SCOTT RIGGS (No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge Avenger)

“It felt pretty good for us. I’m proud of everyvbody on the Valvoline/Stanley Dodge team. We definitely dug ourselves a big hole in the points situation this year, but everybody has a good attitude. We’ve got a good bunch of guys on this team and everybody is pulling together and help each other. I’m proud of everybody at Evernham Motorsports as a whole pulling together to get back up in the points.

“We felt good about our test here, and then we killed that car. We took the same thing we learned here and took it to Phoenix and learned more. We brought what we learned at Phoenix back here. I think we’re learning what the Avenger wants and needs. I feel like we made big gains on it this weekend, and I hope it shows tomorrow night.

“It turned really good the first lap and then it got tight on me in both ends on the second lap and cost us a little bit. I hate that. If you can run a .49 on the first lap you should be able to run a .20 on the second lap and that would have been the pole.

“Track position is going to be critical here. You’re going to need to start up front and you’re going to have to hold that position all night. The tires and the cars seem to equal out after about 15 or 20 laps. You’re going to need to be up front when they start to equal out like that.”

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Avenger)

“We had a good finish last week at Talladega, and we hope we can carry that over to tomorrow night. We really didn’t know what to expect in qualifying, but we brought it home in one piece and 400 laps is a long way at Bristol. We won’t get the best pit selection after the way we qualified, but if the car is good, and I really think it’s going to be, we’ll have plenty of time to get to the front.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 alltel Dodge Avenger)

“I screwed up and didn’t drive it hard enough and we just can’t get a good draw to save our butts to figure out what I need to run. I think we’ve got a good alltel Dodge for race trim, and we’ll just keep working with it. We’re not going to have good track position or a good pit selection, but we haven’t had all year.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Avenger)

“We improved from practice. We have a really good race car. I wasn’t that happy with qualifying and it worries me that it’s going to get cooler and the track is going to get faster. That’s the problem right there. The whole team has struggled with the car of tomorrow, so we need to improve with that and I think we have. We’re not there yet, but I was more concerned about getting a clean lap than a fast lap.”

BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Avenger)

“It’s been pretty decent all day. We were just a little too loose for qualifying, but I think that’ll be good for tomorrow. Maybe we’ll end up in the top 20. That would be OK.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Avenger)

“The guys have done a good job the last couple of weeks. That’s the best I’ve ever felt about the car of tomorrow. I’m pretty excited to have a car that turns, and we should be able to race it tomorrow night. I’m looking forward to it. It’s always fun to race at Richmond. The guys have done a good job and we’re only a tenth away from Gordon, so that’s pretty good right now.”

DAVID STREMME (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Avenger)

“That was an OK lap. It’s better than we did at Phoenix, but we’ve still got a lot of improvements to do. We’re working hard on trying to get better, but if we’re lucky we’ll start somewhere in the mid-pack here.”

ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Avenger)

“It was a pretty loose lap for us and it’s probably not going to put us where we want to be, but we’ve got 400 laps to race tomorrow night. Hopefully we can get a top 15 or top 20 finish. Richmond has never been my strong point. We’re working on it, and my guys have give me a good piece. We’ve just got to keep working on it and adjust on it tomorrow and try hard to get a good finish to get back up in the points.”