NASCAR Cup

Daytona II: Team Monte Carlo qualifying quotes

ROBBY GORDON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (fourth): "It was really good. You know, Kevin Hamlin and everybody here on the Cingular Wireless car does a great job. I gotta give a lot of credit to the body shop and the engine ...

Edited: Jul 7, 2002, 12:22 AM

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ROBBY GORDON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (fourth):

"It was really good. You know, Kevin Hamlin and everybody here on the Cingular Wireless car does a great job. I gotta give a lot of credit to the body shop and the engine shop. These guys worked really hard the last couple of months getting ready for this race. Also I want to congratulate Harvick; a good run."

MICHAEL WALTRIP, NO. 15 NAPA CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (seventh):

"I've got a real competitive car. Anytime you can be that close to the fastest car, that's what it's all about in a plate race. You got to have a fast car in order to be successful, and we obviously have that, and it's pretty cool. I feel great about it. We feel like we could win the race. We thought we could get the pole, so that will just make me a little more determined to win the race. There's not a whole lot You can do once you get here. You're going to run pretty much what you brought. You can change things, but nothing really will pick it up that much. You gotta have a good body, which is done at the shop, and you gotta have a great engine, which is done at the shop, and the driver's pretty much out of the equation. I think an intoxicated orangutan could do what I just did."

MICHAEL WALTRIP, continued: ON RACING WITH DALE JR.:

"No, I'm not tired of pushing at all. It just worked out the last couple of times that his Budweiser Chevy has been a little better than my NAPA car. Hopefully we're faster than he is and he'll be forced into the pusher role. It's hard to pass without the aero package anymore, it's almost impossible. So when a guy's got a fast car to get to the front, it's hard to do anything with him. Hopefully, I can shuffle out on top and he'll push me home this time."

STEVE PARK, NO. 1 PENNZOIL CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (eighth):

"Just not enough for the pole, but this Pennzoil Chevrolet -- I mean, DEI, they do a good job, supplying us with great race cars. I want to thank Richie Gilmore and all the guys back at the engine shop, and all the guys in the fab shop that put this Pennzoil Chevrolet together. We just hold on. Like Michael said, we're just on for the ride. It all goes to the hard work back at the shop and all the guys. I know the race fans are tired of hearing that, but it's really true here in Daytona. You have to have a good car, a good engine and also qualify well."

ACTUALLY, MICHAEL SAID EVEN AN INTOXICATED ORANGUTAN COULD'VE DONE WHAT HE DID: "I don't know about an intoxicated orangutan, but Michael's been around a lot longer than I have, so maybe he knows best."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (16TH):

"We did too (expect to go quicker). We're not exactly sure. It looks like when we came in the tape covering the air opening into the radiator had blown open. Michael Waltrip pointed out that we went so fast we blew the tape off the hood of the car and that couldn't have helped. We focused more on the race coming back. I think we have a great race car for Saturday night, and that's the most important thing."

WHAT'S DIFFERENT FROM THE DAYTONA 500? "We ended up 15th, which wasn't too bad. We went to Talladega, finished seventh. As a driver I learned a lot more about strategy, the thing to do, what not to do. I think I have also earned some respect from these guys where they will run with me, and draft with me. Hopefully I won't cause a big pile-up. I gained some more confidence with them, so we'll see what happens."

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 4 KODAK FILMS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (23RD):

"Our Kodak Max Films car has been really just about five or six tenths slower than the good cars. We really think that we picked up some. We've got a new body on this race car and hopefully we'll race a lot better and draft good. In the past two speedway races we've been really slow when you're turning the car. This car didn't actually really lose any rpm; I don't know if we lost much at all when we were turning, so I look for this car to race good."

YOU'VE BEEN CLOSE TO VICTORY LANE HERE, CAN YOU DO IT TOMORROW?: "We certainly hope so. I've tried everything you could do. I figured -- I got in the line I could be in a couple of times, and that was wrong. So we came here one year and the line I thought I should have been in, I jumped to the other one, and that was wrong. We're just going to do whatever we need to do and hopefully have a little bit of luck."

TERRY LABONTE, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (36TH):

"That was a little bit slower than we practiced last night. We've been off a little bit ever since we unloaded. We have a little work to do."

ON GOOD FINISH AT SEARS POINT, SECOND HALF OF SEASON: "I think the second half should be pretty good. I think we have some good tracks coming up for us and we have some really good cars lined up for them, I was a little disappointed. We didn't have a chance to take this car to the wind tunnel or test it or anything. It's always run good in the past, but we wreck every time we run a restrictor-plate race. It's hard to take them home and wipe them off, you have to put a new body on them."

-tmc-

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