Sharpie 500 - Dodge Qualifying Quotes

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) – Qualified second

“In practice we were pretty good. We were a little bit tight picking the throttle back up from the center off. We went over some notes and talked about it all. I don’t know how you can do it any quicker, but Jeff (Gordon) did it. It felt good. The car went through the corner real nice. I felt like maybe I messed up on each lap, but not a whole lot. It felt like a good lap. I think we might could have gone a little quicker, not much. We ran a pretty good lap. The car turned great and handled good.

“It’s a good starting spot, the outside of the front row is going to be a great spot. We’ll have to get to the bottom pretty quick. Getting down there to the bottom will be the fastest spot, especially at the beginning of the race. It really helps you get a good pit. We’ll get one of the best pits for the whole 500-lap race and that’ll mean a whole lot throughout the race. The stalls are tight here at Bristol.

“I think I just need to get out on the racetrack and run more. I think Jeff would have been just as quick in my car as he was in his. Our car was really good. He’s got a knack for this place. He’s always fast in qualifying and in the race, so I think Jeff Gordon is a good driver here. I have an awesome car, and hopefully we’ll keep working on it and have a chance to win the race.

“I’m pretty comfortable here. I enjoy racing here. I’ve raced three or four Busch races here. It’s just a matter of being perfect here. I don’t think I was perfect in qualifying. I think I was pretty comfortable.

“You can’t make mistakes. It’s going to be one of those races where everybody is going to want one position. This has always been an exciting, fun race for the fans. Anything can happen. We need to be smart about what goes on and make the right decisions. Tommy and our pit crew will do a great job in the pits, and Tommy will make the right calls to keep us up front. Hopefully we’ll be there at the end of the race. He’s always run well here with his drivers. He likes this place a lot, and I think Tommy is going to do a lot for us tomorrow night.

“It’s going to be a tough couple of races (Friday night and Saturday night at Bristol). It’s going to be hot and not a lot of air moves around in this place. I’ll just drink a lot of fluids, and try to drink all night tonight and be ready for tomorrow.

“I think you’ll need some luck on your side tomorrow night, lapped traffic or just racing for positions, restarts, a crash up in front of you, it’s hard to get slowed down here sometimes and people get in back of you when you do slow down for wrecks. That’s when you need luck, and this is a place where you need more than most.”

“It’s important to start up front and get a good pit stall. It’s good. On a track like this you need to be up front. I know you can pass cars, but starting up front is a lot better than starting in the back of the field and hopefully the car will be in a lot better shape toward the end of the race.

“We really want to do whatever we can to get in that top 10, but once the race starts we do whatever we can to get up in front and when it’s all over you look at the points and see where you’re at. During the race, we just try to get every spot we can and stay out of trouble.”

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge) – Qualified third

“Bristol is one of my favorite short tracks, and it’s my home state. I always try to do real good here. We changed some stuff on the car right before qualifying. We made race runs most of the day. I was pretty decent in practice with the one banzai run we made. We took half of what the 42 was running and half of what the 41 was running and threw it on my car and it worked out for us.

“Our car had good grip. We just ran one lap. That’s all we wanted. Two cars in front of us ended up in the fence, but everybody looked a little loose. Some cars looked good, but it was normal qualifying here at Bristol.

“We finished fourth here in the spring and had a good racecar. It’s one of my favorite tracks. Hopefully we can get one of them big ol’ Bristol trophies. Like I said, it’s my home state and it’s really important to do well here.

“We ran race runs all day. We changed a few things before qualifying and it all worked out. It was a good run. We took half what the 42 had and half what the 41 had and threw it at it and things worked out pretty good. It’s always good to start up toward the front here at Bristol. Maybe we can finish a little better than we start and end up parking the Coors Light Dodge in victory lane.”

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) – Qualified 13th

“That wasn’t as good as I thought, but it’s just so hot and slick out there right now. It’s 10 degrees hotter than it was when we all stopped practicing. That’s not a bad lap for sure. It’s hot out there. If the clouds come in, we’re in trouble. If it stays out and sunny, we’ll be OK.”

COMMENT ON SON STEVE AFTER WEDNESDAY NIGHT CRASH AT BMS “He’s fine. He’s in good shape. He’s on his way to watch the race here tonight. There’s no broken bones. He’s just black and blue. He hit hard. I got here that evening and met him at the hospital and took care of him. I went back the next morning and took care of him and got him home. He’s a tough kid, but it was a hard hit.

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge) – Qualified 22nd

“It was just too tight in the center. The track heated up. We were a little bit tight in practice, and I thought if we left it alone it would be right. Every time I’m here in qualifying we get loose, but it was too tight in the center. It was OK. Hopefully it’ll get us a decent spot. I had a lot of wheel in it when I came up off the corner on the second lap and it got sideways. We were lucky we didn’t hurt the car.”

JEFF GREEN (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge) – Qualified 27th

“That was pretty good. I messed up and hit the apron in one and that probably messed me up half a tenth on the first lap. Maybe it’ll get us in the top 20, so that’ll be a decent starting spot.”

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) – Qualified 9th

“We made a lot of changes before qualifying. We changes springs and shocks. We did all race stuff in practice. We made a couple of qualifying runs, and it wasn’t that good. We changed a bunch of stuff, and it worked. I’m real proud of these guys. The car felt great. That shows how our chemistry is working. We were able to make changes like that and still qualify fast.”

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) – Qualified 5th

“We weren’t far off, and we picked up from practice, so I’m pretty happy about it. I think that’ll be a top five or top 10, so we’re real happy with it.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge) – Qualified 4th

“Hopefully that’ll get us a top five starting spot. All we can do is keep doing what we’re doing. It was a little loose getting in and a little tight in the middle. I got a little higher in one and two than I wanted to as well as three and four and that gave up a little speed. I think if we had the car balanced perfectly, but Gordon laid down a great lap.”

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines & Transmissions Dodge) – Qualified 17th

“We were a little too loose and I was trying to get all we could. I got loose going into three and I couldn’t catch it. We’re going to see if we can’t get it fixed and keep this Dodge for the race. It’s a good one.”