Race 2 Win: Samsung/Radioshack 500 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

Nextel Cup Series

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Samsung/Radioshack 500 - Rookie Qualifying Quotes

Where the Raybestos Rookies will start at Texas:
Yeley 2nd
Hamlin 8th
Truex Jr. 9th
Bowyer 12th
Sorenson 13th
Stremme 28th
Sherman DNQ

DAVID STREMME, No. 40 COORS LIGHT DODGE: “We haven’t got off to the best start this year but I think things are turning around here. It’s the same car I run at Atlanta and it just drives lot better. Between myself and Jeff and everybody on the team getting to work together I feel real positive with this. We’ll get going here and then we’ll feel real good.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FEDEX EXPRESS CHEVROLET: “In practice I had picked up on my second lap every time. I didn’t know we were that close to the pole or else I would have run my second lap. It was just kind of a mistake there. I’m happy for this FedEx Chevrolet crew. They did a great job of getting the car prepared. We picked up a couple of tenths from where we were in practice so you can’t ever be disappointed with that.” YOU SAID LAST YEAR THAT THE BUSCH SERIES INTERMEDIATE PROGRAM NEEDED TO IMPROVE. HOW MUCH DIFFERENT IS IT THIS YEAR? “It’s head over shoulders different than where it was last year. Our Busch program is just flying it seems like. We’re a top-five car every week, no matter what the racetrack is. We’re getting the setups closer between the Cup program and the Busch program. If we can just pick it up a little more we can be a winning contender every week.” HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO TALK TO MARK MARTIN? “We talked on Tuesday. It kind of settles our differences I guess you could say. I asked him what I could do differently to avoid that from happening and I basically told him where he did me wrong. We agreed on everything when it was all said and done. I’m glad it’s over with and we can move on. He admitted to things that he did and I admitted to things that I did in the past. It’s just one of those things where you learn. We haven’t raced with each other that much. With time it’s going to fix itself. We’ve got to learn each other’s driving styles and move on. I’m the last driver that wants to start anything with anybody. I spent all last year just trying to get respect from these guys and let them know that I can race with them without controversy, without getting into them. I felt like it was time to stand up for what I thought was right and wrong. I felt good after talking to him because I felt like he understood where I was coming from and he said ‘Yeah, and you’re right in that aspect.’ It was good to get it out of the air and I’m glad that he called me and we got everything straight.” IS THIS A TRACK WHERE THE BUSCH CAR REALLY HELPS THE CUP CAR? “I think so. It doesn’t help necessarily setup-wise, just a little bit, but I think learning how to drive the corners and I know from what I learned qualifying yesterday and I brought it in to today’s qualifying, it helped me tremendously. I’m definitely proud of everybody. I’m proud of myself for learning these racecars as quick as I’m doing. I learn something every week that I didn’t know the week before. By the end of the year I should be in good shape. I get really discouraged really easily but we’re running top-10 every week. We’re just having bad luck and getting caught up in messes. If we can just execute, I tell you, we’re going to be a top-10 contending car every week.” IS THE TRACK GOING TO GET SLICKER AND SLICKER THIS WEEKENDWITH THE WARM WEATHER? “It’s hard to tell. I don’t think the conditions are going to change a whole lot between the beginning and the end. I think the guys at the end might have a little advantage, not necessarily because of the heat, but because the grandstands will shade the 1 and 2 just a little bit. I’m pretty happy with our effort. I wish I would have got a little more out of it but I can’t complain.

J.J YELEY, No. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET: YOU WERE LATE GOING THROUGH THE INSPECTION LINE. “The guys rallied hard to get the Interstate Batteries Chevrolet through tech. Sometimes it’s a good thing to be rushed through. Sometimes it’s not. I really didn’t think much about the qualifying lap. I was glad that we even got the opportunity to go out there and make one. I know that Denny went out there and put down a good lap and we were pretty similar in setups and times from the first practice. The car was real solid. They freed it up a little bit. It was almost perfect, got a little bit loose off of 4 and checked up but nothing that it was a white-knuckle run by any means.” ONCE AGAIN YOU ARE FAST IN QUALIFYING. “There’s still a lot of good cars to go. We’re been good since we unloaded with this Interstate Batteries Chevrolet. A top-five would be awesome. I want to be in the Bud Shootout real bad next year. I know we dodged a big bullet being faster than Biffle and with the 12 car already going, and the 2 car being fastest in practice, but I know how this thing happens. Anything can happen. It will get down to the last car and someone will knock us off and we’ll wind up second. But regardless it’s a good run.” WILL THERE BE AN ADVANTAGE TO GO OUT LATER IN THE SESSION? “I don’ think it’s going to make a huge difference today like it might have yesterday in Busch qualifying because we’re starting early, it’s really hot out, it’s clear. The worst thing about qualifying fastest and going out early is that you have to stay out on pit road a really long time and sweat it out [SMILES]. We’ll just hang out here on the front straightaway and see what happens.” IS THIS A NEW CAR? “No, it’s actually the same car that we ran at Las Vegas and California so it’s a good one. We like running it and hopefully it will pay off for us.” WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD RUN FOR YOU ON SUNDAY? “I will be perfectly content running top-10s. If we could run top-10 every week, that’s what you have to do to win races and we’ll catch our break somewhere along the line. If we can keep on knocking off top-10s and climbing up there in points that’s all we want to do.” IT IS NICE TOHAVE A STRONG RUN HERE IN INTERSTATE BATTERIES’ HOMETOWN. “Absolutely. They’ve got a big condo that’s going to be full here on Sunday over in turn 2. There’s nothing better than winning your race or doing something spectacular in front of all your sponsors and all your friends. That’s my plan.”

