Dodge NASCAR Winston Cup Qualifying Quotes From Daytona

Friday, July 5, 2002					          
Daytona International Speedway                	                  
Dodge notes and quotes.                                                                         803-466-9085
Pepsi 400 Qualifying

WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I don't know why we didn't pick up on the second lap. We'll just have to get the car where it will draft good if we're going to run good tomorrow night. It's always important to qualify up front, but we've seen this plate racing before. You can go from the back to the front, and that's what we're going to have to do tomorrow."

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 Honey Nut Cheerios Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"The car wouldn't go. That's the slowest we've been since we've been here, so we're a little bit confused. Who knows? We'll get in the race, but we won't be near the front. Hopefully over time we will be."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"It was a pretty good lap. That's about what we unloaded at yesterday, and it looks like the track is a little slower this morning. The guys worked hard and made a big improvement from February. We'll get the car driving good and we'll be right there in the mix. We ran this car at Talladega and qualified way back. We'll probably end up 12th to 15th, so they've made a big improvement. I think we'll race good. I hope it stays green all the way and we'll be real good."

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"There's not much to talk about at Daytona. You just go out and run the best you can. That's exactly what we ran in practice yesterday. We pretty much backed up what we did. It's a little muggier than it was yesterday. If you can back up what you did, that's good. These guys worked really hard. We had a tough time getting through inspection. It's been one of those days where there's a lot of knit-picking going on. We struggled a little bit, but the Sprint team did a good job today. We've just got to get our car to drive good. It's July. As long as you can get your car to drive pretty good, you'll be OK. It's the same way as the 500. With the restrictor-plate stuff, these races are not as far apart as they used to be. People still want to talk about 'em being a big way apart, but they're not as far apart as they used to be. If we can get our stuff straight and get it where it drives good we'll be OK."

SHAWNA ROBINSON (No. 49 dakotaimaging/Life 2 Water Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"With the weather changing and all that I think we did pretty good. The team has worked hard, and we're comfortable. That's where we need to be. It doesn't matter where you start this race from. It's always nice to be up front, but we'll be there. This is my deal, and these are my guys and we're going to make it work. I think we'll have a good starting spot."

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"All we need is about a half inch. It's hard to make up a lot of ground. I think the guys have done a heck of a job with this Dodge. We just need to chip at 'em a little bit better. I've been proud of them the past several weeks. We've run really well. I feel like we're where we need to be and if we can just make this second half come together as well as the first half started, I think we'll be in good shape."

HUT STRICKLIN (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I thought we could be in the lower 49s rather than the mid or upper. Changes we made from yesterday to today should have made us faster. We were real conservative in practice. We had the spoiler up high and the car up high. We knew everything we were going to do could only pick us up, but for some reason or the other we didn't pick up. Our car just doesn't seem to run fast when it's cold. We need one run on it to get a little heat into everything."

JIMMY SPENCER (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We're a whole lot better than we were down here in February, but we're still not where we want to be. These guys work really hard. They built another brand new car, but it's just not as fast as it needs to be. I feel bad for my guys. I can't believe how many hours these guys have put on this race car, but we're still not where we want to be. I'm not sure what's wrong. We ran about what we did in practice, but we've got a way to go yet."

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"That's all we had. That's about what we ran in practice yesterday, but we slowed down a little bit. A lot of people slowed down more. It's pretty hot out there. Hopefully we'll race good. That's what we're here for. We had a good run going here in February and came back at Talladega and ran good. We didn't qualify that good, but we'll keep our heads up. We've got a lot of good things in store for the future. We've just got to keep working hard and get where we need to be. There's a lot of potential here, and we want to get our Dodge running up front week in and week out. To do that sometimes you've got to go through the hard times to get there. That's where we are right now."

CASEY ATWOOD (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I'm real happy with that. It's nothing that I did. We weren't that good yesterday in practice and the guys worked all night. Tony (crew chief Furr) made some changes on the car and everything worked. I'm so excited about the rest of the year. We've got some new cars coming out at Chicago, and we'll have a new car at Indy. I'm pumped up about it. Honestly, you just hold it to the mat and get your speed up on the first lap and then run 
the bottom on the second lap. It's all these guys working on the car. This is the car we brought for a backup car here in February, so we're pretty happy with it so far. We got it dialed in, and all the engine guys did their job, and we got a good lap in with the Sirius Satellite Dodge. I'm excited about the second half of the season."

TONY FURR (Crew chief No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"The engine guys tuned on it. It's all between the frame rails anyhow. Everything went like it was supposed to. All the guys did their jobs and paid attention to detail so here we are. Somebody's got to hold the steering wheel and mash the gas. I can't do it. I think the driver means quite a bit here, with how smooth they are and things like that. I've been down here with rookie drivers before and put a veteran driver in there and pick up two tenths. There's probably two or three tenths between the worst and the best, but there is something there with the driver at Daytona. We had the fastest Dodge (10th overall) in qualifying right now, and that's all you can hope for right now, just be the fastest in your class. Hopefully NASCAR will cut a little off our spoiler like they did the Fords. We need to be a little bit more competitive. We had to lay everything on the line. That's what you're supposed to do anyhow, but we need a little more than what we've got. I've worked with the Chevrolets, and I know their spoilers are lower than ours by quite a bit and the Fords are too, right now. We've like to have a little help."