Dodge Atlanta II qualifying notes

STACY COMPTON (No. 92 Kodiak Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"The guys made some great calls. We knew we needed to pick up a little bit. On our banzai run this morning, a car pulled up in front of us and we didn't get a chance to make a lap. We didn't know where we were at other than we were real loose. That's a pretty good lap. It's going to get cooler as the day goes on and we went out first, so I think that was a disadvantage. Regardless, that was a pretty good lap for it. We picked up four or five tenths and that's about what you've got to do in Winston Cup these days."

CARL LONG (No. 85 Mansion Motorsports Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I left a little bit out there. I was loose getting off the corners and couldn't stand on it. It didn't turn like I wanted it to. I thought we were going to be on the borderline when it came to making the field, but the track changed a bunch."

HUT STRICKLIN (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I bottomed out. If it hadn't bottomed out, I think we could have been a lot faster. I thought we were going to be a lot better. It was still a good run for us. This is the first time we've all worked together. We unloaded fast from the get-go. That was really a good testament of what everybody here at Bill Davis can do. Ward had the same setup we ran. I think we could have been a lot better, but I'm not going to get greedy right now. We need to be in this race. It's an important race for Hills Bros. We've got a pretty big hospitality here Sunday, so it's good to be in it."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"This has been a good car for us. I think the worse we started with it was 19th at Michigan, and we won the race. We came with a setup like we had at Charlotte, and it was terrible. We put it back like it was this spring when we qualified. It's been loose and it got tight in qualifying. We just haven't hit it. We'll get it adjusted."

DAVE BLANEY (No. 93 Amoco Ultimate Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I honestly thought we had a little bit more in it. The car ran so good all day we hated to make many changes and mess it up, so we left what we had and tried to get a little more out of it. We're real pleased with third. We've got the same car. The rules are a little different than we had here in the spring, but I enjoy running here. I really can't say why, but we've done fairly well and we enjoy coming here. We'll work real hard tomorrow to get the car to run the way it did in the spring so it'll run fast early and late in the runs. If we get that accomplished, we'll have a shot at it."

CASEY ATWOOD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
NOTE: Atwood was the fastest Raybestos Rookie of the Year qualifier. This is the 11th time he's led the way for the rookie class in qualifying and it's the fourth straight race he's been the top qualifying rookie.

"We picked up a little bit from practice. I felt like we should have picked up a little bit more. The car feels great. We just couldn't get in the corner like we needed to. We're looking forward to another good race. It's a fast track. The corner speed is so fast at this track. That's what makes this track a little bit different. The car needs to turn good. If you get one tight here, it binds up too much and bogs the motor down and you won't get a good lap. You've got to keep it free, but not too free.

"We're on a roll. We didn't qualify that great today, but we were still the fastest rookie. If you've got a good car, qualifying isn't too bad. We've had a lot of good cars lately. It's when you're not that good and you have to force something in there, that's when it's hard. When you've got a good car, it's not too bad.

"I guess we're happy with that. We had some problems here last time and didn't end up making the race. We're a lot further along than we were last time. I felt like it was a decent lap. Everybody picked up from practice, and I didn't pick up as much. The car feels pretty good. I think it's going to be pretty good for Sunday.

"I feel like I've got a better shot next weekend on a flatter track. That's the kind of tracks I really like. To come out of here with a good, solid run will be good.

"We came here with a different car because we weren't happy with our test at all. I thought we could be better than that, but we couldn't get in the corner like we needed to. It's a lot better than last time here. That got me nervous about this place. We're fine. We didn't come close to going home this time."

WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I'm happy for Tommy (crew chief Baldwin) and all the guys at Bill Davis Racing that have worked so hard. We had competitive race cars for all three teams today. Hopefully this is what's going to happen next year with Philippe and Tommy working close together. We're looking forward to it. The cars are almost identical. We'll make some long runs tomorrow and see what happens. I'm really excited about Sunday."

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"That was all we had, but I didn't think it was going to be enough. We barely made it, so we'll just get ready to race now."

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"Well, we picked up from practice, and that's always a good sign. I guess we just didn't pick it up enough. Sixth isn't a bad place to start, so we'll take it and try to get ready for Sunday. This track hasn't been that good to me since it's been switched around, but maybe we can figure it out and have another good run on Sunday. Two in a row would be really sweet."

BUCKSHOT JONES (No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We've been pretty good, but when I come to Atlanta we're always slow at the beginning of practice but we seem to pick it up for qualifying. I don't know what it is, but this track has always been good to me when it comes time to qualify. I can't say enough about my guys. Bryant Frazier made some changes right before qualifying, and I couldn't ask for much more. The driver messed up a little bit, but everybody messes up a little in qualifying. I'm happy with it. I wish we could have qualified better, but I'm happy in the top 20."

DAVE BLANEY (No. 93 Amoco Ultimate Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We lost the front end right in the center of the corner. It doesn't take much here to add up. It wasn't bad. We're happy with it. Nobody owes you anything. We'll just see if we can have a good car and give 'em a run for their money Sunday. It's the same car we had here in March. We qualified seventh in the spring, so we were kind of in the ball park all weekend there, too. The car has been quick all day. We couldn't decided what to do in qualifying. We had a couple of changes we wanted to make late, but we were afraid we would mess it up. We could have run a little faster, and we probably could have had a shot at the pole, but we're still happy with it. I think we've got a good shot on Sunday."

-Dodge Motorsports-