Bill Elliott's Wins Pole At Texas

 
JIMMY SPENCER (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T)
	"We picked up a lot from practice, but that's not going to be that
great of a time at the end of the day. We qualified in the top 10 every race
this year, but we won't today. We've got a long way to go on Sunday, but
it's a 500-mile race. We had this car at Atlanta and qualified really well
with it. I could never get comfortable. I always had a little twitch here or
there and when you have a twitch, it's not good. It was a pretty good lap
considering what we ran in practice, but three-tenths wasn't enough to get
us in the top 20."

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Intrepid R/T)
	"I thought we were going to be OK. Kyle tested good here. The car
felt pretty good. I thought we could adjust. We made a change on the car and
all of a sudden it went really bad. We put a set of tires on it and went
back and it was still bad. We put another set on and went back and it was
still bad. We made five changes and we knew that was as close as we were
going to get. I don't know how I got so far behind, but I could never get
back ahead. It's not going to be a good race. The track is too brand new.
Texas Motor Speedway does a great job. They spend a lot of money. They're
just trying to make it right. Now that it's right, they can leave it alone
and let the track get some wear on it. When it gets some age on it we'll be
able to race side by side."

	JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We had been a little faster in practice. I was a little bit freer in
qualifying. We should have been better. I think everybody has slowed up a
little bit. We were going for it on the first lap. It felt good on the first
lap and I ran harder on the second lap and got loose. Overall, I'm pretty
happy with it. Maybe we'll end up in the top 10 somewhere. We didn't test
here, so that was a pretty good lap."

	BUCKSHOT JONES (No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge Intrepid R/T)
	"It wasn't a good lap for us. The front end just kicked out and we
slid through the turns. We didn't back up what we ran in practice and you
always want to at least do that. You actually count on improving your
practice speed, but we didn't do that today."


	CASEY ATWOOD (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"That's about all we had. It was a real smooth lap, but the car pushed up
off turn four on both laps. I don't know if it had anything to do with that
wreck or not. It felt like it had good grip, but it just pushed up a little
bit. It was a good, solid run for us. The car felt good all day, so we're
happy with it. I didn't see what the track looked like. I know I saw some
fluid come out of the car when he hit the wall. I was nervous at first, but
Jeff Green went out and ran a pretty good lap, so I knew it was all right.
It's a little frustrating seeing a car wreck in front of you because you
know they're going to put speedy dry down. I've had it happen to me two or
three times in the past, and it messes you up, but it wasn't' too bad."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"It bottomed out and got me wiggling a little bit. I think we'll race good.
We are just a little bit off on our qualifying stuff.  We were two tenths
off and 15th when we qualified. We started 24th with this car at Vegas and
won, and we started 11th at Darlington and won. We're sitting about average
with it I guess. I'd like to go three for three. The car has never lost and
we know that streak won't last forever, but it sure would be nice if it'd
last one more week."

	KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T)
	"We were really fast when we were down here testing. We came back
and the track is a little slower. I've missed this race the past two years.
This is a big deal for Samsung and Radio Shack and Sprint with all the
promotions. I just needed to get a good lap, and that was a really good lap
for us. I can't complain. The guys have worked hard and the motors came back
better. I ran slower, so that's my fault. That's not their fault."

	HUT STRICKLIN (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T)
	"Every time we went out today we picked up. We made some pretty
giant changes from practice to qualifying. We got the thing a lot better.
It's a new car, the first car the guys built in house, and I'm pretty
excited about that. We're finding little things it likes, so hopefully we'll
get some more practice time with it and make it better for the race."

	SHAWNA ROBINSON (No. 49 BAM Racing Dodge Intrepid R/T)
	"I knew we had a good race car and we've built a team with some good
chemistry. My owner promised me seat time this year, and I've got plenty of
that. I don't think there's any question that we've proven we can qualify.
We're a new race team and I think we're showing we have the capabilities to
be a competitive team. We're an underdog. We don't have as much support, and
we need support to get to where we need to be. We'll get there. It'd make it
a lot more fun if I had a product to relate to. We got the car where we
needed it to be and it showed. Now we just need to race all day. This is my
style of track. I just want to have a competitive car."

	WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid R/T)
	"The guys have been working hard, but we unloaded a little slow
today and stayed that way. We'll just go to work and try to get it ready to
race on Sunday."
	
BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T)
	"My guys are doing a fantastic job. The track came to us and
everything played in our favor. I hate it Frank crashed in turn one. I was
really worried about what that would do to the race track. I drove that
thing off into the turn and it stuck and I knew it was going to be good. I
got through one and two and the car stayed on the bottom. That's the way
it's going to be here Sunday. You've got to stay on the bottom. You never
know what the track is going to be like. I got through one and two pretty
good.
	"We've been good on the mile and a half tracks this year. The guys
are doing a great job. They've put together a group of guys who have really
worked hard and put together a good Dodge effort. That's what it's all
about. The circumstances played a big part here this afternoon. They crashed
going into turn one and it got a little bit overcast and a little cool and
the car stuck good and that's what you've got to have. I figure the overcast
was worth a couple of tenths. That's what you've got to do. We made a little
gamble on what the car was going to do. The guys went in the right
direction.
	"Track position anywhere we go is so important. Who knows what's
going to happen here Sunday? It's a 500-mile race and anything can happen.
We've got to get tuned in and figure out what we need to do for Sunday.
That's our next goal. 
	"Any time the race track cools off this day and time and you can get
an advantage, that's what you've got to do. Look at the time sheet and the
cars have run so close. With Frank (Kimmel) having his problem going into
turn one there and it holding things up, it just gave that much more time
for the race track to cool off. The cloud cover came over, the air cooled
off, the motor ran better, the car stuck better, it had better aero, so
that's what helped us.
	"I had no idea what to expect. Mike Ford (crew chief) and I stood up
on top of the trucks and were watching cars that ran. Most of the guys lost
some from their practice runs. We didn't know where we were going to fall,
but we were hoping with our draw that the track would cool off. We were
still about two-tenths off what Ricky Rudd ran in practice, and we were just
trying to strategize what we needed and what we were going to do. Some of
the guys lost a little bit and some of them picked up. We just didn't know
where we were going to fall.
	"This track hasn't typically been that good to me in the past, but
neither was Homestead. As good a team as we've got under us today and as
much support as I've gotten behind me with Ray and Dodge and all the support
sponsors, it makes my job a lot easier and a lot more fun.
	"We had a good run in Atlanta for the pole and then we struggled in
the race. We need to be able to sort through what we think this race track
is going to go to. We'll work on what we need to work on in the morning. I
think we've got a better handle on the direction we need to go into, but
it's a fresh-surfaced race track and we've got to work on the things that
tend to matter here Sunday afternoon and then turn around and watch the
Busch Grand National race on Saturday afternoon.
	"It's all relative. These cars have gotten so much better. They're
stuck so much better. Goodyear has done such a good job on the tire, and
we're in a different era. You've got to drive the cars different. I don't
know if I feel the speed any different than I did 15 years ago when I ran
this fast. I've still impressed myself with the speeds I ran at Daytona. Of
all the things I've ever done, that was the most impressive. I think I've
just got better at holding my breath at these race tracks when I come back
to qualify. That's been the biggest key. Ray did say he wanted to ride with
me qualifying. I'm going to find him and see if he still wants to do that.
	"You get in a deal where you're running around a 28.50 lap. Whether
you run two tenths one way or the other, you're not going to notice the
speed that much. It's not a great deal of difference. It isn't the speed
that hurts you. It's the things that happen when you lose control, and you
saw that a couple of times today in qualifying. Now we've got to work and
make sure the car is right for Sunday afternoon.."
"I went up there in the winter, and Ray has put together an impressive
operation. I'm just glad to be a part of the program. I just hope I can
continue to give him a good effort week in and week out. I know we've
struggled in the race a time or two this year, but I do feel like we're
going to get our act together and be where we need to be on Sunday
afternoon.
	"It's gone way up since I quit owning a race team. To come back to
the race track has been a lot more fun, much less to come here and run well.
That's what it's all about. If you can be competitive and run good, you
don't necessarily have to sit on the pole and win every race, but if you can
chip away and be competitive week in and week out, that's where I want to
be. That's a part of what this business is all about."

	BOB WILDBERGER (Senior Manager, NASCAR Operations - Dodge
Motorsports)
	"I  didn't expect us to take the pole at this particular track. It's
a new surface. It's extremely fast, and a lot of it was an unknown factor
coming into the weekend. I give a tremendous amount of credit to Bill
Elliott. If you look at Bill's history, he loves the faster speedways. This
is Bill's second pole this year. He won it at Atlanta and that kind of tell
you where his heart's at, and if you look at it through his career, he's
been there through time.
	"The Ray Evernham team is a very neat team and to come to a tough
race track and win the pole, it gives the team a lot of credit. Kyle Petty
did a great job, and how about Shawn Robinson? We're really proud she's
running a Dodge.
	"Last but not least, I hope a Dodge is leading the last lap of the
race Sunday as well as the first one."