DALE EARNHARDT, JR:

About starting the season with two Did-Not-Finish (DNF) results: “We’re not happy about it, but we’re keeping our heads up. We’ve had some rough starts before and came back strong. We were 38th in the points after two races in 2003, and we came back to finish third. It seems like we always get better as the year goes on. Don’t forget, we had back-to-back last-place finishes in the middle of the summer last year and dropped out of the top-10 in points, but we fought back into the Chase when we needed to. As a team, you can’t let it be a distraction — we have to go out and run every lap as hard as possible and not worry about it. This team has always performed well when the pressure is on, and I expect nothing less this week.

MARK MARTIN:

“I’ve always enjoyed Las Vegas, and we’ve had a lot of success there over the years. The win there in 1998 really stands out for a number of reasons. We had a new team and it was the first race there, and I can remember leaving the track that night and looking down from the helicopter on the track and thinking ‘wow,’ this wasn’t some dirt track win. Very rarely in my career have I allowed myself to stop for a second and think about a win or anything, but for a few minutes I did that night. It was a big deal to win at Vegas and we had done that. It’s still a special win for me.” ON THE NEW SURFACE AT VEGAS “They have redone the track surface there since last year and repaved surfaces aren’t exactly my strong point. We did have a good test there with the U.S. Army team in January so we are looking forward to going back to Vegas and building on that. From where we were at the test and with the time we have to work with the car this weekend, I think we should be pretty good.”

TONY STEWART:

“We liked it [LVMS] before because you could actually move around on the race track. You weren’t stuck to one groove. It’s so fast that Goodyear had to bring a really hard tire. You don’t have the mechanical grip that you’d like to have, and now when you get behind someone, you kind of get stuck. You could be two or three tenths faster than somebody and not be able to pass them, because once you get close to them your car gets tight, and then you end up running exactly the same speed as they’re running. It’s one of those things where it would have been better off if they’d have just left it alone. I guess to a certain degree you’ve got to at least give them credit for trying to make it better, but I’m not sure they did. “The old track was really nice. It was relatively smooth with very few bumps in it and plenty of room to run. Now we have a track that’s bumpier than we had before and narrower than what we had before.”

JEFF GORDON:

“I like the banking, the configuration and the transitions, but it certainly is rough,” Gordon said. “There can be good things and bad things from that. “If it were perfectly smooth, you could have a one-line single-groove race, and that is not what any of us want. The bumps create challenges for the teams which I hope will make for better racing. “There’s not much of an outside groove, but that should change this weekend. With more laps on the track plus a Busch race on Saturday, we should get more of an outside groove. And I think the groove will even widen out during our race.

MATT KENSETH:

“Well, Vegas used to be one of my favorite tracks to race at and I hope it’s still that way after this weekend. I loved the old configuration because tire wear really became a factor. To me, that makes the racing a lot of fun because it comes down to who can find the handle on their cars and find the best line around the track to make their car work on old tires. “Obviously, that has changed. They’ve put a lot more banking in the turns and during the test the track was super fast. I think it will still be good. We had a pretty good test there and we’re bringing the same car that won Fontana a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully we’ll get the same result this weekend.

KASEY KAHNE:

“I like the new Las Vegas track, but I also liked the old track. We’ll just have to wait and see how the groove moves around after everybody gets out there in practice on Friday. There should be multiple grooves by race day. The track is much faster, but we go fast at Charlotte, Texas and Atlanta. We just don’t want to reach the point where we’re running at speeds that hurt the racing. We expect our No. 9 Dodge Charger, which will carry a special McDonald’s paint scheme this weekend, to be very competitive at Las Vegas just as we do at all the mile-and-half tracks. We had plenty of success at those tracks last year and the team has worked very hard in the off season to improve our Dodge Chargers. We’re ready for Las Vegas and a little Vegas luck.”

ELLIOTT SADLER:

“With Josh (Browne, team director) back on the pit box, our team is at full strength. We had a good test at Las Vegas. The track is definitely different, but I think we adapted quickly during the test and have a good handle on making our Dodge Charger fast. The key will be getting the car balanced and handling on the new surface. That will be our focus in practice. We have plenty of data from the test for a baseline. Now we will use that data to prepare the car for the race. It’s the UAW/DaimlerChrysler 400 and I’m excited to run our Dodge Charger with the race logo on the hood. Getting the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger to victory lane is our objective.”

