NASCAR Cup
Richmond: Ford - Keller qualifying press conference
JASON KELLER-57-Albertsons Ford Taurus (Qualified 2nd) "We had a late draw, which I think that late draw would have even helped if we qualified at four o'clock. Things went well for us. The Albertsons guys, they're just excited to come here.
Published: May 2, 2003, 10:53 PM
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JASON KELLER-57-Albertsons Ford Taurus (Qualified 2nd)
"We had a late draw, which I think that late draw would have even helped if we qualified at four o'clock. Things went well for us. The Albertsons guys, they're just excited to come here. When a driver tells you all year long that his favorite track is Richmond, and then we come back here, the guys get pretty pumped up and I do as well. I'm just really, really looking forward to this practice in a little bit, and hopefully we can get our car dialed in for tomorrow."
DID YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT FOR QUALIFYING SINCE IT WAS DELAYED? "No. We couldn't change a whole lot on the car; NASCAR wouldn't let us. A lot of times you look back on your lap and say you may have done something different, but I just got beat a little bit tonight. I hit all of my marks and just was a little bit off the pole. It's still a good starting spot. More than anything, pit road is a little tight here, so we get a good pit selection as well. Hopefully all of that will add up tomorrow night."
"No, not at all. I actually watched the first couple of cars qualify and didn't notice anything at all. It's got good grip off of two. We run right along the bottom so I don't know what it was up above that. As far as what I experienced, it was really good. Actually, the race track was so cool it actually felt better because the race track was cool."
"I didn't. In defense of that, the race track was 30 or 40 degrees hotter as well, so it was pretty slick. This place gets pretty slick during the day. We're kind of used to that anyway. As far as any spots on the race track, I didn't notice anything in practice. We were just trying to get the car dialed in and I didn't notice anything."
"We've had a lot of rain delays this year anyway; I've gotten accustomed to it. There again, I go back to what I said earlier - we were lucky to have a late draw. A late draw helped me and my confidence. Some guys really clicked off some fast laps, so I knew the speed was out there, I just had to go out there and find it. Now, if I had been Mike McLaughlin or some of those guys that had to go right out there, it's hard. NASCAR can tell you all they want to that the race track is OK, but until you go out there and feel it yourself, you don't know. Actually, I did hear Harvick say that the race track was in pretty good shape, so that kind of gave me some confidence. Even the guys early were saying that the race track was in pretty good shape. Until you go out there and feel it yourself, you don't know. It was just a real good run for us tonight."
-ford racing-
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