Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

KASEY KAHNE IN THE #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE WON THE POLE FOR SUNDAY'S RACE AT DARLINGTON. Notes: This is Kahne's second pole in five career starts in the NEXTEL Cup Series. He also won the pole for the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kahne is just the second Raybestos Rookie to win a pole at Darlington, joining Kurt Busch who grabbed the top spot for the 2002 Southern 500. The previous best start by a Raybestos Rookie in the spring race was third, which was shared by Ryan Newman (2002) and Kevin Harvick (2001).

"That's a great lap here at Darlington, to start first. The Dodge Dealers 400 here on Sunday will be a big deal for our UAW Dodge team. We look forward to Sunday and work hard tomorrow to get a good balance on the racecar. I'm very excited. I'm happy to get another pole this year. Our sponsor, the Dodge Dealers, is great. This is going to be a great weekend for us. We've just got to work hard tomorrow and get the car well balanced and stay out of trouble. These walls come up quick here at Darlington." ARE YOU AMAZED THAT YOU HAVE WON TWO POLES THIS YEAR? "I've always loved qualifying. You have to really get up and go for it so I've always enjoyed it. We weren't expecting to get two poles already this season." WAS THAT A PERFECT LAP? "I don't know where else I could have gained speed. That car was just perfect and it felt like we made a perfect lap." ARE YOU SURPRISED WITH ALL YOUR SUCCESS? "Definitely surprised. This all came very quick. Tommy Baldwin [crew chief] and the whole team is doing a great job. The engine shop is doing a great job. Evernham Engines are unbelievable and running so strong. The Busch car is up front, too, for tomorrow's race so we're excited."

SCOTT WIMMER, #22 CATERPILLAR DODGE:

"That's a real good lap for us. We've been really struggling this year in qualifying. I say this year, my whole career I've been struggling in qualifying [smiles]. The guys did great adjustments. We've really been working on some things. We were really embarrassed after Atlanta; we ran really poor out there. Darlington is a good track for Bill Davis Racing, Frankie Stoddard [crew chief] and the guys have won a lot of races here. I'm looking forward to Sunday. We're going to have a good happy hour tomorrow and hopefully get this thing up front." TO QUALIFY WELL AT DARLINGTON MUST BE A BIG BOOST TO YOUR CONFIDENCE. "It definitely is. This is a track that's real tough to get around with new tires and old tires. It's a good, old, worn out racetrack. I had some medical problems and got them straightened out this week and I'm good to go."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, #77 KODAK DODGE:

"We're not going to need to take a provisional or anything. We gained six tenths so the guys worked hard. Being a Raybestos Rookie the guys took one for us. They let me go out with race runs a little bit. I'd been here in the truck and done very well but with our struggles lately the guys wanted me to get out in race trim. We did a lot more race trim practice and we got one mock qualifying run and that's why we're so far back. I'm actually happier this week, now, than I was even last week so it was a good run. We feel very confident in race trim. Now we've got to worry about looking in the mirror and seeing when the leader is coming so we're going to have to make some quick work to gain some spots."

SCOTT RIGGS, #10 VALVOLINE CHEVROLET:

"We put the car back the way it was when we unloaded off the trailer. I wish I wouldn't have complained about the car off the trailer because we ended up getting away from what we needed to have. The car was a little free at first and I just wish we went back out the way we were. We ended up freeing the car back up and I felt like if I could have had my turn one and two from my second lap and turn three and four from my first lap together I would have had a pretty decent lap, maybe even a top-10. I missed a little bit on my line and it's going to cost us."

JOHNNY SAUTER, #30 AMERICA ONLINE CHEVROLET:

"This is the best that we've been off the truck all year. I wouldn't say that it was spectacular but at least we're making gains every week. Hopefully it's not torn up bad enough that we have to go to a backup. I don't think it is; it's just cosmetic. We'll just see what happens." WHAT HAPPENED? "I just missed pit road, I mean, that's the bottom line. I thought I could get in there but it [the track] was too dirty and I missed it. I backed it into the barrels and now we'll fix it." THIS IS ONE OF YOUR BEST QUALIFYING RUNS ALL YEAR. DOES THIS MEAN YOU WILL RUN WELL ON SUNDAY? "I think so, I mean, I like Darlington anyway. I feel like our car is going to be good. I won't know until tommorow when I come back but I think we will be fine."

BRIAN VICKERS, #25 GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES CHEVROLET:

"It was okay, but not nearly what we wanted. We mainly focused on race runs in practice and the car was just a little loose for qualifying. Hopefully we have a good solid starting spot. They've won from a lot of different starting spots here at this racetrack so we'll be all right." HAVE THE NEW WALL TAKEN AWAY YOUR OLD LINE AROUND THE TRACK? "Yeah, but I think it's affected everybody. It's definitely changed a lot and it's going to be interesting come race day. We're going to see in the Busch race what it's going to be like, especially down in three and four you've seen a lot of people hit the wall already, too."