Chevy American Revolution 400 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

JOHNNY SAUTER, #30 AMERICA ONLINE CHEVROLET: "It's obviously not good. The racetrack sat and got really slick and maybe we just didn't get it tight enough to go out second." DID THE DRAW HURT YOU? YOU WERE THE SECOND CAR ON THE TRACK. "Obviously it did. I think the later you can go the better it's going to be. Everybody's in the same boat and we'll see where it shakes out."

BRIAN VICKERS, #25 GMAC CHEVROLET: Notes: Vickers won his first career Bud Pole at Richmond. Vickers first pole came in his 16th career start and becomes the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole at Richmond since Jimmie Johnson in September 2002. prior to Friday, Vickers best start on a short track this season was 22nd at Bristol. "The GMAC Chevy crew did an awesome job. It was a good run for us. As long as the sun stays out and it doesn't cool off for anybody I think we'll be okay. I hope so anyway. It's going to be close. The track is real slick right now and as long as it stays that way I think we'll be able to stay where we are but if it comes around like it did in practice, then I don't know." HOW AGGRESSIVE WERE YOU ON YOUR RUN? "The first lap was a medium lap, like 98 percent, and the second was 100 percent. We were just a tick snug. You've just got to be careful, that's the thing. You can still push it to the edge but you've got to hit your marks. If you miss them a little bit, as slick as it is, then you're going to be out into the wall, I guess." DO YOU THINK THIS SPEED WILL HOLD UP? "I hope so. It really depends on the sun, the track right now to be honest with you. If it stays the way it is I think we'll be okay. I think we did a good job and the car was good. If the track picks up then it picks up and there's nothing that we can do about it." HOW IMPORTANT WOULD A POLE BE TO THIS TEAM? "We really need a morale booster right now. We went through some struggles and we turned a lot of them into good days. A pole would be great. I think either way we've got a good starting spot and that's good no matter what. We've got a good place to start for the race. A pole would be real nice but right now I think we did as a team all we could do and really it's up to the sun and the racetrack. If it gets cloudy and the track gets faster, there's nothing that we can do about that. That's just a victim of circumstances." HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE TEST HERE? "We came up here to test but we didn't make any qualifying laps, though. I think it definitely helped some but we didn't make any qualifying runs. We only made race runs so I think it will help more in race trim." WILL THIS BE A ONE GROOVE TRACK DURING THE RACE? "I don't know. This track and the shape of the track, it's promoted as second groove racing, but I'll be honest with you, any new racetrack that I've ever been on has been a one-groove racetrack. There's nothing that they can do about that. That's a tough problem to fix but in time this racetrack will be even better than it was. The racetrack is smoother and it's faster. They did a good job paving it. I think when it gets some age on it and gets a couple years on it, I think the second groove will be even better than it was before just because of how good of a paving job that they did. Before the second groove came in with time and the racing got even better but we had cracks and the pavement had this other stuff and it was hurting us. Now we're not going to have that. If it comes around for this weekend, I think it's a possibility. I wouldn't rule it out but before it gets back to the way it was it's going to take time. NASCAR is doing everything in their power. They ran the Busch guys in the second groove for a while yesterday and they're going to do the same for us and I think all that is going to help. I think the Busch race is going to help a lot."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, #77 JASPER ENGINES & TRANSMISSIONS/KODAK DODGE: "The Kodak team is getting better and better each week and this week was no exception. We came here and tested with Rusty and had a great test. We never practiced qualifying, always tested in race trim, and we were looking good. We should have been about 15th. We think possibly a spring is out of pocket or a sway bar came unhooked because something happened there. This race team has been too good for stuff like that so something had to go wrong for us. We've been the Raybestos Rookie for two weeks in a row so we're going to have to battle to keep that up." HAS THE TRACK BEEN SLICK ALL DAY? "It changed a little bit I'm sure but I think that something happened right here, not the guys mistake, just something happened. Something popped out of place and we'll be all right for the race."

KASEY KAHNE, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE: "I was a little loose in practice and we were looser right there. The track is hotter, obviously, and I just got loose and didn't save it. It hit hard enough to hurt the car. I didn't hit that hard. It just smacked the car. It's too bad. That's the same as it's been; it just wasn't quite that loose. Earlier on, it was a loose where you just kind of drive through it and that's what I tried doing there and I didn't make it through it [smiles]."

SCOTT WIMMER, #22 CATERPILLAR DODGE: "The track seemed to slow down quite a bit so we're pretty happy with that. We had struggled pretty bad through practice and did a lot of race practice and struggled through qualifying practice and we've been off a little bit. Hopefully that will get us in the top-20 and we'll work from there. The guys have been working real hard on my car. I think we've been fighting something a little different than everybody else. I didn't feel too bad. Granted, when you are not going that fast the car doesn't feel that bad but with a new track and the sun being on it and the oil baking out of the asphalt always seems to happen at these places and it will take a little time to get it back to the old Richmond. It was about ready for a pave job and I think it will be back in the next year or two."

SCOTT RIGGS, #10 VALVOLINE CHEVROLET: "That's a pretty good lap. We slowed down. The track is a lot slicker right now than it was when we were out there practicing. We were just a little bit free at the end of practice and we knew that we needed to tighten up a little bit and made some adjustments to help tighten it up. As slick as the track was, if you are a little bit free this heat and this sun is just going to magnify it. On a scale of one to 10, if we were a two-free in practice, we were probably a six-free out there in qualifying. I'm just learning the track, learning how free it was, and it really magnified our problems. It will be a decent starting spot for us, not great but it will be OK. We've already learned the last couple of races that it doesn't matter how good you start, the main thing is how good your car is in the race and you can drive to the front if you have a good car. So we're going to work on race mode right now."