NAASCAR: GM RACING NOTES & QUOTES--BANQUET 400 QUALIFYING

GM RACING WINSTON CUP NOTES & QUOTES; WINSTON CUP QUALIFYING; BANQUET 400; KANSAS SPEEDWAY; OCT. 3, 2003

 

BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: NOTE: Labonte's qualifying lap of 179.432 miles per hour broke the track record of 177.924 set last year by Dale Earnhardt Jr. He wound up 4th in the final rundown."It was really good. We had a good car all morning in practice and the guys worked real hard to make it better every time we went out. I hope we got the most out of it right there. It was the best lap we had all day. I thought I had a good lap in, and I hope it sticks somewhere up front."

 

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DuPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: Qualified 7th:  "We made it better, but just not quite good enough. I got through Turns 1 and 2 pretty good but I just missed a little bit in 3 and 4. We tried to free the car up a little bit and it helped, but we probably could have gone a little bit more. Bobby put up a heck of a number, and he's been strong all year at tracks like this. Not far behind him, and maybe we can hold onto a good top-5. We have a good solid effort and a great car. We picked up a little bit from practice."

 

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: Qualified 24th: "I was kind of disappointed in the driver. I just got a little bit too tight up off Turn 2 and had to get out of the gas and lost a little bit of time. It was still a good lap for the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, and that should get us a decent spot." YOU WILL MAKE YOUR 100TH CAREER START ON SUNDAY. ANY THOUGHTS? "Yeah, it should be 101, but I got thrown out one week. It's pretty cool. It doesn't take long to get to 100." WHO'S KEEPING TRACK, RIGHT? "I guess just me."

 

JASON LEFFLER, NO. 0 NETZERO PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: Qualified 6th: "I've always loved coming here to Kansas. There's a lot of great race fans here, and I have to thank Tony Furr and everybody at NetZero, Pontiac and Hendrick Engines. You can't do it without the horsepower. It's going to be a good starting spot for us and I'm looking forward to Sunday." WERE YOU SHOCKED THAT JIMMIE JOHNSON GOT INTO THE 29-SECOND BRACKET? "No. You could tell by the lap Bobby Labonte put down earlier that someone was going to get there. This is a good starting spot for us. I'm sure we're going to end up somewhere in the top 10, and track position is very important. Hopefully we'll be able to keep this NetZero Pontiac up front on Sunday."

 

RICKY CRAVEN, NO. 32 TIDE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: Qualified 32nd: "Well, we needed to pick up from practice. We missed just a little bit, but we'll be OK for tomorrow. We're actually preparing ourselves for practice tomorrow and we are talking about a few changes that will help the Tide Pontiac. The race here is pretty exciting. I'm glad that we're racing in Kansas City. We qualified ninth the first year and 20th the second and we never really got to finish the job. Both years we've had our share of problems, but I'm looking forward to Sunday." HAS THE TRACK CHANGED THIS YEAR? "My first impression is no. The fast way around is still on the bottom, but I think you may see a difference tomorrow. I think there'll be a few options and that will play into the drivers' hands, because you always like to have options."

 

JOHNNY BENSON, NO. 10 VALVOLINE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: Qualified 20th: "I didn't think it was too bad. I was hoping to pick up a little bit more than what we practiced. Both laps were consistent. The Valvoline Pontiac was good off the truck so we haven't really changed a whole lot. We'll see where it's going to end up for tomorrow's race."

 

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: Won the pole position with a track record speed of 180.373, bettring Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s record of 177.924 by 2.449 miles per hour: "I'm very proud of my race team and of that lap. There are a lot of benefits to qualifying well. Track position is very important. I didn't think we'd go this fast. I'm really happy with the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports and the bodies and everything that goes into it. When we walked in here today, Chad (Knaus, crew chief) had that look in his eye. He was ready for a pole. Hopefully we have enough to keep it. Rusty Wallace is going to be tough, but this was a great lap and I've got to thank my guys for working so hard."

 

WITH SUCH GOOD MOMENTUM GOING FOR YOU, DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH TO CATCH MATT KENSETH IN THE POINT STANDINGS? "I hope so. Last week we had a chance to make up some points, but unfortunately it didn't work out for us. We're just going to keep our heads down and pay attention to our game and see where we end up." MORE JOHNSON TO FOLLOW

 

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 01 U.S. ARMY PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: Qualified 2nd; NOTE: Skinner's Pontiac is carrying desert camouflage colors this weekend in honor of all our troops stationed around the world. It is his best start since winning the pole at Richmond last month.

