Racing Notes & Quotes -- NHRA Dallas

ENNIS, Tex. (October 23, 1999) - The field is set for tomorrow's running of
the 14th annual O'Reilly Fallnationals at Texas Motorplex. In Pro Stock,
Warren Johnson took the No. 1 qualifying position setting both ends of the
national record in one of the quickest qualifying fields in NHRA history.
Capitalizing on near-perfect atmospheric conditions, Johnson's GM Goodwrench
Service Plus Pontiac Firebird streaked down the race track in the second
qualifying session today at a record-setting 6.822 seconds at 202.15 mph.
His top speed in the second session backed up the 202.33 mph he ran in the
first session to establish the national record. Tom Martino continued on his
torrid pace in the Century 21 Firebird qualifying in the No. 3 position with
an elapsed time of 6.843 seconds at 201.43 mph gaining him access to the
Speed Pro 200 mph Club. Bruce Allen is qualified fifth, Jim Yates is sixth
and George Marnell also cracked into the elite Speed Pro 200 mph Club with a
run in the Dynomax Firebird at 200.08 mph. Richie Stevens is qualified
ninth, Mike Thomas is 11th and Mark Pawuk is 14th. Steve Schmidt finished
the weekend qualified 20th.

In Funny Car, Tommy Johnson Jr. and the Interstate Batteries Firebird will
enter Sunday eliminations qualified in the No. 2 position with an elapsed
time of 4.857 seconds at 316.45 mph. Gary Densham is qualified seventh,
Frank Pedregon is 10th, Cruz Pedregon is 12th, Dale Creasy Jr. is 13th and Al
Hofmann is 16th. John Force was the No. 1 qualifier in a Mustang with an
elapsed time of 4.844 seconds at 317.12 mph. Whit Bazemore is qualified
third, Ron Capps is fourth and Dean Skuza is fifth.

In Top Fuel, MBNA/Pontiac driver Cory McClenathan is qualified in the No. 5
position with an elapsed time of 4.580 seconds at 311.74 mph. Scott Kalitta
is the No. 1 qualifier posting a performance number of 4.546 seconds at
318.92 mph. Tony Schumacher is qualified second, Joe Amato is third and Mike
Dunn is fifth.

Three hours of television coverage of the O'Reilly Fallnationals can be seen
on ESPN2 on Sunday, October 24, beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.

PRO STOCK

Warren Johnson (GM Goodwrench Service Plus Pontiac Firebird) "We knew going in that the weather conditions would be better this morning, probably in the
vicinity of 1000 feet lower relative altitude than yesterday. That's worth
three or four hundredths by itself. We didn't want to get real aggressive at
the starting line because we saw a number of cars shake yesterday. Down
track we were able to compensate for that with gear ratio. We ran the best
speed at the eighth mile we've ever run, 160.94 mph. We left a little on the
table. You make the adjustments you deem necessary based on the atmospheric
conditions and your best guess at the track. Sometimes you hit it spot on,
sometimes you're a little off. It left the starting line pretty decently.
Mike Stryker (crew chief) said it paddled the tires just a little in low gear
and got out of the groove to the right, but not too badly. We've got a run
tonight and tomorrow to work on that. The speed record doesn't pay any bonus
or any championship points, so it's an intellectual accomplishment. I really
don't want to set the elapsed time national record here. Based on a
realistic look at the points race, if we just maintain we'll be all right for
the championship. I'd rather save those points for next year if it's
possible. Tomorrow could conceivably be even faster than today if the
temperature continues to cool. All we want to do is make four successful runs
on Sunday. If we're fortunate enough to win the race, that would all but
lock up the championship."

Second Session: "We really didn't want the record going into that session.
Then I saw how fast the cars were going in the left-hand lane, which appears
to be a little quicker because it's smoother down track. As the session got
later and it started cooling off, I knew there were cars that could possibly
hit the record. We decided to load it up and let it rip. I really shouldn't
need the bonus points to win the championship, but setting it to 6.82 makes
it harder to set the record next year for the points. It gives me about a
$3000 thrill if I qualify No. 1; so far this year I've won $45,000 from
Holley for qualifying No. 1. That all helps -- these things run on money,
not gasoline. Setting the record means that everybody on the crew has done
their homework. I drive them nuts a lot of times when we're testing on the
dyno. We pull the heads off, put them on the CNC mill, put 'em back on two
hours later. We about wear out the head studs on these motors. They realize
that there's a method to my madness, but at the same time I'm sure it gets
frustrating. When we're at the shop, the dyno runs 7 days a week."

