Golden Corral 500 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

· A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-10 in each of the last SIX NEXTEL Cup races: Tony Raines (sixth at Rockingham, November 2003), Jamie McMurray (ninth at Homestead, November 2003), Scott Wimmer (third at Daytona, February, 2004), and Kasey Kahne (second at Rockingham, February 2004, second at Las Vegas in March of 2004, and third at Atlanta in March 2004).

· The Atlanta race was the fourth consecutive event where a Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-three. Scott Wimmer was third at Daytona and Kahne finished second at Rockingham and Las Vegas plus third at Atlanta.

· Since 1987, SEVEN Raybestos® Rookies have posted a top-five finish in the spring race at Atlanta: Harvick, Jimmie Johnson (third in 2002), Dick Trickle (third in 1989), Jeff Burton (fourth in 1994), Davey Allison (fifth in 1987), and Kenny Irwin (fifth in 1998).

KASEY KAHNE, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE:

"We had a good day. We fought back and forth a little bit. We were loose all day long, too loose at times and then right there at the end we got too tight. We tightened it up to compensate for the 20-lap run and we were a little too tight. It was a good day for myself, Jeremy [Mayfield, his teammate], all the Dodge Dealers." YOU ARE CONSISTENT EVERY WEEK AND TEAM KEEPS GIVING YOU GOOD CARS. "They really are. Tommy Baldwin [crew chief] did a great job today. The crew had good pit stops and Ray Evernham had two cars in the top three so he's got to be pretty happy." YOU HAVE BEEN REAL CONSISTENT THIS YEAR. "Yeah we have. We've been real consistent so far: two seconds, a third, and a blown engine. It's been good. We got too tight there in the final run but it was a good day for our Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. That was my first 500 miler so it was a long race. There's nothing wrong with Jeremy [in front of him] and have Dale Jr. winning. That's a good combination. It was a good run for us and we'll keep our momentum going. It's another good run, another top-five, and an excellent run for Ray Evernham, two cars in the top three. It was a good day for us. It was a long race; 400 miles seems a lot shorter than 500. I don't know if it was a longer time. This track is real fast and it takes a lot out of you but it was definitely a good day." WHAT WAS STRONGER ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT JR.'S CAR? "He was just freer than us. His car was turning better there at the end and that's how we were most of the day. We were a little too loose at the start of a run but really good on a long run. I think it showed. We just never got to take the lead. We came close a lot of times and we finally got to third there at the end." YOU ARE SO IMPRESSIVE SO YOUNG. "I'm working with a lot of good people, a lot of good coaches and it's been going good so far. They teach me a lot every race. Bill [Elliott] was here this weekend helping out with some things that I used all day long, some of the stuff that Bill helped me with. It's good to have somebody like that to talk to you because it stays in your head. You know that it's the right way." THE #9 CAR ALWAYS SEEMS TO DO WELL HERE. "Ray Evernham has got some great racecars and for it to run another top-five, to finish third and two seconds so far this season, the number 9 car definitely needs to be up front. We're real confident and got a lot of momentum going but I feel like that all the time: 'How's this happening to me?' Things are going so smooth and so good but there's bad days too so we've just got to keep the bad days away." HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DAY? "A long day. We were loose. We were really good at the start of the race, the first few runs, then we got too loose in the center of the race and at the end we got going real good there. We just tightened it up too much for that last 20 lap run and that's all we had. We were a little too tight at the end." IT SEEMS LIKE ALL OF EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS IS COMING TOGETHER. HOW MUCH ARE YOU PUSHING JEREMY? "I don't know. With our Dodge Dealers team running good the first couple of races here and Jeremy comes back and has an awesome run today. I think we're both pushing each other now." HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ABLE TO SURPRISE AN OWNER LIKE RAY EVERNHAM? "It feels good. I thank Ray for picking me to drive his racecar and just to be a part of this team, work with Tommy Baldwin, Bill Elliott, Jeremy Mayfield, our whole race team, is a pretty fortunate deal for me and we're trying to make Ray happy." YOU STRUGGLED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RACE. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE WAY YOU ARE ABLE TO REBOUND? "I think we must have got a different set of tires or something different there because the run before that the car took off the best it had taken off all day. I was just getting ready to pass Tony [Stewart] for the lead when yellow came out. I don't know what happened there. I think something weird happened, we came back in and got it fixed. It was a good day for us. Another top-five and you can't complain." WHAT CAN YOU IMPROVE ON TO GET A WIN? 'We've got to be more consistent throughout the race. The last two weeks we've really dropped in the center of the race and missed a few things. We fight back at the end and get everything going but that's the only thing that's going to make us better. Right now we're running great. We have a lot of momentum and a lot of good things going on. To get that win I think we have to run a little better through the center part of the race."

