Allstate 400 at the Brickyard - Chevrolet Qualifying Quotes

Brian Vickers #25 Garnier Fructis Chevrolet 5th position

GOOD QUALIFYING EFFORT HERE LAST YEAR, SO NO SURPRISE YOUR TEAM WOULD BE GOOD TODAY? You know, I wouldn't say we came here feeling like we had anything in the bag, but yeah, I've always felt like this track has been pretty good. This team team right now is just really clicking. The GMAC Chevy team. We're real happy with the car in race trim, taped it up and a pretty decent qualifying car.

YOU SEEMED TO GET LOOSE A BIT ON YOUR SECOND LAP. WHAT HAPPENED? Yeah, the car was just out of tires. The engine, tires and track are all really hot right now. It was just all they had and I was asking too much of them. Pole right here is really special so I was just trying to push it a little bit more and I pushed it too far.

Jeff Gordon #24 DuPont Chevrolet 7th position

ON HIS LAP BEING AN ADVENTURE It's always an adventure around this track. These stock cars on this flat, fast race track always trick you. I'm really proud of these guys on the DuPont Chevrolet team. We drew a great number and that certainly played a role. I'm real happy with the information that we gave back and forth and the adjustments we made for qualifying. This being an impound race and as good as I felt like our car was for the race, to qualify up front like that, I'm really excited about this weekend.

WERE YOU IN RACE SET UP? Most guys are in race set up and then they're just making big adjustments to air pressure and different things. That's the way we were. We were full race mode, just playing around a lot with air pressures and track bar and adjustments that we can make. I felt a lot better for the race than I did for qualifying so that's certainly encouraging. The lap was a good lap. The car was balanced. I got a little bit loose over in three. It cost me who knows much time but it did cost me a little bit of time. To be sitting where we are at right now, I'm pretty happy.

SINCE THIS IS A CRITICAL RACE FOR YOU, IS IT A RELIEF AFTER HAVING A SOLID QUALIFYING RUN? That was a big step up man. Just looking at the faces on the guys on this team, you can tell how excited they are and how much that meant to put a good, solid effort out there and get our weekend started off right. I felt like our car was pretty good in race practice for the race. To qualify that far up front makes me excited. Maybe it's a good thing they ended up making this a impound race. We haven't been qualifying too good on those impound tracks but this is certainly encouraging.

HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING ON SUNDAY? I think our chances are always good everywhere we go. We know how to put behind us what's gone on over the last two months. I'm glad that a lot of people are counting us out and writing us off. I'd rather do it in our own style and fashion without anybody looking at us or putting a bulls eye on us. That just puts on more pressure. The pressure is off of us right now. It's just all about the Chase.

WHAT KIND OF RACE DO YOU ANTICIPATE TOMORROW? It's going to be typical Brickyard. It's tough to pass. Track position is going to be really, really important. And then it's going to come down to pit strategy. I hope if it comes down to fuel mileage or two tires that we have all the right moves to make it happen.

WAS THIS A TYPICAL INDY MAGIC RUN FOR YOU AFTER SEEMING TO BRUSH THE WALL TWICE? You can't pay too much attention to our practice speeds. I guess it looked like I touched the wall but I don't think I did. I felt like we had a little bit left from practice. The track was really fast in the morning and we drew a good number. I think the track temperature coming up maybe caught some guys by surprise. We were able to actually pick up from practice this morning. That's what we set out to do. It's a good one.

DO YOU HAVE A ROUTINE YOU FOLLOW HERE THE NIGHT BEFORE THE RACE IN INDIANAPOLIS? Not really. It's such a hectic weekend for me with everything that's going on with sponsors and it being Indy and being a past winner and a four-time winner of this race. We just have a lot on our plate. I like just something relaxing. I typically just hang out in the bus and have dinner there. I think I'm maybe going to go out and eat somewhere in the city and then come back.

HAVE YOU SEEN RICK MEARS OR AL UNSER SR. OR A.J. FOYT OR ANY OTHER OF GUYS THAT HAVE WON HERE FOUR TIMES? I hung out with Rick (Mears) in February in Daytona which was really a treat for me. He was down in Daytona with Casey. We got to hang out. It was probably one of the coolest experiences I've had in a very long time. He's a hero of mine that I was able to sit and have a conversation. It'd be like having a conversation with just anybody. I even told him, I said 'Rick I can't believe I'm sitting right here, right now having this conversation with you. This is the coolest thing.' We talked a little about his wins here and my wins. He was very, very complimentary as I was to him because I got to see a lot of those wins that he had. I thought that was one of the most awesome experiences that I've had. There aren't too many race car drivers that I would be taken back with like I was with him. I'll hold on to that memory for a very long time.

