it worked out real good for us." WHY DO LIKE RACING HERE AT MICHIGAN? "One thing for sure is that it's just a good racing track. You go to a lot of tracks and it's one groove and this place has several grooves. You can run all the way from the bottom to the top and I think we all enjoy that as racers, having different options. You never have a perfect car. It's never just right and when you know you can move to the bottom or move to the top to help the way your car is, makes a good racetrack. I think everybody enjoys that. I've liked coming here since I started come here in Indy Lights. We had some good races then and we had some good races last time and looking for another one here."

TONY RAINES, NO. 74 GFS MARKETPLACE CHEVROLET:

"That was fair. It was a little loose in the middle of one and two. I don't know if the track is going to get a little warmer and slow down. It's better than what we were in the spring but we still have a ways to go yet so we'll see." DID THE WEATHER CHANGE HURT YOUR LAP? "I think we had a little too much gear in it to run that fast. We had a gear in it to run a 39.00 or something. We turned the same RPM that we did in practice so obviously I think we left some in there. That's the way it goes sometimes."

BUTCH LAMOREAUX, CREW CHIEF, NO. 50 HARRAH'S DODGE:

"That's the best run that we've had all year long and that's a tribute to how hard these guys and how hard they are working and Larry is giving everything that he's got. We've just been playing around with a lot of body stuff and we're fighting an aero problem a lot more than we really thought we were. Cecil Tipton helped us with this body here and we think we are going in the right direction. I'm not sure we're where we need to be yet but we're a whole lot better. A.J. will be happy with this, Harrah's will be really happy. These guys have been working their guts out, honest to God they have. It's just good to finally get a good run. Larry just hasn't had a fair shake all year and I think we finally have a car maybe capable to doing something with. If we can duplicate it and run good this weekend that would be a major accomplishment." YOU DID THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF RACING EVERY WEEK. "We've missed a lot of races but I'm telling you, it's not been from a lack of trying at all. We're struggling and just doing the best that we can and just trying as hard as we can. " CAN YOU SEE IMPROVEMENT? "Oh, yeah. This shows it. Our painters worked with help from another guy in the shop all last weekend to get this car done so we could put it together Monday. Our guys don't lap down at all. They are on it all the time and do everything we ask. We just have to start performing here." WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD DAY FOR YOU ON SUNDAY? "Honestly, if we finished 25th to 30th, that would be like a win for us. It really would be. We want to run all day, keep learning, bring it home in one piece if at all possible, and just do the best we can."

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