NASCAR WCUP: Chevy Driver Notes and Quotes, Las Vegas Qualifying

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Jerry Nadeau, No. 25UAW-Delphi Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 3rd): “I’m pretty excited. We came out here and tested with thisUAW-Delphi Monte Carlo. The guys did asuper job. I really wasn’t lookingforward to coming back out here and qualifying. I was really looking forward to racing the car because we have abetter racecar than a qualifying car. I’m pretty excited. Hopefully wecan hang in there.”

Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet Monte Carlo(qualified 4th): “I’m happy with it. You’ve got to rememberwe’ve got to qualify first. We don’thave anything to fall back on. You can’t get a pole going out there and knowingyou’ve got to make it around once. You’ve got to throw it out thereand hope you get a pole. So I wasprobably a little conservative. The car was a little tight on occasion and alittle loose. We got this NAPA Auto Parts Chevy in the show and we’re ready torace. We’ve got to be pleased withthat.”

Kevin Harvick, Nol. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 20th): “It felt good to get out there and finally getit over with. I’m not the best qualifierin the world. The GM Goodwrench car hasbeengood since we unloaded it. We’llbe up in the front of this race and hopefully track position won’t be asimportant as it was last week. I’mlearning every week, and if I can figure out which car I’m in, I’ll beokay. The reception that everybody’sgiven us has just been awesome and hopefully we can win a couple of races forDale (Earnhardt) this year.

“I got married to DeLana (yesterday) and it’s a pretty coolthing. We’ve had a pretty busy last couple of weeks. My life and her life have definitely taken a change over the pastcouple of weeks. But it’s been verywell received by everybody. But we’vejust got to do the job at hand right now and take what we’re given. We’re all pretty safety conscious but I meanwe still have to be comfortable in the race car. I’ve tried some things. A lot of people have tried differentthings. I’ve got a device that we thinkis going to help us. It’s a device thathooks into our seatbelts and your helmet. It’s kind of like the HANS. It’s good therapy to get back to racing andkeep our minds off things. He (DaleEarnhardt) would have wanted us to race and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DupontAutomotive Finishes Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 24th): “Itwas a little too loose and we freed it up. I wasn’t expecting to be loose. I think the driver was holding it up. The car was good; it was just tooloose. We’ve just got to get ready togo racing now.

“This is a great racetrack. They did an excellent job outhere. It’s hasn’t been our best track,but we have run well here before – finished 3rd one time. And we had a good test here. I’m pretty optimistic about it. We have a lot at stake here this week,including the Winston No Bull money. So, we’ve got a lot at stake here this weekend.

(What do you think about theHANS debate? Good or bad for you?) “Idon’t know if there’s been enough testing with it in a stock car. If it works for somebody, then they ought touse it. And I’m getting there. There’sissues that are out there for me and the way I sit in the car that I haven’tbeen able to put in there. I’m going totry it tomorrow (Saturday) and I hope to be racing it on Sunday.”

Steve Park, No. 1 PennzoilChevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 21st): “To tell you the truth,we backed up what we ran in practice. It was what we expected. This Chevrolet Monte Carlo, she stuck goodbut we just can’t get any speed out of it like some of these other guys aredoing. But we really think we have a good racecar. It might not qualify thatwell, but it’s going to race real good.”

Joe Nemechek, No. 33Oakwood Homes Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 23rd): “We werejust trying to take the shortest way around. It was a pretty good lap for this Oakwood Homes Chevy. We thought we could probably run a littlefaster than that, and I thought I did. The car drove extremely good. I think we’re going to be really good inthe race.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo (qualified 32nd): “It was a lottoo tight. We’re just going to have towork on it a little bit and come from the back.”

Text Provided By Nancy Wager

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