IF YOU WIN TOMORROW, WOULD IT IMPRESS YOU MORE THAT YOU'VE WON FIVE IN INDIANAPOLIS OR THAT YOU'VE WON FIVE IN TWELVE RACES? Both. Those are impressive statistics at any race track. When you look at where we are at and the history here and how tough this place is to win and how everybody wants to win here and everyone puts so much effort into it. Just the four is really impressive. To do a fifth would be unbelievable.

ON MAYBE NOT HAVING THE FASTEST CAR BUT HAVING A CAR THAT DRIVES REALLY WELL We've been working real hard since the test to really get a car that is balanced well and they did that. I thought the car went through the corners really well. We knew we weren't going to necessarily be the best in qualifying but I feel like we have one of the best ones for the race.

Kevin Harvick #29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet 14th position

HOW WAS QUALIFYING? Wasn't bad. We were just a little too free but wasn't that terrible. We ran the same thing we ran in practice. It's good considering everyone else has slowed down. The car is really good after a couple laps in race trim. Pretty happy with it.

Kyle Busch #5 Kellogg's / Delphi Chevrolet 16th position

It was good. Practice today and then when we were testing, just trying to get a good feel for the race car on the race track. Just working on that trying to find that. Not too bad. I'm pretty optimistic about the race tomorrow and I think we'll have a good shot for it. Hopefully the qualifying effort right there will put us within the top 10, top 15 and a good starting position just to be up there for the race.

Martin Truex, Jr. #1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Chevrolet 17th position

It was good. I was real nervous coming into it. A lot of the guys we had to outqualify to make it into the race were a little faster than us this morning. Our car was really good off the trailer in race trim, but we went in qualifying trim and it got real loose. The guys did a bunch of work on it when I was at IRP and they made it a lot better. I was real happy with the way the car drove just now.

Jason Leffler #11 FedEx Express Chevrolet 18TH position

It's alright. The guys did a great job and we've been working hard. We're one of the few teams to pick up. A good draw, it turned out, with the new change in schedule. The car is good in race trim and will hopefully get us a top 10. It would be awesome.

YOU HAVE A GOOD CHANCE FOR THAT? I think they're really good. You're off a little bit and you fall off, but all you have to do is gain a little bit and you can go way forward. Mike Ford and I and Spider and everyone on the crew is working overtime and things are getting better every week.

Scott Riggs #10 Rally's Chevrolet 21st position

It was good for us. Got out there and qualified and it was okay. I feel like we slowed down a bit because the track temperature was so hot. About 20 degrees hotter. Our #1 draw was the best we could do yesterday. Unfortunately with the rain changing the schedule, it ends up being the worst we can do, but we'll be okay in the race.

Tony Stewart #20 The Home Depot Chevrolet 22nd position

RE: QUALIFYING LAP It wasn't what we wanted, but it's still a good race car. I got a little bit tight in (turn) three and couldn't get back in the gas. The cloud cover helped us, but then it ended up biting us too a little but and got us too tight.

It cooled off a little bit. It was more like what we ran this morning. We tightened the car up to compensate for everybody being loose. It was pretty good through (turns) one and two. I just got too tight in (turn) three trying to push too hard.

It was alright. It wasn't anything spectacular. We slowed down. It was one of those situations where everyone was playing the sun game. We caught the clouds when we needed to. The track temp came down about nine or ten degrees, which tightened us up quite a bit and I just got too tight. Zippy (crew chief Greg Zipadelli) did a great job of trying to get the car tight enough so that I could go out there and try to improve my time from practice. I'm pretty excited. We were still loose in part of the track and I just got tight in (turn) three just trying to push too hard. The good thing is that guys that are loose today, which you heard a lot about people being loose, they're going to be a lot better tomorrow when we pull the tape off. So, I'm pretty excited about tomorrow.

DO YOU FEEL CONFIDENT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO PASS TOMORROW? We've done it in the past. There's no reason we can't do it tomorrow too. We'll just keep doing what we've been doing.

