Dodge Charger 500 - Ford Qualifying Quotes

ELLIOTT SADLER - No. 38 M&M's Taurus (Qualified 4th) - "We've got a great race car for the race. That's probably not what we wanted to run. I was hoping to run a little bit better than that for qualifying, but I was so loose. I'm just glad it's not in 20 pieces, so we'll go get 'em tomorrow night. We should be fine when it comes race time." IS IT GOING TO BE A HANDFUL TOMORROW NIGHT AS FAR AS CONTROLLING THE CAR? "I don't ever remember coming here and having this much lack of grip. I don't know if the tires are that much different or what, but the track is very slick. We add a new element tomorrow night with the lights and I think, as always, we're gonna have a great race here at Darlington."

DALE JARRETT - No. 88 UPS Taurus (Qualified 22nd) - "The lap was pretty good. I got just a tick loose off of two and, instead of trying to push the issue, I cracked the throttle just a little bit and that cost me a little bit of time and a little time down the backstretch so those tenths add up. But I'm happy with the car. Hopefully, we're gonna see a situation that I think our race car is very good on tires and easy on the tires and that's gonna benefit us in the long runs tomorrow night." ARE YOU GOING TO PROTECT THE LEFT-REAR A LITTLE MORE TOMORROW NIGHT WITH THE PICTURE OF YOU AS A BOY ON IT? "They can rub the ears out to be a little bit smaller. I'm sure my parents were hoping I'd grow into those things one day, but I don't know if I totally did or not (laughing)."

KURT BUSCH - No. 97 IRWIN/Sharpie Taurus (Qualified 11th) - "It was scary. This place is really cool to qualify on and with this new impound system it's a tough balance between speed and handling for the full 500 miles. Right now we're top 10 and we might get top 15 out of that, so it's a great start for our Irwin Industrial Tools Ford."

GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 National Guard/Subway Taurus (Qualified 3rd) - "I just got after the gas too fast down there in turns three and four and just didn't respect Darlington enough. I know you've got to be smooth on the throttle and I just had so much grip down there in one and two that I jumped back in the gas too fast and got us sideways and didn't wait enough to get it back under me before I tried to go again, so I cost myself some time. Times are so tight that it may have been enough to get up there in the front row, but I'm excited with third right now. We'll see if that holds up for a top 10 starting spot and I'm just excited about the guys working so hard on this National Guard/Travelodge car. We're really excited about it." IS THE TIRE AND SMALLER SPOILER CAUSING SOME DIFFICULTY? "I think the spoiler has the biggest effect here and obviously it's the tire. They probably couldn't do a lot with the tire here to mask that spoiler some, so there are definitely gonna be free race cars driving tonight and tomorrow night. We'll see how the Busch cars run, but the Cup cars are definitely gonna be loose. We've been fighting loose since we got here and we'll just have to see what happens."

CARL EDWARDS - No. 99 Office Depot Taurus (Qualified 10th) - "I'm really happy with that. Coming off of turn two I thought that it was a little bit over with there. The guys did an awesome job. The Office Depot car is fast, so I feel pretty good about it. That's just about as sideways as I think I'd want to be here. This is a lot of fun. It's a fun lap, and I'm excited to have Fort Bend Lock and Key on the car as the official small business of NASCAR. They're excited about it and we're just gonna go race 500 miles."

RICKY RUDD - No. 21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Taurus (Qualified 35th) - "We've been real tight since we've been here and I'm not really sure why. The car is just really, really tight and never did get it freed up like we need to for qualifying and it shows up on a one-lap deal. I'm not so sure that it's gonna be so bad in race trim, but it's too tight to go fast. We've been trying to free it up since we've been here and we're slowly getting it better, but it's still not where it needs to be."

GREG BIFFLE PRESS CONFERENCE
IS IT GOOD TO QUALIFY WELL FOR PIT SELECTION? "We got taken out of the race running second at Phoenix on pit road and we're trying to figure out where the best spot to be is. Where do you pick at? You want an opening normally or don't pit, stay out. It's tough, but that's the good thing. We've got a chance to pick third, but we still don't know where to pick I don't think. It's good to be up front here. I tell you what, track position is really hard to get at this race track and everybody is gonna pit everytime the caution comes out and put tires on it, so it won't be a game of guys staying out and guys coming in probably. Hopefully we can stay up there all night and try to keep off the famous Darlington wall." WHAT'S IT GOING TO BE LIKE AFTER 10 LAPS OUT THERE? "I didn't make a run past 15 laps. That's about how long I can hang on and hold my breath, but I made a 15-lap run and was fairly happy with it. My car wasn't that loose qualifying. I jumped back to the gas just way too hard as a driver down there in three and four and got my car sideways and cost me some time. It's gonna be tough racing. You've got to keep that balance. What happens is you tighten it up so much and then you've got to slow down so much going into the corner because it won't turn. It's gonna be tough for everybody the first time here." ARE THE BUSCH CARS EASIER TO DRIVE WITH THE TALLER SPOILER? "Absolutely. The Busch cars are extremely easier to driver everywhere because they've got a lot of rear spoiler on them. It's a shorter wheel base so it goes across the center of the corner a lot faster. They're a lot more forgiving. I mean, the thing gets a little bit sideways and it gets back straight real easy whereas with these cars here you really have to respect them - not let them really get sideways much. Yeah, the Busch cars are extremely easier to drive." WHAT KIND OF DRIVER DOES IT TAKE TO RUN WELL WITH THAT SHORTER SPOILER? "I really don't know for sure. You've got to have good car control and normally guys that have that - like Ryan Newman has phenomenal car control - and that's what it takes in qualifying - to be able to drive your race car on the edge without making any mistakes. Kurt Busch is like that and, obviously, Jimmie has mastered that. It's almost like that everywhere you go that a guy has to be able to have that, but here more so than anything it takes a lot of car control here and rhythm and being smooth and stuff like that to make consistent laps around here." IS THERE A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE WITH THE OLD TIRE AND NEW SPOILER? "You've got to remember that Goodyear has brought a better tire or a softer tire or a tire that tested everywhere - like at Las Vegas - they put a left side tire on the car that makes it not as loose into the corner and gave it a bunch more grip and all that. This is really the first time we'll run with a shorter spoiler without a tire change to my knowledge. I don't know that for sure, but I think that might be the case here. So that's probably why we see a lot of cars a lot looser is it's the same tire with just the shorter spoiler being the only change."