Checker Auto Parts 500 Qualifying - Nascar

DALE JARRETT – No. 88 UPS Ford Fusion (Qualified 27th) – "We had a good pick up on both of our laps from practice. We worked on race stuff mainly in practice and made one attempt at a qualifying deal, but we were terrible. The guys put their heads together and the changes they made, especially with the shocks, made a huge difference in the way that car drove. I could be aggressive and it did the things that it’s supposed to do. Hopefully that’s a good sign for tomorrow and Sunday."

JAMIE MCMURRAY – No. 26 Irwin Ford Fusion (Qualified 14th) – "The track is getting a lot of grip in turns one and two where the shade is, but we’ve got a good balance for our car. We were at both ends of being tight and loose in practice and the guys did a really good job adjusting on it. It’s been a pretty good start to our weekend for the Irwin Industrial Tools Ford Fusion."

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 38 M&M’s Ford Fusion (Qualified 13th) – "That was a good pick up for us from where we were at in practice. I felt the car was better than that and I think our car is really good in race trim, so I’m really looking forward to this weekend. We just traveled the front end of the car too much on that lap and kind of pushed up the race track a little bit. We’ll get it fixed for race trim and see what we can do tomorrow."

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion (Qualified 12th) – "We were pretty conservative there and didn’t go as fast as we needed to go, but that will be a pretty good starting spot. I thought that second lap was gonna be a little bit faster, but Bob’s doing a great job. The car is running great. To qualify eighth so far and go that easy, plus we were so fast in practice, so that’s nice."

IS BOB THE BEST OPTION FOR YOU RIGHT NOW WITH WALLY WANTING TO MAKE A CHANGE? "Yeah, I feel like Bob and Wally are equals and I’ll take either one of them. I’m just sad to lose Wally out of the company. That’s the bad thing."

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion (Qualified 10th) – "That was a great lap for us. We really struggled all day today. We got a lucky draw and took advantage of it and got a good lap out of it."

CAN YOU BE OPTIMISTIC NOW? "Not really. I’m more optimistic after we qualified, but in practice we were about a 30th-place car again today. They made some wholesale changes and I don’t even know what they all did, but they made a bunch of changes. I think they had a lot of help from the 99 car today, so we used most of their stuff and went and qualified that and got a good lap and a good place to start. I didn’t even really nail the lap and it’s still gonna get us a good spot, so that part of it is good."

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 National Guard Ford Fusion (Qualified 6th) – "I had a good enough car for the pole and I just didn’t drive it right. I don’t know. It’s hard to do that one lap without making a mistake, but the car wiggles a little bit and it’s like, ‘Can I swat the throttle or am I gonna pitch it completely sideways and ruin the lap?’ I know a .10 on the first lap wasn’t good enough. I knew I was gonna be down some speed, so I was conservative on that second lap pushing the gas down and it just had so much grip. It was unbelievable and I just gave up so much. The car was so good."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WORKING WITH PAT NEXT YEAR? "I’m pretty excited about it. I think I’ll get along with Pat just as good as I got along with Doug. They’re both pretty similar and they both work real hard, so I think it’ll be a change."

- Ford -