"Our eighth mile e.t. and speed were the best we've ever run. I predicted at
the beginning of the year that the record would be 6.82 at 202-plus, so I
guess we're pretty much on course. If the car hadn't hit the bumps in the
left lane, the record would be over 203 mph. It unloaded the tires just a
little, but still went right down the track."
No. 1 qualifier - 6.822ET(national record)/202.33MPH (national record)


Jim Yates (Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Firebird) "I'm a little disappointed that
we didn't run better in that last session. The Splitfire/Peak Pontiac
Firebird seemed to get a little loose down track in that right lane. I think
for the conditions of the race track, we made a pretty good run. When we
look at the graph, we have a hundredth or two left in it so we'll just step
it up in the first round tomorrow. We'll have lane choice so we'll take that
good left lane and that will give us a chance to run with the big dogs.
We'll take our shot and hopefully move to the second round. I'm confident we
have a good tune up for the left lane, but I think the right lane is
inherently slower than the left lane. This morning we ran a 6.86 and the air
was two hundredths faster this evening and we only ran a 6.86 in the right
lane. It's hard to be too disappointed in that though. You take a look at
the starting line and you look at some of the tune up changes we made and I
think we had a 6.85 left in it. Tomorrow morning we'll go out and see if we
can't improve in the first round.
No. 6 qualifier - 6.868ET/199.77MPH

Bruce Allen (Outlaw Fuel Additives Pontiac Firebird) "When you run a career
best in both elapsed time and speed, you can't be too disappointed. We were
sitting in the staging lanes with that little delay and George Polonis
(crewmember) and I were talking about it. I told him that I would like to
get into the 6.80s because I knew the conditions were getting a little bit
worse, but I didn't think a 6.88 was out of the question. I was pleased when
the Outlaw Pontiac Firebird ran the 6.86, but like everybody else, that
wasn't all that was in it. There isn't anybody who ever made a run though
who wouldn't say that. The 6.90 run we made last night was probably a better
run than today's morning session. I feel good about that because we now know
we can improve on that tonight; not necessarily from an elapsed time
standpoint, but just in making a better run. Then we can get tuned up for
tomorrow. I think we're in a spot this weekend where we can do some good.
When some other cars started running in the 6.80s we had a pretty good idea
that we might be able to run a career best. That's pretty much what
happened. This is an awesome track and when you have these kind of
conditions the performance can be outstanding. If you can get off the line,
and you're not shaking the tires in second gear, then you're going to get
down the track.
No. 5 qualifier - 6.860ET/200.49MPH

Tom Martino (Century 21 Pontiac Firebird) "After (Mike) Edwards oiled the
lane down, we didn't' know if we'd have a shot at it (200 mph). It shook all
through second gear - our time from 60 feet to 330 was junk. I put it in
third and it got better, and it improved even more when I put it in fourth.
When I shifted into fifth, the horsepower took over and took us over 200. I
believe if we had run at the beginning of the session, the Century 21
Firebird would have gone 6.85 at 201. Although we're fairly low-key here,
being in the Speed-Pro 200 mph Club will look nice on our resume, especially
when you build your own motors. We've struggled this year, but we knew it
wasn't due to a lack of power. We just needed a car that would show it. We're
very seldom out of the top five in speed, and we're just a tick behind Kurt
(Johnson) on that run. All in all, it's pretty gratifying."

