RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER PRACTICE DAY QUOTES FOR THE DAYTONA 500 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RACE AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2006.

Denny Hamlin logged the 12th best time in the first practice session for the Daytona 500. His lap of 48.302 seconds, 186.328 mph was best among the eight Raybestos Rookie drivers.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FEDEX EXPRESS CHEVROLET: “It’s not bad. We were probably a little better than what we thought but it’s hard to tell. There’s a lot of guys going out there at the end almost drafting. I think we’ve got about a 10th-place car it looks like. We’ll see how it goes at qualifying time. All of our laps were clean. That’s one good thing that we do know is what we’ve got is what we’ve got.” WITH SO MANY CARS HERE, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO GET A LAP WITH NO DRAFTING HELP? “It’s hard because you’ve got a lot of guys that have to qualify to get in so they’ve got to do what they’ve got to do to get out there and get laps. Whether it’s cut in line or not, that’s what they have to do. It’s just part of it. You can’t get too upset about it.” HOW BIG OF A FACTOR WAS THE WIND? “You could tell from run to run that it was quite a bit different. We picked up every time that we went out. We’ve got to think about the weather change and what change would be best.” WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD QUALIFYING LAP FOR YOU TOMMOROW? “Somewhere in the 20s would be a really good lap for us. If we can do that, we’d be pretty happy.”

J.J. YELEY, No. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET (14TH): “The Interstate Batteries Chevrolet was able to go to the front. It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on from these type of deals. Some guys stick to their agenda, some guys might fib a little bit and put up a big lap like some of the guys did out there but we’re definitely running legal stuff right now. Hopefully we can pick up just a little bit more when we go back out there in the second session but overall, we’re happy with everything.” DID YOU RUN A CLEAN LAP? “Yeah, all of our laps were clean. I couldn’t see anyone more than a straightaway ahead. What we ran is very legitimate and hopefully we can pick up just a little bit and I think we’ll be pretty good for the race.” HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO RUN CLEAN WITH SO MANY CARS ON THE TRACK? “It’s up to the spotters to find a nice, clean lot. We definitely don’t want to go out there and fool ourselves by doing anything that the car is not capable of. We want to make sure that we find a nice big hole out there and put down a lap that we know is legit.” HOW BIG OF A FACTOR WAS THE WIND? “The wind was pretty big today. It jostled the car around quite a bit. The first run I thought that the toe might have been a little bit off so it was just the wind blowing me around a little bit.” WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD QUALIFYING LAP FOR YOU ON SUNDAY? “Today we ran a 35, if we could run a mid-20 I think we would definitely be happy with that. But if we go out and back up a 30 I know it’s going to be at least a top-15 spot so that would be fine with us.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 07 JACK DANIEL’S CHEVROLET (16TH): “I think it was pretty good. We had a good practice. I think we’re 16th on the sheet and the car drove good. I’m pretty proud of the guys’ effort. We’ve been really working hard and I’m pretty proud of them.” HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO GET A CLEAN LAP HERE? “I think the spotters do a pretty good job of getting us out there with a clean run. I don’t think you see a lot of that, maybe a few, but I know that both of our runs were clean.” HOW BIG OF A FACTOR WAS THE WIND? “Obviously it’s the same for everybody, but obviously there are wind gusts and what not. We made a change that we thought would pick up and it did, so at least for our two runs it was fairly consistent.” WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD QUALIFYING LAP FOR YOU? “Anywhere in the top-15, at least toward the front half of the field. I think we can do that, fairly confident that we can do that. If we can do that, that’s a good starting spot and I’ll be happy with that.” BECAUSE YOU HAVE A GUARANTEED STARTING SPOT IN THE 500, HOW MUCH EMPHASIS DO YOU PUT ON QUALIFYING? “Quite a bit, obviously. You want to sit on the pole and we’re going to make every effort to do that. We are locked in the field and we’ve just got to start the best we can and move forward from there.”

DAVID STREMME, No. 40 LONESTAR STEAKHOUSE DODGE (39TH): HOW WAS YOUR FIRST PRACTICE FOR THE DAYTONA 500? “Boring. I think I run a total of four laps. I got some good naptime in [smiles]. It’s so windy out now that you can’t tell nothing. With where we’re at on the speed chart, we’re not going to get or anything but I think when it comes race time we’ll be just fine.” IS IT FRUSTRATING TRYING TO GET THROUGH QUALIFYING? “I’m at ease because I’m in the show no matter what. The thing that we look at with our Lonestar car is that we have to take care of it through the 150s, gain some respect from our fellow drivers and work on a good balance where we can just be there in the 500. The 500 is such a long race that we’ve just got to finish it.” WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD QUALIFYING LAP FOR YOU? “Anywhere 15th through 25th, I’d be happy with that. I really don’t have high expectations for qualifying but Jamie [McMurray] I think qualified 30th here in July and run second. It’s just a starting spot. It’s where you finish that matters.”

BRENT SHERMAN, No. 49 SERTA DODGE (54TH): “We’re just not fast and there’s nothing that you can do about it, really. They are making as many changes as possible. We didn’t pull the brakes back or anything. We just wanted to find out generally where we were at and generally we’re where we were when we tested. Luckily, I’ll be racing on Sunday regardless. We’ve got to make sure that we keep the engine fresh in practice and not run too many laps and go out there and race hard, stay in line and be there at the end. That’s kind of what our whole deal is.” IS THE WIND A BIGGER FACTOR TODAY THAN IT WAS HERE AT THE TEST? “I think so. It got windy one of the test days but I don’t think it was like this. It’s not like Chicago weather, but it’s close. I didn’t notice it much in the racecar. I guess you notice it more when it’s more of a crosswind. It’s nice getting pushed down the backstraightaway. I hope when I’m out there qualifying I hope I get this Gael force wind that nobody else gets and then I think we’ll be all right.”