USG Sheetrock 400 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

Where the Raybestos Rookies finished at Chicagoland:
K. Busch 14th
T. Kvapil 43rd

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 77 JASPER ENGINES AND TRANSMISSIONS/ KODAK DODGE: “Not really sure what happened to the motor. The car was awesome. I am so disappointed because we only ran a handful of laps. Our Jasper Engines Dodge was really good today. We were making a few passes there early. I had just told the guys that I was going to ride it out here for a few laps and cool these tires back down and that’s when we started losing a cylinder. They are going to tear it apart and see what we can find, but they can’t get one of the spark plugs out so that’s never a good sign. It’s unfortunate. It’s my home track and I’ve got a lot of friends and family here. It’s a big disappointment. We had a really good car. We were going to have a really good day. We knew all weekend long we had a fast car. We were looking forward to getting to the second half of the year and really start getting some good finishes and I think we were going to have one of those today. We started there towards the front and we made a couple of passes early just kind of getting settled in. The car felt really good. I told Shane [Wilson, crew chief] that we were just a little bit tight and just let me ride it out here for a little bit and we didn’t even get a chance to start riding it out. We lost a cylinder. I’m not really sure what happened. This is the first one that I’ve ever had any problems with and I think it might be the first one all year. We rarely have problems. I know the guys in the engine shop are working hard trying to build horsepower and some times it comes at an expense.” COULD YOU TELL THAT THE TRACK WAS REALLY SLICK? “It was really warm, but I was happy with my car. It felt just like it did yesterday. It was really comfortable for me. It felt great. I was able to make a nice arc into the corner and really get to the bottom good and get underneath some cars. We were going to have a great day. The car was pretty fast. It’s just part of racing. Everybody works really hard to not have problems and sometimes that’s what happens.” YOU ARE SCHEDULED TO TEST MONDAY AND TUESDAY AT INDIANAPOLIS. “That will be cool, going to the Brickyard for the first time. It’s definitely one of those tracks growing up that I never imagined that I’d be having an opportunity to turn a lap on with the open wheel cars traditionally being there. We have an opportunity to go test Monday and Tuesday and my buddy Rusty Wallace is going with me so I can learn a lot from him. We’re taking another brand new racecar up there. It’s very similar, flat big track and I think we can apply a lot of what we learned here at Chicago and be fast.”

KYLE BUSCH IN THE No. 5 KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET WAS THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE OF THE RACE AT CHICAGOLAND. Notes: Busch finished 14th and took top rookie honors for the 12th time this season. “We screwed up there on a pit stop and was slow. We tried pulling out, by the time you’re too slow on pit road there’s cars coming so I ended up hitting Biffle in the side of his door and knocking in the fender and ruining our day.” YOU CAUGHT A CAUTION FLAG LATE IN THE RACE AND WERE ABLE TO PULL THE FENDER BACK OUT AND PICKED UP ABOUT 10 POSITIONS. “It ain’t number one.”

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, No. 5 KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET: “I think the way it folded out we were in a position, being 20th in points where we’re going to gamble. The way it folded out there we definitely could have gambled with two or no tires and probably won the race. I think we had a better car than the 8 all day. We outran him all day long. It’s real frustrating. We had a bad pit stop there and when we were pulling out the 16 swerved a little left because he was next to the 2 and we were pulling out and got that right front fender and just killed us. That’s a tough one to swallow. You don’t get that many chances to win races and I hate to give them up like that.” DID YOU HAVE ANY TIRE PROBLEMS? “We had a little bit of blistering on the right rear. I think everybody did. If you’re good, you’re using those tires. It’s a helpless feeling. There’s nothing that you can do about it. Our car is balanced and good and we’re within NASCAR’s guidelines on air pressure and we’re still blistering tires. That’s something that we’ve got to look at because we’re going to hurt somebody. Elliott hit real hard and a couple of other guys, the 99 hit pretty hard. You can’t race like that so we’ve got to look at that.” HOW BIG OF A FACTOR WAS THE HEAT WITH THE TIRE PROBLEMS? “We’re racing in the summer now. I think everybody kind of saw this coming. You were okay in the spring. You had some excessive tire wear but you didn’t have any problems. But then you get to Michigan and it’s 90 degrees, you get to Chicago and it’s 90 degrees, and when we get to Indy it’s going to be 110 and you’re going to go to all these other places and it’s going to be hot. It’s a problem; it’s definitely a problem. From the team side there is nothing we can do. Our hands are tied. We take care of our stuff and it still blistered.” WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? “We’ve got to have harder tires on these cars. I know the shorter spoiler and softer tires were supposed to be the answer but it’s not the answer. It’s evolution. Aerodynamics is a big part of the sport and it’s going to be that way for a long time, no matter if anybody likes it or not. You’ve got to get harder tires on these cars. We’ve got to be able to go at least a fuel run. You’re putting a guy out there and telling him to go fast and you can’t go a fuel run? That’s not good.” DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PERFECT SETUP ON THE CAR TO GO A FUEL RUN? “I think we had a perfect setup. Well not perfect; we weren’t leading. The 17 did and I don’t know if he had tires [problems]. I guess if you look at the 17 he had clean air but we were good. We were actually a little tight and we blistered our right rear. You can’t really tighten it up when you’re tight to help you right rear because you’re going to do your right front. Right there on the air pressures we’re in NASCAR’s guideline. Goodyear does an awesome job. It’s definitely not their fault. They’re just doing what they’ve got to do there. They’re told to give tires that’ll wear and that’s what they’re trying to do but there’s a balance between wearing, blistering, and then not wearing enough and blistering. It’s just too close. It’s too close.”