 

YOU'VE BEEN PRETTY GOOD ALL DAY. TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN. "The Army Pontiac has been respectable all day, and we did a mock-up run and scuffed both sets of tires in. One set was considerably better than the other. When we made our choice, I said, 'I think these tires are two or three tenths better than the other ones.' Fortunately, they were. When Dale went out, I heard them hootin' and hollerin' and I knew he got a little bit of a cloud. I knew it was a great lap and I thought he had the pole. When we went, he said, '.03, you're second.' I thought, 'what the heck is going on here?' I was confused. I guess both our laps were really close. It wasn't quite good enough to catch Jimmie, so congratulations to him. I'm just happy about our run today. I only have three races left with this team, and we got them a pole and an outside pole, and it would be nice to get them a good top-5, top-10 or maybe a win. That's kind of what our goal is."

 

WHY DO YOU THINK THE SPEEDS PICKED UP SO MUCH TODAY? "The big thing today was the weather. It is the learning curve with these cars. This is the first year they've all been fairly a common, basic car with different noses and tail pieces and stuff. The teams just get better, the shock technology gets better, the engines get better, the aero is better.everybody just continues to learn."

 

THE WAY THINGS STARTED OUT THIS SEASON, WHEN YOU STRUGGLED WITH THE KODAK TEAM, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW IT FEELS TO BE UP HERE ON THE PODIUM NOW? "It's hard to be politically correct sometimes, but I really want to thank Kodak for the opportunity that they gave me. They're a great, great sponsor, and it didn't work out for us, but I wish them all the best. I wish Larry McClure the best. The best thing he ever did for me was fire me, so I could get back out here and get my credentials back where they're supposed to be and prove that I can still drive a race car and that I'm not really washed up and need a provisional every week to get in."

 

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TODAY TO BE ON THE PODIUM IN GETTING YOUR DEAL PUT TOGETHER FOR NEXT YEAR? "I think our deal for next year is 80-percent done. I would still like to pursue a few other things as well. It doesn't matter if you've had a great year or a bad year. We've had two or three bad years and I was injured before then. We've been pretty much a hard-luck story. We've been competitive at times, but we can't get the consistency that some of these guys have had with their teams and their situations. I can still drive a race car, and fortunately, people in racing know that and are still giving me opportunities to go out here and do something I really love to do for a living. I've known these guys a long time. I remember Dale when he was running short tracks and just starting out. I'm really proud of him. He's come a long way and grown up a lot. Jimmie was struggling just two or three years ago, and now he's up there running for a championship. It's great. I'm really happy for them. I still think we'll have some opportunities in our career to go win races. [Laughing] I want to do really good so Dale Jr. will let me drive the Chance2 Motorsports car one of these days."

 

ARE YOU ON THE EDGE IN QUALIFYING? "I think we got pretty much all there was out of ours. I don't know about these guys."

 

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: Qualified 3rd: TAKE US THROUGH YOUR LAP AND WHY DO YOU THINK THE SPEEDS HAVE JUMPED LIKE THEY HAVE?. "I think a lot of people have learned a little bit about this place. This is our third time here. The temperatures are definitely a little cooler, the track was cooler. That's the acceleration of technology, and everybody has a learning curve and everything coming into play. My car was pretty good in practice. We were trying to figure out among the three sets of tires which was the best to qualify on. We made a few changes, tried some shocks that really helped the car. For some reason, we seemed to pick up quite a bit on our qualifying run. We did that last year too, so I had a lot of confidence in the car. It did what I wanted it to do. I made a few technical errors with my entry into Turn 3, but I don't know how much difference that would have made. Probably not enough to beat Jimmie or Michael, but I was real happy with the lap."

 

COMMENT ON THE RECENT NASCAR RULES CHANGES. "I was really against it and kind of still feel like it needs a whole lot of work. I feel that NASCAR is in the right in trying to make a difference and trying to change a certain situation or fix a problem. What I think about 

most of the time is when they started doing the pit road speed and opening the pits for even- and odd-numbered cars and whatnot. It was a big cluster when they started that. They finally figured out how to get that right, fix the problem and get it to where the competitors could understand it. But at first, it was really ridiculous when they started doing that. I think that was in the early '90s. I feel like this is kind of the same situation. They're trying to fix a problem, which I understand needs some attention. But I feel like what we have now is not going to be the way things will probably be. I hope they fix a few things. I don't really agree with letting a guy get his lap back. I benefited from it last week. I took total advantage of that opportunity. It just doesn't seem right to the rest of the guys out there racing to see a guy get a free ride back into the mix that he didn't necessarily earn. It's kind of tough, but you don't have the opportunity for the leader to give you your lap back, so rarely will you be good enough to pass the leader under green to get it back on your own. So it's kind of a catch-22 for everybody, for NASCAR, the drivers. The way it is, I think NASCAR agrees it's not a finished product, it's not a finished situation. They'll continue to mix it up and tweak it and try to make it better, try to make it more understandable, more comprehendable and tolerable and we'll work it all out."

