Auto Club 500 - Dodge Qualifying Quotes

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) – Wins Third pole of the season, ties Dodge driver Ryan Newman for most poles in 2004.

“I love qualifying, and it makes it even more fun when you’ve got Tommy Baldwin and all the other guys on this race team that give me this great car for qualifying. I need to thank everybody at the engine shop, Dodge Dealers, UAW, everybody that’s part of this team did a great job. We put more effort into qualifying now than I ever did in Busch. We put two hours into it every Friday, but we put the same amount of time as everybody else.

“I was very pleased with the lap. We were good in practice, but to run three tenths quicker in qualifying says a lot for the team. They gave me a real good racecar. I’m really looking forward to Sunday. You feel the wind a lot in different spots of the corners. You definitely feel it going down the straightaways, but it didn’t affect our car too much. That’s a good thing.

“The car was really good. I got loose off turn four. I just stayed in it, but it was exciting. It was a good lap. I was pretty happy when they said first. This is a great track to qualify good at. It’s a good racetrack. There will be some passing going on. You don’t have to start in the front here to win the race by any means, but it sure feels good to win the pole.”

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge) – Qualified 28th

“We didn’t practice qualifying. We saw there were only 43 cars here, so we practiced our race setup this morning. We ran good at Vegas and Atlanta earlier in the year, and that’s the way we spent most of our time – working on race setup in practice on Friday morning. We struggled a little bit off and on the past five or six races, so when we saw only 43 cars today we went straight to race setup. We threw a qualifying setup under it and picked up a second, but it’s not a true second. It looks good on paper. That’s all car and team. It’s got nothing to do with the driver. They made it drive just like it did in practice. Our race setup is pretty good. We’ve still got to fine tune on it, but we feel like we’ve got an hour and a half jump on most people.”

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

“I drove it in a little tight down there in one and two. It ran up the racetrack a little bit. I drove it in to straight in turn one and it started pushing, but other than that three and four were pretty good. We picked up four tenths from practice, and I was real happy with that.”

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge) – Qualified 13th

“We really struggled in practice. We’ve got a good starting spot, so we’re happy with that. We finished seventh with this car at Vegas and Texas, so we’re going to see if we can’t get a top five with it Sunday. The tire combination has thrown us a curve. The guys have been working hard, changed everything we can change and got it better. The biggest thing I’ve been having a hard time with it’s tight getting into the center. I can’t get the car to turn. I’m curious to see what it will be like in race trim. I think we’ll be better off in race trim than we were in qualifying trim.”

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

“We made a few changes and picked up a bunch in qualifying. We made race runs all day in practice. We made one qualifying run. The car is driving good, and the motor guys have really stepped up to the plate. I think we’re going to be in good shape.”

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

“That was a good qualifying effort. My hat’s off to all the Cheerios guys and everybody at Petty Enterprises. This is a brand new racecar. It’s the first time it’s been to the track today. Everybody has done a good job of stepping the program up, and me as a driver, too. We’re happy, and we’re gaining on it. Come Sunday I think we’ll have a good car.

“We’re trying to win races, and if we can’t win we’ll try for the top five or top 10. We’ve got to be able to finish first before we can win. I sat in the truck and watch Joe (Nemechek) qualify and I didn’t think there was any way anybody was going to beat him.

“My car just didn’t turn as good as I wanted it to through one and two. I think we gained a little bit on it, and I’m real proud of my guys. This is the first time this car has been to the racetrack. We knew we were behind in the aero department and the fab shop has really worked hard. We realized how far we were behind now. In my mock up run; we just didn’t have a good run. We worked on it and gained a lot. I think the late qualifying helped us. It didn’t hurt us any.

“Just making it through Talladega was everybody’s goal. I tell myself every time I come away from those tracks that they’ve got to do something different. It’s just not my style of racing. We’ve been running pretty good. We’ve definitely got room for improvement, but we just haven’t got the results that we think we need to be showing. We’ve had some races where we had top 15 and top 10 cars. Our results don’t show that. Our main goal is to come here and get some results. If we could come out of here with a top 10 finish that would be great for us. We could build on that and go on to the next race.

“The wind was blowing pretty hard when I went out, so that was my main focus, watching the 39 cars going in front of me.

“When I got in that car in Dover last year, I’d heard a lot of rumors and a lot of horror stories about Petty Enterprises. They’ve got as good of stuff as any car I’ve sat in. I think the difference for me driving the car and maybe for them letting me drive the car is that we believe in each other. Everything thing I say they believe. The couple of opportunities I had before, 75 percent of it they might have believed. Everybody associated with Petty Enterprises believes in Jeff Green and I believe in them”

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 77 Kodak Easy Share Dodge) – Qualified Fifth

“I’m pretty happy with it. We gained three tenths. Let’s see what everybody else gains. We’re trying to get better each week with our Dodges, and anytime the driver doesn’t screw up it’s a good run. We were really solid in three and four. With any luck we’ll stay in the top five, and it should be in the top 10 at least. I’ve always loved California Speedway. It’s been good to me for a long time. We survived last week. We were the top finishing Raybestos rookie. It was our career best finish. If the caution flag had flown 50 feet further I would have been 10th or 11th. We’ll take it. To finish 13th at Talladega and come out of there with our Dodge in one piece, the Kodak boys are pretty happy with that. We try to keep improving each week. Our career bests keep coming. You keep knocking off those career bests all you’ve got left is No. 1, and that’s what we’re working on.”

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) – Qualified 20th

“It was a good lap. It’s not going to be what we thought we were going to qualify, but it’ll be decent and we’ll get a good starting spot. We’ve got a good racecar. We’re running good every week now. It’s fast and it’s going to be real good in race trim. We’re just learning more and more every week and that’s what you’ve got to do. We slowed up a little from practice, but we’ll be all right. I think we’ll have our Dodge up front Sunday. It seems like handling means a lot here now. It seems like the track is a little rougher. Shocks will play a big role here, and the aero balance and all that. I don’t think it’ll come down to fuel mileage, but you never know.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge) – Qualified Seventh

“The track is a little tricky today. It feels different on every lap. The wind makes it so sensitive. I wish it had more banking so the wind wouldn’t mean so much. It’s sensitive in qualifying because you’re so much on edge in the first place. Then you get a little gust of wind and it just kind of throws you off. I don’t remember it being this windy before. Two years ago it rained before qualifying, and that’s why we went so fast. Last year it was pretty calm and the tires were different. Park got the pole on the second lap. Nobody can even come close to a fast lap on their second lap today.”

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) – Qualified 12th

“We weren’t that good in practice. Donnie (crew chief Wingo) made some changes and it was really good in qualifying. This place is easy to overdrive, and I might have done that in turn one a little bit. We got through three and four pretty good. I think the wind died down on my lap. I couldn’t feel it. This morning I could feel it every time out. It’s a big change from testing at Sonoma the last couple of days, but our car is really good. I’m excited about our chances in the race.”