USG Sheetrock 400 - Dodge Qualifying Quotes

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Mobil 1/Alltel Dodge Charger)

COMMENTS IMMEDIATELY AFTER QUALIFYING LAP
“It was a good lap. I still don’t know if it’s going to hold up, but it was still a good lap. Nemechek will be the one to tell if we’re going to be close or not because he was pretty good in practice. We’ll have to see. I’m excited about picking up speed, and I think conditions are about the same as we had in practice. We lost the right front tire in practice, and we don’t know why. Sometimes the way that happens you can’t tell what caused what, so usually you lose a tire and that’s it. We’ll carry on. I’m happy with the effort for sure. I think it’ll end up in the top five, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge Charger)

“That’s faster than we practiced by maybe a tenth or 51 hundredths. I asked them to give me the lap time when I crossed the line and they said it was a .27, so that was good because my heart wasn’t going to take another lap out there. I came on in after that.”

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Charger)

“For some reason this car won’t qualify. It’s good for the race, but it just won’t qualify. We picked up about three tenths from practice. It’s the same car we ran at Michigan and it qualified bad and then came straight to the front until it blew up. If we just don’t blow up this time we’ll be all right.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

“The car was awesome. After tomorrow’s practice we’ll be ready to race. We feel like we were pretty good in practice today. We worked the whole time on race runs, and we’ll do it again tomorrow. This is the best feeling car we’ve had in awhile.”

DAVID STREMME (No. 39 U.S. Navy Dodge Charger)

“The car was real loose we hadn’t been that loose all day. It was kind of unexpected, but hopefully it’ll get us in. All we needed was a starting spot. The Navy Dodge was pretty good in practice, so we’ll see what happens in practice tomorrow.”

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target/Kraft Dodge Charger)

“That was a real good run. We feel good about it. Jimmy and the guys worked hard, and we found some things back at the shop body-wise that helped us out at Michigan. We took the same car from Michigan to here, and we’re real fast again. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be tough to find the right balance for race day, but I feel real good about it. It’s a better racecar than we had at Texas. If we’d had this car at Texas I think we could have given Greg (Biffle) a real run for his money. I’m happy with the improvements the team has made and we’ve just got to keep getting better.

“I thought I had a shot at the pole. We only ran a flat in practice, but you do things in qualifying that helps you pick up. I’m a little worried about being tight Sunday. It’s the same car we had at Michigan and here you tend to load the car a little bit harder. We’re going to have to run the car freer, but I think we’re going to race good. I’m just worried how it’s going to be on long runs in case it gets too tight. We were good in practice. We were 11th on the sheet, but I knew we were better than that. We tried some things at the end of practice on old tires, and I knew the car had more speed in it. I wish we could have got a cloud, but that’s the way it goes.”

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

“We’ve been struggling a little bit. We weren’t bad, but that’s all we had. We just weren’t fast. We’ll race good. We just can’t get that first lap in qualifying. We’ve been qualifying good all year. Usually when we qualify bad we run good. We’ll be in good shape. This is the week we hit the top 10.”

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Genuine Draft Dodge Charger)

“That was nothing like I thought. I thought that lap felt a lot faster than that. I’m totally confused why it ran like that and where I lost it at. We’ll get a good setup in it tomorrow and go from there.”

TRAVIS KVAPIL (No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Dodge Charger)

“That was a pretty good lap. We found some things that helped us at the end of practice. It’s been a pretty good first half of the season. We just need more practice and we’ll try to keep bringing the cars home in one piece.”

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge Charger) – Third-place qualifying interview

“I think these types of tracks suit my driving style the best. Coming from the Indy car side of things, it’s the fast tracks I really enjoy and the team seems to get a good handle on them. Just recently we’ve found a little bit aerowise that has really helped us out. Jimmy Elledge (crew chief) has done a really good job working with the body shop and our aero program. We’ve made some big changes in downforce and small changes on the car that have really made a big difference on the track recently. This is the same car we ran at Michigan and qualified so well with and raced with, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the season with things we’ve found midway through the year.

“We’ve just got to be consistent. I think the biggest problem we’ve had as a team is just putting the whole race together. Throughout the year little things have happened beyond our control. Some of it has been in our control. At Michigan we had a great car. Unfortunately, the pit crew has been awesome all year long, and going into Michigan for some reason we just had a bad day and got a lap down in the pits. We just need to have a good, consistent day without any problems and we can get a top-five run.

“Qualifying is important for pit selection and everything, but it also feels good to qualify well. It’s always difficult when you start in the back, at a place like this where cars are so aero dependent and you get in the back and you get in a mix like that you feel like you have a hold of the car and if you get track position and just get up front you can take off and leave everybody. I think the track is going to widen out. Last year it widened out and got two grooves and made it a little bit easier to pass. It’s never easy to get to the front, but I’m sure he (Tony Stewart) can do it.