IF YOU COULD ONLY HAVE ONE - INDY 500 OR BRICKYARD 400 - WHICH ONE WOULD YOU TAKE? Since right now I'm only running a stock car, I'll take this one. I mean, I'll take anything at Indy. I don't care if it's an IROC win. I just want to win one of these races. I'm not greedy. I don't have to win four of them. I just want one.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. #8 Budweiser Chevrolet 27th position

HOW WAS QUALIFYING? Well, we went late so that helped us with our time. But, I'm still pretty happy with it. We ran a 90 in practice and tested here and ran a 50 and we were real happy with that because it was the middle of the afternoon. It was real hot. I expected to be better when we unloaded today. We weren't, but we definitely improved from this morning.

ANY HELP WITH PASSING GIVEN MARTIN IS ALSO OUT THERE ON SUNDAY? Well, it's just hard to pass anyway. So that won't help us that much. Where that helps us is when one guy is fast and another isn't. You can swap information and that helps. Michael was pretty good today.

RE: TRACK SURFACE, TEMPS It's still real humid. That has a lot to do with it, I believe. The track with the added surface, you'll have guys that will be able to run comparable speeds within an hour before what you run, so it closes the gap a little with the old surface and the temperature and stuff.

HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS YOUR CHANCES SUNDAY FOR WINNING? We're a darkhorse, but that don't bother me none. We tested real good. We were real happy with our test. We rolled off the trailer and we couldn't find the speed from the test session, so that was disappointing and we were working on it and my qualifying run was a little bit better than what we ran in practice-it was two tenths off of what I tested. So, we still got a little bit to go. The one thing that I feel confident about is that if I just need a couple tenths I know these guys can find it in the race. They've been real good at that. Hopefully we don't have to change the right front spring to do that tomorrow, but just a couple more adjustments and I believe we'll be right there.

WITH YOUR POSITION IN THE STANDINGS RIGHT NOW, HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THIS RACE? I'm going to drive every lap for the win, but if I could come out of here with a top 10, that would be awesome. I feel I could go to Watkins Glen and run well there. I feel we've got two short tracks with Richmond and Bristol where I've always been good at. California is probably the biggest worry for me, because I haven't run good there in a long time. We'll have to see. Top 10 will be great, but we're going to go for a win.

IS IT MAKE IT OR BREAK IT TIME? It's time to show what you got. You can't hold anything back now. It's do or die.

Jeff Burton #31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet 29th position

Ah, it sucked. The car was good in race trim and we made a qualifying run today and it was a little too loose. We wanted to free up some to get ready to race and it's just too loose to qualify. Just couldn't hustle it at all. That's going to put us in the back and we'll have our work cut out for us.

Bobby Labonte #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet 36th position

DID HEAT PLAY A BIG FACTOR? No, it wouldn't have mattered.

DO YOU THINK YOU MISSED IN A PLACE WHERE, GIVEN PIT STOPS TOMORROW, YOU CAN MAKE SOME CHANGES OVER THE COURSE OF THE RACE? Yeah, I'm sure we will. It was good in race conditions. Just today, for impound conditions for this car isn't good for us today.

Terry Labonte #44 ditech.com Chevrolet 43rd position

HOW IS YOUR CAR DURING QUALIFYING? We're not very good. We weren't very good in practice. Our race practice was pretty good and we got ready to qualifying and we weren't that good.

EARLY DRAW NO DOUBT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT Yeah, that's the way it goes. Can't do anything about the weather.

Chad Knaus Crew Chief #48 Lowe's Chevrolet

Note: Did not make a qualifying lap, and will start the Allstate 400 at the rear of the field because the car did not make it through inspection and get to the line in time.

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH PASSING INSPECTION? We just had a little problem with the chain that holds the droop on the right rear. NASCAR didn't like the way it was. It wasn't a big deal. We were trying to fix it; we just didn't have time. We didn't come up here and test, so we spent a lot of time after practice trying to make sure we had the exact shock and spring package on the car that we wanted. It put us behind from the getgo. We left the garage about 15 minutes later than we were supposed to and that put us behind. And then when we had that issue with technical inspection, we just couldn't recover from that and get out there in time.

HOW DO YOU RE-FOCUS YOUR TEAM KNOWING YOU HAVE TO START FROM THE BACK IN SUNDAY'S RACE? It's all good. I've got a great team -- the best team in NEXTEL Cup competition by far. I've got the best driver and the best sponsor. We are in a good situation. We're a team that does well in adverse situations. I really feel like even though we're starting in the back, mid way through the race you're going to see us somewhere in the top 15 and by the end of the race, you'll see us in the top 10.

HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO TALK TO JIMMIE JOHNSON? No, I haven't talked to him yet. I'm sure he's probably a little upset. But I'll go over there (Jimmie's motor coach) and talk to him and everything will be fine.

CAN YOU GIVE US A LAYMAN'S EXPLANATION OF THIS CHAIN AND HOW IT GOES THROUGH INSPECTION? When you watch the guys do pit stops and they jack up the car, there's a chain that holds the axle housing to the chassis, and that's what picks up the tire. NASCAR just didn't like the way that was. It was a little bit too snug for them. So we had to adjust it.

DID YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE GARAGE TO CHANGE IT? We had to pull outside the technical inspection line and work on it. We worked on it a little bit and came back through. They still weren't pleased with it, so we had to do some more adjusting on it.

DID YOU AGREE WITH NASCAR'S DECISION TO NOT ALLOW YOU TO TAKE A LAP? Oh, yeah. We didn't make it, plain and simple. They've got a five-minute rule and they hold to that pretty true. I don't think we were the first one. I think the No. 38 car maybe even had than happen here a couple of years ago, I don't know. It happens from time to time. When you're in a compressed schedule like what we've got here because of the weather and then putting it into an impound situation. And then we weren't able to test. We were really trying to dot all our i's and cross all of our t's and we just got behind.

WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THIS? Well, me. I'm the crew chief. Ultimately. Look at the rule book. Everything is my fault.

HOW CLOSE DID YOU COME TO MAKING IT? As soon as they put us on the five-minute clock, I knew we were pretty much done. There was no way we were going to be able to make it back through the technical inspection line and go through everything and get Jimmie buckled in the car safely with his HANS to get out there and complete the lap. It was pretty much known once they put us on the five-minute clock that we weren't going to make it. But they were gracious enough to give us every opportunity, but we just didn't make it.

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU'RE ON THE CLOCK LIKE THAT? It's hard. It's very difficult. What you've got to do is put the time frame out of your mind and just try to get it done.

Boris Said #36 CENTRIX Financial Chevrolet Qualified 32nd, will start from rear

Note: Since this is an impound race, Said, who hit the wall during his second qualifying lap, will be forced to start the 400 miler from the rear of the field because of repairs made to the CENTRIX Financial Chevy following the qualifying run.

I think this is the most pressure that I ever felt in qualifying. I wanted to make this race so bad. At the Daytona 500 -- one of the biggest races in the world -- it was all car in qualifying and I had a great car there. Here, it is so easy to mess up and miss your marks. I don't have that many laps around this track so to be able to out qualify someone like Bill Elliott -- I mean I feel like I won the race so far. I'm in the show now and I'll get some experience and that's what I need. There's nothing left now in the world where I can race that I would even put on my list. I've done them all -- all the big ones.

Mike Wallace #4 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Did Not Qualify

I couldn't get the car to turn in practice the way I had it the whole time. We had heard everybody else saying their cars were loose so we tightened it up a little bit. Couldn't get it done like we needed to do. Disappointing run and a horrible lap. Unfortunately doesn't look like we'll make the race so we'll go from there.

Michael Waltrip #15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Press conference

Michael, walk us through your qualifying lap, the fact your car was seventh in practice, obviously ended up better than you expected.
No, I expected to get first. We were really loose when we practiced in our qualifying run in practice. Tony Jr. and the guys tightened it up for me. I left pit road with a lot of confidence that they had done the job that they needed to in order for me to drive it hard and have a shot to get the pole. I drove a little tentatively at a couple of points because I was loose. I was kind of mad at myself for not trying harder, but then I saw Rusty crash. I thought, "Maybe I tried just as hard as I should have.

JEREMY MAYFIELD: Don't say that.

MICHAEL WALTRIP: That's what I'm saying. Maybe if I tried a little harder, I would have wrecked. I didn't do that. Then Elliott beat me by 3/10ths. There was no way I could have done anything that drastically different to beat him. So now I'm happy. I didn't crash. I couldn't have beaten Elliott. I got third.

Is track position even more important at this place than most? Therefore, is starting position more important at this place than most because of the nature of the track, the difficulty passing? Did this thing being forced into an impound situation help everybody across the board or hurt everybody across the board?

