Pop Secret 500 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

Where the Raybestos Rookies will start in the Pop Secret 500
B. Vickers, POLE
K. Kahne, 5th
S. Riggs, 9th
B. Gaughan, 22nd
S. Wimmer, 38th

SCOTT RIGGS, #10 VALVOLINE CHEVROLET: "Actually it was more on the racetrack than I thought. I thought that this late in the day and with this much sun on it, it would be a lot hotter and we could tell that it was getting hotter during the practice and getting slower. And we thought it would get slower when we got out there to qualify, that it would be even slower than it was before in practice. But it was actually better. It could have been better, actually. When I drove off in the corner and I carried it off into turn one and got back to the throttle, I knew that it was better than what I anticipated. That's why I took that second lap. I thought I could go a little bit quicker. I wish I could have got it all on the first lap. I feel like I left a good tenth laying on the table there on that first lap with those sticker tires. I doubt that it's going to hold up for the pole but it's going to be a good starting spot for us. I'm just proud of all the guys on the Valvoline Chevrolet for working hard, especially the fab shop. I've got to thank all those guys at Hendrick Motorsports for giving us great horsepower." YOUR TEAMMATE ALSO HAD A GOOD RUN. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH HOW THIS TEAM IS COMING TOGETHER? "I am satisfied, not for the performance that we had for the first half of the year but I'm really satisfied the way that we are coming around. The team is slowly but surely getting better every week and I think you can see it. Sometimes our results don't show it but on the racetrack we've been a lot more competitive the second half of the year than we were the first half. I think there is a lot more to come before the end of the year." WAS THAT A PERFECT LAP? "No, not perfect. I left a good tenth laying out there. That first corner I drove it off in there really deep, pulled on the wheel, it drove right to the bottom, felt really stable. I got to the gas hard and I come off the corner and I was a good car length, car length and a half off the wall. I just knew that there was a lot of speed left that I didn't get so that's why I took that second lap and picked up there. I think if I could have tried to get it all that first lap, it could have been at least a tenth quicker." WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT YOU PICKED UP ON THE SECOND LAP? "No, because I saw how good it was on the first lap and I said 'Man, I've got to at least try for this second lap and see what happens.' I just wish I could have got that extra on the first lap. I bet we could have run a .70 instead of an .80." ANOTHER TINY STEP IN THE REBUILDING PROCESS? "Absolutely. Learning curves are slowly getting shot down and we are straightening everything out and starting to show our hand." CAN THIS TEAM RUN THIS WELL FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON? "We hope so. We're sure that we'll have some stumbles along the way. We've got some different racetracks to go to but these two-mile and mile-and-a-half racetracks, we're getting it worked out good. I'm looking forward to Richmond next week. I had a great car at Richmond in the spring so I look forward to going back there and seeing what we can do next week." WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO PUT ONE GOOD RACE TOGETHER? "We've got to stay there. We've got to start well. When they drop the green flag we've got to have the car working well then. Every time we come in and make a pit stop we've got to put a set of tires on and make the right adjustments to keep up with the racetrack and we've got to be there in the hunt there at the end and make sure nothing mechanically happens to us. Make sure that we not caught up in any kind of wrecks and hopefully our pit strategy will work out in our way too." DO YOU EXPECT THE TRACK TO CHANGE A LOT DURING THE RACE? "I don't think it's going to change as much as it did in the spring we ran here and it got hotter all day long and greasier. I think starting so late in the afternoon I think it's going to be as bad as it's going to be at the beginning. It's going to cool off, get faster. It always gets tighter here during the day so I'm sort of nervous about trying to figure out what it's going to do as the sun in going down it's cooling off."

