GM RACING NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES--ROCKINGHAM BUSCH QUALIFYING

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GM RACING NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES; BUSCH SERIES QUALIFYING; TARGET HOUSE 200; NORTH CAROLINA SPEEDWAY; NOV. 7, 2003

 

BRIAN VICKERS, NO. 5 GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - POLE WINNER FOR TARGET HOUSE 200 BUSCH RACE - HIGHLIGHTS OF POST-QUALFIYING PRESS CONFERENCE:



"This is my home race track. I'm always good at this race track. I think I've run more races here than any other race track. I'm really excited about having that pole. I've fought hard and long the last couple of years and to finally get one is pretty neat. To end up being on the pole so far in Cup (ended up 2nd to Ryan Newman) is neat. That was a really good lap and will get a good starting spot for us. I think we ran a little bit faster than in practice. Hopefully it'll hold up, but either way I think it'll be good."

YOU WENT OUT THIRD IN BUSCH QUALIFYING AND SECOND IN CUP QUALIFYING SO DID IT PAY TO GO OUT EARLY? "I guess. We ought to try that more often. Normally you want to go later because it seems like as the day goes on most of the time it gets a little bit cooler and the track gets a little bit faster. But we were fortunate to have the weather and the cloud cover we needed for going out early."

DID IT HELP YOU IN CUP QUALFIYING TO GO OUT EARLIER IN THE BUSCH CAR? "I believe so. I really think the more seat time (you can get) the better. Rather than sitting in the trailer and letting time go by, I'd rather be getting laps on the race track definitely helps."

WITH THE WAY YOU'VE BEEN QUALIFYING THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS IN WINSTON CUP, DID YOU HONESTLY THINK YOU MIGHT GET A POLE THERE? "Yeah, I did. The team has done an awesome job of qualifying. I'm so proud of them. For the past couple of weeks we've had such good qualifying efforts that I was really beginning to wonder which one I would get first. It seemed like I've come so close so many times in Busch, but something always seems to happen. Somebody seems to bump me off by just a couple thousandths of a second. But I'm glad to get a Busch pole because these are my last two races in that series for now and now I'd just like to capture one in Cup so I can get that extra practice in the Bud Shootout before the Daytona 500."

HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE BUSCH RACE AS FAR AS THE POINTS BATTLE IS CONCERNED?  DO YOU CARE WHERE THE OTHER GUYS ARE OR DO YOU JUST GO OUT AND RUN YOUR OWN RACE? "More or less, you've got to run your own race. I'm not going to say that I'm not interested in knowing where everybody is at, but we're going to run our race like we have all year long. The biggest thing is to just go out there and keep the fenders on it and stay out of trouble and finish the race with a good solid finish. That's how we're going to win this championship these last two races. We may not be able to win it right now, but we can definitely lose it. We proved that earlier this year when we get beyond our simple goals to just have solid finishes in each race."