USG Sheetrock 400 - Dodge Saturday Quotes

First and Last at Chicagoland

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

NOTE: Wallace, a 48-year-old St. Louis native, will be making his final Cup start Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. Wallace will line up 33rd for Sunday’s race, and he was 23rd fastest in the first practice session Saturday morning. Wallace has moved from 11th to fifth in the standings in the last five races. He trails fourth-place Elliott Sadler by only five points and is 205 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

“We’re working hard trying to get the chassis better in Happy Hour,” Wallace said. “We’ve finished fourth the last two weeks, and we’d sure like to keep that up or maybe improve a position or two at Chicagoland. This is my last race at Chicago. We’ve never had a top-10 finish here, so we need to change that tomorrow so we can maintain that top five ranking in the standings. We’ve got a lot of racing left to go this season, but we’ve only got nine more races to qualify for The Chase and that’s top priority right now. We want to be racing for the championship in those final 10 races.”

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

NOTE: While Wallace will be making his final start at Chicagoland, Streeme will line up for his inaugural NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race on Sunday. The 28-year-old South Bend, Ind., native will drive the No. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Dodge Charger full time in 2006. He qualified 31st fastest for Sunday’s race and posted the 20th fastest practice speed in the first session Saturday morning.

“I was a little disappointed in qualifying,” Stremme said. “As a team they’re doing a really great job. We probably lost just a little bit with the track changing. I felt our car was a lot better than we qualified. The track has changed so much since we tested here. It’s rubbered up a lot. On this first session all we did was basically scuff tires. Our balance is not that far off. We’re probably going to change it a little bit and go on. The neat thing being on the Nextel Cup side is if you gain a little bit it’s huge compared to your competitors. Everybody here at the Ganassi-Sabates organization is doing a great job getting me some seat time.

“I’m probably close to the setup Casey Mears has in his Charger. We’re trying some new things just to get me some seat time. I think in the race I’ll be a lot better. It’s only 67 more laps than the Busch race, but still you can have time to think about what you’re doing and what the Cup car is like compared to the Busch car. It’s a pretty huge adjustment. The Cup car makes you better on the Busch side. I went and qualified the Busch car yesterday and we ended up 12th over there, but it was a lot easier to drive than the Cup car. I’m going to be pretty excited to get in that Busch car for the race today. We’ll learn how the track changes and how we’ll be for the last laps. Weather is supposed to be pretty close both days. Again, they drive different and you’ve got to do different things.

“We made our goal of making the race, but I can’t say I wasn’t a little nervous. On the Busch side all year we’ve been top 30 in points and been solid in the field. Here we had to qualify in. We did our job and we’ll go from there. Casey Mears has helped me out quite a bit. Everybody is busy with their programs, but we’re all just trying to make our cars better.

“The biggest thing we’re looking for tomorrow is to try to finish the race and get a respectable position. I’d like to finish in the top 15, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out. It’s going to be something different. I’m racing against a whole different group of guys it seems like. I don’t want to mess anyone up in The Chase, especially our teammate Jamie McMurray. He’s solidly in there right now. We’ll do what we can for the whole organization and try to get a solid run.

“Chip (Ganassi) was actually pretty excited for us yesterday. I told him we were a lot better in practice. I look at where the organization is going, and how it’s growing and I’m just so glad to be a part of it. So many things are happening that a lot of people don’t understand, but it’s going to be pretty cool. I think we’ll be like Roush and Hendrick here before long.

“We’re going to run Cup races at Richmond, Charlotte and Homestead. We’re working on stuff and trying to make our Cup car better and getting me more seat time. I still have to concentrate on my Busch car. We’re top 10 in points there, and we could still gain a lot and move up. We can’t take too much away from there, but I’m excited to get a shot with the Cup cars and test.

“I enjoy anywhere I get to race. You’ve got to have a good team behind you. Being with Chip and Felix, they give you good equipment and it allows me to learn. We’re going to charge, but we’ve got to earn respect and finish the race. We don’t want to do anything stupid. We plan on a lot of give and take and just try to be there at the end.”