BRIAN VICKERS, #25 GMAC CHEVROLET: "It looks real good up there. I came out here early and saw the dietech.com folks who are based in Costa Mesa. I've had a lot of support from them this year. The car was awesome. The guys did a good job with it. It stuck and the engine pulled down the straightaways and the body kept us stuck in the corners. What else can you say? So hopefully it holds up. Hopefully the track won't cool off anymore than it has and we'll be able to stay on top." HOW MUCH GOES ON BETWEEN THE HENDRICK TEAMS BETWEEN PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING? "A lot of stuff goes on. We try to communicate as much as possible and it works even better because not only are we teammates but we get along. We're friends as well, the drivers, crew chiefs, and everybody involved and that makes a big difference. We're excited to be out here and have a lot of fun here. I have a blast coming out here. The fans are great and the way they support us is amazing." ON BILL ELLIOTT. "Elliott is an awesome driver. Anybody that has accomplished as much as he has in his career and I think he made the right move. He's still having fun. I can totally see when you've been in the sport as long as he has it will wear you out. To run this many races a year as long as he has, he did it right. He still loves racing as much as any of us, but he wanted to take a break and he did it the right way. He's obviously running really good but I'm glad that he didn't retire completely because I like Elliott. The more competition and better drivers that are out there like him and others, the more challenging it is. If this GMAC team is going to win a race, we want to beat the best doing it." WILL THE CAR'S RACE SETUP BE AS GOOD AS THE QUALIFYING PACKAGE? "I'll let you know after happy hour [laughs] but I anticipate that. I feel like we've got a good shot at it. I think we have just as much of a shot as anybody going into each race, each week, especially before practice. We've just got to get the car right and get it adjusted for that track at that time and go after it." DID YOUR CONFIDENCE GET A BOOST HERE TODAY? "It definitely doesn't hurt, that's for sure. Anytime you run good it helps not only yourself, but also the whole team. But we've still got time left in the day. We'll cross our fingers and hope for that pole. It would be an awesome thing for us to get another one here this year and look forward to more hopefully." WERE YOU SURPRISED TO RUN THIS WELL TODAY AFTER STRUGGLING AT MICHIGAN A FEW WEEKS AGO? "No, because we ran good in the first Michigan race. We should have run good in the last one. We had a couple problems with the car, some stuff that came loose that really dramatically affected the handling during the race that we didn't find out about until after the race. That was a lot that hurt us up in Michigan but that happens. It's funny because that same thing has happened to Jeff already twice this year. Not the exact same thing but something similar, something backing off and coming loose during the race and it really affects you. But you don't even know what's going on until you go through the car after the race." NICE TO COME RACE HERE VERSUS AT A TRACK LIKE BRISTOL? "I enjoy coming here. I've always said that I like a variety. I couldn't race at Bristol every week and I couldn't race here every week. I like going to different places, different times, and I have a lot of fun with that." HOW BIG OF A FACTOR WAS THE WIND? "It definitely changed how I approached the qualifying effort. I'm not going to give away all my secrets but one thing I have learned is that you really have to pay attention to the wind at the big tracks because they can dramatically affect how you have to approach the entry and exit of each corner." DID THE WIND BLOW YOU AROUND AS BAD AS DAYTONA? "No, it's a different effect. I can't tell you everything but you've got to keep that in mind when you're going in and out of corners and how you approach them. You may have to move your line around or something for that." DO YOU THINK THE TRACK WILL CHANGE A LOT DURING THE RACE? "It's going to change a lot, from what I've seen this afternoon from how it changed from earlier today to now. I think it's going to change a lot during the race. It's going to change a lot."

KASEY KAHNE, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE: "I was a little tight in one and two. I think the wind blowing had a little something to do with that and just didn't get it slowed down enough to cut through there. Three and four felt pretty good, though, so I think we probably made up a little bit down there and lost a little bit in one and two." DID YOU AND BILL ELLIOTT COMPARE NOTES TODAY? "Actually the teams did earlier on, I think, a little bit, but Bill had a pretty good lap. His car was definitely different that ours right there in qualifying, setup-wise." HAD THE CAR BEEN TIGHT AT ALL TODAY IN PRACTICE? "That was the first time. We had been fairly loose. It still felt good in three and four, just wasn't quite good enough in one and two I think. This is the same car we had here in May. With one or two laps to go we ran out of gas and ended up 13th but we were a top-five car before that. Led a lot of laps and it was a good day." HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO RUN WELL HERE TO SET YOURSELF UP FOR RICHMOND? "We need to run good here and get back in that top-10 then hold our own at Richmond and try to run really good there. We didn't have a good first race there but Jeremy's team went and tested. We just missed it in a couple of areas. We should be a lot better at Richmond. I like the racetrack. We should be a lot better. We need to get some points again Sunday and then carry that momentum into Richmond." WILL YOU BE MORE AGGRESSIVE HERE SUNDAY? "I'd say it would be the same. Tomorrow is a critical couple of practices to get the car where it needs to be. Hopefully it will be real good on Sunday and stay towards the front all day and lead some laps."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, #77 KODAK/JASPER ENGINES AND TRANSMISSIONS DODGE: "We're back home on the west coast and definitely wanted to be better than that. I probably overdrove it into one there a little bit and hurt us through one and two. Three and four were awesome. Shane [Wilson, crew chief] and the guys did a good job." THIS WAS THE SITE OF YOUR BEST RUN THIS SEASON. YOU ARE COMING BACK TO TRACKS FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON. DOES THAT HELP YOU OUT? "It does normally help us out and this week we think it's going to. We're actually a lot better than where we just qualified. We'll see what we can do in the race." WILL THE TRACK CHANGE A LOT FROM DAYLIGHT TO DARKNESS ON SUNDAY? "The advantage is that at least back in the Winston West days we use to start early in the morning, which is almost like starting at dusk. Shane thinks we have a good setup for when it goes dusk here. Other than that, it's not going to be a big difference. It's going to be nicer for the fans to have a nice, cool day."

SCOTT WIMMER, #22 CATERPILLAR DODGE: "Our first lap off the truck was pretty much our fastest lap of the day and then we got slower. We really struggled but I'm glad that we picked up and hopefully that will get us in the field and we'll work on it in race trim. We're really good in race trim. We were really good out here in the spring, just had some bad luck with a gas line but we'll keep working at it and hopefully we'll get it right for the race. It's confusing to me. I've been kind of bouncing all over with our car. The guys have been changing stuff on it. I haven't been feeling changes that good and right before qualifying we went out and made a mock sticker run and we were in the 40-seconds and we were terrible. We put the car back and changed some more things and picked it up so that was the good part. We'll just keep working on it; that's all we can do right now. I think we will have a good racecar for Sunday. I think it's going to throw curveballs for a lot of people. It's going to get cooler as it goes on and it will be an interesting race."

NOTES FROM BRIAN VICKERS WINNING THE POLE AT RICHMOND

· Vickers won his second career Bud Pole at California. He also claimed the top starting position at Richmond in May.

· Fellow Raybestos Rookie Kasey Kahne won the pole at California in May, giving the class of 2004 a sweep of pole positions at the 2.0-mile speedway.