dodge cup, truck qualifying quotes from ams qualifying

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup notes, quotes from Golden Corral 500 Qualifying at
Atlanta and EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series Qualifying from Atlanta.

 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge) - On the pole again. Newman wins third
straight Atlanta pole, second of season and 20th of his career.

 

"We gave them something to shoot for for sure. It's pretty close to what
we ran here last year. We'll have to see what happens. Some good cars
are coming out later, and we weren't the fastest on the speed chart in
practice. It's not the most fun thing going out first, but at least my
job is done for the day. It wasn't a perfect lap, but I'm not going to
complain. I'd be really, really picky if I said it wasn't perfect.

 

"You run 200 here and it feels like it's 400. It's not me. I'm just the
lucky nut behind the wheel. It's a team sport, and qualifying is no
different than the race. It's just how you get it matched up. We're
learning. We got our butts spanked last weekend, so we'll see what we
can do to come back this weekend.

 

"I wouldn't say the track picked up speed. We picked up a little bit. It
was a good run for the ALLTEL Dodge. I really like qualifying here, and
I know some other guys do, too. Labonte is always good here, and so is
Brian Vickers. Harvick was fast in practice, but it was a good lap for
the ALLTEL Dodge.

 

"You don't really realize how fast you're going until you hit something,
and that's pretty much from 140 on. When the car jumps loose here, it's
like hitting something. You can deal with tight here. You just don't
want to deal with loose. In qualifying it's pretty fast. When Bodine ran
that 197 or whatever here, I'm sure he was thinking about it the next
couple of days."

 

"It's good and bad at the same time going out first, but it doesn't
really matter when it comes down to it. The ALLTEL Dodge was fast,
faster than when we unloaded. It was just a good lap for us, a lot of
speed. It's definitely fast here.

 

"We were slower than we qualified here last fall. I don't think it felt
much different. I think it was a 10th slower. We had a .54 last fall,
and I think we had a .64 today. One was at night and one was in the day.
The true test of the tires will be in the race when the tires fall off
and the track gets a little greasier.

 

"NASCAR has a minimum speed, and I'll let them police the slower cars.
There is a definite worry there, but the bottom line is it's up to them
to control that. I'm sure they won't have a car out there that's slower
than the minimum speed.

 

"There's a different tire here than the one we had at Vegas, and the one
we had at Vegas was different than the one we had there last year. We
missed the boat pretty big, and when we got two laps down that was
pretty much the end of our day. We never did make up a lap so we could
benefit from the Lucky Dog rule. Our car was OK for about five laps and
then it seemed like someone threw it in reverse. We just missed it. That
was basically it. It was a combination of everything.

 

"You're not going to see a tight field here, I can tell you that. The
rule changes aren't going to make a tighter field. It might make the
race a little better as far as aerodynamics or whatnot because the cars
are going to have a smaller hole. There won't be a night and day
difference from what you saw last week. I was a little disappointed in
the fact that the track got a lot of marbles on it last week. The track
wasn't as wide as it had been in the past, and that won't be good for
the rest of the year.

 

"I've always said a good racecar driver can adapt to anything. He (Kasey
Kahne) has proven that he's a good racecar driver.

 

"We struggled with the balance at Rockingham, and we struggled with it
last week at Vegas. We just haven't hit the setup quite right, but it's
coming around. Part of it is from the tires and part of it is from other
things. You've just got to learn how to stay ahead of the game."

 

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge)

"We gained a lot from this morning when we unloaded. We got too tight in
the center of the corner, and that killed a lot of our lap. The guys
made a lot of good changes. We had the fastest car last week, and we're
back in the pack this week, so it's going to be a different view that's
for sure. I think our car is going to be better in race trim. I like
having to race people. It'll be fun. Tommy Baldwin has always run good
here, so I'm excited to get to drive one of this cars. It'll be just
like Vegas as the race progresses. We'll start sliding around."

 

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 77 Kodak Easy Share Dodge)

"We qualified eighth at Vegas, but it wasn't a very good eighth. We had
to just hold on to it. This week, the car felt great. We're bringing a
new Dodge each week, and the cars are getting better and better. We got
rid of a bunch of problems we've been having all year. We've still got a
few things to work on, but the big problems are going away. I'll take
that. I hit the lines that Buddy Baker wanted me to hit, and I did it
consistently. I think we're going to be all right."

 

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)

"I thought I did pretty good. If it had turned in three and four like it
did in one and two I would have been fast. I don't think I could have
beat Ryan, but I believe I could have qualified second. We've got our
pit crew fixed, so we're ready to race. Billy Wilburn is going to change
tires. He attacked the tires in the first pit practice and on the first
stop we knocked out a 12.67. We could have won at Rockingham if we
hadn't had that bad stop. I don't know if we could have won last week,
but we could have finished second. We had three bad pit stops. You can't
have 17 and 18-second pit stops. One time I lost 17 positions. The car
has been strong, and I like the shorter spoiler and softer tires. I
really think that's better."

 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge)

"I'm not very good at this racetrack. Hopefully we'll get our car a
little better tomorrow and I hope that ends up in the top 20. I'm not
sure it will. I wish we had qualified better, but we've got to get it
good in race trim. We struggled here last year. I'd say if we can come
out of here with a top 10, I'll be pretty happy."

 

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge)

"We were sideways on both laps. We almost spun out. I don't quite
understand it. The tires are going to wear out quick. It's going to be a
handling track on Sunday, and I'd say they're going to be up against the
fence."

 

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge)

"This team has done a great job, and our Dodge is running great. We
picked up from practice, and that's the biggest thing. If we can get the
balance worked out on the car for Sunday, I think we're going to be in
real good shape."

