Nextel All-Star Challenge - Nextel Open: Rookie Qualifying Quotes

Where the Raybestos Rookies will start in the NEXTEL Open:
Hamlin 2nd
Yeley 4th
Stremme 9th
Truex Jr. 13th
Sorenson 16th
Bowyer 19th

REED SORENSON, No. 41 TARGET DODGE: “That won’t be very good. I’m not worried for the race; it’s just that it’s so short. Going out early didn’t help for sure, and then we kind of bottomed out a little bit and that shot it up the track a little bit. I’m not very happy with that but we’ll just start the race and try to pass a lot of cars.” IS THERE ANY STRATEGY IN THE OPEN? “Oh yeah, it’s going to be a big deal on whether to pit or not to pit. It depends on how your car is running, obviously. We’ll see. We’ll probably start 15th to 30th which isn’t good for 30 laps. We might have to play some pit strategy games to work in our favor to get track position and try to win this thing.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FEDEX EXPRESS CHEVROLET: “I was pretty happy with that lap. To get in the 28s is pretty good. We probably won’t get the pole. We’ll probably be three or four. I’m happy that we didn’t make any mistakes. That was the main thing, to go out there and not make any mistakes. I watched qualifying for the trucks and man it was treacherous. It looked like whoever was smoothest was going to come out on top.” IT SEEMED LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE HAD TROUBLE IN TURNS 3 AND 4. “I felt like the track had a lot of grip over in 4. I don’t know the reason, whether the shade was playing a little havoc or what, but it felt like it had a lot of grip. My main concern was trying to get off of 2.” IS THERE ANY STRATEGY IN THE RACE TOMMOROW NIGHT? “We don’t know what our strategy is. We don’t know what kind of tires we’re going to put on. We don’t know what we’re going to do. It seems like it’s going to be a battle of track position, for sure.” IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE A GOOD RUN IN THE RACE TO PREPARE FOR THE 600? “It is going to be a big deal to try to get that good run in. The main thing is to try to put yourself in position to try to win the race. I think track position is going to mean so much. Whoever can get out front is probably going to check out on the field.” WOULD YOU LIKE TO BRING THIS CAR BACK FOR THE 600? “It depends on how it runs. It’s been a very good car so far. In practice it turned really, really well so I’m pleased with it.”

DAVID STREMME, No. 40 LONESTAR STEAKHOUSE DODGE: “It’s not bad. I mean, those other guys ripped off a lap but you only have to be fast here for about 10 laps [smiles]. I’m curious to see how this Open is going to be. At least we’re starting toward the front.” HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO QUALIFY DECENT AND GIVE YOURSELF A CHANCE IN THE RACE? “There’s going to be a break, guys that come in and guys that stay out. We’ve got to stay up towards the front to try to win. But again, this is just a test for the 600. We got a little off there in practice but the car is coming around. I’ve got a lot of faith in my guys.” DO YOU PLAN TO USE THIS CAR IN THE 600? “If not we’ve got a brand new one in the shop. Actually, we have two brand new ones. They’re doing a good job getting us some better cars. It’s been a real team effort. I think our organization is definitely stepping up. We have great people.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET: ARE YOU HAPPY TO BRING THE CAR BACK IN ONE PIECE? “After watching some of them, yeah. It got real loose there off of 2 where everybody has been wrecking. We kept it out of the wall. It’s a lot better than we were this afternoon so hopefully we’ll have something good for tomorrow night.” WHY ARE SO MANY DRIVERS HAVING TROUBLE TODAY? “Man, I don’t know. It’s just the tires. They are so much different than what we’ve been running. Obviously the stuff that we’ve been running has been working pretty good for us and it doesn’t seem to be working here. We struggled in the test and we struggled today. We’re just throwing stuff at it until something works. That was okay. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible. It was just okay and okay doesn’t cut it here.” WILL YOU GET BETTER WITH MORE LAPS ON THE TRACK? “Honestly, I don’t think we’ll ever come back here with it [tire compound]. It’s just the guy who can figure it out the quickest and we’ll see what happens.”

J.J. YELEY, No. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET: “That’s pretty good, considering I thought I wrecked off of 2 [smiles]. The first lap was definitely going to be the good lap. I got in and made sure I didn’t overdrive entry but I got to the throttle real early. The car was going to be awesome. I got real loose late exit and had a big check-up. I don’t know what it looked like on TV but behind the wheel it was a little spectacular for me as far as getting into the fence. I saved it, got back to the throttle, and it just killed the momentum down the back straightaway. I was surprised it still ran a .30. Knowing that it ran a .30 and not giving it that much time we definitely had a shot at the pole. Not that the pole means anything, don’t get a whole lot for it, but we had a nice second lap and that put us in there fourth.” DOES YOUR SHORT TRACK BACKGROUND GIVE YOU AN EDGE FOR THE 30 LAP SPRINT RACE TOMMOROW NIGHT? “That’s the beauty of having a 30-lap Sprint Car race: there is no strategy. As soon as they drop the green you’re going wide open as hard as you can drive that racecar and hope for the best. I think we run 20 laps, get a little caution to catch our breath and go do it again for another 10. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I just hope the racetrack is wide enough that we can do a little bit of passing because I’ve got three cars to pass.” THE LAST TWO CUP RACES HERE HAD A LOT OF CAUTIONS. COULD WE SEE THAT AGAIN IN THE OPEN? “I think so. In the Raybestos Rookie meeting today, we all had a discussion waiting for the NASCAR officials to show up. We have a general understanding not to take anything personal but if it comes down to coming off turn 4 and it’s similar to last year there’s a could chance somebody is getting wrecked so don’t have any bad feelings about it. And everyone agreed. If I’m leading and Denny is in second or vice versa, there’s a chance that one Joe Gibbs car might not come back like it started the race. That’s the beauty of this race. There’s nothing to lose: go out there and have fun and try to win the thing.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 07 JACK DANIEL’S CHEVROLET: “Loose, real loose. It was just a bad draw. That’s all you can say about that. We’ll have to go for broke in the race.”