“I think the biggest thing with our organization, with our team, is that we know we can do it. We’ve had races where we know we can run good. It seems like at the beginning of the year it was one stupid thing after another – getting paper on the grille, or pitting at the wrong time, little things that would get us a lap down and we couldn’t get it back or get caught up in a crash that really wasn’t anything of our doing. The biggest thing and most frustrating thing right now is we know we’re legitimately at least a top 15 team. We know we can run inside the top 10, but we just can’t put a whole weekend together. If we come out and run better and have a great finish on Sunday it’s not going to be a surprise to us. We feel like we’re one of those teams that could come out and win a race and it wouldn’t be that big of a surprise to us, but it would be a huge surprise to everybody else. I don’t feel like we need to really turn things around. I just feel like we need a little luck on our side and do things right throughout the weekend.”

“Jamie’s deal is his deal. He’s a talented driver and has been a good teammate and will be a good teammate. If feels like that’s a better opportunity for him, then more power to him, go do it. As far as my deal, I’ve been told they want me around next season but that’s the extent of it. I just haven’t seen anything solid that says I’m going to be there. I’m just kind of hanging out, hoping things go well the next couple of races. Whatever they tell me, hopefully soon, we’ll know.

“I’m happy with my team. I really like working with Jimmy. I really like the guys I work with. I think we can improve and do a lot better than we’re doing now, so if I stick around, I’d be happy with that. If not, I’m keeping options open to go do something else as well, but right now it’s their option and as soon as they let me know I can make a decision.

“I think it’s frustrating for anybody to be in that situation. Obviously he’s had a ton of success in the past with his Indy car programs. For whatever reason right now, I really don’t know much about the Indy stuff, but it’s frustrating. He’s frustrated with it and I think some of that drags over to our side. When we have a bad day it drags over into their side. I think there’s a lot of frustration all the way around right now with him especially being the team owner. They’re doing a lot trying to fix it. They’re doing a lot of changes right now trying to make things right. That’s a good question for Chip. I just drive the car and let him worry about it.

“They either want me or they don’t. I don’t know if what happens to Jamie is going to depend on what happens to me. That’s another good question for Chip. The longer they wait to tell me anything hurts me. Bottom line. If he could tell me tomorrow he wants me there and actually gives me a piece of paper that says I am going to be there, great. I’ve got a job, go figure it out. I think the way this series is right now there are a lot of good rides open for next year. I’m just not to worried about it. I’m focused on trying to run good every weekend and hopefully he gives me an answer soon. That’s all I can say. I think he will.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Mobil 1/Alltel Dodge Charger) – Second-place qualifying interview

“I told Matt (crew chief Borland) before practice even started that we needed about a tenth on the field to have a shot for the pole because of our qualifying draw. He said two tenths and it turned out to be less than a hundredth of a second. It was a great run. I felt it was going to be a top five run after that run, not knowing if the track was going to pick

up a lot or not. I think it definitely picked up a lot of speed, but Jimmie had a great lap. I’m taking nothing away from him and his team. It’s going to be a good place to start. We get a good pit selection and we’ll just keep doing our best.

HOW WOULD YOU ADJUST STARTING IN THE BACK OF THE PACK? “I don’t know. I can’t answer your question. I’m not in that situation.”

DID YOU HAVE A TIRE ISSUE IN PRACTICE? “We had a tire go down coming off turn four on the second lap of a qualifying attempt and I just stopped down in turn one to basically not tear up the car. When a tire blows like that you usually can’t tell what caused it. I know NASCAR said they found a piece of metal on the racetrack. I don’t know if that’s something that caused it or not. I think there’s always concern, knowing this is the same tire we ran at Michigan. There was concern there. We have concern at every track we go to with the tires, considering that’s the only thing that touches the racetrack. We do (have concern about tires). More than usual? Maybe just a little bit.”

WHAT’S THE SECRET TO YOUR SUCCESS AT CHICAGOLAND? “It takes a combination of everything. You’ve got to have a fast racecar. The driver’s got to be able to get around the racetrack. For the last three years or whatever it is it’s been here it’s been pretty much a one-groove racetrack. I didn’t get an opportunity to race much last year because we cut a tire and crashed early in the race. It’s usually a game of track position and a fast racecar. If you can have good pit stops you can stay up front and have a good shot of keeping everybody else behind you. The track is getting better and better as it ages and you’ll see two or three maybe even more grooves potentially depending on what the tire wear is like with this new tire for the race on Saturday and Sunday.”