 (Steve Embling photo) |
“Last night we just had your classic deal where it threw all the rods out, but today it was just hauling down there, running great, and there was just zero indication that anything bad was going to happen. Next thing I knew, there was a big explosion, daylight was all I saw, and then I pulled the fire bottles and with all that wind hitting me it forced all the fire retardant right onto my visor, so I couldn't see anything either. There was never a debate about running the last session. We need to get our car right more than we needed to be up there trying to be heroes. If one of those guys could knock us out, well then so be it. I hate to sound like that, but there are more important things for us right now, and the top thing on the list is to fix the car and make sure we don't do that again. You know what's really bizarre, though, is the fact the motor came back from this run looking brand new. The blower was hanging off of it, but the pistons looked like we just put them in. It's really strange, but the way things have gone for us over the last year, strange is the new normal.”
— Del Worsham on skipping the final qualifying session after suffering an engine explosion on Friday night followed by another on Saturday that cracked his car’s body and allowed air to rush in and annihilate it after he ran a 4.87 that was just good enough to keep him in 16th place
"You just can't get this tight of a field and have that one shot Friday night. I'm not making excuses. It's just that we broke a clutch lever in the Friday night run and that cost us.” — Gary Scelzi on not getting into the raceday field, snapping his qualifying streak at 30 events and leaving Jeff Arend as the only Funny Car pilot to qualify at every race held so far this year
“It's a terrible feeling to have to coast so slowly down the track, knowing you've lost and your day is over. Trust me; it's no fun at all.” — Worsham after blowing the tires off in round one against Robert Hight
 (Brad Turk photo) |
“We’re gonna fix it, what else can I say? My guys are putting our new Castrol Ford together because the chassis is the only thing we haven’t already changed.” — Force after yet another first-round exit this year
“You don't race the other lane. You really can't even see the other car. If you can see him you're losing anyway. So, you don't necessarily have a different philosophy because of whom you're racing. But John Force has done more in this sport than probably anybody ever has, so to beat him is something that you want to be able to tell your grandkids, so that was a great way to start the day.” — Jack Beckman on advancing to round two over Force
"I tossed and turned all Saturday night knowing I was going to be racing Capps first round … getting by him in the first round was a big morale boost for our team." — Bernstein after ousting Capps with a holeshot and starting a march to his 118th final-round appearance, but his first since returning to the driver’s seat this year
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