Chevy Qualifying Notes - Pocono 500

CHEVROLET NOTES & QUOTES
NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES 
POCONO 500 Qualifying Notes
POCONO RACEWAY
JUNE 11, 2004


BRIAN VICKERS, NO. 25 GMAC CHEVROLET (Qualified 2nd) 
 "I guess we're satisfied.  The GMAC Chevy team did a good job.  It was a good lap.  Kasey (Kahne) picked up on us quite a bit.  Congratulations to him.  We were aiming for the pole but this is still a good starting spot."
 
ON HIS FIRST IMPRESSION OF THIS RACE TRACK:  "I like it.  I've always liked coming up here.  The fans are great.  The race track itself I love.  I like different race tracks.I don't like going to the same place or same type of race track every week.  This is definitely different.  I had a great time coming up here and I look forward to the race."
 
PRESS CONFERERENCE NOTES
DID YOU THINK YOU HAD A CHANCE TO TOP KASEY KAHNE?  "It was a good qualifying run.  The whole team did a good job.  The test went well.  The practice went well.  We had the pole up until turn three.  I felt like we had the pole across the line.  The car got loose off of turn three.   I didn't lift.  I stayed in it.  The sun was out a little bit when we were out.  So there was a lot of factors there.  It's a great starting spot for us and we'll do the best we can.  I felt even better about our race runs here testing that I did qualifying."
 
ON TESTING HERE:  "It seemed to go pretty good.  We did one day up here.  I like the race track.  It's a lot of fun for me.  Probably my favorite track on the circuit is Darlington.   This is definitely at the top of the list now.  I like going to a large variety of tracks and anything with a challenge.  This place definitely has that.  This track is very distinct.  All the corners are distinct and very different.  It takes a lot to get through all them."
 
ON BEING A ROOKIE STARTING ON FRONT ROW:  "I learn something different at every race.  Every lap I made I learned something new.  I don't think that ever stops.  I don't think it has anything to do with being a rookie in the Nextel Cup series.  It has to do with the way you approach it like I do every day.  I've learned my whole life and I'll probably continue to learn.  I hear Jeff (Gordon) say he learns stuff too.  When you get out there obviously those guys have a little bit advantage on us.  In years past, you had drivers get to the Cup level that didn't do a whole lot of racing before they got there.  I started at such a young age.  Kasey (Kahne) did just like Jimmie (Johnson) and Ryan.  You drive for so many years, 12 years, before you get here.  You can learn a lot.  I think that makes a difference.  As rookies and as drivers, you get opportunities in good cars with great teammates."
 
WHO HAS GIVEN YOU THE BEST ADVICE FOR POCONO AND WHAT WAS IT?  "I've gotten good advice from a lot drivers, Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) included.  Probably the best advice I learned about this race track that helped me become faster here is using the same thing everywhere.  It's the telemetry and really studying it.  Before we come back here for a race, we get with the engineers and compare it to my teammates to see where we can be better.  That's helped me a lot."
        
HOW DOES FAITH IN YOUR CREW COME INTO THE EQUATION FOR RACE SET UP?  "I think it's faith in each other.  That's the most important part.  You've got to be able to communicate well and trust each other.  If Peter (Sospenzo - crew chief) wants to try something and I may not always agree with him, I'll do it.  If tells me I can go wide open through the tunnel turn, I'll go out there try.  More than likely I'm going to tell him I'm not going to make it.  But I'll give it a shot if you tell me I can make it.  I've always been that way with all my crew chiefs.  I can't expect to try new things and have their faith in me if I don't do the same for them.  If they want to do something really crazy in set up that nobody's ever done, I'll definitely give it a shot."
 
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE TUNNEL TURN?  "It's hard for me say.  I'm going to try to get through there as fast as I can.  It's just another turn to another race track.  I'll do the best I can to get through as fast as I can."
 
WHAT MAKES THAT TURN SO TRICKY?  "I don't know.  I don't really think it's any worse than other turns.  It's just another turn and I don't approach different.  It's a fast turn a flat turn with some bumps, so you have to be careful obviously."
 

JOE NEMECHEK, NO. 01 U.S. ARMY CHEVROLET (Qualified 3rd)

"It was definitely a good jump.  In practice I didn't get everything.  I didn't get everything qualifying either.  It's cooled off a little bit.   You just try and squeeze all that little extra out of each corner.  I messed up a little bit in (Turns) One and Two on my lap.  Hopefully it will be a top five starting spot.  We'll just have to go from there.  The U.S. Army worked really hard on making the thing drive good today.  Hendrick Motorsports gave us a killer engine.  That's what it takes - power and handling.   All the guys back at the fab shop fixed the body on this car.  It hasn't been back to the wind tunnel but it's driving good."
 
