KASEY KAHNE
(No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) Qualified 2nd
"It was a really good lap. We made some gains from practice in our
Budweiser Dodge. Everything was perfect there. I felt like I was really
quick in (Turns) 1 and 2, and might have given up just a touch in Turns 3
and 4. It was still a great lap. It should be a top-five, hopefully a
pole. It was quick in practice. We just needed a touch more and Kenny
Francis (crew chief) and the team gave it to me. The engine is running
awesome. It just felt really good. I was on the track. I could feel the
race track around the whole corner and down the straightaways. It was
really about all I had."
ARE YOU RUNNING THE DODGE R6 ENGINE THIS WEEKEND?
"Yes. We're
running the R6. They had the latest version at Charlotte and that's
when I started to run well again. We ran the R5 for a little bit. We ran
the R6 back in Charlotte; it was awesome in Charlotte and good again
today. I'm looking forward to this weekend. We've made some
really nice gains in our engine shop here the last few months."
TODAY WAS THE SECOND-FASTEST QUALIFYING SPEED THAT WE'VE HAD THIS
YEAR IN CUP. ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THOSE SPEEDWAS AND HOW MUCH WILL
THE SPEEDS FALL OFF IN RACE TRIM?
"They'll fall off a lot. The
weather looks good for Sunday and we're going to be racing when
it's warm out, so the speeds will fall off a lot. You won't see
anything near what we just ran in qualifying trim.
"For qualifying, I enjoy going as fast as we can go. We qualified
pretty good in Charlotte for the night race and good again today. We
weren't first, but we're definitely up there. Hopefully we can
figure out our car tomorrow and have a great chance shot at winning on
Sunday."
-credit: dodge motorsports
