Chevy Qualifying Notes - Busch Mexico City, Mar. 5

 
CHEVROLET NOTES & QUOTES
NASCAR BUSCH SERIES
TELCEL MOTOROLA MEXICO 200 - QUALIFYING NOTES
AUTODROMO HERMANOS RODRIGUEZ
March 5, 2005
 
CLINT BOWYER, NO. 2 ACDELCO CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "So far, so good. The AC Delco Chevrolet is running good. We haven't wrecked. We were real loose out there - in fact, quite a bit looser than I had anticipated. I tried to hold on. But we'll take it and hopefully it'll hold up somewhere up front. I think I'd rather be in the front or the back - not in the middle."
 
CHRIS COOK, NO. 7 NEMCO CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "There was a lot left. These guys at NEMCO are artists. They're the best. I didn't give everything that the car had. We were on the soft side. That was my fault. We got it stiffer today. And I went off into Turn 1 a little hard and got sideways. But again, I owe a whole lot to NEMCO to making this thing possible."
 
RON HORNADAY, NO. 33 YARD MAN CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I told Kevin (Harvick, owner) last night not to ask me drive again when this thing doesn't have points. I'm having a lot of fun in the Trucks. And I thank GM Goodwrench for letting me come down here and drive Kevin's car, but I hope that sticks and we'll be in the race. We know we've got a good car to run the race. Our fastest lap yesterday was about our fifth or sixth lap. So we've got a really good car. The guys put a good car together. And we had a problem. We probably butted heads more than we should have yesterday. But hopefully that puts us in the show solid."
 
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ, NO. 5 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Note: Crashed on his qualifying attempt and will go to a back-up car for Sunday's race: "I went out and the car was very loose. I've never had a car like that. I was trying to do a quick lap and I probably pushed the car too much. I was surprised because the car has been so consistent all weekend. But we'll still have another car, a great car, and tomorrow we should be fine."
 
(DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE BACK-UP CAR AND HAVE YOU TESTED IT?) "No, and I haven't. But Hendrick Motorsports is the best team out there and I'm sure that car will be fine for tomorrow."
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 21 PELON PELO RICO CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "My hat's off to these guys for working so hard all week. We're just trying to keep the fenders on it and keep all the tires on the track and do everything we can do to keep going in a straight line. When it was time to go, we went good. I don't know if that'll be enough to take the pole, but that should be pretty good."
 
(HOW ARE YOU FEELING?) "I feel terrible, man. I got sick last night, and I don't feel very good."
 
ROBBY GORDON, NO. 93 RED BULL CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We knew we had a good car. Yesterday, when I did my simulated qualifying run, I practiced from the back straightaway here. We had to do a little bit of gambling on my tire pressures. I idled around as long as I could and popped the number up with this Red Bull Chevrolet. We're really excited about that. We think it's obviously a good enough time to get us in the show solidly."
 
(WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR TOMORROW?) "We wanted to come down here and be competitive right out of the box, and we did. Our road race stuff is really good. Our Menard engine stuff is pretty good. We're having a good time. It's really working out. We're a new team and we're finally starting to get caught up a little bit."
 
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 8 BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I'm pretty happy about that (lap). I've beat some really good road racers and I wanted to be in the top 10 and this is way beyond that. I'm just real proud of these guys. I'm real happy."
 
RON FELLOWS, NO. 87 CINGULAR CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "I kind of messed up in Turn 1 a little bit and I just really struggled with the lap. So, it is what it is. It's great for Jorge (Goeters) here in Mexico. If we get a race in Canada, maybe it'll be my turn (laughs). The guys have done a great job on our Chevy Monte Carlo. But 80 laps at this place is going to be a long time based on what we've seen in practice."
 
(DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL STRATEGY FOR TOMORROW?) "Well, we've been chasing a lot of understeer - a very pushy car. I'm guessing we're going to have to be real patient and just see how the track changes so we can make a couple of adjustments at the first pit stop. It's going to be interesting - especially the first corner. You don't want to miss the start of the race."
 
POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:
ROBBY GORDON, NO. 83 RED BULL CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Qualified 2nd:  
(HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT JORGE GOETERS GETTING THE POLE?) "I think it's great. I'm happy about my qualifying effort, but I'm also happy for him to drive and qualify so good in Mexico. It's an important race for him. This will only add more fans to the grandstands."
 
(ON THE RACE TRACK) "I like the race track. It's fast. I think it's going to be pretty difficult to pass. You'll have to be precise on your passing decisions. You'll have to get the most out of your car and save the tires for long runs. The first 60 laps of the race don't matter for me. I only care about the last 20 laps."
 
(ON THE RACE AND RACING WITH MEXICAN DRIVERS) "I'm excited about the race and I'm excited that there are such quality drivers down in Mexico that with very little experience can come out and be very competitive. I did not have a guaranteed spot in this race so I had to be a little conservative.  I made sure we never got off the race track because then we'd have to go home. The race is more important. I'd be happy with qualifying anywhere from first to 15th just to be in the show. There are so many cars and the series is so competitive that you can't make any mistakes. We know we're pretty good in race conditions."
 
(DID YOU GO OVER THE PATCH THAT HAD SEALER ON IT THEY PUT DOWN SINCE YESTERDAY'S PRACTICE - I THINK IT'S IN TURN 2?) "Well, he's talking about the patch they put down in I believe it's Turn 4, if you don't count the chicane I guess it would be in Turn 4. Yeah, I went over the patch. It wasn't an issue at all. I was very conservative on my lap. We didn't take too many chances. The track, as far as the race track, has not had any problems whatsoever. I guess it was coming up just a little bit there - probably because the track wasn't built for cars so heavy. Our cars are 3400 pounds and we have the same problems sometimes in the U.S. as well - it's not just here in Mexico."
 
(HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ROAD RACING COMPARED TO OVAL TRACK RACING?) "I like road racing. I think it brings out the best in a driver. I think on ovals, the car is maybe more important than even the driver. I've always liked the road racing side of things. This track is different than what we race on in the U.S. There is a lot of elevation change there. We'll keep adjusting on the cars."
 
(ON TAKING NASCAR INTERNATIONAL) "I think it's great that we go to different places. It gives drivers and sponsors other opportunities."
 
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 8 BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Qualified 3rd: 
(ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP AND A MEXICAN DRIVER STARTING ON THE POLE): "I'm really happy with my lap. My guys did a great job working on the car. I'm really excited about how we ran. But I also think it's really cool to see Jorge get on the pole. To see all the fans going crazy and the air horns going - it was cool. I don't think they would have done that if I had won the pole."
 
(HOW DOES IT FEEL TO QUALIFY ON A ROAD COURSE WITH VERY LITTLE TIME TO WARM UP THE TIRES?) "I'm glad they went with a full lap to warm up. Yesterday, they were planning on just going around the oval and coming right to the green and I'm sure a lot more cars would have crashed that way. My car was good. I was happy with it. It drove just like it did yesterday. It seemed like a lot of guys slowed down who went out early. The track was real hot and slick. I was glad to go out late and to have no surprises."
 
(ON WHAT HE EXPECTS IN THE RACE) "I'm really happy to be starting up front. I think the first lap going into the chicane is going to be a hard time for a lot of guys. It's really narrow and you're not going to be able to go through there two-wide. So everybody is going to have to give and take a lot and get single file to get through there. That's the biggest reason why I wanted to start up front. I'm not sure what the race will bring. I think it's easier to race on these tracks than it is to qualify or to try and go fast for one lap. Then, it's hard to hit your marks and if you make one little mistake, you're off the track. Whereas in the race, you kind of get into a rhythm. You know what your car is doing every lap and you just hit your marks. I think there will be a lot less problems during the race than there were yesterday."
 
(ON THE ALTITUDE AND THE CROWD) "The altitude hasn't bothered me personally, unless I run up too many stairs. When I'm in the car, you don't seem to be able to tell the difference very much. But the car doesn't like it as much. The motor doesn't run very well. It doesn't run as good as it does at sea level. We don't have quite as much power. But it doesn't bother me. The fans are awesome. They are very enthusiastic. For a day of Busch qualifying, I don't think we've ever had this many people at the track. It's fun to see all these people here. It's pretty exciting."