Catchfence

Where the Raybestos Rookie qualified at Daytona:

Annett 18^th

Lagasse Jr. 19^th

Allgaier 32^nd

Townley 33^rd

Gaughan 37^th

McDowell 48^th

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER QUALIFYING QUOTES FOR THE CAMPING WORLD 300 NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009, PAGE 5. 

MICHAEL ANNETT IN THE No. 15 PILOT TRAVEL CENTERS TOYOTA WAS THE TOP RAYBESTOS ROOKIE QUALIFIER AT DAYTONA.  WAS THAT LAP WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?  “That was actually better.  I told everybody we brought a car here to win the race.  We didn’t really care about qualifying.  You know, you do need to be up towards the front half the pack just to stay out of some of the messes early on.  But we brought a car to win the race tomorrow.  That’s a lot better, that’s about six tenths better than what we ran when we mocked-up so we’re real happy with it.  The guys had a great overnight effort.”  WILL ANYBODY DRAFT WITH YOU IN THE RACE?  “You know, it’s going to be tough but I think they’ll be some Toyota teams out there and we’ll be able to stick together and go towards the front.  I got lined up with some Roush guys the other day and I think they saw that we have a car that, our car is going to the front either way so they might as well come with us and help us.  I think the Toyota teams will stick together.”   

SCOTT LAGASSE JR., AMERICA’S INCREDIBLE PIZZA COMPANY TOYOTA:  “We didn’t really care much about qualifying here.  You hate it, so I told Paul [Wolfe, crew chief] before I climbed in I said ‘You know I told you I didn’t care about qualifying? Now I kind of want to sit on the pole.’  But we came here to race and have a solid day and gain respect so the car is really drivable and that’s the goal.  You can go from the back to the front here in no time.  And we kind of saw that in the last couple of practices here yesterday that our car’s pretty good.  It drives real well and goes from the back to the front.  I can shove some guys around and I think we’re sitting pretty good where we need to be right now.”  HAVE YOU HAD ANY DRAFTNG HELP?  “You know, that’s what we spent the last two days doing, really, and that was Paul’s plan coming down here was put me in something really solid that drove pretty good and we went out in the practices and ran with really good guys and you saw on the speed charts that when you run with good guys you run faster.  Just trying to gain respect ‘cause I know I’m new to this.  I’ve done a little plate racing but never in these cars a whole lot.  I’m going to have to earn their respect and that’s what I’m hoping for out of this weekend.     

JUSTIN ALLGAIER, No. 12 VERIZON WIRELESS DODGE:  “We knew going into this deal that qualifying wasn’t going to be our strong point.  We’re okay with that.  I feel like we’ve got a really good race car.  This Verizon Wireless Dodge is really good in the draft.  We were going for all we had in qualifying.  We knew that was it and now we can start the race.”  WILL YOU HAVE ANY DRAFTING HELP IN THE RACE? “I feel like in the past couple of days in practice we’ve been able to get I feel really comfortable with everybody that’s around us.  I’m looking forward to it.  I think it’s going to be a great race.  This place builds character every time we come here.  I think the fans are going to get a really good show and hopefully we can have the Verizon Wireless Dodge up front.”     

JOHN WES TOWNLEY, No. 09 ZAXBY’S FORD:  “We always hope for better but we have to take what we’re given and we’re given a great race car.  The other day we went out here drafting and sucked up really good.  It was a little loose on aero but I think we fixed that.  We get out there in the race tomorrow we’re just try to hold our spot and be patient.  It’s going to be a long race and I think maybe we’ll be there at the end.  We’ll see what we’ve got and get that Zaxby’s Ford up there.”  HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO BE PATIENT?  “I guess for some it’s more difficult than others.  I know for myself I’ve always been kind of a patient person.  I am really aggressive when I need to be and that’s what you’ve got to do.  You’ve got to be patient when you need to be and when you need to get out there and you need to go you’ve got to go.  That’s always been my philosophy.”   

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 SOUTH POINT HOTEL CHEVROLET:  “We did one qualifying run yesterday and it was a .68 so we we’re right where we’d be.  We’re hoping that’s 20^th -25^th.  Our South Point Chevy is a great race car and at Daytona, just avoiding the wrecks is all you have to do, doesn’t matter where you start.  The Shootout and the Gatorade races, if they’ve shown you one thing, they’ve shown you that it doesn’t matter where you start.  So we just want to stay away from the wrecks and keep our nose clean ‘til the end of the race.  Where we start means absolutely nothing.  Good pit stops will put us up there near the end and see if we can’t win the Raybestos Rookie of the Race this weekend and we might even contend for this win.”  HAS THE YELLOW TAPE ON THE REAR BUMPER CAUSED PEOPLE TO NOT DRAFT WITH YOU?  “The 62 and the South Point colors and the Rusty Wallace team, being on that team gains you a lot of respect automatically and fortunately for me I know most of the Cup guys that are racing.  I don’t think they consider me much of a rookie but I like the Raybestos Rookie program because it gives me an extra set of tires [smiles].”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 47 TOM’S CHEVROLET:  “That’s actually better than we ran in our mock run.  We literally only ran one mock run here.  This car has a lot of downforce in it and we really built this Tom’s Camry to race on Saturday and hopefully it’s going to be hot and slick.  We’re going to need it to be ‘cause this thing has a lot of downforce and it’ll be good on old tires.  So hopefully when everyone is slipping and sliding we’ll be driving this Tom’s Snacks car to the front.”  HAVE YOU HAD DRAFTING HELP THIS WEEK?  “Absolutely.  I mean, even being a rookie in the Nationwide Series, the good thing is running Cup last year you’re able to build some relationships and some friendships out there and sort of gives you come creditability with some of the guys out there.  I think we’ll be able to find some friends tomorrow.  We’ve ran two superspeedways at the Cup level so I’m hoping we’ll hook up with some of those guys and get to the front.”       

Raybestos® brand brake and chassis parts are produced by affiliated companies in Affinia’s Global Brake and Chassis Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and chassis parts in the transportation industry.  The brake line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts, while the chassis line features tie rods, ball points, idler arms and sway bar links.  Raybestos brand braking and chassis systems are also the only systems used by NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing in competition.  For more information about Raybestos brakes, visit Raybestos.com.  For more information on Raybestos Chassis visit RaybestosChassis.com

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