Session: "We made a good run every time, which is all you can ask for.
Actually, that last pass might have been our worst one of qualifying. It
just went fast. We had found and corrected a problem with our motor just
before the last session, which probably gave us some additional horsepower.
But on the run, it carried the wheels, moved out of the groove and moved
around. Basically, it went dead left and then took off. That was not a
pretty 6.84, and if it had gone straight, I know I could have run a 6.83.
Still, it feels good to run that well. I believe we have a very good package
right now with this Century 21 Firebird. I'm looking forward to going four
rounds tomorrow."
No. 3 qualifier - 6.843ET/201.43MPH

Mark Pawuk (Summit Racing Pontiac Firebird) "I'm just happy we got this
Summit Racing Firebird in the show. We still haven't made a good run so we
just thank God for our power. We made a marginal run when we knew we had to make it down the track. It wasn't pretty, but it was enough to get us in. I
just hope we can tune on it, and run better tomorrow because the
competition's going to be tough out there. We made some changes to our
clutch that made the car real aggressive and we can't get through second
gear. The car ran fast in the back half of the track, but when it doesn't
run quick to the eighth mile then it makes it pretty difficult to make that
up. We had way too much wheel speed in low gear, the car's out of control
and I can't seem to get it back. It blows the tires off and starts shaking
in second gear. I know we can win a couple of rounds tomorrow if we can get
down the track. We run Tommy (Martino) in the first round and he's run real
consistent this weekend; the most consistent he's run all year. He's a good
driver as well, but hopefully we can come out on the winning end."
No. 14 qualifier - 6.898ET/200.08MPH

George Marnell (Dynomax Pontiac Firebird) "We struggled yesterday in the
first qualifying session and when the Dynomax Firebird shook in second gear I
shut it off. Last night we made a decent pass but we didn't get a computer
reading on the run so today Bob Cave was tuning the car without a lot of
information. I guess he managed to turn the right screws because this car
made a tremendous pass putting us in the Speed Pro 200 MPH Club. There's
still a little left in it and the key to making an even better run tonight
will be to fix a little glitch we have in first gear. We should pick up but
it will all depend on the time we run and the conditions that are presented
to us."
No. 7 qualifier - 6.872ET/200.08MPH

Mike Thomas (Pennzoil Pontiac Firebird) "Last night we broke the
transmission on the Pennzoil Firebird, and we were No. 2 or 3 at sixty foot,
so we knew we were on a good run. I figured with the front moving through
that it wouldn't mean much anyway. So we stayed here until 11 p.m. last
night working on the car because we really tore up the transmission and we
made sure everything was in good shape. Rick Hickman's back with me now as
full-time crew chief and he had the car really prepared very well. This
morning the car was perfectly straight, although we had a little too much
clutch and we shook downtrack a little bit. We feel like we can go out this
afternoon and improve. Last weekend, Rick found that the car was a half inch
out of line. When we ran in Memphis we were running 6.94 and we were all
over the track. This morning was the first pass that we've made in this car
since Indy where it's felt like it should. We feel good about it now and it
helps because now I can really concentrate on what I have to do when I know
the car is going to go straight."

Second Session: "We tried some things in the final session that didn't quite
work the way we had hoped. But we had already run quick enough to keep up
with everyone. Obviously, most of the teams posted their best times in round
four when the conditions were near perfect and we were shooting for a record
run ourselves. I actually was surprised that we weren't quicker in the final
run because the Firebird felt like it was really flying. We did learn some
things and I can't wait for tomorrow. I really think we're closer to where we
need to be with this car right now than we've been since before the wreck at
Indy. We're very optimistic right now."
No. 11 qualifier - 6.888ET/199.64MPH

Richie Stevens (Valspar Pontiac Firebird) "I admit it, I was nervous and for
a number of reasons. I was watching everyone run killer laps and I knew the
conditions were good. Plus, I knew everyone was running their best laps, I
knew I wasn't in, and I knew that I would be able to get in if I didn't mess
up. The pressure was on for sure. I almost wanted to sit there at the line a
minute and make certain I did everything by the book. Luckily, even though
we still blew the tires off a little bit at the starting line, we were able
top get in the field. But hey, the Valspar Firebird is in and that's saying
a lot with this record group."
No. 9 qualifier - 6.876ET/198.45MPH

FUNNY CAR

Tommy Johnson Jr. (Interstate Batteries Pontiac Firebird) "We were trying to run this Interstate Batteries Firebird in the high 4.70s and the lane wouldn't take it. Unfortunately the other lane did. That's two times in a \row that John's (Force) picked our pockets. Tony (Pedregon) did it in Memphis and he did it here. But actually it seems that we run better on race day when we're not the No. 1 qualifier and the guys on the team seem to sense that. That's what we've done at the last two or three races, messed up the last qualifying run and then come back strong on race day. So maybe that's a
good sign after all. It's better that you get all of those bad runs out of the way today, but what does concern me is that we only made one good run down the track during four sessions of qualifying. We'll be ready to go tomorrow."
No. 2 qualifier - 4.857ET/316.45MPH