Raybestos Rookie Qualifying Notes:

Yeley was the top Raybestos Rookie qualifier at Texas. He will start second, his best qualifying effort in 13 career starts.

Yeley is second in the Raybestos Rookie standings, five points behind leader Clint Bowyer (60-55).

Yeley’s run today is the best qualifying effort ever by a Raybestos Rookie at Texas. The previous best start was third by Kasey Kahne in 2004.

STEVE ADDINGTON, CREW CHIEF, No. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET: “We struggled there getting through tech with the rear end camber. I don’t understand why it’s so different. All these guys on this Interstate Batteries Chevrolet crew really worked hard this weekend. We’ve got an awesome driver sitting there in that seat. He was joking around and said ‘You look like you’re mad, crew chief’ in practice and I was going to joke with him and tell him ‘If you go out there and run me a .60 I wouldn’t be so mad.’ He ran a .50 so I’m pretty tickled with him.” IT SEEMS LIKE THIS TEAM IS GETTING BETTER EACH WEEK. “It’s going to get better. Some of these places J.J. hasn’t been to in a Cup car and we’re going in looking at what we’ve done so far this year. We’ve got great support at Joe Gibbs Racing with the engineering department and our fab shop is working really hard for us. We can go in there and tell them we want to do this and do that and those guys work hard to get it done. Everything is going to get better for JGR from here on out I believe.” ARE YOU SURPRISED HOW WELL YOU’VE RUN THIS YEAR? “I’m surprised how calm and cool J.J. has been. He’s driving like a veteran. He’s smart, he takes his time and that surprised me the most of all. He evaluated his situation and we’re the benefactors of it.”

REED SORENSON, No. 41 TARGET DODGE: “That was pretty good. That’s about a tenth better than what we ran in practice so it felt pretty good. The balance was good. It seemed like we had good segments through 1 and 2, just could have been a little bit quicker in 3 and 4. All in all, I think it will be a decent starting spot. It won’t be a great starting spot, but it will be good one.” DO YOU LIKE THIS TRACK? “I think so. We’ve got a brand new car here and we haven’t even got it in race trim yet so we don’t even know really what it’s got. The Busch car has got a new setup under it so we really don’t know what it’s got either. We’ve got two unknowns going into this weekend but we’re excited about both of them.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET: “It couldn’t get any worse than it’s been all day. That was awesome, man. I’ve got to thank all the guys on the Bud team and Bono and all my guys for sticking behind us. We unloaded and we were terrible. I crashed and knocked the side off the car on the first lap. We got it fixed toward the end of practice and went out and made another run and about did the same thing. We were just out to lunch. They all got together, both teams, and I’ve got to thank them a lot. The car was a whole lot better. I probably could have got a little more on my first lap if I had known it was going to be that good. It’s an awesome run for us. I look forward to tomorrow now, for sure.” YOU ARE USED TO WINNING RACES AND CONTENDING FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO LEARN HOW TO RACE WITH THESE GUYS ON THE NEXTEL CUP LEVEL? “Our whole team is new to this, not just me, so we’re all learning together. Luckily we’ve got some great guys to lean on over there with the No. 8 Bud team. Everybody at DEI is sticking behind us. There’s been some tough days. Today was one of them, I can’t lie and to go out there and do that and have a solid run, if feels real good. It’s just tough up here racing with these guys. We need to get our stuff together but we’re working real hard.” DOES THIS RUN TODAY GIVE THE TEAM A BOOST OF CONFIDENCE? “Well it does, yeah, especially after having the day we had to turn around and stick together. Those guys work their guts out every week and for them to stay behind me like that, and turning everything around for two laps of qualifying is really cool. I can’t say how proud of them I am.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 07 JACK DANIEL’S CHEVROLET: “That’s pretty good, just a little too tight to run too hard. I got through 1 and 2 really good and got to 3 and it was just too tight. I had to crack the throttle in the center to keep it out of the wall. I was hoping for a little bit better than that but we’ve qualified pretty poorly here on these mile-and-a-half racetracks so it’s a step in the right direction. We’ve raced really good on them so that’s a good thing.” HAVE YOU GUYS GONE THE WIND TUNNEL TO GET THE CARS BETTER? “This is a brand new racecar. It unloaded right off the truck really good. Again, it’s a good testament to how hard these guys are working. Gil and all these guys have been doing a good job preparing this car for a good qualifying effort and good race runs.”

BRENT SHERMAN, No. 49 SERTA DODGE: “We were a little loose in 3 and 4. We tried some things this morning in practice and didn’t know what the car was going to do going into qualifying. I picked it up a little bit on my second lap. It’s just hard with a very few laps and not knowing what the car is going to do to go out and bust one off. We’ll hold our breath. It doesn’t look too good making the race. There’s nothing we can do, other than give it our best.”

News and Results | Point Standings | 2006 Schedule | 2006 Teams | 2005 Schedule and Results