Chase Montgomery In The #8 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge Was The Top
Raybestos Rookie Qualifier At Daytona. He Will Start Second In Friday's Race And
Was The Last Truck To Make A Qualifying Run In Tonight's Session. He Won The
2003 Arca Race At Daytona.
HOW LONG WAS THE WAIT TONIGHT? "It was a pretty good wait. I thought we had
something for the 10 truck (pole winner Terry Cook). These guys worked hard; a
lot of long hours at the shop. Friday is what counts and we'll go get them
then."
YOU STRUGGLED IN THE BUSCH SERIES LAST YEAR. DOES THIS RUN GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE?
"We ran good at the beginning of the year [in Busch]. Brewco Motorsports is a
great team and a great organization that's going to win a championship. I really
believe that. They went through some stuff in the middle of the year and I
stepped back in and we seemed to struggle a little bit. At the end of the year I
wanted to go somewhere where I felt like I could be competitive and learn. I
feel like Bobby Hamilton Racing and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is where I
need to be."
YOU ARE THE TOP QUALIFYING RAYBESTOS ROOKIE AND WILL START ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE
FRONT ROW. "That's pretty cool, isn't it? I want to hear that a lot more
(smiles). This team is actually a bunch of guys that worked with me in the ARCA
REMAX Series and we brought them to Bobby Hamilton Racing and the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series because they work well together and they can accomplish a
lot. I'm really proud of them. They're going to do a great job and we're going
to have some fun."
KELLY SUTTON, #02 TEAM COPAXONE CHEVROLET:
YOU SEEMED TO STRUGGLE HERE ALL DAY. "The fastest lap that we got today was a
50.8. We picked up a little bit [in qualifying] but I guess not enough. We were
really good in the test session. We were in the low 50's, 50.1, so I thought we
really had something to work with. When we came back all we did was paint the
truck and here we are. I'm real disappointed for the Team Copaxone Chevy
Silverado but we'll see how it all pans out and see if we can get a provisional.
If not then we'll be at Atlanta."
IS THE PLAN FOR YOU TO RUN THE ENTIRE SCHEDULE? "Yes, we're going to run the
whole schedule."
ROBERT HUFFMAN, #12 TUNDRA TOYOTA:
"We were kind of skeptical of what we could do. I thought if we could run a .50
we'd be doing real good and we ran a .37. It's just a credit to all these guys
at IMI. The driver does the easy part here. He just gets in and holds it wide
open. It's been a long two days and these guys have really worked hard and it's
actually been a long two or three months for those guys so this is for them."
HOW MUCH DRAFTING EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE HERE AT DAYTONA? "Well, in the trucks,
none, but I've ran Busch cars and Dash cars here. If they have four wheels and a
steering wheel you ought to be able to adapt to any of it so hopefully we can do
that. We never qualified that great in our Dash car but we always raced real
good. To come here and be in the top-10 in the trucks is a pretty good feat.
It's all about the guys around you. It's nothing to do with the driver."
DAVID REUTIMANN, #17 NTN BEARINNGS TOYOTA:
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT LAP? "I think we are happy with that. It's better than
what we had been running. It's obviously not what the 10 truck ran but that
program has been going a little longer, too. The Toyota guys have done a great
job. We've come light years from where we started and we unloaded here a lot
faster than what we tested so that helped a lot. The main deal is to try and get
in the race; we were a little concerned about even doing the rain and stuff like
that. I've just got to thank NTN Bearings and the folks at Toyota. They've got a
neat program and we're working real hard at it. I think we're gaining on it."
ARE YOU RELIEVED THAT QUALIFYING IS OVER? "Yeah, because I hadn't slept that
well or anything, you know? This is it for me. To come here all those years and
be on the other side of the fence and dream of racing and plus to get to qualify
under the lights and race under the lights that's as cool as it can get really
so I'm looking for ward to it."
THIS IS A HIGH PROFILE TEAM IN THE TRUCK SERIES. IS THERE A LOT OF PRESSURE
ON YOU? "There's a lot of pressure but a lot of it is self inflicted. It's a
higher level but I've always raced for a living. You always have pressure to
perform where you didn't eat that well the following week. This is no different.
DW [truck owner Darrell Waltrip] and those guys haven't put any pressure on me
but I know he wants to win, I know Toyota wants to win, and I do to. We want to
win that Raybestos Rookie of the Year title so we're looking forward to that."
BRANDON WHITT, #38 CURE AUTISM NOW FORD:
"I'm not quite sure what happened. Unfortunately it did slow down but that's
part of the deal. We made some changes and I guess they didn't work out like we
wanted them to. I don't know what happened. We had a little bit of an oil leak
coming out of the back so it could be anything that made us slow down."
SHELBY HOWARD, #23 BILL DAVIS RACING TOYOTA:
"We definitely improved a lot. We've been to three different tests so far
getting ready for this race and we've come a long ways. The guys have worked
hard and Toyota has definitely put a lot of work into it. We're just looking
forward to the race Friday night."
IS THERE A LOT OF PRESSURE ON YOU DRIVING FOR TOYOTA AND BILL DAVIS? "There
could be a lot of pressure there but you've got to put that behind you. You're
here to have fun and race so that's what we're going to do."
YOU ARE ONE OF 12 DRIVERS COMPETING FOR RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR IN THE
TRUCK SERIES. "This series all together is going to be tough this year. I think
it's one of the toughest years it's had so far as far as drivers go and teams.
And like you said there's 12 guys competing for Raybestos Rookie of the year. A
good portion of them are really strong teams and really good drivers so it's
going to be tough we've got to do the best we can do every week and see where we
fall out. That's the best that we can do."
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR YOU TO WIN RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR? "It would be
awesome. That's a goal for us and we're going to do everything we can to achieve
it."
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