Del Worsham (Checker/Schuck's/Kragen Pontiac Firebird) "I had a bad feeling
about this yesterday when we were on that great run and the car shut off.
There are some weekends you don't have a clue about how to get down the track and you DNQ because you're lost. Sometimes, and this happens to everybody, you have a weekend where your car's running great but all the little stuff that can mess you up goes wrong. After the run last night I'm thinking that
we had the tune up figured out and that we'd be okay today. In the first
pass today, I hit the throttle and the burst panel decided that was the
moment it would let go. Tonight, I pedaled the Checker/Schuck's/Kragen
Firebird around 100 feet. It hooked up okay, and was making a decent lap but
then around 900 feet it blew the head gaskets out of each side and that was
the end of that. I coasted the last couple of hundred feet and knew it wasn't
enough. I'm pretty sick about this. We made it in each race for 19
consecutive races and I wanted to make into every race this season. We'll go
on though because that's all we can do."
No. 18 qualifier - 5.250ET/228.36MPH

Gary Densham (NEC/AAA Southern California Pontiac Firebird) "The NEC Pontiac Firebird ran pretty good last night and we thought we had some more in it.  In the first round today we smoked the tires, so we made some changes and it flat out flew in the evening session. That made us pretty happy. This is the
headquarters for NEC and AAA of Texas. They're all up in the suites watching
us run our career best so we can't ask for much more than that. Our last
three races will be important for us because our primary sponsor has suites
here, and at Houston and then we get to race in front of our AAA supporters
at Pomona. It's a tough field out here. We're getting a lot of good cars in
this class so that just being able to make the program is tough, let alone
qualify in the lower half of the field running our career best. The car kind
of nosed over on the other end. We had a cylinder that had been dropping so
we leaned it down and burned that cylinder up at about a thousand feet. It
didn't run the speed that we would have liked, but drag racing is all e.t. so
we're happy." No. 7 qualifier - 4.954ET/299.40MPH

TOP FUEL

Cory McClenathan (MBNA/Pontiac) "We haven't done too badly this weekend. We started out running 4.70 at 317, turned around and ran the 4.58, and that
would have been a better deal but I shut the MBNA/Pontiac off early. Today,
we kind of went after it, but maybe we shouldn't have been so aggressive. We
had some really good numbers in the first pass this afternoon, but were a
little bit lean and threw the blower off. That hurt us a little bit. Then
we went back out tonight with a fresh blower, and fresh tires and it smoked
the tires. We'll have to be more careful in the first session tomorrow, but
we'll take each round one at a time and see how this dragster does. I think
we have a pretty good race car for tomorrow. It seems to be pretty
consistent and knows how to get down the racetrack. We've done well here
before and we're hungry. If some people go out in the first round and we can
take advantage of that, then maybe we can make a move up the points ladder.
I definitely want to finish better than eighth place so we need to go to no
less than the semi-finals tomorrow." No. 5 qualifier - 4.580ET/311.74MPH

Martino Moments

Saturday, October 23, 1999 - Tom Martino completed his best qualifying effort of the season by recording the best pass of his Pro Stock career in Saturday's evening session at the O'Reilly Fall Nationals in Ennis Texas. In fact, Martino improved on each run during time trials, culminating with his 6.843-second, 201.43-mph effort, which placed the CENTURY 21( Firebird third on Sunday's final eliminations ladder. Martino's first round opponent will be 14th qualifier Mark Pawuk, whom Martino defeated in their most recent encounter at last year's Winston Finals in Pomona. Ironically, despite the impressive numbers, Martino felt his last run was not the best of his four qualifying passes.

"We made a good run every time, which is all you can ask for. Actually, that last pass might have been our worst one of qualifying. It just went fast. We had found and corrected a problem with our motor just before the last session, which probably gave us some additional horsepower. But on the run, it carried the wheels, moved out of the groove and moved around. . Basically, it went dead left and then took off. That was not a pretty 6.84, and if it had gone straight, I know I could have run a 6.83.

