SM Archive

After a solid first qualifying lap at the Phoenix International Raceway 1-mile oval Friday, Busch's No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet SS scraped the wall during the second lap due to a malfunction in the coolant system.

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 QUAKER STATE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SECOND - TAKE US THROUGH YOUR LAP "I thought on the first lap I just slid, probably the front tires more than anything; the second lap I had more grip and was able to push a little bit harder. It felt pretty good from where we came from in practice. We made some good adjustments there. They've done a nice job with our Quaker State Chevrolet. I think that's a pretty good lap for right now and hopefully it will stay somewhere in the top 10. I would imagine we'll get quicker as we go, but you never know."

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “It was OK. I wanted to obviously be on the pole if I could, but we just didn’t quite have enough speed to do that. It’s kind of disappointing because I know my car is so fast in race trim and I was hoping that would carry over to qualifying, but we haven’t been able to hit that for whatever reason. We’ll just go back to the drawing board.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PEPSI MAX CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed learning the new race car, the softer Goodyear tire, Danica Patrick’s performance at Daytona, an extra day of testing in Las Veqas, and more.

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CHEERIOS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed the performance of the new car on track at Phoenix, what he is looking forward to next week at Las Vegas and other topics.

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 RACING CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the learning process for the new race cars, Danica Patrick’s performance at Daytona, his opinion of the Phoenix International Raceway track, and more.

After a successful surgery to repair a fractured and dislocated sternum, Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Michael Annett has been released from the hospital in Charlotte, N.C. He is now resting at his home.

DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed her success at Daytona, expectations for weekend at Phoenix, comparison of her first Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500 and other topics.

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) and discussed racing at Phoenix, lessons learned from Daytona and other topics.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will be pulling double-duty this weekend as he fills in for injured driver Michael Annett in the No. 43 Pilot/Flying J Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Almirola spoke about competing in both events after Nationwide practice on Friday.