Dodge/Save Mart 350 - Ford Qualifying Quotes

JEFF BURTON - No. 99 Roush Racing Taurus (Qualified 13th) - "It was a clean lap. There was nothing overly aggressive. I felt like I left a lot out there, but it was a clean lap. It was smooth. The car was a little better than I was. I'm not feeling very good and don't have a lot of energy, so I just feel like I left a lot out there. I'm proud of my guys. They worked real hard and did a lot of stuff to get ready for this race and I'm proud of the effort." YOU GOT OFF TO A SLOW START TODAY WITH THE CARBURETOR ISSUE. "Yeah, the carburetor actually worked then and it just took me by surprise. All day long it's been missing so bad that it's been messing my exits up off the corners. The car was a lot better than I was, I just didn't know what to expect and I didn't drive it hard enough. With the carburetor messed up, if you gave it too much throttle the thing would not run and then all of a sudden it would run - it would mess you up. In qualifying, I could have given it plenty of throttle, but I didn't know I could give it throttle until after the fact. So I left a lot on the table, but that's OK."

RICKY RUDD - No. 21 Keep It Genuine/Motorcraft Taurus (Qualified 12th) - "The track is a different race track than what we ran on earlier today. I was really surprised at how much of a change the track was and we just didn't have any grip. I don't know if we missed it on the air pressure or if the track got greasier. I'm not really sure. I probably should not have gone as hard and just gotten more of a conservative lap, but I was going for the pole and I just wasn't getting a hold of the corner like I needed to and I gave up a lot of speed."

GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 National Guard/Subway Taurus (Qualified 7th) - "I'm really surprised. I missed a couple of corner big-time. I was off in the gravel coming for the last turn 11. I had to wait until I got back on the track before I could put the gas down and it was a really good lap. That's the double-edge of the sword. We never practiced in qualifying trim, so I didn't know what to expect. I left some on the table because it turned better than I thought it was gonna, so I slowed down too much for the corner. I slowed down too much and said, 'Oh man, I could have went a lot faster through there,' so I left a little on the table. And then toward the end of the run I was getting more confidence and I was a little too fast through one of the corners and it didn't turn - it went off the edge of the track. I was telling these guys that we could be second right now easy. Six-tenths, that's hard to say, but I left at least three tenths on the table there so I feel pretty good about that lap."

DALE JARRETT - No. 88 UPS Taurus (Qualified 23rd) - "The track has lost a lot of grip. It's probably just hotter, so we slid around. I noticed it right off and I probably got a little conservative after that just trying to make sure that I stayed on the track. Then I missed the last corner down there. I thought that I could get there, but the car just never turned down in the last corner to get me a good shot up off. It was probably a smooth lap, but it wasn't very fast."

MARK MARTIN - No. 6 Viagra Taurus (Qualified 4th) - "That's a pretty good lap. The Viagra team has a really fast race car here for us, but the last two times out I tried to get a little bit too much. In practice I slipped off the race track and I watched everybody having trouble out there and just decided to kind of drive like a grandma. These guys have got me a good race car. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and getting it set up for the race and then the race on Sunday." WHAT AFFECT HAS THE REPAVING HAD? "It's much more difficult in certain ways. It's gonna make passing more difficult. It makes it a lot faster, but it also makes the grip breakaway. When you start to slide, you can't save it as easy as you could before so it's gonna be a challenge."

KURT BUSCH - No. 97 Sharpie/IRWIN Taurus (Qualified 3rd) - "It had its moments to say the least. We had a tight car most of practice and we did our scuffed set of tires so we didn't have that variable and this session it was just loose on a lot of the corner exits. We've got a little bit of work to do and we'll see what we can do for a Sunday package that will work all four tires the same." DO YOU LIKE THE NEW PAVEMENT? "It's still just as much fun. Everytime we come back they change things a little bit. This time it was all new asphalt. The year before it was just a segment of asphalt. The year before that they re-configured the track. So once we develop some consistency with the track each time we come back, then we'll see closer qualifying times and more excitement."

ELLIOTT SADLER - No. 38 M&M's Taurus (Qualified 16th) - "We've been struggling the whole time we've been out here. It's just frustrating right now. We're not really getting a hold of the car like we want to. Todd and the guys are doing a great job. We're changing a lot of different things to try to help it, but we just haven't found it yet. That's not gonna be where we want to start at, but we came here to race on Sunday so if we just stay on the race track Sunday and get all the points we can, we should be OK." PRACTICE TOMORROW WILL HELP. "We hope so. We tested VIR a couple of weeks ago and felt we really had something to work with, so I'm just pretty disappointed right now. This team is used to qualifying up front. The guys are busting their butts, we're just struggling right now. I don't really test and run out here enough to probably give them the best feedback in the world, so we're just gonna keep working at it."

MATT KENSETH - No. 17 DEWALT Tools Taurus (Qualified 5th) - "Our qualifying has been OK here, but the problem is everything pays on Sunday and our finishes haven't been that great. For some reason, we've been able to qualify OK here. My DEWALT team did a great job today. We started the day in race trim and really didn't even get a mock-up run with all the problems we had, so we kind of guessed at it. We had a pretty good lap. I saw a lot of car get real loose in turn 10 and I tried to really take it easy through there and then overdrove 11 and lost a little time off of that, but, overall, it's a great lap for us." WAS THE TRACK SLICKER? "There are a couple of spots on the track where the cars get real loose for some reason. My car was loose through two, I just tried to slow down a little extra through there and try not to make too much time there. It seems like it's real easy to overdrive this track. My lap felt like it was slow, but it was just good. We didn't overdrive any parts of the track too bad, except for turn 11. So, overall, that's pretty good for us."

KURT BUSCH PRESS CONFERENCE - "We find each time we come back to Infineon that there are changes made and improvements that help provide for a great race. The fans have access to better spots in the corners, so each time we come back there's a little variable. What are we gonna change and how are we gonna adapt. The tire today just gave us a little bit of a fit, so we decided we were gonna scrub our tires and scuff them in and then go out there on scuffed tires instead of stickers. I saw Gordon make his mistake and it opened the door up, but I knew that we just weren't quite good enough for the pole yet because we didn't go out on stickers. It's a question where we were in a catch-22. Do we go conservative or do we go for the pole? I knew that Rusty was the car to beat and it seemed like a few of the guys you expected to do well had problems and that enabled us to qualify third. We've been on the front row here before, so it's still a good track and we're still learning what we've got to do with this new tire this year for our 2004 program."

STARTING UP FRONT HERE MEANS MORE DOESN'T IT? "It always helps out to have a positive result in qualifying. We're pleased with our effort. To be third and to be able to start up front and to continuously run up front, it's difficult to make passes here and you'll end up heating up your brakes quick if you have to start in the back and work your way forward. It's much easier to get involved in something if you are in the back, so starting third is a great spot for us to be in."

THE FORDS QUALIFIED WELL TODAY. "I believe all the Ford teams can be pleased with their effort today. It didn't look that way on the charts early on, but it takes a veteran-type team to know how to adjust for the new asphalt and the new tire and we were able to prevail. I think the slowest car in the Roush camp is 12th quick, so that's a very good effort for our team today."