PRESS CONFERERENCE NOTES
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:  "It's good to have a good run.  I've complimented all my crew.  Ryan Pemberton (crew chief) and the whole group of guys worked on a car that hadn't been in the wind tunnel.  They re-skinned it and made it something else.  The car drives really good.  Hendrick Motorsports put a killer motor in.  This place is about handling and power and we got those two things going pretty well."
 
ON THE TRACK CHANGING DURING QUALIFYING:  "It's finally good to have a decent draw.  When I went it was still cloudy.  My typical luck is when the sun is out and shining, it's my turn to go.  Today we had a little luck on my side.  The car drove good.  I got everything I could out of it.   It seems like the last seven or eight weeks we've had some really terrible luck.  Anything that could happen to us has happened to us.  Then we had a wreck at Richmond and wreck at Dover.  We had a pretty decent run in Charlotte.  We're just trying to get our program turned around right now."
 
 ON AN EXPERIENCED DRIVER COMPETING AGAINST ROOKIES?  "I drove the No. 25 car last year.  Brian (Vickers) does good.  He's a good driver.   It's getting to the point now where you have to look at what teams their with.  That is going to play more a part in how the teams go.  The teams know how the cars need to be set for the beginning of this race.  The driver has to tell them what the car is doing but the teams know.  Jeff Gordon has won this race.  Jimmie Johnson has run good here.  Terry Labonte has run good here.  All the groups at Hendrick Motorsports run good here.  Bill Elliott has also always run good here."
 
DOES IT TAKE EXPERIENCE TO MAKE 500 MILES?  "It does since the track changes a lot.  For Brian and Kasey, being their first time here, it's going to be an experience.  They're going to learn a lot tomorrow when we start doing race practice and someone is up on your tail really close going into the corner.  They're all race car drivers.  They learn from what happens on all these others tracks.  It's all about the same."
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET (Qualified 5th)
"We always qualify really well at Pocono.  Race wise we've mediocre.  Hopefully we can get that sorted out and have a good race.  I want another trophy.  I'd love to win one here.  It's a very fun track.  I'd love to get one."
 
ON BOUNCING BACK FROM LAST WEEKEND:  "Everybody tries to have the mentality to never quit.  You never know what's going to happen until it's all over.  That makes you able to compete at the top level.  I think our guys above and beyond have been able to not let circumstances bring us down.   I have 100 percent confidence in my car, my team, my abilities.  That all plays off one another and allows us to bounce back even if we have a bad week.  We had a great week last week.  We were plenty fast.  We just had some back luck.  The things we're going to worry are the things we can control.  Last weekend we couldn't control that so we can let it go."
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET (Qualified 6th)
"I was hoping to get in the forties and got to thirty-nine.  That's definitely a good pick up.  Some other guys have definitely picked up.  It's hard to say which cars that have gone so far and the ones that haven't that will pick up.  I'd like to think we can stay in the top ten but there are some good cars going after us.  We'll wait and see.  That's by far the best we've been in qualifying in a while."
 
DOES THIS TRACK CHANGE MUCH OVER 500 MILES?  "It will change.  Right now it depends on where we qualify to see how free we want to start the car out to be in traffic.  This track gets really tight when you're in traffic.  Right now we'll have to start a little freer than we like to and then see if we need to tighten it up."
 

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 THE HOME DEPOT CHEVROLET (Qualified 8th)

"We picked a half second between the first round and second round today.  This track is such a momentum track with the three corners with long straight aways following them.  You got to get through the center of the corner and try to squeeze a little bit through the center on each corner to get going a little bit faster."
 
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET (Qualified 16th)
"In practice we ran out of time and didn't get to make a mock run.  We didn't know how good the car was going to be or how good it would do.  The car was still real real tight through the first corner and just giving up a lot time in each corner.  I'm pretty happy with the lap.  That will get us in the middle of the field.  Let's get this done and get in race trim tomorrow and hopefully we get the car working and to the front."
 
WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO GET AROUND A RACE CAR AT POCONO?  "This track is not too bad.  We qualified 18th here last year and ended up leading that race at some point and finishing in the top five.   You can pass a lot of straight away here to get runs on guys.  You get a run on a guy and get up underneath him you can actually get drafting help down the front straight away.  You can make runs on people that are racing too hard.  There's all kinds of opportunity to pass.  The tunnel turns are great.  The exit at the tunnel turn is good.  It's a fun track to drive.  Each corner is so different, it's so much fun to drive.  I wish we could have done better.  I felt like coming here with the two top fives that we had last year we could have qualified better.  We just struggled."
 
TERRY LABONTE, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (Qualified 19th)
"That's right at what we practiced.  That's a little bit quicker.  We were hoping to pick a little more than that.  I know that qualifying here at Pocono some guys tend to pick up more than we just did.  We were pretty at good practice.  I think we have a pretty good combination for the race.  We'll just take what that gives us and we'll work on our race set up."