Raybestos Rookie Happy Hour speeds:
Paul Menard 25th
Juan Pablo Montoya 31st
David Ragan 34th
David Reutimann 42nd

Paul Menard was the fastest Raybestos Rookie during the final practice for the Subway Fresh Fit 500. Menard posted the 25th best overall speed in the session.

PAUL MENARD, No. 15 MENARDS/JOHNS MANVILLE CHEVROLET: “We’re struggling a little bit, can’t get it to turn very good. I didn’t think we were that high up on the speed chart but with just one lap it falls off pretty good. We’re just trying to get it to rotate in the center to drive it straight off. It’s consistent but not as fast as we need to be.”

WILL TIRE WEAR BE A FACTOR IN TOMORROW NIGHT’S RACE? “Not that I’ve seen. These Cars of Tomorrow have a hard time working the left-side tires. If you’re going to see tire problems, it’ll probably be on the right front, just over-working that. But left-side wear, there is none.”

IS THERE ANY WAY YOU CAN STEAL TRACK POSITION BY CHANGING JUST RIGHT-SIDE TIRES? “They lose grip. They don’t really wear but it seems like that lose quite a bit of grip. I don’t think you’ll see any two-tire stops but all four tires.”

YOU DID NOT COMPETE IN THE BUSCH RACE HERE THIS WEEKEND. DOES THAT HELP YOU FOCUS MORE ON THE CUP CAR? “With the COT, I mean, it’s hard to translate setups back and forth so I’d rather just concentrate on the COT. But when we go back to an intermediate track where we run the normal car you can translate a lot more normal information so the track time and the setups probably help you.”