Charger Driver Ryan Newman Wins Fifth Straight Pole at AMS

Friday, March 18, 2005
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Golden Corral 500 Qualifying.

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Charger)

NOTE: This is Newman's fifth straight pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway and
his 29th career pole.

 

"It's great to be able to get the pole. It's a real team effort and all
the guys have worked hard to get the car ready. Hopefully we're ready to
race. I'm going to go fishing tomorrow. I don't know if I'll watch the
Busch race or not. We'll have to see how the fishing goes first.

 

"We actually went faster this year than we did last year with less
downforce for sure. I think the tires are obviously different and the
track was in good condition for speed. I felt like we had a really good
lap. I was a little worried knowing my second lap was faster than my
first lap. Bobby Hamilton Jr., I didn't see his lap because the TV
wasn't working in our truck, which we've got to have a little discussion
about that. I didn't see his lap, but obviously he had a great lap. He
had me a little worried there because he went out just after I did. I'm
looking forward to the race. The impound deal, I think we've dispelled
some rumors there, and I'm just happy to get five in a row at this
racetrack."

 

BOBBY HAMILTON JR. SAID YOU COULD BE BEATEN IF YOU DIDN'T SHOW UP
"That's a compliment I guess. He did a great job. I'm going fishing
tomorrow. That's about all I can say."

 

DO YOU LOSE MOMENTUM HAVING SATURDAY OFF? "Hopefully nothing, but if we
do, it should be the same as everybody else because they have the same
amount of time off. I don't have a real good answer other than we have
momentum with the pole and having a good car and looking forward to the
race. I think my guys might have a little bit have a little bit easier
day off tomorrow. Can you believe we're talking about having a day off
at a racetrack?"

 

HOW CLOSE IS THIS TEAM TO WINNING? "I think we're knocking on the door.
We've had a car that's been capable of winning all three races this
year. Vegas was the first track we led some decent laps at. We stayed up
front for quite awhile and showed to be very competitive in race trim. I
think we can do that here. I've always said, to me, qualifying is a
little bit easier than the race. You've got two laps, you versus the
racetrack, no pit stops, no anything else. The race just comes a little
harder. Obviously some guys don't win as many poles and win more races,
but that doesn't mean it's any easier to win a race."

 

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'RE SHORT OF? "I don't know if anybody smells a
win. I know what you're saying. You can create a lot of excuses, but the
bottom line is it's teamwork whether it's horsepower or cars that aren't
up to snuff or making the wrong adjustments. It could be anything.
There's no one thing I can pinpoint and say this is what we're lacking.
It's not like we're lacking in the pit stop category. We won the pit
stop competition last week. A lot of things are going our way. We've
just got to put it together on a given day and duplicate it every
weekend."

 

COMMENT ON NIGHT QUALIFYING FOR A DAY RACE "It doesn't matter to me
honestly. I don't like the schedule now because of having the day off.
To me, for lack of a better word, a waste of our team's time when
they're away from their house and families and things like that. I think
that's not beneficial for anybody, but I understand the situation we're
in right now and that's to condense the schedule. I think ideally from
my perspective, I would prefer to qualify at night and race at night and
do it all in one day. That's the way we all grew up and that's what I
enjoy, but there's more to racing than that right now. It's part
entertainment, too."

 

JEFF GREEN (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Charger)

"We just don't have any grip for some reason. I've been loose all day.
The car was actually a little bit tight that time. I guess that was
nice, but I don't have any speed where I can carry it through the
corner. We've got speed. We just don't have any grip to go through the
center of the corner. We're still working on it."

 

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

"I think I'm ready to race. My car's not right. We're going to have to
adjust on it in the race. We're going to have to move everything around.
The lap wasn't as good as I expected. I saw how much everybody was
picking up, and I thought I had that in me. You're hauling the mail out
there in qualifying. We'll do it again Sunday."

 

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

"We've got a great racecar with a great setup under it. We hadn't run
that fast yet. We knew we needed to pick up, and it worked out for us. I
was hoping for more, but it didn't seem like anybody else picked up that
much. We picked up eight tenths and that's what we needed. The guys made
good adjustments on the car. It drove good. It was a little free, but
that's what you want." 

 

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Nicorette Dodge Charger)

"It was really loose. We've been that way since we've qualified with
this package. We're basically in race trim. We made some adjustments,
and that was important. In race trim, this car is awesome. We made some
changes at the end that made it even looser for qualifying. We knew we
were going to be good or be loose. It was really loose. Hopefully we can
improve on that seventh-place finish last week. The car is really
strong. Provided the track doesn't change a lot, we've got a really good
chance of running up front."

 

 

TRAVIS KVAPIL (No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Dodge Charger)

"It was quite a bit better than we ran in practice, but everybody is
picking up. The track is faster. I thought we'd probably be around where
the 42 and 25 car are. We are a couple of tenths off from where I
thought we'd run. We primarily worked on race setup when we tested here.
That's primarily what we've worked on since we've been here today. I
think that's going to show Sunday. I think we've got a car that's going
to be fast from lap 15 to lap 40. The track is similar to what it was
like when we tested here. It's pretty close to the same temperature. The
track's in good shape."

 

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

"I guess we're ready to race. We don't really have any choice right now.
We've been working on the race setup all day. We didn't even make a
qualifying attempt until tonight, so you've got what you've got until
Sunday."

 

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Charger)

"That wasn't very good. We've been loose all day and we were still loose
in qualifying. There's nothing we can do about it now. Maybe it'll be OK
once we get in the race and get in traffic. We'll just have to wait and
see what shakes out."

 

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 91 Visteon Dodge Charger)

"It should have been a little better. I just need to try again and know
what the car did. The problem is you don't really know what you've got
until you get there. We'll tweak around a little bit and get used to
this format. It's hard for me. We should have a decent starting spot.
We'll see where we end up tonight and go from there come Sunday. I think
we'll be all right."

 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger)

"We didn't make any qualifying runs in practice. What you have is what
you have. We guessed on some air pressures. I didn't think we'd go quite
that fast. We started out trying some new things and then went back to a
more conventional deal. The new stuff was better. We'll just have to
wait and see where we end up. I'm not real sure how we'll stack up."

 

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

"The car handled good, but it wasn't enough to run wide open. We ran
hard, but I had to brake a little bit. I was a little on the free side,
and I've done enough crashing the last couple of weeks. I don't need to
tear up anything else. We didn't make any qualifying runs in practice.
That was our first time taped up. It was pretty good for being our first
time taped off. We'll see what we've got on Sunday, but I definitely
feel more confident about what we've got today than what we had the
previous two races. Hopefully we can carry that through the weekend. The
guys have worked to change the cars around a little bit. I think we're
heading in the right direction."

 

JIMMY SPENCER (No. 50 U.S. Micro Dodge Charger)

"That's the loosest car I've ever driven in qualifying I hope it makes
it in. That's the best lap we've run all day, but we're racing eight
cars. Bill Elliott has been really strong, and a couple of other cars
were strong. I hate to make excuses, but we didn't get a chance to test.
The car has a rear steer problem, but if we can qualify I think we've
have a solid car for the race. We just need to get in."