Monte Carlo Talladega II qualifying notes

Terry Labonte, No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "Well, that's what we ran in practice so hopefully that'll get us in the top 15 somewhere. I think we've got a good car. It's the car we ran here a year ago and it ran good in the race. We've got some tracks coming up in the series that we've run good at - including here - so we're looking forward to some better finishes."

Bobby Hamilton, No. 55 Square D Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "It (the run) didn't really surprise me. This team is really good at these places. For the past five or six weeks these guys have put really good racecars under me. And it helps that this is the same racecar we had here in the spring. No surprises. Hopefully this will get us in the top five or ten and we can have a good run."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "Well, it seemed like we've been falling off a little bit after each run. We started off really fast this morning and just got a little bit slower each time. The second lap was about two-tenths slower than the first lap. I'm real happy, though. We've been working hard. I've been looking forward to coming here and trying to show the same kind of strength we did in July in Daytona. So hopefully when the race comes around we'll be up front all day."

As a driver, is it hard to find a clean lap out here today? "No, the drivers have been real courteous today. I haven't had anybody pull out in front of me and I haven't pulled out in front of anybody all day long. I think what we did in practice is a pretty good benchmark for qualifying. It just doesn't seem like the motor has been like it was."

Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 4 Kodak Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "These guys will get this thing running and hopefully will just go to the front."

Robby Gordon, No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "Well that was not as good as we wanted for this Lowe's Chevrolet. We worked on it. We weren't that good in practice. Kevin Harvick's car is basically identically to ours. We changed engines and picked up a little bit but not enough. It's kind of disappointing to us."

Ron Hornaday, No. 14 Conseco Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "That's not what we're looking for that's for sure. We thought this Monte Carlo would be faster that the Pontiac, but we were better than that two weeks ago. I don't know what's going on. We've got something bound up somewhere."

Dave Marcis, No. 71 Realtree Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "This track is certainly one of my favorite places and I've had a lot of good finishes here over the years. But right now, I'm just a little bit worried about my time. I don't think we're going to make the field."

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "It backed up about what we ran in practice. These guys on this Dupont Chevrolet team have been working real hard. I want to say thanks to them - especially the guys in the body shop. That's what it's all about here at Talladega. It's all about the body and that engine horsepower. The driver doesn't do much. We thought we'd pick up a little more than that in qualifying, but we'll take that. It's going to get us somewhere up towards the front."

Kenny Wallace, No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "I'm really happy with the Pennzoil Chevrolet. I want to say hi to Steve Park back at the house. Any time you can come out here and qualify in the top 15 or 20, it's good. It doesn't seem like anybody has really picked up (late in the day)."

Jerry Nadeau, No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "It really doesn't matter where you start here. The guys did a good job and we know the car is good to race. This is a good speedway car."

Joe Nemechek, No. 33 Oakwood Homes Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "It wasn't bad for this Oakwood Homes Chevy. These guys have been working real hard. We had a good test down here a couple years ago. I thought we were actually going to run a little bit better than that. My teammate (Bobby Hamilton) is up there in the front and I thought we'd be up there with them. This is the same car that we sat on the pole with here last year. We just missed it a little bit."

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "I thought we'd run a little bit better than that but it seems like everybody has slowed down. But it doesn't matter where you start. This GM Goodwrench car will be good on Sunday, and we'll fight and scratch and do whatever we can to get to the front."

-GM Racing-