"Still, it feels good to run that well. I believe we have a very good package right now with this CENTURY 21( Firebird. I'm looking forward to going four rounds tomorrow."

DALLAS, Tex. (October 22, 1999) - Professional qualifying began today for the 14th annual O'Reilly Fallnationals at Texas Motorplex. In Pro Stock, Tom Martino took the No. 1 qualifying spot in the Century 21 Firebird with an elapsed time of 6.900 seconds at 199.29 mph. Bruce Allen is qualified in the two spot in the Outlaw Fuel Additives Firebird. The local favorite from Arlington, Tex., covered the quarter mile in 6.906 seconds at 199.51 mph. Warren Johnson is fourth, Jim Yates is eighth, George Marnell is 10th, Steve Schmidt is 12th, Mike Thomas is 22nd and Richie Stevens is 23rd.

In Funny Car, Tommy Johnson Jr. took the No. 1 qualifying position in the Interstate Batteries Firebird with an elapsed time of 4.857 seconds at 316.45 mph. It was announced earlier in the day that Joe Gibbs Racing will not be fielding a Funny Car team in 2000. Frank Pedregon is qualified seventh, Cruz Pedregon is ninth, Dale Creasy Jr., is 10th, Gary Densham is 12th, Al Hofmann is 13th and Del Worsham is 16th. John Force is qualified second, Ron Capps is third, Whit Bazemore is fourth and Jerry Tolliver is fifth.

In Top Fuel, Cory McClenathan qualified his MBNA/Pontiac dragster in the No. 3 position with an elapsed time of 4.580 seconds at 311.74 mph. Scott Kalitta is the No. 1 qualifier covering the quarter mile in 4.546 seconds at 318.92 mph, Tony Schumacher is qualified second, Eddie Hill is third and Kenny Bernstein is fifth.

Three hours of television coverage of the O'Reilly Fallnationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Sunday, October 24, beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.

PRO STOCK

Warren Johnson (GM Goodwrench Service Plus Pontiac Firebird) "We'll take this motor back to the shop, beat on it a little, and turn it into a real race engine - it already ran well enough to put us among the top four qualifiers. We made some changes for the second session based on what we saw on the first run and improved the 60-foot time from 1.07 to 1.04 seconds. We'll see how we did on the incremental times, but I suspect they'll be closer to the top than we were on the first run. We'll stick in one of our proven engines for tomorrow. Both sessions on Saturday will probably see better air and track conditions than we had today. According to the forecast, it will be cooler tomorrow so I expect times to improve." No. 4 qualifier - 6.913ET/200.13MPH

Jim Yates (Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Firebird) "I think what we're looking to do is step it up in each session. There are a lot of new things going around including all new fuels. We didn't get an opportunity to run it in the car before this race, so we're taking the conservative path so as not to hurt this engine. It's been pretty good to us so we're just trying to sneak up on it. Hopefully if we can tweak it just right then the Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Firebird can jump up a couple of spots in the morning and then we'll see what we can do in the afternoon. The sessions should continue to get faster because the track is coming around really well. It will be a matter of getting the car set up right to run on it. I think the morning will be the best opportunity to run faster because of the way the air is going to be. Basically, right now we're just trying to find the right tune up for this fuel. It kind of caught us by surprise having it available to us right away, so we don't have any testing data available on it." No. 8 qualifier - 6.932ET/198.54MPH

Bruce Allen (Outlaw Fuel Additives Pontiac Firebird) "We've been improving so much from race to race that we felt like we could make some adjustments after the first run and make a strong pass in the second session. When you make a run about as good as you can, you're happy with it. That's kind of how we were tonight. That run, if you look at it on the computer, you think that maybe there's something you can do to improve. But I don't know if the track would have taken anymore if we had it. When you run as fast as the fastest guy in the session, then for us that's all you can ask for. Tomorrow, the conditions will probably be better after the cold front moves through and even though the 6.90 we ran probably won't stay second, it will stay in. You can never be happy with where you are, but everyone's been working hard at the shop to get us to where we are and it's great when you see some results. It's a close field though. Tom Martino ran a 6.90-flat, Kurt Johnson ran a 6.908 and Warren (Johnson) ran a 6.913 with a bump at 6.96. There are a lot of good cars out here and when you're running up to your potential, then you feel good about it. It's been a long time since I've been able to say that and it's great. The guys have worked hard, they've pulled together and we're running good. Everyone on the team is responsible for that." No. 2 qualifier - 6.906ET/199.51MPH

