Tropicana 400 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

Where the Raybestos Rookies will start at Chicagoland
K. Kahne 2nd
B. Vickers 4th
B. Gaughan 15th
S. Riggs 16th
S. Wimmer 40th

KASEY KAHNE, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE: YOU PICKED UP FROM WHAT YOU RAN IN PRACTICE THIS MORNING. "Yeah it is; it's a couple of tenths. I thought we could do that; go a little faster. We'll just have to see what happens with the weather and these other guys. I saw Brian Vickers pick up a lot and Jimmie will probably pick up a good bit too so we'll see what happens." YOU NEARLY WON THE RACE AT TEXAS, A TRACK SIMILAR TO THIS SPEEDWAY. HOW DOES THIS CAR COMPARE AND WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATION FOR SUNDAY? "It feels real close to the same. This is the same car that we ran there and it worked really well there. They've worked on the body since then. We've ran it a lot and it needed a new body put on it but other than that it's the same chassis. Hopefully we'll have a good shot on Sunday." DO YOU LIKE THIS RACETRACK? "It seems like a great track so far. I've raced the Great Clips Busch car here a couple times and I always liked the track and now in this car it feels awesome so we'll see what happens. That was a real good lap for our Dodge Dealers car. I'm not sure if it will be first, but it was a real good lap." YOU ARE CLOSE TO THE TOP-10 IN POINTS. "We have to run real consistent, we have to finish up front and gain points. We want to get in that top-10 for sure. We wanted to really work hard to get there and we'll just see what happens. We'll give it all we got." WHAT ABOUT THE SURFACE OF THE SPEEDWAY? "We still just look at that while line on the bottom and try to get to it. The track changed a little bit with the rain but not a whole lot. It felt about the same to me in the Cup car. We went a little quicker but that was because we put a little more tape on the front and the driver had a tenth left in him so we gained a little bit. We'll see what happens or if it will end up first." WHAT KIND OF A RACE WILL WE SEE HERE? "I think we'll see a good race. I think this track is one of those tracks where it starts out and it's not the greatest racing at first but as it gets more and more years on it, it seems to get better. Last year, the Busch race was pretty good. Hopefully after the Busch race and by Sunday we've got a good track and a lot of passing going on. By Sunday there will be two full grooves, for sure."

BRIAN VICKERS, #25 GMAC CHEVROLET: "It was a good lap for the conditions. The GMAC Chevy team did a great job; all the guys did a good job. We were kind of up and down in practice. We were trying a lot of stuff and experimented and then we just kind of put it all together at the end of practice and we came out with a 29.0 lap. It was raining on me quite a bit on me down in three and four and got the track pretty slick. I tried to go through there pretty hard like we did in one and two because we got through one and two awesome, on par for a 28.80 or 28.90 lap. I just got down in there and it was real wet and slick and there's nothing that we can do about it. Luckily we didn't tear anything up. I know I had to lose a little bit of time on that deal." WAS IT RAINING IN JUST THAT ONE CORNER? "Yeah, pretty much from the entry of three to the exit of four, it was just right there. When you've got slick tires like we have any little bit makes a difference. It was by no means a downpour but it was quite a bit. It was covering the windshield with little dots. It messed the windshield up a pretty good bit and it was definitely enough to make the track a little slick. I tried to get through there at the same speed that we should have been able to in dry conditions and it didn't stick and I had to get out of it a little bit."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, #77 JASPER ENGINES AND TRANSMISSIONS/KODAK DODGE: "It was going to be a great lap, man. I had a fantastic lap going. One and two was probably the best corner I think I've felt all year. I can honestly say that. We're finally getting stuff figured out. The Dodge we have here is brand new and it was working really nice but I was the moron that stayed out there in the rain. NASCAR's rule is that once you take the green you've got to go so I called my crew chief as I got the green and I said 'It's sprinkling but…too…late…now.' The first lap was a three and the second lap was really good. I went into turn three and it covered the windshield. To the fans at home that don't know, it may only be that spit of a rain but when it covers the windshield of a racecar, there's no tread on our tires. I'm only a Raybestos Rookie, but I know what happens when there's no tread and there's water and I have an example of it. It lost the nose and the rear came out, had to chase it around and still did a 29.2 on the second lap. I'm not the top Raybestos Rookie unfortunately but it was an exciting run to say the least and one of the best laps that I've really honestly felt all year so I'm excited." DO YOU FEEL LUCKY OR FRUSTRATED? "Either way, it's just racing. I joked with Mike Helton 'Do I get a do-over?' And Helton goes 'Yeah, in two weeks at Loudon.' We brought it home. Hopefully we'll stay in the top-20, we think. I definitely think we had a flat in it. We could have battled for a couple more spots but we'll take what we've got. Right now I feel like we'll have a really good car for Sunday. Let's get through happy hour and come ask me again."

SCOTT WIMMER, #22 CATERPILLAR DODGE: "We threw some rear springs at it and tried something for qualifying and didn't really do much, just kind of been battling. Can't seem to find a real good handle on the place. The car will feel all right but we just don't have any speed and qualifying didn't feel very good. We'll work on it some more. The guys have some ideas for tomorrow. We'll get two good happy hours in and I think we'll be all right for the race." DID YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH RAIN WHEN YOU MADE YOUR RUN? "It wasn't raining when I went out. I think the track is real fast and everybody is picking up time. Our car can't get a hold of the track real well but we'll get it tomorrow. We'll work on it and hopefully get it a little better." WHAT MAKES THIS PLACE DIFFERENT FROM KANSAS OR CHARLOTTE? "I think the setups are a little bit different. Really, it seems like the way that you get into the corner at some tracks have a little more banking getting in or they fall off a little quicker. This place has pretty good banking all the way through the corner and it's real fast. The winter hasn't taken a lot out of this track. It's still real quick and should maybe get a second groove coming in during the race."

SCOTT RIGGS, #10 VALVOLINE CHEVROLET: "That's OK. Looking back at it now, we should have probably scuffed our tires, maybe just for a lap, because it seemed like the third lap on 'em seems to be the best lap so we should have put a lap on them and scuffed them. Looking at the board, only two other guys that are in front of us went on stickers and they are 10th and 12th. Looking back on it, we probably should have scuffed. I think everybody said this today: I wish I had another shot at it because you keep pushing the envelope to see where the limit is and every time you push a little harder, it seems like the track has enough grip to do it, to take it. I wish I could have run a 20 in practice and then I could have probably picked up two tenths and run a flat this time but we ran a 50 and picked up to a 20. It was good for us; it will be an all right starting position. I just want to go forward when the green flag drops and we'll be in good shape." WILL WE SEE A LOT OF TEAMS SCUFFING TIRES HERE ON SATURDAY? "I don't think the tires are that bad on stickers, it's just that when you have so much grip at a place like this, just a little bit more comfort having them scuffed in. It's all about the comfort and confidence. A little more comfort and confidence that the driver has getting in the corner, he's able to push the envelope a little harder." DID THE QUALIFYING DRAW HELP YOU? "It's been pretty cool all day, the sun is in and out all day so I don't know if it helped or hurt. I don't think it hurt us. I don't know how much it helped us. I probably should have told 'em to scuff us a set."