Chevy Rock and Roll 400 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

Where the Raybestos Rookies will start at Richmond:
K. Kahne, 11th
S. Wimmer, 21st
B. Vickers, 26th
S. Riggs, 35th
B. Gaughan, 37th
J. Sauter, 39th best speed, DNQ

KASEY KAHNE IN THE #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE WAS THE TOP RAYBESTOS ROOKIE QUALIFIER AT RICHMOND. "I'm happy with that. I thought we could have run a little faster maybe. Everybody is slowing up. We slowed up a little bit. We needed to run a little faster than that to have a shot at the pole. I don't think an 18 or 19 is going to do it. I think it's going to be somewhere in the 21-flats. I'm ready. It's going to be a fun race. At least we have a good starting spot. We have our primary car still and it will be nice to be in that car all night. The last time I crashed in qualifying and we lost a lot of time. I had a really good car before the race so this time we've got our good car. It will be nice to work with that this happy hour and keep everything smooth so we're ready to go Saturday night." ARE YOU GOING TO TRY AS HARD AS YOU NORMALLY DO TO WIN SATURDAY NIGHT? OR DO YOU WANT TO GET A TOP-FIVE AND GET IN THE TOP-10? "We'll have to see what happens with what we're given. We're going for wins. We're going to try to get our Dodge Dealers car as close to the front as we can all the time. We'll do that and see if we can get a shot at winning." ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THAT LAP? "Yeah, I'm satisfied so far. Some other cars may go faster, maybe not. It's a pretty good lap. It's not as good as I was hoping but it's a pretty good lap for our Dodge car. It's a lot better than the first time we were here."

SCOTT RIGGS, #10 VALVOLINE CHEVROLET: "We unloaded and we were pretty good. I could never get better in practice there. I went out there and qualified and after I took the checkered flag, I thought I threw the car out of gear and I think I actually threw it in third and let the clutch out. When I let the clutch out it zinged the motor up pretty good and I think it killed the motor because it locked up. That was a pretty stupid mistake on my part. We've been working all year to get these transmissions to shift so and I guess it finally bit me shifting too good and I shifted the durn thing back down into gear."

BRIAN VICKERS, #25 GMAC CHEVROLET: ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THAT LAP? "No, not really. We had a great qualifying run here the first race. We just had it too loose on entry right then. We were sideways down in three and four and basically had to give up the second lap. The first lap, I wanted to get a good solid lap in there to get a decent starting spot. That second lap, we were kind of going for the pole and it just didn't stick. That's part of it, but we've still got a good starting spot and we're looking forward to the race." HOW MUCH HAS THE TRACK CHANGED SINCE MAY? "It's definitely changed a lot. I think all tracks change as time goes by with the weather and the races on 'em, the rubber on them. I think the first time I've ever been here they didn't seal the racetrack and that's been a new surprise but it's still going to put on a great show like it always does. I look forward to coming here to Richmond. It's a fun track for the drivers and a great track for the fans."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, #77 KODAK EASY SHARE/JASPER ENGINES AND TRANSMISSIONS DODGE: "I thought it was going to be a lot better. We came here the first time in qualifying and almost tore our stuff up, almost tore ourselves apart trying to qualify the first Richmond race. This one we anticipated and my second lap felt a lot faster. I don't know what happened. It didn't go faster. It's kind of a bummer. I figured we'd be at least 20th or 15th, that was the number we were shooting for but I don't think we'll get that now. I'm kind of bummed. Here you'd love to not be in the back. If you're in the back 15, you're going to get lapped pretty early just by the shear fact there's that many cars. The further up you can be, the longer you're going to be without having to worry about getting a lap."

SCOTT WIMMER, #22 CATERPILLAR DODGE: "We picked up from practice and it looks like everybody has been having a problem doing that. They guys have been working pretty hard on the car. We've been struggling quite a bit today. Fortunately, I had a real good smooth lap there. The first lap was fastest which was kind of strange for me. I thought we had a little better second lap. Hopefully that will be somewhere in the top-15 and I look forward to tomorrow night." IS IT DIFFICULT QUALIFYING HERE IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY? "The track changes quite a bit and you've just really got to change your driving style. You've got to be a little smoother on the throttle and all that. My second lap I was trying to get a little more out of the car and ended up slipping up. If we can start inside the top-20 that will be fine."

JOHNNY SAUTER, #33 MAG-LITE/GM CARD CHEVROLET: "It was a little bit on the tight side. It would have been nice to repeat what we ran this morning but obviously we didn't do that. I don't know if we're going to make the race or not. I always struggle qualifying here. Even though I've won here, I've always started in the 30s. I don't know what the fine line or the balance is, I just struggle."