 

MATT KENSETH HAD MORE PROBLEMS TODAY. WOULD YOU HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN HIM HAVE THIS TROUBLE SOONER IN THE YEAR? "Well, I don't like to see Matt go sliding into the wall, whether it was at the first of the year or now. It was a fortunate opportunity for us to gain some points on him last week, unfortunate for him and a couple of his teammates. But we're going to need a lot more of the same thing to be able to gain on him in the points, and numerically, we're still in the mix. But we don't sit there every week and wait for Matt to blow up or smash into the wall. We run our race and try to beat the guys that we're out there racing with and gain as many points on whoever it may be. You've got Jimmie and the 29 car and a couple of other guys up there that we're racing for point positions and they all pay pretty good themselves. You have to think about all those things too."

 

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR A DRIVER TO GET ON A HOT STREAK? "There's like a little group. Ryan Newman gets on a hot streak and stays on it for a while. Jeff, he kind of runs good. Guys like Jimmie and Ryan get on a streak and hit a little something, and it's hard to catch them after that. But I like it because it makes us work harder, makes us better. It's fortunate for most of us that Ryan had such bad luck at the start of the year or this would be a two-man race 

for the championship. But it's good to see him and his team run so good. It makes everybody run harder and makes everybody run better."

 

DID YOU SEE ANYONE THIS WEEK FOR THE CONCUSSION?  "No, I didn't see anybody this week. Everything seems to be fine. I went and did my own thing. I didn't have any problems."

 

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Bud Pole Winner: "Obviously we're very pleased with our lap today. A couple of things led to the faster times. The colder weather was one. And all these teams are working harder and harder to find speed that in 12 months' time, you need to be four-tenths faster. It was a great lap for us. Mike Skinner and Dale Jr. definitely stopped my heart when I saw their names flash up on the board. I'm just very happy to be in this position and to have the race cars that I have every week that my race team gives me. We have fun; we communicate. 

 

"It's been a great year. Looking back on last week, I wish we could have finished. Matt (Kenseth) had a bad day and it would have been nice to make up some point on him there. But we're just going to keep our heads down and take each race as it comes and see how this whole deal plays out. I think it's taken an interesting turn right now. The No. 17 is maybe running into a bad luck stretch that the rest of us have been in throughout the year. It's going to be a wild seven races to the end."

 

IS SOME OF THE SUCCESS THAT JEFF GORDON HAS HAD HERE TRANSFERRING OVER TO YOU? "I think so. Our set-ups are very similar. Mine ended up being a little bit looser that his. We're very close on set-ups and his success definitely plays over. I think that Chad (Knaus, crew chief) is a little bit more aggressive in some areas and it also gives the No. 24 a direction to go if they're not happy. 

 

"We know we have a winning set-up to start with. We just fine-tune it from there. Things have continued to change each year. I think the shocks have changed so much from where we were last year. That showed up today. We were four-tenths faster. I don't think last year's set-up is exactly going to work, but it's a great starting spot."

 

ON THE TIRE SITUATION: "I can't see there being a tire problem. It's not like Dover where you know you're just annihilating that right front every corner. You're going so fast here that the entries to the corners are pretty touchy. 

            

If you lose it on the entry, your angle is wrong and everything is wrong and you're going to hit really hard. At these speeds and with the shocks and everything that we're running to make these cars go faster, if you're not right, it's a handful. Once you hit the sweet spot, everything is great. But it is a very narrow window to make the car right and drivable."

 

WITH THE SPEEDS BEING FASTER THIS YEAR, WILL THAT MAKE THE GROOVE NARROWER? "I think the weather has a lot to do with the speeds being up. If it stays overcast and cool, it's probably going to be a single groove track. But even if the temperatures aren't necessarily up, but the sun is beating on the track, it will make the second and third grooves come in for us. I'm just scared that if there are a lot of clouds, it will be a follow the leader race."

 

ON THE FASTER SPEEDS "I think the speeds have come up. NASCAR is understanding more and more how we're working things over and finding speed. And then they come through and make a change and that bumps us back 5mph as a group. We go to work and try to find somewhere that they're not paying too close attention and find another advantage. It's just a constant game of cat and mouse. It's just finding somewhere new to look. And they are tightening up the bodies so much more on us for next year that we're probably going to start of the year a little slower. Speeds might be down some. And then speeds will come back some. It's just a continual game."

 

ON RUNNING AT KANSAS: "My Busch Team owners that I drove for, the Herzogs, are from the area. We ran ASA at I-70 and was able to run well there. I think of Kansas and I smile because I've been here a lot. I've been up to St. Joseph, Missouri a lot and spent a lot of time there. It's just nice to be back. This track has always worked well for me. I get good feelings all the way around when we come back. On a day like today, that makes it even better."