Samsung/Radio Shack 500 - Dodge Qualifying Quotes

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Intrepid)

NOTE: Newman led the way for Dodge by qualifying third for Sunday's race. Newman hasn't qualified lower than third in his past five races. He started third at Las Vegas, won the pole at Atlanta and Bristol and qualified second at Darlington.

"It was a good effort by the entire team today. It's our Atlanta car. It was 80 degrees yesterday and 50 here today. Let's say 30 degrees equals six-tenths. I think the biggest thing was the temperature. These tires are really hard tires. The track being black, I think is the other thing. When the ambient temperature comes down, the track temperature doubles.

"We blew a motor last year, but last year was my first Cup race here. It was probably one of the better races as far as speed and not having issues of water and everything else. I think with the track being a little older, obviously Saturday's Busch race is going to be the best eye opener for what the track has to offer, but I think it'll be a good race.

"Taping these things up for qualifying is totally different from what you'll see in the race on Sunday in race trim. I think it'll be a good race. I think the track will widen out. It's almost one of those places where the speed is so fast guys will be searching for places. They're going to make it wider. You're carrying that speeds and with the aero issues involved, they'll be looking for clean air.

"We've struggled at the start of some races, but we've been the fastest car at the end of some races, too. We've worked on a few things on the car and off the car. I think it'll show up here in a little bit. The track changes every year. I was here two years ago in a Busch car and it was the old surface. We came here last year and qualified 35th or 36th on the new surface. To come back here and qualify third is big. So many things have changed, we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

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

"We're having a little trouble getting into turn one. We fixed it and made it a little better, but we're still not as good as we need to be. We were good in three and four, but that's all we had."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid)

"It felt fast, but it wasn't. I don't think the track changed that much. I really don't know what went wrong."

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

"The car bottomed out in qualifying on both laps, and it hadn't done that all day. I think it was the cooler weather. I thought we could have been in the top 10, but we ended up 18th. I thought I could have run a flat, but it bottomed out and cost us a tenth or two in each corner. That's life. It was still a good effort by all the guys. It's the car we had in Atlanta, and we know it's going to race good. I'm looking forward to Sunday."

WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid)

"We just messed it up. We didn't go the wrong way. We just don't what which way to go to make it faster. We backed up practice in qualifying, but you need to pick it up. I don't know what we're going to do to make it faster."

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

"It was a little on the free side. We've still got a lot of good cars left to go, so we'll just have to wait and see where we end up. Going early really didn't help much. That's just the way it goes. Maybe we'll get lucky and end up with a top 10 starting spot."

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)

"I'm real happy with this Dodge. The Dodge folks have really been working hard with us, and we just need to get a break in the race. We didn't practice that fast, but we picked up about three tenths in practice. I think the track is in real good shape. I see a second groove coming in. I know there will be two lanes of racing and maybe even three, especially in turns three and four. Last year I had two lanes going on, and the year before I had two lanes going on. Last year we came here and led the race all day long and got loose at the end. I've got a good car. I tested here, and I like our chances. I think the track is in great shape. I think the tire is a little too hard for the track since the track has seasoned in. We'll get through this race but the next time we'll have to soften the tire. You know you're going to run fast and qualify fast. We made a lot of changes. When we ran that .40 today (in practice), I knew we could run in the .30s, but we were changing the track bar and sway bar and tires. We got the car back where we needed it to be, but I knew I was going to have to run it extra hard in turn one and turn three. I had to stay off the brakes and arc it in the corners real deep. I did all that and it worked out. Cold temperatures, I'm used to 100 degrees at Darlington when it's 300 degrees inside the car. Cold temperatures don't bother me at all."

STEVE LANE (Crew Chief No. 45 Georgia Pacific Dodge Intrepid)

"Kyle is pretty sore. He practiced the car all morning, and I think he's still hurting a little bit. As far as the race, I'm going to let him make that call. We're going to let Christian Fittipaldi practice the car tomorrow, and if Kyle needs some help on Sunday it'll be Christian."

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid)

"I think it was OK. We wanted to run faster than that, but it was decent. We might have tried to get the car a little too balanced, so we took a step back from that this weekend. We needed to be tighter, but it was a solid run. I'm not really happy, but I'm not real disappointed, either."

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