"It just lost a cylinder in the last second. When it did that I knew that Johnson was close because I could here the echo and I was hoping we could pull out the win but he got to the finish line just a bit quicker than us. If I had been up against anyone else in that session I would've won, but that's drag racing." -- Tony Pedregon on his first-round loss to Johnson Jr.

"I hit the gas and started truckin' and I felt it really pull down and I thought it must be dropping holes or beating itself up into junk. But I never saw Cruz so I just held my foot to the floor, waiting for it to blow up; because after all, it's race day." -- Wilkerson after his parachute deployed immediately on launching his second-round win over a tire-smoking Cruz Pedregon

"We're a little bit off on the consistency and that's the key on race day. Sunday is all about being consistent. Making one or two good runs on a Sunday will never win a drag race." -- Johnson Jr. on his tire- smoking loss to a very vulnerable 5.21 by Lee in round two

"It's exciting with the Worsham kid out in front. We're definitely motivated." -- Force on his unfamiliar role of playing catch-up in the points chase

"I never thought I would win the Mac Tools Gatornationals without running a 300-mph pass all weekend." -- Worsham on the less-than-stellar performances of the fuel classes this year at Gainesville

"Any time you beat John Force, even in qualifying, you get excited. His record just proves how great he is. So to beat him here in the finals of the Gatornationals is a big deal to my dad, and myself and the entire organization. -- Worsham again, after his first Gators win

"For some reason the car that I am driving seems to be sticking to the tracks well in the first couple of races." -- David Grubnic after securing his second number-one qualifying spot in 2004

"As long as you're qualified, you can win from any position." -- Larry Dixon after slotting in 5th, his best qualifying effort so far this year

"Fortunately, were able to get down the tricky track on three out of four runs and plenty of the high-dollar teams weren't able to do that." -- Tim Cullinan after qualifying his low-budget entry 11th on the ladder

"We were on the wrong end of a real tight drag race. It's a bummer, that's for sure. I had a decent reaction time, but he had a better one." -- Dixon on losing to a holeshot by Doug Kalitta in the opening round

"We knew we had to go for it. It bit us. It only went about two inches before it broke the tires loose." -- Cory McClenathan on his opening- round loss to Grubnic

"This was a tricky track. The new surface gave all the crew chiefs trouble. I'm sure that next year, after a little rubber is put on the track, you will see the times and speed that have been the hallmark of Gainesville Raceway return." -- David Baca on the uncharacteristically off-speed performances by the nitro ranks at the Gators

"We ran what we could in our lane, it just wasn't enough." -- Scott Weis after falling to Tony Schumacher in the semis