'Plex Quotes - quotes heard at the Texas Motorplex

Whit Bazemore -

Bazemore and the Matco Tools team were the last pair in the final qualifying session and picks John Force's pocket to get the Number One Spot:

"I tell you what that's exciting," says a winded Bazemore. "And I have said it so many times. What Force and that team did yesterday was pretty incredible, and I think for this Matco Tools Pontiac Team, along with the Gates Belts and Schumacher Electric, to come out and answer the bell like we did today, is just as exciting as what they did yesterday.

"It was a tremendous effort today by both teams, and just for me to be competing with them is always exciting. Especially when we are in the other lane and you get the win light, that is the most exciting no matter what we run."

"There is nothing sweeter than to do what we did today, but most of all for the fans out here, what a great race they are going to see tomorrow."

An oil down by Scotty Cannon caused quite a delay for the last two pairs of Funny Cars, but Bazemore sat in his Matco Tools Pontiac with a big smile on his face:

"Usually you want the oil downs to get cleaned up pretty quick and that one took a long time, but that was one of the few times I sat in the car thinking, 'I hope this takes two hours'. The sun was getting lower and the track was getting better, and I got to hand it to Lee (Beard) and Mike (Neff) because they tuned this car up two or three times while we were sitting in the staging lanes, so hats off to the entire team for such an outstanding lap."

Jerry Haas -

"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. It's frustrating! It seems no matter what we do, we always finish in the 17th or 18th position. Yes, its disappointing. We're going to the final event in Pomona (Calif.) and give it everything. We're going in the right direction. We had four consistent runs here and feel that will translate into being a bride at the Finals and making the top 16," said Haas following qualifying.

John Lingenfelter -

With just two races remaining with the Pro Stock Truck series as an official NHRA professional class, Lingenfelter feels the gains made in the GM small-block program by running the trucks will be beneficial in the future.

"This stuff always carries over," said Lingenfelter. "We've learned a lot about the small block in just the last two years alone. If you look at what the trucks were able to accomplish this season, we probably gained more this year than we did in the previous two years. You know, we're making nearly 1000 horsepower with these GM powerplants, and it used to be years ago that 500 cubic inches had a hard time making that amount of power. This series has been an excellent proving ground for this type of engine technology and that's one of the reasons why it's disappointing to see the class go away."

Tony Schumacher -

After banking a solid qualifying run Friday afternoon, Tony Schumacher, the driver of the United States Army Top Fuel dragster, lost in the first round of eliminations to Doug Herbert, despite a 4.759-second pass at 316.90 mph.

"It's disappointing considering the strides we've been making of late," said the 1999 Top Fuel champ. "We actually got behind the eight ball against Herbert as soon as I left the starting line. We dropped a cylinder and you immediately lose 15 percent of your power. Unless he stumbled at some point down the track, there was no way I was catching him."

(more stories)