Catchfence

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Tayler Malsam, 8th

Ricky Carmichael, 15th

Johnny Sauter, 17th

James Buescher, 19th

Chris Jones, 25th

J.R. Fitzpatrick, 26th

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER QUALIFYING QUOTES

AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009,

TAYLER MALSAM, No. 81 ONE-EIGHTY TOYOTA:

“That was a good lap. Doug [Wolcott, crew chief] and the guys did an awesome job giving me another fast truck like they do every weekend. Pretty much doesn’t really matter where you qualify here. We’re just lucky to be up front and get more TV time [smiles]. We’ll have a fun race tomorrow and this track is way smoother than Daytona and should be a lot easier than Daytona.”

HOW BIG OF A FACTOR WAS THE WIND?

“I guess we just got a good gust there. That’s what my guess is. I mean everyone is about the same when you go around here so hopefully everyone gets a bad guest after that.”

YOU DIDN’T PICK UP A LOT ON THAT SECOND LAP.

“We had a big headwind on the front straightaway. There was a big wind on that second lap compared to the first one and that’s what killed us. I think we could have picked up more if we had the same wind as the first lap but that’s just how it goes.”

DO YOU LIKE RESTRICTOR PLATE RACING?

“Yeah it’s a lot of fun. I wish I could figure it out more and wish I had more experience so I could know what to do in the draft. Like we did in Daytona we’re just going to stay in the bottom and hang on until those last 10 laps and then we’ll try to make a move and hopefully follow Skinner or Hornaday or Bodine up to the front because those guys know what they’re doing.”

DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE GETTING PEOPLE TO DRAFT WITH YOU?

“I’m sure you will with those rookie stripes tomorrow. I know today people got behind us but they’d also pull off. Hopefully they trust me enough and I’ve shown enough respect all year for them to stick with me at the end of the race but we’ll see what happens. It’s all whoever pulls the last straw type deal wins tomorrow. We saw at Daytona that if everyone went with Skinner and Colin and luckily we finished 10th. Hopefully this weekend someone picks me and takes someone else out of the mix. We’ll see how it goes. It should be a fun race.”

JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 13 FUN SAND/RODNEY ATKINS/CURB RECORDS CHEVROLET: ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT LAP?

“It doesn’t matter [smiles]. By lap two you’ll have forgotten completely where everybody started. Just have to stay out of trouble. That’s my biggest deal is just trying to stay out of trouble. We’ll see what the day brings us.”

YOU HAVE A LOT OF SUPERSPEEDWAY EXPERIENCE. DOES THAT MEAN PEOPLE ARE MORE WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU IN THE DRAFT?

“I don’t know, I doubt it. I don’t think that really matters. I think people know who’s got fast stuff and when you see somebody go blowing by you or whatever you tend to want to be with that truck. You’ve got to have speed. I’d like to think it works that way but I know I don’t care who’s driving what if I see them and they’re fast I’ll work with them. Strength in numbers, baby.”

YOU RAN UP FRONT AT DAYTONA BACK IN FEBRUARY. IS THIS THE SAME TRUCK?

“It’s the same truck we had at Daytona but unfortunately we wrecked it down there. I definitely think we can get out there and mix it up a little bit. Personally I don’t think we’re as fast as we want to be and we actually had pretty high expectations coming here but it’s all good. That’s why they call is racing: competition.”

JAMES BUESCHER, No. 10 INTERNATIONAL MAXX FORCE DIESEL FORD:

“We run a 53.80 in practice so I don’t know where we lost four and a half, five tenths at but we lost it somewhere. We were consistent. I think we ran a .24 and a.26 so you can get much more consistent than that. I guess we’ve got to see how this thing will draft in the race.”

DID YOU WORK ON DRAFTING IN PRACTICE TODAY?

“We really did half and half. We did three qualifying runs so I thought we’d qualify a lot better than this. We’ll see where we end up and hopefully the MAXXFORCE Ford will race better than it qualified.”

DO YOU LIKE THIS TYPE OF RACING?

“I do. It’s a lot of fun, different animal. It gets pretty intense. I enjoy it. It’s fun to get out there and draft and use the air to your advantage. I’d like to put it in victory lane. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow and hopefully we’ll wind up in victory lane.”

RICKY CARMICHAEL, No. 4 MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET:

“I was hoping for a high 53, a 53.9. Dang it, we’re never going to beat Hornaday in qualifying [laughs]. I started one behind him at Daytona so to start behind him in whatever row we end up in would be awesome. I’m happy. The truck drives great and I can’t wait. I want to be Raybestos Rookie of the Race.”

AT LEAST YOU HAVE SOME SEAT TIME IN THIS TYPE OF RACING.

“This one, the handling you don’t have to worry about like at Daytona. I like plate racing. I think it’s fun.”

WILL ANYONE DRAFT WITH YOU?

“Me? Heck no I’m a rookie. No one is going to draft with me and the position I’m in probably everybody thinks everything is given to me so they for sure are not going to follow me. I’m not scared to go with somebody. I’ll just be a push. If I can’t win I want my teammate Ron Hornaday to win.”

CHRIS JONES, No. 41 MIKE BERG TRUCKING DODGE:

“We tried a lot in practice on qualifying runs and run better in practice than we did here in qualifying but that’s all right. Once you get out there in the draft it really doesn’t matter. It’s all who you hook up with. It’ll be good experience for me. It’s my first time here so we’ll try to learn a lot and get out there and follow some good guys and try to learn as much as I can.”

HOW MUCH DRAFTING EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE?

“This is my first time at Talladega. I’ve run Michigan and you get a little bit there but at a track like this drafting is real big here.”

HAS ANYONE GIVEN YOU ADVICE ABOUT THE RACE?

“A little bit, just trying to stay out of trouble and just be patient. That’s the main thing that I’ve heard all weekend is just be patient, use your head and don’t go out there beating on a lot of people. Hopefully it’ll be good experience for Daytona and hopefully we’ll make it there in February.”

COMMENT ON QUALIFYING SO CLOSE TO DARKNESS.

“It wasn’t too bad. You could still see where you were going.”

TAYLER MALSAM WAS THE TOP RAYBESTOS ROOKIE IN TODASY’S QUALIFYING SESSION AT TALLADEGA.

NOTES:

- Malsam posted the eighth-best qualifying time and is the only Raybestos Rookie to start inside the top-10.

- Malsam posted a 10th-place finish at the other restrictor-plate race this season at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (race No. 1).

- Johnny Sauter leads Malsam by 36 points (212-176) in the overall Raybestos Rookie standings entering Saturday’s Mountain Dew 250.

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* Affinia Group Inc.’s affiliated companies include Brake Parts Inc. WIX Filtration Corp LLC, Affinia Products Corp LLC and other high quality manufacturers of the Affinia family of brands.

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