03.11 Chevrolet NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Qualifying notes - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

CHEVROLET NOTES & QUOTES


NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES


UAW-DAIMLERCHRYSLER 400


LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY


March 11, 2005


 


QUALIFYING


 


Jeff Gordon

#24 DuPont Chevrolet

 

HOW WAS YOUR QUALIFYING?

 

Well, I'm really happy with the lap time. I'm a little bit disappointed
because I got into Turn 3 really good, the car turned really good and I
got on the gas a little too aggressively in the middle of 3 and 4. It
jumped loose on me and I'm just a little bit surprised that we were
still able to run that fast with as sideways as I got. I'm really proud
of these guys from the DuPont Chevrolet team. It's a great pickup from
practice earlier. We'll see what happens with the sun going down and the
temperature dropping for these guys.

 

WAS THERE A DISCUSSION THAT WENT ON ABOUT THE ENGINES AFTER THE PROBLEMS
IN CALIFORNIA?

Yeah, there was. You know, the Hendrick engine guys are the best in the
business. They've been all over it. So we feel very confident.

 




Kyle Busch

#5 Kellogg's Chevrolet

 

RIGHT NOW IT LOOKS LIKE AN ALL-BUSCH FRONT ROW

It's pretty cool. Elliott Sadler just had to up through my spot with his
qualifying effort. . But it is a good qualifying effort. The Kellogg's
Chevrolet ran pretty good. We're a little bit loose, just like how it
was in California. I'd like to get back to the gas a lot better, I think
we probably could have ran about a 40...something within that range.
It's a good run for us and we're looking forward to Sunday. Hopefully we
can get this Kellogg's Chevrolet working well for Sunday.

 

DID A LOT OF YOUR FRIENDS CALL YOU FOR TICKETS THIS WEEKEND?

I had a lot of people calling me for tickets this weekend. But you know
what? The Las Vegas race has been sold out for...I think it's been the
last seven years. So, it's sold out once again this year and that's
definitely awesome for all these fans that come out here and support Las
Vegas Motor Speedway the way it needs to be supported. I think the only
tickets that are still for sale are for Saturday, so hopefully some
people get some.

 

Scott Riggs

#10 Valvoline Chevrolet

QUALIFIED 5TH, BUT WILL START FROM THE REAR AFTER A TRANSMISSION CHANGE

 

HOW WAS QUALIFYING?

It was good for us. We picked up very much. We had a great draw. That
was good for us. We made some changes right there at the end of
practice; we thought they were going to be really good and they were,
they really helped the car. Almost too much-almost freed the car up too
much because the changes we made and the combination of the temperature
going down so low, too. It's good for us. Everybody did a good job. It's
a shame we had transmission trouble and have to go to the rear, but at
least we got a good pit stall selection. We had a good car at California
and drove up to the front before our engine let go. So we'll have to
come up from the back and go to the front here.

 

WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE TRANSMISSION?

Well, right there at the exit of the first lap-the first bonsai lap this
morning, I came in and overshot the pits. So, I stopped, put it in
reverse and started to back up. I guess our reverse (gears) are just so
weak, it wrung the gear and broke the reverse gear. We finished practice
out, but we pulled it out and let the officials stand beside us. We
opened the side cover and there were all sorts of parts from the reverse
gear in there. We couldn't take a chance, so we had to change it.

 

DO YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR ENGINE PACKAGE THIS WEEKEND?

Oh yeah. I feel good about it. They explained to what happened last
week. It made complete sense. So, I feel like we've got great
horsepower. It's a shame we didn't make it last week. I feel confident
it's going to make it this week.