 

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge) - Celebrating 26th birthday

"I was hoping to go a little faster, but we ended up really loose at the
end of practice. When we first went out this morning, the car felt
great. We tightened it up for qualifying. The guys did a good job of
getting the car ready, so I feel good about where we are. I feel better
after getting a year under my belt and having some good runs on top of
that. We'll have to see how we are in Happy Hour. This track is a good
bit different than Vegas, but I think we can improve on that
seventh-place finish last week. We've got a good car, good motor and
good team. The car that has the best balance and doesn't wear out one
end quicker than the other is going to be in good shape."

 

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge)

"We haven't worked on qualifying. We've spent all our time on race
stuff. We just don't have a good race package right now. The guys have
been working hard on our race cars. We call them race cars, not
qualifying cars. That was a couple tenths faster than we practiced, so
that's fast enough for me. We had a good run last week. We weren't as
good as everybody on new tires for about 10 laps. Then we were a lot
better on old tires than most people for about the last 10 laps. Jeff
ran good and cut a tire, but we had two cars at Vegas that were pretty
good, and I was really pleased. I thought we had two good cars at
Rockingham, too. I'm optimistic about the season. Coming from 42nd in
points, there's got to be a way up. That's the way we look at it. I
think we're going to be a lot better this year."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, March 12, 2004.
Ray Cooper

Atlanta Motor Speedway
Clear!Blue

EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200
704-975-3232

NCTS Qualifying. 

 

ANDY HOUSTON (No. 2 Team ASE/Carquest Dodge Ram)

"I'm satisfied we picked up from practice, but I'm definitely not
satisfied where we're at. We've been struggling. The whole time we've
been here we haven't been able to get the speed we need. We've been
working on qualifying stuff and it'll be better when we start working on
race stuff. Hopefully we're fighting a drag issue. When we get in race
trim in should handle good, and when the tires get old we'll be able to
go pretty good. That's what we're hoping, but we don't know that'll be
the case. So far, it's been a struggle. I think you'll see an excellent
race. The trucks draft good and seem to run good side by side. I think
you'll see a good show tomorrow."

 

TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Dodge Ram)

"It doesn't look good on the board, but deep down I know the truck is
going to be good in the race. It's not a qualifying truck. We didn't
build it to be a qualifier. We built it to be a good downforce truck,
and that's what it is. I'm pretty happy with the way it was this morning
in race conditions. I was very pleased with it. It's not going to be
both. You can't be real fast in qualifying and be good in the race, I
don't believe. I sure hope it's a good race tomorrow. It has all the
elements of it. Everybody is flat out right now, and they're not
lifting. I believe with the tire situation Goodyear has here right now,
that's great. It's going to make people lift and slide around and you'll
see some passing. As time goes on, it'll get better and better.

 

"I haven't calmed down one pit. I can't afford any more fines, so I've
got to watch what I say. We've got to win some races. You've got to
stand your ground, and you can't let people push you around and you
don't give anybody a break. Right now, that's the way my attitude is. If
a guy needs to get in, and I need to check up and let him in, it's not
going to happen any more."

 

BOBBY HAMILTON (No. 4 Square D Dodge Ram)

"That was a pretty good lap, but we're looking forward to the race. We
knew the truck wouldn't be fast for qualifying, but we know it's going
to race great. This is the same chassis that won Darlington last year,
and I think we can win with it again tomorrow if things go according to
plan. You know that doesn't always happen on the racetrack. In fact,
more often than not it doesn't happen, but we know this Dodge Ram is
going to be good when they drop the green flag on Saturday. Maybe we can
get a little luck on our side and have a good run."

 

 

 

 

CHAD CHAFFIN (No. 18 Dickies Racing Dodge Ram)

"It was a little slower than our banzai run in practice, but it's a
little hotter and you expect this place to slow down some after Cup
practice. We're happy. We should end up in the top 10. Bobby Hamilton
and I have identical trucks. We're two hundredths apart in lap times.
Our setups are the same, and I think it shows our equipment is right
there. We'll see how we race. I think it's going to be a good race for
Dodge and I think we're going to have a good season. I think our package
is hurting us a little in qualifying trim. You have downforce and drag.
If you have downforce, you gotta have drag. We feel like we have so much
horsepower and these Arrington motors are so strong we elected to go
with the downforce, which is good for handling, but it's hurting us a
little bit in straightaway speed. If we didn't have the Arrington
horsepower we might not have this luxury. We really believe it's going
to be good because we're going to have the best of both worlds. This is
the truck that Bobby won with at Homestead last year. Of course, it's an
'04 now, but this is the chassis - Scarface - that Bobby drove to
victory at Homestead. We're basing all of our new trucks off this truck,
so this is the benchmark at BHR that we're trying to copy."

 

STEVE PARK (No. 62 The Orleans Hotel Dodge Ram)

"We're running wide open. We didn't come here to win qualifying. We came
here to win the race, so our Dodge is a good truck. It's driving good,
and we're probably the only truck that can be held wide open for 30
laps. It just doesn't have the speed for qualifying. We'll go to Happy
Hour next, and once we get a bunch of trucks out there we'll be in good
shape. This truck has won a lot of races. Brendan won four straight at
Texas in it. We'll sacrifice a little in qualifying to have a truck we
can race with on Saturday. I don't have to get used to this track. I
just have to get used to the truck here. We'll get in handling good and
try to run up front Saturday."

 

###

Ray Cooper
Clear!Blue, LLC
rcooper@clearblue.biz
C: 704.975.3232

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