Tom Martino (Century 21 Pontiac Firebird) "We did some testing the Monday after Memphis and felt we had gotten the Century 21 Firebird to run a little better. We made some changes based on what we learned there and then a couple of runs in Englishtown last weekend. Our goal was to improve our performance off the starting line. We haven't had a problem from 100 feet to the finish line, but lately our 60-foot times have been at the bottom of the page. In today's first run, we were number one to 60 feet, and overall we made a better run than we had of late. Basically that told us that if we can run the bottom of this track, we'll also be strong in the back half. I'm not saying that 6.95 will stay number one - we have three sessions left and a tough field chasing us. But we have a good starting point to work from and no matter what, it's always great to be number one."

Second Session: "We're really happy to make two very good runs with the CENTURY 21 Firebird today. In fact, we were on the pole in both lanes - first on the left then in the right. That's important, because it shows we have a set-up that works in both lanes. The easiest way to explain today's success is that I finally have enough runs on this car to feel what it's doing, instead of simply reading the computer output. After Memphis we tested and made some suspension changes, because our car wouldn't hold any speed in low gear. A few days later we ran with the new set-up in Englishtown, and it got off the line really well. Knowing how good the surface is here at the Texas Motorplex, we left it alone for today's runs, figuring the track would come to us and it did. It's not as much rocket science as it is getting the car right. If you get the car in that happy zone, the window opens up. Tonight's run was not a perfect clutch run, and it carried the wheels way down track, which pulled it out of the groove. Even so, it was a really nice run, and that's all you can ask. I know I'll sleep well tonight. Being number one is great, but our emphasis is on winning rounds and races. If we're able to run consistently throughout qualifying, we'll be in a better frame of mind and have a better handle on the track for Sunday. That's our goal for tomorrow (Saturday)." No. 1 qualifier - 6.900ET/199.29MPH

Mike Thomas (Pennzoil Pontiac Firebird) "Most of the cars that ran quick in the first session were on the left side and we ran as well as we did on the right side. That was pretty encouraging. We had the good lane tonight and I thought we'd be flying but it just didn't happen. We destroyed our transmission in the second session. There was nothing I could do but shut off the Pennzoil Firebird. This string of bad luck that's been following us around is still here, I guess. Just when we find something good to talk about then something out of the ordinary like this happens. The only way I know to get through times like this is to keep working hard so that's what we're going to do. It's tough not to get discouraged but we'll just have to rise above this and continue on. I actually think the best times will be run tomorrow. There is a cool front coming through and that will really help us. We should be in good shape by the time everything is said and done."

Richie Stevens (Valspar Pontiac Firebird) "We had a problem with the transmission. I hope that's what it is because that's something we can easily fix. We have a spare transmission on the truck and we can put it right in there and be ready to go. If it's not the transmission it could be a whole list of things. We need to figure this out tonight before we leave the track because everyone is telling us that a cold front is blowing through here tonight and I think tomorrow's session will be super fast. I want our Valsapr Firebird to be totally ready to go when it's our turn to run."

FUNNY CAR

Tommy Johnson Jr. (Interstate Batteries Pontiac Firebird) "That was a pretty awesome run. The Interstate Batteries Firebird danced the front wheels all the way down the track pulling really hard all the way down. That was what we were hoping for on the first run but it blew the tires off. We were hoping the track would be better in the second session, and it would have run a 4.91 or 4.92 if we wouldn't have smoked the tires in the first run. Better weather conditions made it that quick. That's my quickest and fastest yet in a Funny Car. It actually laid over on the top end. It put a cylinder out at about 4.1 seconds so it probably would have run 320 if it hadn't of done that. We might even be able to go quicker tomorrow. "

