DAVID STREMME (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Charger) – 3rd fastest overall, fastest Dodge

“We actually did a lot of qualifying runs to make sure we got in the field solid. We’re not far off. Reed and Casey ran in the draft, and we don’t have much different of a setup than they do. This is a car they hung a new body on. It’s the same chassis we ran in the 500. I wish it was back in February and the year was starting out so we could start out the year a little different, but I’m pretty proud of my team. We have a lot of changes going on within our whole organization, and it’s definitely benefiting us as far as our performance keeps getting better every week.”

YOU SAT OUT LAST WEEK. DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT COMING BACK STRONG THIS WEEK? “I was probably a little upset that I was out last week, but not really, not with the situation we’re in. Scott Pruett is a really good road racer. He had some bad luck and got involved in some incidents, but on the other hand we put ourselves in a bad situation in the beginning of the year, getting our program behind. We’ve turned things around. We’re running better. We’ve been testing and building more cars. It wasn’t a bad deal. I was happy. I was here yesterday when the garage opened helping my guys unload the trailer because I didn’t get to see them last week. It’s been a pretty good time down here. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. A lot of cars had to qualify in, but I still feel we’ll be able to race well.”

WHAT WAS MISSING THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON? “It’s not to knock anybody, but we just built cars like a Ford and it didn’t work on the Dodge. I had different cars than my teammates and it’s a struggle to try to get there when we were off so far with chassis, bodies, everything. They eliminated all that. At Darlington it showed we ran a lot better. It still didn’t show with the finish we had. We had a part break, but at Michigan I wish we could have finished the race out. We had a really good car in Happy Hour. With the weather conditions changing a little we had to play catch up at the end of the race. We ran 19th. Every week I see some improvements. Again, the organization is going through some changes. They’re trying to find people to put in place, and I’m behind them 100 percent. It’s a whole different atmosphere, different cars and everything from the 40 team. This is my 500 car, and I’m pretty happy with it. I think it will race pretty good. The team is coming around. This is nothing I did. You run wide open, and I was just making sure I didn’t hang the gear or something. I didn’t know if the time would hold up for third, but it all worked out.”

BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Pillsbury/Cinnabon Dodge Charger) – 34th

“The car drove good. It was just a little slow. We’ll see what happens when the sun goes down and they crank ‘em up tomorrow night.”

REED SORENSON (No. 41 Target Dodge Charger) – 37th

“I think as long as your car drives good here it’s the main thing. Qualifying is really a waste of time unless you get the pole. If you get the pole, it’s really cool.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Featuring the Ask Dr. Z Paint Scheme) – 38th

“I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good. It just seemed like we were down on power a little.”

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Tire Kingdom Dodge Charger) – 33rd

“It’s an impound race, so we just did our basic qualifying stuff and that was it. I can’t complain. We ran about the same speed Bobby ran and the cars are about the same. All of our stuff has been pretty good on the speedways so far, so I can’t see where it would be any different here.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) – 23rd

“I did a great job, I thought. You never know what to expect. It wasn’t bad. We got the car tuned for the race and not for qualifying. A lot of those other guys were tuned for qualifying. We’ll see how the Alltel Dodge is tomorrow.”

SCOTT RIGGS (No. 10 Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge Charger) – 28th

“We knew we weren’t going to be very good in qualifying, but we knew not to get down about it because we know we’re going to be pretty good in the race. I think we’ve got a good race car right now. It might not have been a good qualifying car, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow night.”

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) – 16th

“That was a good lap. We went for a race setup, and that’s what you have to do. A few guys ahead of us look like they were on a qualifying setup. We’re confident with the way our car handled in practice. We’re definitely looking to hook up and draft (with the 12 car). Ryan in front of me, me in front, either way. We just have to have good communication on pit stops as far as who is coming in when. I’m used to a program that has five cars and you can always count on coming in with somebody, but Ryan and I need to hook up.”

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Featuring the Ask Dr. Z Paint Scheme) – 42nd

“That’s the way we ran yesterday, and we didn’t change a whole lot, so that’s the way we’re going to run today. When you’re that far off you’ve got to do something big. It’s amazing. We came down here in February and ran pretty good. It was the best car I ever had down here in February. We come back down here with it and here’s what we’ve got. It doesn’t make sense, but we’ll figure it out. That’s just the way the year’s gone so far.

“The driver doesn’t really play a part in qualifying. You could just sit in the car and I could tell you when to change gears and if you held the wheel straight and didn’t lift you could qualify it. The bottom line is at Daytona and Talladega, you’ve got what you’ve got for qualifying. The race is a little different. The driver can make a big difference in the race. But really racing is all about the team and team chemistry.

“A lot of teams aren’t on the same page right now, and we’re one of them. You’ve got to throw egos aside and do what’s right. If one guy thinks he’s smarter than everyone else on the team, then it usually doesn’t work. You’ve got to work together and not as individuals. If you’re on top, sooner or later you’re going to hit bottom again. You just follow the circle. Things will keep turning. When you’re on the bottom, you won’t stay there if you keep the right team morale. The wheel just keeps on turning.”

CASEY MEARS (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger) – 40th

“I really didn’t know what to expect. It’s really slow, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it races. We only got three laps on it, and the car is set up to race, but everybody else is, too. It’s got a really bad vibration in it right now. I don’t know what it is. It might be in the drive line. I don’t think it’s in the tires. We’ll see what happens.

“We never made a qualifying run with it yesterday. We only made three laps in the car. At Daytona and Talladega, it really doesn’t matter how you qualify because you’ve got a shot in the race. We’ve got to focus on getting through the first half of the race and not get involved in something. If I can give Donnie (crew chief Wingo) a good read on how the car feels he can make some good changes and make it right for the race.

“One more spot than that (February finish of second) would definitely be better. It’s not about momentum. It’s about getting the car right. We’ve got the whole race to work on it. It should be close. Obviously our speed isn’t where we want it to be, that wasn’t very fast, but hopefully we can get it right for the race.”