TOMMY BALDWIN, CREW CHIEF, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE:

"The kid is good. He's got a good head on his shoulders. He listens real well and everything is going good right now. We're riding high right now and it could get low and we've got to understand that. My stance stands: we're going for the top-15. Not top-threes and not top-fives and not top-10s: top-15s. We just so happened to get another real good finish today." IS THIS SUCCESS SURPRISING TO YOU? "All the ingredients are there and always have been at Evernham Motorsports. We've just got a really good racecar driver. He's young. I've been in the business for a long time. I know what it is to have good racecar drivers and I know what it is to have decent racecar drivers. Am I grinning inside? Heck yeah, I'm grinning. But we're going to have our bad races and that's what we've got to focus on: just one race at a time and like I said we're going for top-15s. We're not going for top-fives. We just so happen to get three good finishes." HOW IS THIS TEAM DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS THAT YOU HAVE WORKED FOR IN THE PAST? "I've always had to spend a lot of time at the other organizations trying to build up the organization because nobody in place at the other two or three organizations I was at before that stood up to the plate and did it. I had to work real hard doing that. Ray already has all the good people in place and allows me to concentrate on the racecars and be the people person that I am and work with the guys and concentrate taking care of Kasey and that's what's working." THIS IS A WINNING OPERATION. YOU COULD HAVE WON THREE OF THE FIRST FOUR RACES. "We've got a good race team. We've got good people, building great racecars, great motors, and I've got a good little shoe that gets up on the wheel and understands patience. When you put good equipment under him it makes you smarter, all of us, and the guys are building really good racecars back at the shop." HOW GOOD IS IT TO HAVE THE 19 RUNNING UP FRONT WITH YOU? "It's awesome. That just shows all the strength of Evernham Motorsports and all the people that are involved. We help each other all the time. Since I've been there we sit in a room, one room, and work all together and come up with a plan. We've been different; he's been different. We've learned from him, he's learned from us. The 19 showed what they're made of today: a top-five car. They should be running in the top-five, top-10 every race. We don't belong there yet but we'll take 'em." DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE A HANDLE ON THESE TIRES? "We think we do. Two seconds and a third, yeah, I think we've got a real good handle and understand what's going on but like I said before we've tested a lot. We've understood what we need to accomplish in the long haul. Today we had a really good car in the long, long haul. We didn't have a good car in the first 25 laps but the last 35 we were the best car out there. We over-did it trying to fix it for the last 20 lap, 40 lap runs and we went too far. But we learned. We'll come back here the next race and we probably won't do that and hopefully we get one or two spots higher."

BRIAN VICKERS, #25 GMAC CHEVROLET:

"We had a decent finish but that's not what we wanted. The track loosened up on us and we loosened the car up anticipating that the track would tighten up and it was absolutely sideways at the beginning of the race. But the GMAC crew never gave up on me. We worked on it and worked on it and we got it pretty decent there at the end. We just need to get it better at the beginning."

SCOTT RIGGS, #10 VALVOLINE CHEROLET:

"It was very tough. We weren't going very well at the beginning. The car got really tight. I guess I might have overdrove it a little bit and just pushed the front tires off, just hurt the front tires too hard too quick. We freed it up a couple of times on the next two stops and then we were just terrible because we were so loose getting in the corner. So we came back, tightened it back up, and it seemed like if I backed my corner up and took care of my front tires for a little while it was pretty good. But by that time we were a couple of laps down or whatever it was. I just hate it because we need to be better at the beginning. We're qualifying decent, we just need to be better at the beginning of the race. We always seem to find what the car needs toward the end but we need to be better when the green flag drops. You've got to be good from the beginning to the finish here to be good. I'm proud of all the guys on the Valvoline Chevrolet. They're doing great pit stops. We had 13.50 pit stops all day. It's just a shame the we couldn't be on the lead lap fighting for the win."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, #77 KODAK EASY SHARE DODGE:

"This is what racing a whole season is all about. I still believe the new point system is going to help a Raybestos Rookie, you know, 26-10. It gives some time to a team like the Penske Jasper team to jell and to really get together and get everything rolling right. I had a rough day. I had a little bit of an electrical fire. I might be the dumbest guy in the garage but I believe in Bill Simpson at Impact Racing. I had a fire for good five, six laps and kept going 'Maybe it will go out guys' and finally it wasn't going to go out so we had to come in and put it out. I believe in Bill Simpson, what can I say. I feel safe in my Impact stuff. It's a long racing day. We're going to keep getting better. The engineers at Penske and the engineers at Dodge think they know what they need. We have a lot of positives. Our pit crew still is awesome. We had a lot of Kodak folks here but they understand that we're getting better. Doug Bawel, the owner of Jasper says this is a journey. It's a long journey and we're going to take it one step at a time. We're getting better each week and that's all we know."

Unofficial Raybestos Rookie standings after Atlanta:

Kasey Kahne 65
Scott Wimmer 42
Johnny Sauter 34
Brian Vickers 34
Brendan Gaughan 33
Scott Riggs 30