"Sometimes you wish you could stick your feet out and help the car go fast, like Fred Flintstone used to do." -- Toliver after watching Wilkerson drive away in the final round

"Well, at least 'The Punisher' Celica did go some rounds today, even if it wasn't me doing the driving." -- Jim Head on teammate Toliver borrowing the body from his car after Toliver damaged his primary body with an engine explosion in qualifying, then broke his back-up with a trip through the sand after his chutes didn't open in round one

"Running Jerry in the final had me nervous. He had that luck running with him all day, plus he had [tuning consultant] Alan Johnson's full attention after the second round so we knew he was capable of a big number." -- Wilkerson on the challenges he faced with Toliver in the opposing lane

"We go up and down the racetrack and had the same motor in the car all weekend, and I think that's a pretty good deal for a Top Fuel Funny Car." -- Wilkerson again, on the longevity of his parts in Houston

PRO STOCK

"They did a great job in replacing the asphalt from the 270-foot mark to the eighth mile, but it needs to be textured, because right now it's very slippery, with the little rubber that does

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adhere to it moving around quite a bit. Once it settles, they will probably shot peen it, which will take care of the problem." -- Warren Johnson on the new racing surface at Houston

"I never had to look at points because it wasn't necessary last year. I knew where I was, and that was way down the list." -- Kenny Koretsky on his improved efforts this season, after qualifying for three of the first four events

"We can't leave disappointed. I ran my fastest speed (204.26 mph), and we made three good runs. It shows our team is good. We just ran into a glitch." -- Koretsky again, after missing the cut in Houston

"I short shifted the first two gears and it just knocked the wind out of our sails." -- Troy Coughlin after his third qualifying attempt; he also missed the 16-car raceday field

"I'm having a blast, an absolute blast. I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up and it's all going to be over, but right now everybody on the team's at the top of their game." -- Greg Anderson after qualifying number one and setting new track records at 6.693 and 205.72 mph

"We are still working on getting this car to go straight off of the line. If this car goes straight for the first 60-feet it should really help down track." -- Jeg Coughlin Jr. after his first-round win over Bruce Allen

"Losing lane choice hurt us because there was about a one-hundredth of a second difference between the lanes." -- Jim Yates after losing to Larry Morgan in round one by just nine-thousandths

"That would have been a great final. Jason left on me and was ahead at 60 foot but his car made a big move to the wall and he had to lift." -- Anderson on what might have been after beating his teammate and protege for the first time in a P/S final

"The car just went left and I had to shut it off. But it was tuned up to race." -- Line on the handling troubles he encountered in his career-first final round