Catchfence

Dodge Motorsports

“It was a real good lap for our Miller Lite Dodge. I was nervous and stressing about qualifying a bit today, but it all worked out for us. I was scratching my head a bit after the lap trying to figure out why the car felt so good. We ran a low 70 (28.72 seconds) which is pretty quick here, but (Juan Pablo) Montoya ripped off a 50 (28.545 second) which is really quick. We’ll start third for the race on Sunday and that will give us a good pit box which is great for the Miller Lite Dodge.”

TALK ABOUT SETTING THE CAR UP FOR LONG RUNS HERE AT LOUDON? “It’s a challenge to get a car setup anywhere, and Loudon is no exception. The thing that you always have to keep in the back of your mind here is the long fuel run and pitting that final time on lap 210, you’re going to be out there for 90 laps if it goes green. With double-file restarts and having to get up on the wheel on more of the shorter runs, that’s become more important. You have to keep in the back of your mind that this race may turn into fuel strategy. That showed itself when I won here last year and came up again here in the spring race. The hay is made here on the short runs.”

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE TOP-FIVE IN QUALIFYING TODAY, ALL THE CARS ARE IN THE CHASE. DOES THAT MAKE THE DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS EASIER? “I got in trouble here in 2005. Three laps into the Chase I’m wrecked by a non-chaser. I’m very happy that we’re up front and running with Chase guys. Your Chase can get ruined pretty early and I’m glad we’re starting with Chase guys.”

DO YOU APPROACH EACH RACE INDEPENDENTLY SO EARLY IN THE CHASE? “It’s one race at a time. I think you have to have your homework done before the Chase starts… which cars you’re going to bring to which tracks…at least a few races in advance. Once Sunday ends, Monday begins. Are you testing that week? Are you not testing? You try to get in as much detail as you can within your team to show up to the next race and take it one race at time.”

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE INTENSITY OF THIS WEEKEND? “Yeah, the Richmond intensity for a group of guys is over the top. For Tony (Stewart), he was just on easy street for a few weeks….Jimmie (Johnson) and Jeff (Gordon)…even Denny (Hamlin) was locked in (to the Chase). But the rest of the guys had to lock themselves in and that intensity level, that pressure, it creates excitement. But now the excitement is for the 12 guys that are in. You can say that New Hampshire doesn’t have the exact luster that you’re looking for, but it’s just as intense for the drivers every week. Your emotions go up and down just with your mood and how your car’s doing.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) Qualified 11th

“So far we’re pretty good. We were a bit loose in practice and in qualifying, a bit on the tight side. Coming to the checkered flag I felt my front tires chattering a bit. It’s a decent lap for our Budweiser Dodge. Hopefully, we can get a top 10, but it looks like some clouds may roll in and help some guys going out later. Track position is always important, so to lay down a pretty good qualifying lap was important.”

DAVID STREMME (No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) Qualified 6th

“Not a bad lap for our Penske Dodge. I was a little tight in the center of 3 and 4, but not too bad. We unloaded with what we ran here last race, switched over to Kurt’s setup and it really helped out quite
a bit. I think we’ll be pretty good in the race.”

SAM HORNISH, JR (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) Qualified 24th

“Our Mobil 1 Dodge was just sliding around too much. We just need to get the rear hooked up if the car is to work better, especially on cold tires. A little frustrating. It’s not going to be the qualifying position we
were looking for. Now we’ll have to start further back and get a poor pit box which always makes it tough on a one-mile track.”

REED SORENSON (No. 43 McDonald’s Dodge Charger) Qualified 25th

“That will get us a decent starting spot. The key Sunday is staying out of trouble and being there at the end of the race. I love this track and I think we have a chance to do really well this weekend.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER (No. 44 Berlin City/Auto Group Dodge Charger) Qualified 34th

“We were so good in practice today; I was going for it in qualifying. I think I locked it up going into the corner and that killed our lap. We have a really good car so I am still optimistic about Sunday.”

ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Stanley Dodge Charger) Qualified 35th

“It just wasn’t the lap that we needed today in our Stanley Dodge. We haven’t been testing during the week, so we’ve been testing a lot at the track on Friday’s and sometimes you just don’t get the results that you need. We just have to keep working hard and keep hustling along trying to get our car faster.”

- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release