Eric Darnell in the No. 99 Woolrich Ford was The Raybestos Rookie of the Race at California.
Notes: Darnell finished 11th and took top rookie honors for the second consecutive race this season. "The truck was decent tonight. We were real good in the middle of the race and not as good at the end when we needed to be and I think it cost us. We got caught up a little bit there after our pit stop and we were pretty far back. It's tough to pass out there. I didn't think you'd have the draft working as much as it does but then again, I don't have any experience in these trucks. I was just out there learning, making some laps. All in all, not a bad run. I don't even know where we ended up. We build on this for the rest of the year."

Did you change tires at the right time? "I think we changed them at the right time. We just didn't get off pit road as good as we needed to and lost a couple of spots in the process there. Our first stop was phenomenal. We came out fifth or sixth. We were able to run up front when I was by myself. I'd get behind somebody and the thing got bad tight. It was dancing all over the track. Not a bad run but it could have been better."

It looked like you were aggressively working your way through traffic. "It was getting exciting out there. I had a heck of a race with Joey Miller and Dennis Setzer there toward the end. All I can say is with that draft it's tough to pass. You get a run on somebody and stick your nose out there and it's like hitting a brick wall. It's real hard to get by somebody unless you have a real good run or you have a little bit of help. These are all things I need to learn and I'm looking to build on for the rest of the year."

How much did you learn racing with Dennis Setzer? "You learn a little bit about what the truck is going to do and to see what kind of line he's running and what he's doing in traffic. You take what you learn from those guys and all this experience and it's definitely going to be a good thing."

You have two good runs to start the 2006 season. "We're definitely happy with that. Tonight didn't end up a good as I would have liked. We were fourth there at one point and the truck was running really strong and I think we could have had a top-five run but it was all about track position tonight. It was tough to pass out there coming through the field."

Boston Reid, No. 25 Woodard & Sharp Racing Dodge:
What happened? "I don't know. All I saw was the 07 get sideways and it just backed right into us. I feel pretty bad. It's two weeks in a row for the Woodard and Sharp team. This is unbelievable. These two wrecks are not even our fault and here we are with a couple of wadded up trucks."

Kyle Krisiloff, No. 15 ditech.com/National Land Liquidators Chevrolet:
"At time I thought we were going to be in the top-10 for sure. There were moments out there where we were getting up pretty good and I thought at the end we'd have pretty good track position. About 20 laps from the end there Dennis Setzer, he's a really good veteran and he knows what he's doing, he got right up behind me and it took all the air off my rear spoiler and I almost crashed. I lost about 10 spots. We never really got that back. It's unfortunate because I felt like we were running pretty good and I think it could have been a pretty decent night. I learned a lot and I'll take that to Atlanta."

You had a close call with Mike Wallace near the end of the race. "It was probably two laps from the end and I saw him inside of me. We went down into the corner and I knew that he wasn't going to lift much. I think when he hit my door he was about a groove and a half up. It's just a racing deal. I felt like I gave him plenty of room."

Aric Almirola, No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet:
"We wrecked about 20 times out there and didn't hit anything. It was a good night. We brought it home with all the fenders on it and run all 100 laps. It's a good start to the year, I guess. Better than Daytona."

There is a lot of aerodynamics that come into play here. "The aero stuff is huge, very big here. You have to find where you can get air on the fenders and keep it turning and make sure that nobody gets on your right rear quarter and spins you out. It didn't go exactly to plan but we ran all 100 laps so it was a good night overall."

What did you learn here that will help you at other races this season? "Just how to help my guys. I didn't help my guys very good at all during practice, just trying to get used to the racetrack. The next racetracks that we go to we'll work real hard in practice on getting me comfortable and I'll be able to help my guys a lot better."

Scott Lagasse Jr., No. 04 Dodge Motorsports Dodge:
"We had a pretty terrible weekend. The guys tried hard, I tried hard and we just struggled. We were just way free, on top of the track with this thing and ended up losing a left rear tire for some reason. We're going to go back to the drawing board as a team and we'll get it. The BHR guys are hard working and they don't quit. They've got complete faith. We're going to go to work and we'll come back as quick as we can ready to go. You learn a lot. We were so free that if anybody got near us we were done; we were wrecking on our own so we really didn't get to race which is kind of a bummer. They promised me that they're going to work and I believe them. We'll get a lot better. I'm sure we'll make big strides by Atlanta and we'll just keep making them all year. Our goal is by the middle of the year to be able to run with these guys."

Chad Mccumbee, No. 06 MRD Motorsports Chevrolet:
"With trying to get in the show, we have to make a bunch of qualifying runs in practice. We just ran out of tires. Every set we put on had laps and there at the end we had 30 laps on our tires before we even put them on and that really hurt us. We learned a lot today. We stayed out that one time and maybe we shouldn't have stayed out but we really had no choice. We had no tires. I tried to go for the lead there but I burned them up to get to second. I learned a lot and I look forward to keep doing this deal. Once we get past having to fight the points and have those sticker tires it's going to go to the front. I'm pretty pumped up. I learned a lot and I'm looking forward to next week."