RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER QUOTES FOLLOWING PRACTICE FOR THE DAYTONA 500 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RACE AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006.

Raybestos Rookie David Stremme was the fastest overall in the fifth practice session for the Daytona 500. His best lap was 47.038 seconds, 191.335 mph and he was the only freshman driver to post a speed in the top-15.

DAVID STREMME, No. 40 LONESTAR STEAKHOUSE DODGE: AFTER A TOUGH DAY YESTERDAY IN THE DUEL, DOES RUNNING WELL TODAY GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE? “It’s not on top of the board giving me confidence, it’s how our car is driving. I practiced leaving the pit stalls out there two or three times. We got a good tote and that was it. But the car is driving a lot better and that’s the main thing that builds my confidence up. I think the weather change helped us. We changed some things back and got a little better. I feel pretty good. I think we can work on it a little more and get better.” ARE YOU GETTING USED TO THE NO BUMP ZONES? “I don’t even pay attention to them, to tell you the truth [laughs]. When I’m getting ready to hit somebody I look where I’m at but I don’t pay attention. I didn’t hit anybody in the corners before anyway. That’s just kind of common sense. You know you’re not supposed to do that.” WAS IT JUST A MATTER OF GETTING THE CAR TO DRIVE BETTER? “Oh yeah. It’s hot and it’s going to be this hot Sunday. I really like to see this kind of weather and I think we’ll be a lot better in it. It’s different though when you’ve got 40 guys out there because there’s no air then and you’re all sliding around. It’s pretty wild.” COULD YOU TELL TODAY THAT NEW TIRES MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE? “Tires have always been big here at Daytona. That’s why the handling is pretty critical. It’s not guessing on whether you get two or four. We’ll be getting four every time.” IS PITTING HERE IN THE CUP SERIES DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT VERSUS THE BUSCH CAR? “The difference was leaving the stall. The Busch car has a bigger restrictor plate and I didn’t have to rev it up as much. It wasn’t very good yesterday when I was leaving the stall. I cost us a lot on the track. It something where I think we’ll be able to rebound really good from it. I learned a lot and we’ll be okay.” YOU’VE GOT TO BE CAREFUL WHEN LEAVING THE PITS NOT TO DAMAGE THE CLUTCH OR TRANSMISSION. “That’s why we did that today because we’re getting ready to change all that now.”