Yeah, I like the impounds. I feel like they really help me and my team. We seem to perform well when they're impound events. On the track position deal, there's not a race that's not a track position race these days. It's just that hard to pass. It doesn't matter whether we're at Indy or Pocono or Michigan or where we are, you have to find a way to get your car to the front as the laps start to wind down. Whether you take two tires or whether you stay out when the leaders pit, you must gain track position by strategy. If you've got a good car, you can come from third or fourth to first, but it doesn't matter what you've got, you can't come from 10th or 12th to first in 20 laps these days. It gets too spread out.

More track position and qualifying per se doesn't mean more than it used to?
I think that's exactly right. If you've got a fast car and you screwed up today, it doesn't matter. Take Pocono, for example. I thought this this past Pocono. I thought I had a chance at the pole. I got a little bit sideways coming across the tunnel trying too hard, hit the wall. We had to go we had to work on our car and we started last. We were running third with a chance to get a top five late in the going when Biffle cut a tire and crashed us. What it allows you to do, when you start last, is to switch things up some. You know, if the other guys pit at lap 20, you stay out. If the other guys don't pit at lap 20, you do, and when they do pit at lap 40, you stay out. You have to always be ready to do something different when you qualify bad, but it's not a definite.

Did the change in schedule with yesterday's wash out and the way you had to practice this morning, does that put everybody behind going into tomorrow's race or do you feel like you guys are where you need to be as far as what you know you'll need to do to your car through the race and everything tomorrow?
We're fine. The schedule is perfect.

RE: Changes and how they have the same effect on everyone
That's like you say you can't pass at Pocono because you don't shift. That makes no sense at all. Nobody can shift. Therefore, it's the same as if everybody was. Your only goal is to get your car as good as you could get it in the time they allow. They didn't allow Jeremy or anyone any more time, so we're all in the same boat. I think we're all happy.

Re: is there any benefit at all to having your teammate right behind you in the qualifying when you start this out?
Generally the only place a teammate is an advantage is at Daytona and Talladega, once the race starts because there's nothing you can do then. You share your setups and try to get your cars as close as you can get them and then go race them. There's no advantage on the track to having a teammate anywhere.

Michael, you said this trophy would look good between your two Daytona trophies.
Kind of a smartallec.

Can you talk about the importance of winning here?
Well, it would be good. I usually don't say stuff like that. But, you know, the Daytona 500 is our biggest race, and this one is probably second. I would be honored if I could figure out some way to win the race tomorrow, as would everyone. But, you know, winning the All Star race 10 years ago was quite an honor for me. Then to have those Daytona 500 wins are big, as well. I wouldn't be able to put into words what it would mean to win here.

Mike, earlier this afternoon we heard about the thing with Kasey Kahne, extending the long term contracts. Are you any closer to settling up for next year?
I'm getting closer, I think. I have a couple of meetings this week that might shed some light on where I'll be. Maybe by Watkins Glen or shortly thereafter I'll be able to tell what I'm going to do. Just don't have it all worked out yet. I feel pretty good about where I wind up.

Owensboro having two of the top three spots in this race, a comment from either one of you? I'm glad it was us. Nicky Hayden is the big story in Owensboro. He won the Moto GP race at Laguna Seca. First American to win one of those in a while. There's a lot of cool things that come out of Owensboro, Kentucky.

Michael, in addition to the trophy looking good between the two Daytonas, the prestige of the event, would it be sort of the ultimately satisfying swan song for you on the way out at DEI to add this to the two Daytona 500s with this team?
Honestly, I don't feel that swan thing right now. We have a half a year ago. Tony, Jr. and I committed to one year that we would race our rear ends off till the last race of the year. I think at Atlanta or Homestead, where we wind up, then it will be special to have it. But right now it would just mean that we would battle ourselves back into a position to be a part of the Chase. If you'll look at three of the last four races, I blew tires at Chicago and Daytona, while running really well. And Biffle blew one last Sunday while I was race forget top six or seven spots. You take those three events out of it, I'm right there where I need to be. I've just fallen onto some hard times here lately. But we're certainly thinking our car performs well enough that we can at least make a run at it.

Michael, I hate to ask this of you, but given where you're at right now, if a situation developed that you may have an opportunity for a long term situation, would you leave now as opposed to staying the rest of the season with DEI?
No, I would not ever do that no matter what. I mean, I would leave if they ran me off. I wouldn't hang around there. I wouldn't go I wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize what NAPA has put behind me and that team and what the contracts say that I will do. I can't imagine a scenario that you could paint that would that I would leave that place.