Andretti Autosport drivers quotes about qualifying at Barber

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Chevrolet - After a disappointing result in St. Pete two weekends ago (retired early due to mechanical issues), Hunter-Reay will start tomorrow's Grand Prix of Alabama from the pole position. This is the reigning champion's third career pole position (2004 Milwaukee, 2012 Edmonton, 2013 Barber).

" You know this team has done so well this weekend - we just kept progressing. We knew where we needed to work on it, and I really went to work on my driving as well. We all did it together here. It's a great position to start from.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport Chevrolet

Photo by: Mike Geng

We worked on making the car better. This team has done a great job in the offseason developing our setup. We had a great test here. I have three great teammates, four of us overall, working together in one direction. It's a good way to, hopefully, start off our season."

Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet - Andretti qualified the RC Cola Chevy in eighth, but will begin Sunday's race from the seventh grid position due to a qualifying penalty given out to a fellow competitor. The third-generation driver is currently third in the Championship point standings.

"I left pit lane a couple minutes late because we were carrying less fuel and we knew the tires had just two good laps in them. We did a great job getting up to speed, and I got everything out of the RC Cola car that I needed.

It's always disappointing to finish just outside of the Firestone Fast Six, but I think we have a great car trimmed out and we will be ready for Sunday."

E.J. Viso, No. 5 Team Vene zuela PDVSA CITGO Chevrolet - The 2013 Grand Prix of Alabama will be Viso's fourth start on the 2.38-mile permanent road course; the Venezuelan will begin the 90-lap race in P16.

"We didn't find the speed we were looking for with the red set of tires. Surprisingly we did lack a lot of grip. That was pretty much what stopped us from going faster. It has a balance, I believe we have a very strong car.

But we just missed a lot of grip. Tomorrow is going to be a long race, a long day. At this point, we are not starting where we wanted. We will be working hard with the strategies and having a good race craft, making every single move on track that we can."

James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet - GoDaddy.com driver James Hinchcliffe will begin tomorrow's race from the 20th grid position after being held up in traffic during today's second round of qualifying, keeping the No. 27 Chevy from advancing on to the Firestone Fast Six.

"We've been struggling a little bit this weekend compared to the test. We didn't have the quickest car, but had enough for Q2... got held up by another car and ended up getting knocked out.

It's frustrating but we've got an extra set of reds (Firestone red alternate tires) than those guys now in the race and maybe degradation will come into it tomorrow. We'll keep fighting and hopefully get the Go Daddy car up in a good position by the end of the day."

Andretti Autosport