FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Outback Steakhouse 200 Qualifying, Page 1 October 25, 2001 Phoenix International Raceway

JEFF GREEN-10-Nestle Nesquik Ford Taurus (Qualified 5th) - "That was pretty good. I thought that that would be the pole because I didn't think that anybody would run any faster. The track must be better. The sun must be at a different angle or something. I don't know what's different, but something has changed. We only ran a 90 on our mock run, and we just ran a 48. That will probably get us in the top five, and that's the best we've started here. It's the same car we ran at Memphis, so we know it's good in race mode." WAS YOUR EARLY DRAW A DISADVANTAGE TODAY? "I thought it was better because it's just going to get hotter. I watched the weather this morning and it was 86 at noon and was 90 at five o'clock last night. Whether that will play out, I don't know. The trucks were on the track before us, so the track didn't sit there and gather oil for an hour like we're used to. The trucks kept it cleaned off, so I don't think that it was an advantage or disadvantage."

GREG BIFFLE-60-Grainger Ford Taurus (Qualified 4th) - "I really thought that we would have done that in the truck. I just got in the throttle too fast in Turn 1 and go it sideways. The truck gave me some insight and some discipline on what not to do in 1 and 2 in the Busch car, and that's what I didn't do and got a second-place run. I was pretty excited about that." DID YOU FEEL YOU HAD TO REDEEM YOURSELF AFTER YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT IN THE TRUCK? "No, not really. I was really nervous about qualifying 10th over here. I just wanted to be cautious, and like I told the guys, I think I could have got the pole. I had no idea that I was going to be that close to a 40, so I took it easy on the second lap down in 3 and 4 because I knew that I got a solid run in 1 and 2. I though that if I got a solid run in 3 and 4, I would get a top-five spot, and that's what I was after. They told me it was a 45, but, man, four hundredths, I could have tried to hustle it a little bit. I don't know because sometimes when you slow down a little you go faster. Sometimes a little more discipline will help you go faster." THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME PULLING DOUBLE DUTY AT THE SAME TRACK. ARE YOU TIRED? "It just helped us qualifying right here a tremendous amount. I'm not tired at all, and it helped us a lot." DO YOU SEE HOW THIS COULD HAVE HELPED HARVICK THIS YEAR? "That's what I've been saying all along - practice makes perfect. Whether you play basketball, football or golf, the more you do it the better you're going to be. If you only have an opportunity to do it 33 times, the more testing, you race twice a weekend on the same race track; it gets you a lot of insight. The trucks and the Busch cars are quite a bit different because they're two different animals. I'm not saying that a Busch car and a Cup car are the same, but they're more similar, I think, than a Busch car and a truck. Honestly, I think they're more similar the way they drive."

ELTON SAWYER-98-Hot Tamales/Starter Ford Taurus (Qualified 9th) - "That was a good lap. We ran a 65 in practice, and we felt that if we could back that up, it was going to be pretty good. Jimmy put up a good lap there and Greg and Jeff got in good laps, too. We picked up a little bit, but not quite enough. I'm really happy. My car drove good and used a lot of gas pedal. I'm not sure where we missed it, but we have a good car for the race." THIS IS A RELATIVELY NEW TRACK ON THE BUSCH SCHEDULE. IS IT TRICKY TO FIND THE HANDLE? "It's a little bit greasy, but I think that the big thing is that you have to be real careful in Turn 1 and 2. You have to get turned, but it's a real slow exit. Gearing is really important here, so if you miss it on the gear, you're going to give up speed on the back straightaway. Your car has to turn really good in 1 and 2, to be able to pick up the gas quick, and if you pull too tall of a gear, you'll get yourself in trouble."

JEFF BURTON-9-Gain Ford Taurus (Qualified 19th) - REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU QUALIFY IN THE BUSCH RACES, YOU ALWAYS END UP AT THE FRONT. "That was good for us. We were slow in practice and made a major change for qualifying and it drove a little better but not much. We worked most of practice in race setup and on race stuff. We were good, but we weren't great, so we're going to work some more on that. We'll start near 20th, and see what we can get done." YOU ALWAYS MAKE YOUR WAY UP FRONT, EVEN AT THE TRACKS THAT ARE HARD TO MAKE THE PASS. "Well, it is tough here to pass, but we don't qualify every well, so we're good at it because we practice it a lot. If your car drives good, you can pass almost anywhere, and if it doesn't drive good, you can't pass anywhere. You just have to get it to drive good for the long haul."

KEVIN LEPAGE-71-State Fair Corn Dogs Ford Taurus (Qualified 18th) - "I'm pretty disappointed right now. The car got real tight and I don't know why, so we're going to have to take a good look at it right now. We'll just have to race it up front now." COULD THIS BE YOUR LAST BUSCH RACE? "This is our last race as of today with no sponsorship for next year. I told the guys that they have a job for the next month, and hopefully we can find sponsorship. If not, we'll be forced to shut it down. That would be a shame because it's been a great team for us. We've had success in wining two poles with two different drivers. There are sponsors out there, but we just need to find the right one to help this program, either in a limited deal or a full-time deal. Right now, we're going to give it our all in Phoenix and hopefully end this season on a high note." ARE YOU FELLING ADDED PRESSURE THIS WEEKEND? "Well, I'm the owner and the driver, so for me, it's the whole deal. The guys may be putting some added pressure on themselves, but we just need to go out and try to put the whole package together this weekend."