“We had hoped for more consistent passes over the four qualifying sessions.”— Hillary Will on smoking the tires in two of her four qualifying attempts before winding up 12th on the list
“I thought I had the greatest job in the world, but after this now I know Doug is the one having all the fun. I was very impressed by the speed. I've been flying at Mach 1 for 13 years, but the speeds these cars attain in such a short distance is truly incredible. To have a chance to drive one of these cars just once would be a dream.”— Air Force F-16 Thunderbird pilot Major Rusty Keen, who took
number-13 qualifier Doug Herbert on a demonstration flight last November in Nevada, on witnessing his first Top Fuel event ever from the starting line
"Friday was (team owner/crew chief) Connie's (Kalitta) 68th birthday. I really, really want to win this one for him tomorrow as my gift to him for all that he has done for me."— David Grubnic after qualifying 6th
"We think our car is a little better than that."— Doug Kalitta, teammate to Grubnic, after qualifying 7th
“We had oil pressure during the burnout, but when we backed up and got ready to stage, there was no oil pressure. (Crew chief) Tim (Richards) made the decision that we would stage anyway to cover our bases just in case Hillary might red light or break. It was another heartbreaker.”— Brandon Bernstein explaining what went wrong in the opening round against Will
"We had that weird burnout in round one because when I hit the gas I could tell the throttle stop wasn't in there. But instead of blowing up the motor, I caught it and we ended up winning the round. It was a big confidence booster for me because I realized I really could drive these things.”— Fuller on his opening round win over Herbert
“I went to pre-stage the car and went in too deep and flickered the stage bulb. I thought I had about an inch or so to go before I lit the bulb, but when I grabbed the brake the car crept forward. It went farther than I thought and actually lit the light. I was going through my regular routine—fuel, visor, clutch—and looked up and saw the light was on. I’ve been racing for 16 years and this is the first time something like that has ever happened to me. It was just another way to lose.”— McClenathan on his .252 reaction in a first-round loss to Dixon
“Our first round was interesting to say the least and we now have the data to know how to smoke the tires.”— Morgan Lucas joking about winning a pedalfest in round one against Kalitta
“I don’t think it hurt much on the car, but it obviously hurt our pride. We missed it on our tune up a little bit and were too aggressive. Morgan saved us with his driving.”— Ronnie Thompson, co-crew chief for Lucas, describing their first-round win