"I expected us to run better, but some first round
issues put us behind the curve and we were playing catch
up. We're lucky to be number seven. Chip's taking credit
for mistakes but we made some tuning errors, also. The motor
was more powerful than before but the track had less traction
than before. There weren't any notes to go by in this situation.
We learned a lot, though.” --
George Bryce, co-owner of the bike Chip Ellis rides, after
two rounds of qualifying
"The weather just wasn't as good on Saturday as it
was Friday night. There was very little shuffling of the
field today." -- Craig Treble
after qualifying 7th with a career-best 7.055 in the quickest
Pro Stock Bike field in history
"It's time to get down to business." --
Angelle Sampey after qualifying 5th for eliminations
"I blew it. I knew Steve would do that—he usually
does—but it messed me up. I tried to be prepared,
but I just rushed too much." --
Ellis on going red against Steve Johnson in round one after
Johnson staged early
"I just got a little anxious." --
Sampey on redlighting against teammate Antron Brown in the
second round
ADVERTISEMENT
 |
"Obviously, I did not cut as good a light as I needed
to.” -- Brown after posting
a quicker but losing 7.135-secs pass against Johnson's 7.162
in the semis
"Man, I was so stressed out before the final. I went
up in my office and shut the door and looked at all these
charts I don't understand. I knew we got lucky in the first
two rounds when Chip [Ellis] and Andrew [Hines] red-lit
but the Vance & Hines guys helped me in the semi’s
and then I turned the rev-limiter knob to 'win' in the final
and we actually outran him. How awesome is that?" --
Steve Johnson after overcoming a holeshot by Treble to win
the final round
PRO MOD
"I had to rely on the glare of the lights to leave.
My helmet fogged up and I couldn't see anything. I had to
drive by feel. I'm sure it looked scarier to those outside
of the car than it did to me on the inside." --
Mike Ashley on the Friday night qualifying pass that placed
him 7th in the 16-car field
"The car left good, and then it shook at the top of
low gear when I pushed the button and tried to pedal it
through it. There wasn't enough track out there to recover,
so I decided there was no sense banging up our stuff."
-- Josh Hernandez on his aborted
qualifying pass on Friday night
"I'm very excited about kicking off my race career
this way.” -- Cody Barklage,
who at 17 became the youngest driver ever to qualify in
NHRA Pro Mod action, after beating Doug Palmer in round
one, but falling to eventual race winner Jay Payne in the
second round