On the Funny Car team not coming back in 2000. "At this point Interstate Batteries is going to put more resources towards the NASCAR program and we were informed of that not too long ago. Then today I got the word that the team will reduced to a one car team next year and that it will be a Top Fuel dragster, so the Funny Car team is going away. It comes as a big shock and I'm disappointed because the chemistry for winning the championship is there. The guys and I get along tremendously well and we keep getting better and better at each race. Maybe things could change but it doesn't look very good for us right now. There were a few things they were working on for next year that didn't pan out, so they elected not to continue with the Funny Car. That's basically all I know." No. 1 qualifier - 4.857ET/316.45MPH

Al Hofmann (Hofmann Racing Pontiac Firebird) "We put a cylinder out and I shut it off at about 1100 feet. I was happy with that run considering it's the first one right out of the box. We were weak, but we went up there trying to get to the end and it's the first time that the motor looks like brand new after a run. We didn't hurt it at all and everything looks great. We probably won't come back out tonight. The conditions are supposed to change and get cooler tomorrow and I want to make sure this Firebird is right. If it's on all eight then it should run 4.95. Tomorrow we'll make two runs and I think you'll see a definite improvement in our performance over what we've been doing. That will give us an idea of what we have to do on race day. We're taking it one step at a time and if we can keep our Pontiac qualified, we should be able to run consistently in the five-ohs on Sunday. We have the equipment, and we have the talent. It's just a matter of putting it all together." No. 13 qualifier - 5.206ET/274.55MPH

Cruz Pedregon (goracing.com Pontiac Firebird) "The car was flawless all the way down the track. That gives us a baseline run and that's all we've wanted since we started back at Bristol. We found a few things that weren't right on the goracing.com Pontiac Firebird. We changed our personnel a little bit with Mark Conyers as a co-crew chief and Bob Brandt as a consultant. He's tuning the Montana Express car but we have a lot of history together when we worked with each other at Joe Gibbs Racing in 1995. We're just running this car the way we know how to run it. The 5.01 is by no means is not Earth shattering, but it's solid and it can win you rounds on race day. We're going to come out tomorrow and creep up on it, but the main thing is just getting it from point a to b on all eight cylinders. The fact that it ran 308 tells us it was on all eight. The engine and everything looks good. My goal is to run in the fours, even if it's only a 4.999. We'll start tinkering with it and get ready to race." No. 9 qualifier - 5.019ET/308.11MPH

Jim Dunn - Crew Chief/Car Owner (Red Line Oil Pontiac Firebird) "We were very happy with the 5.005. We didn't hurt anything, so we'll just sit on that for awhile, but we'll make another run tomorrow to make sure our combination's good for race day. We don't care if we're No. 9 or No. 10. That's just the way we race. Next year we'll change our approach and try to stay qualified in the top five. We'll have a little more financial help so we'll have an opportunity to go after Force a little harder. This year we're just finishing out. We can't finish third because they're too far ahead of us, and I don't think fifth place can catch us so why break a lot of parts if it doesn't mean anything. Come race day, if the Red Line Oil Firebird has a chance to win, then we'll break some parts, but we'll wait for race day before we hurt anything." No. 7 qualifier - 5.005ET/302.62MPH

Dale Creasy Jr. (Mad Magazine Pontiac Firebird) " We finally got rid of our tire shake but then we smoked the tires. I was encouraged because we didn't shake. So we found something, but now we just need to continue from here. We'll get it done. We'll run this mad Magazine Firebird until we get it right because we're on the verge of finding something. We put the old pump back on the car that we ran at Indy so that's fixed. That's one of the variables gone that we've changed and now hopefully we can find something else and keep going.

Second Session: "When I hit the gas I wasn't sure what was going to happen since I've had so much trouble with the car lately. It got through our problem spot, then the Mad Magazine Firebird got to about halftrack and it was hunting all over the place. Normally when it does that it's me, so I just let it go. It started moving towards the wall but I could see the finish line, it went through the lights and I didn't realize it was that good. I got around the corner and they told me what I ran. I was excited because this car went to the finish line. We tried some different things that didn't work, so we went back to our Mallory mags because we know how to make those work, and the Mad Magazine Firebird went right down the racetrack. I don't know if was the mags or exactly what made it work, but that's our combination and we're sticking with it." No. 10 qualifier - 5.026ET/301.00MPH