Auto Club 500 - Rookie Quailfying Quotes

Where the Raybestos Rookies will start at California:
Busch, POLE!!
Kvapil, 35th
McClure, DNQ
Barrett, DNQ

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER QUALIFYING QUOTES FOR THE AUTO CLUB 500 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RACE AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2005.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET: “It was pretty good. The CARQUEST Chevrolet was really running there. It really went down the straightaway, Hendrick horsepower. My crew chief Alan Gustafson and I are trying to jell together and try to get our chemistry going. To run that lap here in just our first time out at a downforce track in California is pretty impressive as far as our team goes. We’re looking forward to all the success, hopefully on later this year. Man, that was a pretty fun lap to lay down. I knew it was one and done. As soon as I got that first one I was just like ‘that’s about it. If I do it again I’ll probably wreck’ [smiles]. We only made one qualifying run yesterday. We were working and working on race trim, just trying to get a balance for our car. We really couldn’t get it to turn all that well through turns 1 and 2. We tried working on that all day and then we just made one qualifying run. In order to come out here for just our second qualifying run and run that kind of time, I was hoping for a .70 or a .60 thinking that’d be great, a top-10, maybe top-15 somewhere. To run a .20, man, if that sticks, I’ll be tremendously happy with that. That’s pretty cool.” ON THE NEW TIRES AND SPOLIERS. “It’s still hard to say. Nobody has really raced side-by-side with each other. I did a little bit yesterday in practice and it’s not too bad. You have to slow down and make sure that your car is under control when you are going through the corners. A couple of years ago you could just haul the mail up behind somebody and get along side of them and pass them. Nowadays you have to plan it out more. It’s a little bit harder to pass for me but still you have to work on it. It’s all about trying to get the setup so you don’t have to adapt to anything but you can’t always get the best of both worlds so you always try to work on it if you can. Being able to race this year at California in the Cup series is going to be a lot of fun so we’re just looking forward to what we can do. Having a great qualifying run definitely lifts a lot of spirits for us.” HOW GOOD WAS THE RUN? “The run was fun. We went out there and I was just going to lay down a lap and see how good we could make it. It was just a little bit free but overall it was definitely a good lap and it was exciting that it turned that quick. I was hoping for a .70, maybe a .60 just to put us top-15ish. But a .20, that’s pretty cool. It was a little exciting trying to keep the car under me exactly but overall it was a good lap.” THERE IS A LOT OF YOUNG GUYS ON YOUR TEAM THIS YEAR. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET THE SEASON OFF TO A GOOD START? “It’s definitely good. It’s not just the 5 team. It’s the 5, 25, 44 team and it’s all moving into the new shop. This would definitely be a great confidence boost for all those guys, bringing in a new driver and a new crew chief like Alan and myself. It gives the guys back at the shop with all the experience they’ve had with Terry for years. Now it’s like ‘Well I guess we’ve got a good crew chief and we’ve got a good driver.’ Hopefully there’s more success to come throughout the year but we’ve also got to take the good with the bad sometimes. There’s going to be some bad times.” IS IT A RELIEF TO GET DAYTONA OUT OF THE WAY? “Yeah, when you’re down in Daytona for 14 or however many days, it’s a pain in the neck but when you come to California for three or four days or so it’s a lot of fun. You get to see a little bit of the sights and yet you get to go racing and just kind of get out of here and go on to the next race. It’s fun to be able to come to regular racetracks again.”

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