JAMIE MCMURRAY IN THE NO. 42 HAVOLINE DODGE WAS THE HIGHEST QUALIFYING
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE AT ROCKINGHAM. HE WILL START SEVENTH IN SUNDAY'S SUBWAY
400. MCMURRAY WAS ALSO THE TOP QUALIFYING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE AT DAYTONA.
"It was a little bit loose. The second lap was really going to be good but I
got really loose off of four, it felt like. It got loose and I don't know if
that was my better lap or not. That's better than what we practiced. The
racetrack gained some grip. With all the templates that they have now
they're so behind getting up there. I kind of like to get in there and hang
out for a little bit and think about what is going to happen. It's kind of
rushed just throwing in and going but that's not bad. I think that will be a
top-15."
IS IT MORE DIFFICULT TO QUALIFY THE BUSCH CAR OR WINSTON CUP CAR?
"After getting out of this a Busch car is very easy to drive, for me at least
it is. It's just a lot easier to drive."
HOW HARD IS IT TO QUALIFY HERE?
"I've qualified really good here in the last couple of years (laughs). We
tested here last year with the 40 car and qualified the same shocks on both
my Busch and Cup car the last two years so we just have something figured out
here I think qualifying."
HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO QUALIFY HERE WITH THE RAIN AND LIMITED PRACTICE TIME?
"For us we were going to start dead last in this deal or 35th or 36th so
anything that we're
going to gain was will be an advantage. Obviously where you start is not
always where you are going to finish but it's nice that if you do start off
slow that you don't go a lap
down by starting farther up in the pack."
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH HERE SUNDAY?
"I think it's very realistic that we'll finish in the top-10, if we don't
have any problems. We'll have a really good car."
WILL YOU HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME CHASING THE CAR FROM RUN TO RUN?
"I don't know. We tested here and went through I think 13 sets of tires so I
hope that we learned something. We had a really good car here in the fall in
the 40 car.
GREG BIFFLE, NO. 16 GRAINGER FORD, QUALIFIED 13TH.
"I really screwed the lap up down here in three and four. I had a great lap
going. These guys built me a really good car. The first lap I just wanted to
get it in the show. The second lap I would have been probably maybe a .50 or
at least a .60 for sure. I got it sideways down there in three and four and
gave up two tenths. I'm telling these guys that I feel like crying right
now. I feel so disappointed with myself. I made that mistake. You try so
hard to be on the edge but don't try too hard, or not try too hard but hope
it sticks. I asked a tiny bit too much of it down here because that's the
corner that you ask a little more from than one and two. I screwed it up.
But we're going to be happy. We're probably going to be a top-15 here and
that's what counts, is a good starting spot."
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO QUALIFY HERE AT ROCKINGHAM?
"It is a difficult place. You can't make mistakes. You've got to be right
on your marks. One thing that we have going against us is that it's getting
cooler and cooler here and that's really going to hurt us. They guys late
here at the end will probably be down in the .40s and .50s and that's going
to put us back there a ways. This place is difficult to qualify at but as it
gets cooler here and it cools down, it's really going to speed up."
CASEY MEARS, NO. 41 TARGET DODGE, QUALIFIED 16TH.
"It was decent. We're happy with it because it's the fastest that we've gone
all weekend and in testing so that was good. We never got one clean lap of
practice. When we first went out we're were just in a big pack of cars. You
only get two sets of tires here so we were really looking forward to going
out on our second set and really seeing where we are and getting a good read
for qualifying and someone pulled out right in front of us.
We really didn't get a good clean lap in and we knew we were a lot better but
I didn't know what to tell them for changes because we didn't get a good read
on the car. I think considering all that I'm very happy with our lap but I
really think if we got at least one run in practice we probably could have
run in the .60s or .70s."
JACK SPRAGUE, NO. 0 NETZERO PONTIAC, QUALIFIED 34TH.
"the car was extremely loose. I never bonzi practiced; I just race
practiced. I don't think we're going to practice tomorrow and I figured I
would be better off if I was in the race than to worry about qualifying. I
thought the car was really good in race trim and I thought I could run a .70
or .80 and I was just too loose; loose in and loose off and I couldn't get a
hold of it."
LARRY FOYT, NO. 14 HARRAH'S DODGE, WILL START 41ST.
"We're just a little bit loose. We've been chasing the handle ever since we
got here and haven't really got it driving the way that I would like it to
be. We picked up from practice but we're still not where we need to be. In
the back of my mind I knew that my backup car here is my Vegas primary so it
wasn't worth taking a risk to try and qualify 30th."
TONY RAINES, NO. 74 STAFF AMERICA CHEVROLET, WILL START 42ND.
"We didn't have a chance to test down here. We'll work on it. Hopefully
we'll get some 'Happy Hour' tomorrow if the weather works out for us. We
were doing race runs in practice this afternoon for an hour because we know
we are in the race with 43 cars here and all that. We got a ways to go but
we are going to put our heads together here and we'll get something going by
Sunday."
