Raybestos Rookie speeds following the second afternoon practice session:
Allmendinger 9th
Menard 14th
Reutimann 18th
Montoya 29th
Whitt 34th
Ragan 47th
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER PRACTICE QUOTES FOR THE DAYTONA 500 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RACE AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2007.
AJ ALLMENDINGER IN THE No. 84 RED BULL ENERGY DRINK TOYOTA WAS THE TOP RAYBESTOS ROOKIE IN THE FINAL PRACTICE SESSION THIS AFTERNOON. “That obviously was a really good lap. You hit the right draft, right time and you kind of pop up there. We had struggled the first part of the practice. The car was worse than the morning but the whole Team Red Bull, we’re working hard and we made it better and it’s getting there. It’s comfortable and the more comfortable the car gets the more comfortable I get in the draft so we’re slowly working at it. To be the top Raybestos Rookie in the session is always nice.” DOES THE WIND MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT TO LEARN WHAT THE CAR IS GOING TO DO? “For sure. The wind is playing havoc with everybody. Everybody is complaining about it so I guess that’s a good thing. It’s not just me. Guys are bouncing off the wall, guys are struggling so the wind is definitely a factor. It probably won’t be like that tomorrow so it’ll be all different [smiles].” YOU MUST FINISH WELL IN THE GATORADE DUEL TO MAKE THE 500. HOW DO YOU BE AGGRESSIVE BUT NOT FOOLISH? “It’s one of those things that we all know you just want to be there with like five, 10 laps to go and then you go racing. That’s just what you’re kind of working for. But the tires are going away so quick and everybody is kind of sliding around, the tires are so hard, that it’s going to be tougher than ever to get to the last 10 laps and that’s what you’ve got to do.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, No. 42 TEXACO/HAVOLINE DODGE: THIS IS THE FIRST PRACTICE TIME YOU’VE HAD IN THE DRAFT. HOW DID THE CAR FEEL? “The fist time was here in testing but it was with very few cars. More cars makes it more interesting. It was good. It was still a little tight. I think everybody is tight. We’re making some progress there.” COMMENT ON THE STRONG WIND DURING PRACTICE. “It just makes it really tight one end and the other one a little loose. Hey, that’s probably the same for everybody.” WILL YOU HAVE ANY DRAFTING HELP IN THE DUEL? “Well, it’s been good. A lot of people work with me and when somebody helps me I try to stick with them as well. It’s working out pretty good.” DID YOU SEE ANYTHING ERRATIC OUT THERE? “No, today is pretty calm. You’re not racing for anything today.”
BRANDON WHITT, No. 72 DUTCH QUALITY STONE CHEVROLET: “We picked up speed in the second one [practice session] but we lost the handle of the car. Practice speeds don’t really mean anything in the draft. It’s just how good of a pull, how good of a pack you’re with but we learned a lot about our CJM Chevrolet today. We found that line that we can cross to where it goes from good to bad so we know what not to cross in the race. We know where we need to be to start the race and when the fuel burns off see what we can adjust on and that’s what we were working on in the second practice. And we found what works and what doesn’t so that’s what we were after. We got a better understanding of the car. We feel it drives very good in the draft. We’re going to go back to what worked best in practice and start there for the race.” YOU MUST FINISH WELL IN THE GATORADE DUEL TO MAKE THE 500. HOW DO YOU BE AGGRESSIVE BUT NOT FOOLISH? “That was another thing, too, in practice coming into this you have zero friends. This is the first time that we’ve basically races against any these guys. We had to go out there and work with people. You can be out there running in a pack and go down to pull out and nobody goes with you. I’m just trying to run with those guys, just earning their respect for the race tomorrow when it counts is really another thing we were trying to gain, too. We have to be careful not to wreck the car but we have to be aggressive enough to get to the front and be in the race. It’s racing, it’s Daytona and anything can happen at anytime so we’re just going to give our best effort, which we’ve been doing all week and just continue as business as usual and hopefully things will play out at the end for us.” IF YOU LOSE THE DRAFT IN THE RACE TOMORROW, YOU’RE SUNK. “You can not lose the draft so you have to do whatever it takes to at least stay with the draft at the minimum. If it means riding around back there for the first little bit and let things pan out and then go forward, but then if there’s a wreck you’ve got to drive through it. There’s just so many elements here. But the biggest thing is do not lose the draft.”
