<<CALIFORNIA qualirfying page 1.doc>>  <<...OLE_Obj...>> 

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Friday, April 26, 2002
Ray Cooper
California Speedway
Golin/Harris International
Dodge notes and quotes.		803-466-9085
NAPA Auto Parts 500 Qualifying. 
 
JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We made some changes before qualifying, and we definitely went in the right
direction.  We were pretty good in practice. We made a couple of little
changes and it seemed big. The car was a little freer than I expected. I'm
real proud of the guys. The car is running good. I'm happy with it. The
track got real fast, so I'm not sure where we'll end up."

BRANDON GAUGHAN (No. 62 NAPA Autocare Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"Everybody has picked up from practice. I picked up three tenths, but these
guys are showing why they're that good.  Jeff Gordon picked up eight tenths.
We've got to beat 10 people to make the show, and it's going to be close.
I'm looking at a board that shows Earnhardt, Mayfield, Wallace and Waltrip.
At least we got a shot to qualify and that's all I wanted. This is the NAPA
500 weekend, and they asked us to come here. Dodge has helped us out a lot
with testing. With our truck program, Dodge has helped us out a ton, and
they did us justice with our Cup program. I've got a Buddy Arrington motor
in there, so I've got no excuses. We're just a team from the west coast
trying to race in the big boy league. We'll see how it goes. The car was a
little loose, but I think I got everything it had in it at the time. If we
tune, we can probably get a little more out of it. We were a little free.
The wind changed directions, and those guys are good at anticipating
something like that and a lot better driving it. I think I got everything
out of it it had at the moment. We've just got to hope for a little luck
now."
NOTE: Gaughan ended up 38th fastest and missed making the field by two
spots.

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We picked up some from practice, but everybody is picking up. The track is
a lot cooler. If you don't pick up today, you're never going to pick up. It
ain't driver picking up. It's the race track. Goodyear has come with a good
tire. I've made this race the past two years. It's hard here. You need clean
air to race. You don't want to get bunched up in the back. If you get back
in the pack, you get left behind."

STEVE GRISSOM (No. 44 Brawny/Georgia Pacific Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We had a lot of room to go. After practice, we changed the car a good bit.
We got started off on the wrong foot. We picked up. We fixed our problem. I
wish we could have run faster, but we're not having the problem we had in
practice now, so that's the main thing. We fixed the car, and we'll get it
better from here."






HUT STRICKLIN (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"The rain-shortened practiced hurt us a little bit. We needed one more run
to find out where we were. At least we didn't have to use a provisional, and
that's the good part. I think we'll race good Sunday."

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We weren't real good, made some changes and then we made some more changes
sitting on pit road waiting to qualify. We ended up just about like we were
before we started making the changes. We just ran out of time. All-in-all,
we didn't qualify that bad. At least we're close to the boss (Kyle Petty).
If you run smooth here, you get a good lap, and that's what we did on the
first lap. Then I tried to run hard on the second lap, and it wouldn't take
it."

WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I don't think we've had it figured out on Friday yet. We'll be a lot better
when the race starts. We'll be 15 spots better than we qualified once we get
in race trim. I feel real good about the race. I wish we could have
qualified better, but we'll take it and go from here."

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"The tire got into the fender in turn one and grinded the left front tire. I
got sideways and that was it. There was no need to run another lap after
that. It was over."

JIMMY SPENCER (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We just didn't pick up as much as we should. I'm not sure what was wrong.
We'd been qualifying in the top 10 at all of the non-restrictor plate
tracks. It was very tight out there. We could have made some adjustments,
but we never got in a qualifying run in practice. The rain probably got
everybody, but Team Target probably didn't adjust as well as we should have.
This is the car we had at Vegas, and it qualified in the top 5 there.  We
led some laps there, and we think we'll be in good shape. It's going to be
hard trying to get to the front. It's just no fun to start that far back."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"It started raining on us. I took it easy in one and two because it was
raining pretty good. It bottomed out real bad. You don't want to sail off
down in the corner when it's raining. We'll be all right for the race. The
car was a lot faster than we qualified."
 
CASEY ATWOOD (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T)
NOTE: Atwood qualified 12th fastest, his best starting position of the
season. He also posted the fastest qualifying speed by a Dodge.
"I was careful on that first lap. I went down the backstretch on my warmup
lap, and the rain was hitting the windshield hard. It stopped by the second
lap, so I pushed it on the second lap. Compared to the way the season has
gone, I'm real happy with that lap. I wanted to get in the top 10, but
people were really picking up a lot. I think that's about all she had there.
I like any flat track. I like tracks like this. The way the cars are set up
for tracks like this really suits my driving style."
















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