ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) – 14th

“I think the track is a little better than it was in practice, but it was definitely a great run for our Dodge Charger. It was a lot better than we were in practice. I think we’ll be good in the race. Hopefully we’ll end up in the top 20 and we’ll get a good pit selection. We’ll go get ‘em Sunday.”

DAVID STREMME (No. 40 Lonestar Steakhouse Dodge Charger) – 6th

“I blew the second lap in three and four, but the guys did a good job. It’s a big difference from when we ran here the first time this year. It’s the same car and we feel pretty good about it. We’ve got a better notebook and I feel a little better. Our short track program has definitely turned around, and we’re working for next year on the car of tomorrow program. It shows what type of organization this is here. We’ve got some new intermediate stuff and I’m going to run a new car in a couple of weeks at Kansas. We’ll see how that ends up.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Mobil 1/Alltel Dodge Charger) – 4th

“So far, so good. We picked up on it and made it better. It’s a good run for our Mobil 1 Dodge. It depends on what the clouds and sun do from here. It was a good fast lap, but we weren’t the fastest in practice. If the other guys pick up as much as we did, we’ll get beat. The track is great. These guys have done so much to make this track better. Grip wise and speed wise it’s a little bit faster than the spring race because it’s a good bit cooler. Everything else is the same. It’s a great place to race, and it would really be a great place to win again. I think we’re ready. I’ve been ready. We’ve always been good at this track, especially in qualifying trim.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) – 33rd

“We just slowed down a little bit. We thought we needed to loosen up the car a little bit and we were too loose. I couldn’t go any faster. We’ll take a bad starting spot on Sunday and see if we can make it better by the end.”

SCOTT RIGGS (No. 10 Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge Charger) – 23rd

“We slowed down from practice. I don’t know if the track changed or if the car was a lot cooler and changed. The car was free under braking trying to get in the corners. It got out from under me. It looked like the same thing happened to Kasey. We thought we had a decent shot at it. We didn’t change anything from practice, and it wasn’t OK. The last time we were here we qualified 40 something and finished 10th. We’ll be a little closer this time, but not much.”

CASEY MEARS (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger) – 24th

“We were loose in one and two. I don’t know why. We got through three and four good. As soon as I got off the brake in one and two it jumped sideways. I think we could have run in the teens, and that would have been a good lap, but we didn’t get it today.”

DAVIE STREMME (No. 40 Lonestar Steakhouse Dodge Charger) – 6th

“We didn’t qualify well here in the summer. This was the first race for this new car, and since then we’ve run it at Richmond. We qualified pretty well last week, but we had some problems in the pits and didn’t get the finish we wanted. We’ve got a good starting spot. We just need to bring a good finish home. We had three new cars at Ganassi’s built for the July race here. Reed had done some testing at Milwaukee and we all went off his notes. In the spring here he qualified well He wasn’t as good today, but we were better and we went off his notes. We’re both going to be working on a lot of things. I think he’s going to be good. Our cars are about identical, so I think we’ll both have good runs on Sunday. We’ve shown a lot of progress, but there’s a lot of changes going on within our own organization. We’re starting to build toward next year. They put a lot of emphasis in our short track cars. We’ve got Kansas City coming up, and I’ve got a brand new intermediate car. From the ground up, they’ve redesigned everything. There’s a lot of changes going on even with personnel with John Fernandez coming on as manager. It’s going to take a little bit, but Reed and I are behind the organization 100 percent. We’ll keep digging as a team and trying to get better.”

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) – 3rd

“It was a surprising lap. I’m ecstatic that we were able to qualify third today. It might sound funny coming from the leader in poles, but we went with a completely different setup, something that we weren’t even concerned with qualifying. I just hope it shows speed in the race as well, and that’s what we need to work on. We all know that company wide, and it feels good to be third with this unique setup.”

COMMENT ON YOUR BROTHER KYLE “He’s got a great position with what he has right now with fast racecars and a mature team and everybody working together well. He’s poised for a great run in this Chase. The thing I’ve told him all along is that patience will overcome your inexperience. I hope he continues to stick with that pace because what wins a championship is still consistency. No matter how many wins you get during The Chase, there’s still the consistency key that helps you win the championship. We haven’t talked yet, but I’ve got a couple of cool things for him right before the race on Sunday. I think that’s the best time to let him know.”

COMMENT ON IMPORTANCE OF QUALIFYING “There’s plenty of reasons to qualify. The most important reason is to sit on the pole and have track position when the race starts. That’s one of the key ingredients to doing well in the race. It helps you with bonus points whether you want to lead a lap and gain those five points or if you’ve got a good car go for the most laps led. Starting up front helps. The pit road box you get to pick before other guys do. If you’re a mediocre qualifier, 25th or 30th, there’s not many good pit boxes left. Sometimes you have to pit around fast guys who always pit ahead of you or come in behind you. You can’t maneuver or gain spots on pit road. There’s many of reasons to qualify. This year has been good to me in qualifying. We’ve just got to work on the race a little bit. “

ARE YOU ALREADY WORKING FOR THE 2007 CHASE? “Sure, the setup in the car today is very foreign to me and to our company. We had a great run through the mid part of the summer with some great ideas, but it just didn’t materialize like we needed it to. We start off the races strong but our point is where we struggle after the first or second pit stop. The car just gets very, very loose. We’re trying some out of the ordinary things to get a jump on last year. Plenty of guys missed it last year that are in The Chase this year because you get an extra 10 races to work on it. We’re taking that philosophy. It’s something you look forward to each and every day when you’re behind because every day will bring you something new when you’re trying to find something.”

HOW MUCH CAN YOU WORK ON THE CHARGER IN THE LAST 10 RACES WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING A NEW NOSE NEXT YEAR? “We’ve got a couple of cars built and they’ve shown very positive signs on the new nose and new tail for next season. Right in the mix of that we’re working on the car of tomorrow to try to get it dialed in. We’re also trying to work on our main program which is going to be driving regular Chargers for these 10 races trying to develop a setup that will lead us into next year. Our plate is full. It’s something where we think we can get ahead by not having to focus on running for points in every race. We can really go all out with testing as well. From here on out there’s 10 races and we’ve got about 10 tests scheduled as well with car of tomorrow, with this car and with our new car as well. Busy plate, busy time ahead of us at Penske Racing South.”