Raybestos Rookie Happy Hour Speeds:
Hamlin 2nd
Bowyer 6th
Stremme 7th
Sorenson 17th
Yeley 21st
Truex Jr. 27th

Martin Truex Jr. posted his best qualifying effort of the 2006 season Friday at California Speedway, claiming the fifth-place starting position for Sunday’s Sony HD 500. Truex Jr. spoke about his season following today’s final practice session.

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET: “I’m pretty happy with the car right now. The track just went through a dramatic change today so we’re not really sure what it’s going to do when the nighttime comes. We’ve been working good on the car making good adjustments and we’ve got it running pretty good right now. Hopefully we’re close when the race starts and we can keep adjusting on it for the sun and when it goes down.” WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE FINAL 12 RACES THIS SEASON? “The main goal is just to get some consistency, hopefully get a few top-fives, maybe challenge for a win. Just keep working away and get better prepared for next year, hopefully, and just get some consistency, get confidence up and have some good runs.” HOW DIFFICULT HAS IT BEEN FOR YOU TO GO FROM WINNING CHAMPIONSHIPS AND WINNING RACES TO BUILD A RACE TEAM? “It’s been the toughest thing that I’ve ever had to do in my entire life [smiles]. It’s been a tough year. It’s been hard at times to keep confidence in yourself, keep motivated. But fortunately, I’ve got a good bunch of guys that help me do that. They believe in me 100 percent and I feel the same about them. It’s just a matter of us getting our chance to get our experiences and take our lumps and figure out what we need to do to be the best.” WHEN YOU GO BACK TO TRACKS FOR THE SECOND TIME, DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO RUN BETTER? “Well obviously it’s showed already. I think we’ve been back to like three tracks for the second time and we’ve improved dramatically at each one of them. I think we’ll have a good run here Sunday and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.” HOW BIG OF A FACTOR IS THE HEAT GOING TO BE HERE ON SUNDAY? “It’s a big factor as far as the racetrack is concerned. It’s just really slick out there right now and really, really hard to get grip. In the past, the guys that have always run good and won races here run around the bottom. I’ve seen guys like Kenseth and Tony Stewart, who don’t run but the bottom at most places, I’ve seen ‘em running up high just to try to get some grip. It’s going to be a different kind of race than we’ve ever seen here, I think, and I think it’s going to be a good one.” HOW BIG OF A FACTOR IS THE GLARE OF THE SUN GOING TO BE TOMORROW? “Tape the windshield up. Everybody’s got the same amount of sun so tape up the windshield and hope that you can see a little bit getting into the corner.”

Denny Hamlin posted the second-best time in the final practice session for the Sony HD 500, just behind Mark Martin. Hamlin and the team made one run (11 total laps) and parked the car for the remainder of the session.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FEDEX EXPRESS CHEVROLET: YOU WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE CAR THAT YOU QUIT EARLY. IS THE CAR THAT GOOD? “I think so. I think we’re pretty solid. We feel like our balance is pretty good. It’s tough to say where the track is going to go when it gets cooler but I think we’ll find out a little bit more when the Busch race comes.” HOW MUCH WILL THE BUSCH RACE HELP YOU? “I think I’ll be able to learn some different lines as well as try to figure out what my car is going to need, going from the day to night.” IS IT GOING TO BE DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT GOING FROM PRACTICE TODAY TO THE RACE SUNDAY NIGHT? “When the practiced the Busch car yesterday, the balance didn’t change that much, just gained overall grip. So if it does that, we should be in good shape.”

REED SORENSON, No. 41 DIET PEPSI/TARGET DODGE: ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE CAR? “Well, yes and no. We just need to get a little bit better and we kind of got an idea what we need to do. We tried to do that right near the end, we just ran out of time as far as making the change. We’re going to look over some notes and look at what our car did in practice today. We’ve just got to get it turning a little better in 1 and 2 and we’ll be fine.” IS THE BUSCH RACE THIS WEEKEND EXTRA IMPORTANT? “For sure. Our Busch car was a handful yesterday so I don’t know what that means as far as being able to help this car. We’re just going to go off what it did today versus what the Busch car does tonight. The setups are a little bit different and what not so we’re just going to try to go off of what we learned in practice.” YOU WOULD THINK THAT THE TRACK WOULD JUST TIGHTEN UP WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN. “I think it will get faster. I mean last night we had to practice the Busch car and that really didn’t get any tighter. We’re just going to try to go off the track just getting a little bit faster and go from there.”

JIMMY ELLEDGE, CREW CHIEF, No. 41 DIET PEPSI/TARGET DODGE: HOW BIG OF A FACTOR IS THE HEAT ON YOUR CREW MEMBERS THIS WEEKEND? “It definitely isn’t anything pleasurable, by no means. It’s not fun to work in these conditions sometimes. The climate change is so different. It’s so much drier than what we’re used to with having humidity. You definitely have to stay hydrated, that’s for sure.” IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP KEEP YOUR PIT CREW SHARP DURING THE RACE DESPITE THE INTENSE HEAT? “I think one of the biggest things is to try not to hang out in the air conditioning all day. Try to stay used to the heat a little bit where it’s not just such a shock to you and stay hydrated. Just drink plenty of water so you don’t get yourself in any trouble. If you hang out in the air conditioning all day, eat, and then run out there in the heat you’re probably going to get sick. And just be smart about it to avoid any problems. The pit crew guys are so much better conditioned than they used to be. They work out on a regular basis and they’re probably more susceptible to this type weather change than what the rest of us fat guys are on the road that don’t exercise much.”

DAVID STREMME, No. 40 COORS LIGHT DODGE: “It ain’t all that [smiles]. It’s not all the great. I don’t know where that come from. I don’t feel that we’re that great of a car so we’ve got to work on it and get better. We made huge gains from first practice but just haven’t been that great. We’re going to work on it and put our heads together. But you never know. The tires seem to fall off a lot when they do in and outs and everything. It’s hard to tell where everybody’s out.” IF YOU ARE GOOD HERE IN THE DAYTIME, DOES THAT MEAN YOU’RE GOING TO RUN GOOD WHEN THE RACE STARTS AND INTO THE NIGHT? “If you’re good, you’re going to run good anytime. I don’t really know. I don’t think it’s going to change too much. We’re not going to run like a lot at nighttime. We’re only going to run a little bit. We’re going to go through and do some changes. The main thing is to see if we can gain some more points on some guys around us and go to Richmond.” IS THE HARDEST THING GOING TO BE ADJUSTING THE CAR TO THE CHANGING TRACK CONDITIONS? “Man, I’m not even really worried about a lot of other guys. I’m just worried about my stuff, just trying to get it comfortable. We’re sliding around and different things. We’ll try to get better.” IT MUST BE ENCOURAGING TO SEE THE NO. 40 THAT HIGH UP ON THE BOARD. “It is but we weren’t very good overall. We just got to keep working.”