RICKY RUDD:

“During our test session in Vegas we were really good on the speed charts with the qualifying trim and the race trim. We did a lot of long runs during the two days and we felt like we were ready. We got back to the shop and felt very confident and prepared. Now it’s a big question as to what to expect for this weekend. Everything is going to depend on how drastic the tire compound change is as to how that’s going to change a car’s handling.” “I like the track at Las Vegas. It’s a great race track. The new banking makes it a lot better and I think it’s going to make for a better race overall. It used to be a fast, flat track, and now with the added banking, I think it has similar conditions as before but it just got a little faster. It will be interested to see how everyone sets up their cars this week with all the changes but I’m sure it’ll be exciting.”

DAVID GILLILAND:

“I feel I am at much less of a disadvantage than I would’ve been last season. Everyone is back to square one with the new configuration so with the momentum from our test, we have hopefully laid the foundation for a good weekend. We’ll get to run the Busch race on Saturday, like several other NEXTEL Cup drivers, and that should help me for Sunday.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY:

“It’s always a good time when you go to Vegas, and not just for the race, it’s a great city. I’ve always had a good time when we go out there. I know for me it’s going to be nice to get back into the swing of things after having last weekend off. During our testing session out there a few weeks ago, we didn’t hit on anything that we really liked, so Larry (Carter) took the notes back to the shop and built a brand new chassis with a new body design and a new suspension package. I’m looking forward to getting out there and seeing what we have under us. I have no doubt that we will have a fast Ford Fusion, as this is one of the tracks that Roush Fenway Racing has excelled at in the past. Hopefully we can finish the race this weekend and post a strong finish, which would help us out a lot in the points.”

CLINT BOWYER:

“It’s fast - that’s four sure. It also seemed like it kept getting rougher and rougher as the Busch test went on. It seemed a lot rougher at the Busch test than it was at the Cup test so I have some concerns there. If it does continue to get rougher, I think that might open up that outside groove so you might see better racing that way.” “Once the surface wears out and gets a little older, the racing will get better.”

J.J. YELEY:

“Both days of testing with the Interstate Batteries car went really well. Most of the time, we were in the top-10 and top-15 in speeds and the car drove really well. A lot of the test will be thrown out the window because of the different fuel cell and the different tire, but you still have to have the same basic package and you can work around the small changes that they’ve made. Going to Vegas, I’m definitely excited about it. We ran very well at all of the mile-and-a-half race tracks last year. It really shouldn’t be any different going to Vegas. To me, I think we have a better package as far as our intermediate track program goes. We had a really good showing early on in Vegas last year before we had a little bit of an issue in the pits that cost us some track position. We still came back for a 17th place finish. So if we can build on that, I’m hoping we can log another top-10 or top-15. We will definitely be happy with that.”

DALE JARRETT:

“I feel pretty good. You know, with the new banking on the track, all the teams are going to have to work off new notes for this weekend. Most of the teams got to test in January, and that definitely helped us learn a lot. But no one has actually raced on the new banking. Plus, Goodyear is bringing a new tire to this race and NASCAR has us running smaller fuel cells. So I think the learning curve between the teams is going to be a little tighter. Matt (Borland) has the car ready to unload with some changes from our January test. I think if we can just keep our nose clean all weekend and have some fast pit stops, we should have a car to get us up toward the front and come away with a nice finish.”

STERLING MARLIN:

“When we tested in Vegas earlier this year it was incredibly fast–some teams thought it was too fast,” explained Marlin, the only driver to visit Victory Lane at Las Vegas who didn’t drive for Roush Racing or Hendrick Motorsports. “But it’s a lot of fun. It will be interesting to see how things work once there are 43 cars on the track running side-by-side and going that fast.”

DAVID REUTIMANN:

“Las Vegas has a different configuration now; I do have one race on the new surface in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and we had a good finish. I look forward to going to Las Vegas for a number of reasons. I feel like our team had a good test in Vegas a few months ago, meaning that if we continue to qualify like the first two race weekends then we can expect good things.”

SCOTT RIGGS:

“It’s certainly fast. I think that in time, this will become one of the most exciting races to watch on the circuit. Right now, there are maybe one and a half grooves on the track. As more cars make laps and the surface begins to weather, that progressive banking will make for some great side-by-side racing.”

BRIAN VICKERS:

“Going into Las Vegas, we really have to make sure we stay focused on our goals. We went into California with the mindset that we first needed to qualify and second needed to run all of the laps in the race. We stayed true to our mission and accomplished both of those things, so we’re going to Vegas trying to do the same thing again. These small goals are important, but there’s also a bigger picture we’re looking at here – and that’s to make sure we’re locked into the top 35 in points after the first five races. We’ve got three races to go, and anything can happen.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER:

“More than anything I am looking forward to coming back to a track I have gotten laps on in a Cup car. This team has really started to gel, and I think all our hard work will pay off in Vegas.”

Bookmark to: