PATRICK CARPENTIER, No. 10 VALVOLINE DODGE: “It was great. I didn’t have the radios. I didn’t know if we made it or not. The car was a bit tight at first and it was perfect on exit, mid to exit I could go full throttle and the car would just turn around.” YOU DIDN’T HAVE RADIO COMMUNICATION? “No, for some reason it wasn’t working, so that’s why I did two laps as hard as I could because I didn’t know if I was in or not. I just kept going hard, hard and finally they told me that we were in. We’re finally starting the season and it’s fantastic. I’m happy for Valvoline.” WAS THAT THE BEST LAP THAT YOU’VE HAD SINCE YOU’VE BEEN HERE? “Yeah, I think so. I think that’s the fastest one we’ve done but I’m not sure. In testing I think we went down to the 29.60 but today was different. I’m just happy. I’m going to start the race on Sunday. In the last three weeks I’ll finally be able to sleep tonight so that’s good [laughs]. I was looking at people and there must be some people that hates me because they were going like this [puts thumbs down]. I was like ‘Shoot, I didn’t qualify’ and then one was like this [thumbs up] so maybe I did [laughs]. It was good.” WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD DAY FOR YOU IN THE RACE? “Points. We need points, the more points that we can get. For sure it’s still learning and finish the race I’d be really happy but top-25 would be a very good day.” HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO DO THIS AT LAS VEGAS? “This is great, fantastic. I had to buy so many tickets now at least it’s worth it [laughs]. I’ll be able to shake hands on Sunday to people I bought tickets to so it’s pretty good. We’re really happy.”

SAM HORNISH, JR., No. 77 MOBIL 1 DODGE: “Overall, for where we were at in practice and what we picked up between practice and qualifying, got to be pretty happy with that. We’re here to get as many laps as we can. We knew we didn’t have a pretty good shot at the pole so we just figured we’re going to get as much out of it as we can. Compared to where we were at halfway through practice I was pretty frustrated with where we were at with the car. We made some adjustments and really kind of, we were so far out in left field we made two little changes and the car was really good. It’s amazing how easy that is to do that or how hard it is to do that and find that little bit that makes all the difference. I’m real happy with all the guys on the Mobil 1 team. They done a good job. If I hadn’t driven the Nationwide car right before that I might not have got to the throttle so quick. But that’s part of the deal and we’re using that to get experience so now I know.” DOES THE NATIONWIDE CAR HELP THE CUP CAR? “I think anything for me getting more laps is a positive. While I wish the cars were more identical, they’re not. Just getting that lap time out there and when things are going as good as they are over in the Nationwide deal today you can’t help but just kind of be in a good mood and kind of keep going forward from there.” DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE RUN BETTER IF YOU WENT OUT LATER IN THE SESSION? “I think as the track cools off you’re going to get a little bit quicker, but all in all, for me, I probably would have made the same mistake getting back to the throttle a little bit too soon. That cost us probably a tenth, if not a little bit more than that. It’s all stuff for the memory bank. This is still only less than 10 Cup races for me. I keep learning as much as I can.” HAS THIS BEEN AS BIG OF AN ADJUSTMENT AS YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE? “I knew it was going to be difficult and that’s why I wanted to do it. A lot of people asked me if the merger had happened the year before if I still would have done this. This was all about the challenge for me. I really looked at was I after coming over here and doing this and having my eyes opened to how different the cars are, I thought it’s either going to be the biggest feeling of accomplishment once I do get to that point or it’ll be a decision I shouldn’t have made. But either way, at the end of my career, I could sit there and look back on it and say if I hadn’t done this. I’m happy with everything because I knew how difficult it was going to be and that’s what hopefully will make it all worthwhile when we get to a point where we’re successful.”

REGAN SMITH, No. 01 COORS LIGHT CHEVROLET: “It was a good pickup for us. The guys with the Coors Light Chevy did a good job in between practice and qualifying and we’re going to get it ready to race now. It’ll probably end up somewhere mid-pack I think, somewhere around 25th or something like that. It’s an improvement from practice and we’ll get to working on it. I think there’s more grip than anybody expects right now, overall, on the racetrack. As slick as it was earlier today it feels like it’s starting to come around a little bit. I’m sure that caught everybody off guard a little bit. I was ready for it but I actually got a little bit tight in the middle of the corner. We did some stuff to make sure we kept it snug where I could drive it down in. I think we’re definitely heading in the right direction and if we can keep improving each week, that’s our goal right now.” THE CONDITIONS TODAY ARE DIFFERENT THAN HERE AT THE TEST BACK IN JANUARY. “The track is way slower right now. Twenty-five degrees warmer does that to a racetrack [smiles]. Sunday it’s supposed to cool off some and we’re supposed to get some of the wind that we tested with. The track is still going to have some temp in it but we’ll see where it goes from there.” DID GETTING TRACK TIME DURING THE TEST HERE HELP YOU? “Lap time always helps. It’s always a good thing. We changed a lot of stuff after California to come back here and try and get better performance and I think that’s helped as much as anything. We went back to some stuff that we knew would work and that’s what we’re going to stick with for a little bit.”