Erik Darnell in the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford was the top Raybestos Rookie Qualifier at Talladega. Darnell will start sixth in Saturday's race, his seventh top-10 start of the 2006 season. He was the only Raybestos Rookie to qualify inside the top-10.

Darnell leads McCumbee by 39 points (173-134) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering Saturday's race at Talladega. Darnell is 14th in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos Rookie. He trails 13th-place Mike Skinner by 100 points and leads 15th-place Brendan Gaughan by 64.

Erik Darnell, No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford:
"That's not too bad of a run. Our Northern Tool + Equipment F-150 was pretty decent there. We didn't really get to make qualifying run in practice yesterday so I didn't really know what we were going to do by ourself. We were kind of focusing on drafting in practice and getting ready for race setup. I think we'll end up in the top-10 and it should be a pretty decent run for us."

You are two teammates on the front row. The Fords are very fast. "Oh, they definitely are, especially on these superspeedways. I think Mark showed that at Daytona earlier this year when he won and we had a pretty strong there as well. We're just looking to go out and do the same thing tomorrow."

How big of a factor was the wind and cooler weather today? "I think it was a factor. Just looking at the tach going down the backstretch, I only hit about 7,700 where it was about 8,100 at the end of the straightaway down there so I definitely think there was a headwind playing into a factor there. It doesn't really matter where you start here. You can start first, you can start last, you can be front to back in a hurry and I think everybody knows that with Talladega. It's a decent run for us. We're just looking to go out and have a decent run in the race."

Darnell Press Conference
"I don't think the qualifying is really going to relate to the race tomorrow. We really didn't know what to expect with our No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment F-150. We didn't really get to make a real clean qualifying run yesterday. We know it's a lot better in race trim than what it qualified and to end up in the top-10 was a pretty good deal for us."

You no longer have Mark Martin as a mentor at Roush Racing. "Fortunately, even though we are losing Mark, we still have some great teammates like Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards. Carl ran in the truck series and did very well with that. We can go to him for information as well and while it is unfortunate we're losing Mark, we still have a wealth of information to pull from."

You are the leading Raybestos Rookie. Comment on the depth of that competition. "It's definitely been tough. You've got drivers who are aligned with Cup teams. You've got Aric Almirola with Gibbs Racing, Kraig Kinser with MB2 and there are quite a few of us out there who run tough week in and week out. We knew coming into this thing that it was going to be tough to win Raybestos Rookie of the Year. Fortunately for us we've had some pretty good races. Some of the other rookies have struggled a little bit. We've had our struggles as well, but we've been able to stay ahead of those guys. It's looking good coming down the stretch here."

Robert Richardson, No. 1 WinYourMortgage.com Ford:
"Compared to what I run yesterday, that was two-tenths better than what we made a mock run at yesterday. We're just gradually making progress out here. We knew it wouldn't qualify real well but we saw what it would do in the draft yesterday and it's a good piece for the race tomorrow so we're hoping to pick up a lot of spots tomorrow."

Did you focus on race setup in practice? "For the most part we focused on the race, trying to get the nose pinned down on the ground where it would seal up real nice on the track. I can't praise the Talladega guys for repaving this track so nice. It's like running on glass out there. It's real fast for the trucks and we're glad to be here for the inaugural race in the Craftsman Truck Series. We'll try to get at least a top-15 finish out of the race tomorrow."

Kerry Earnhardt, No. 13 Thorsport Chevrolet:
"We were about six-tenths faster than that yesterday. I don't know what happened."

There is a big headwind today. "You can down the backstretch it slowed down quite a bit. Still, we shouldn't have slowed down six-tenths. If I'd have lost a tenth, I'd have been all right. But as much as we've lost, it really makes you think about things and why you lose so much like we did. The truck run hot yesterday on one lap qualifying run, a 53.06 in a mock-up qualifying run. Today, it wasn't as hot but close to it on the water temperature and we ran a 53.60 so something else is different. The truck drafted real good. I'm not really worried about drafting. I just wish we were starting closer to the front. I'd like to have been in the top-five or 10 to start the race and be up front but unfortunately, we'll probably be 20-something and have to deal with all the wild things that go on and things that happen at the superspeedways and try to stay out of trouble."

Chad Mccumbee, No. 08 The GPS Store/Garmin Chevrolet:
"That's all we had. We're trying a little different package here and I feel like it will either race good or qualify good and right now, hopefully, I'd say we'll race good . Yesterday in the draft it sucked up pretty decent. We never had a handling problem as far as pushing or anything but we may struggle a little bit, especially with the headwind with what package we've got underneath it. We'll do the best we can with the GPS Store Chevrolet tomorrow."

Boston Reid, No. 25 Woodard Racing Dodge:
"We knew this coming in. This truck wasn't good at single runs and we knew that. This was our backup for Daytona and we just thought we'd bring it here with one speedway truck left. It makes sense to bring it here. I think we're more concerned about racing. Qualifying doesn't pay nothing so we'll see what we can do during the race. In Daytona we crashed and that wasn't what we needed to do. I think we're going to try to be smarter this race and finish. That's what we've got to do. It's so easy to get caught up here. We'll see."

Erin Crocker, No. 98 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge:
Are you happy with that lap? "Yeah, it's middle of the pack right now. It's all about tomorrow. The draft is going to be big. I felt comfortable yesterday, much more comfortable than I was at Daytona. I think tomorrow will be fun; just stay out of any trouble and get a good finish. We kind of backed up the time we did in a qualifying run yesterday."

Aric Almirola, No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet:
"No big deal. Qualifying doesn't mean anything at these places. We've got a good truck for tomorrow. It drafts really good so we'll be fine. I'm not worried at all. We've got what we've got so we'll take it and we'll go race tomorrow and make the best of it."

Bobby East, No. 21 State Fair Corndogs/Edy's Dibs Ford:
"We're disappointed. We don't want to start that far back. We know we've got a really good truck for the draft and everything. The truth is you can wreck and get wrecked any lap at any time, first or last, but I honestly believe that starting 21st you've got more of a chance of getting wrecked on the first couple of laps than you do starting second or third or anywhere in the top-10. So we're disappointed but we know that we're going to have a good truck for the race. We'd just like to start better."

You have to be pateint here in the race. "You have to be. They're going to have to remind me all day ."

Marcos Ambrose, No. 20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford:
"There's only so much you can do out there. You put the right foot down to the floor and run it as fast as you can. We were running good in the draft yesterday and we said to ourselves before we even started this weekend that we just wanted to have a safe race truck out there and be able to run any line that we want to without getting out of line. I think we've got that. We just haven't got a fast truck on our own."

As a driver, you are limited to what you can do here. is that frustrating? "It can be if you think that way. It's a different form of racing. It's all about the draft and it's all about being aggressive in the pack there. It's great to watch on TV because I've watched a lot of races like it . I'm not sure what it's going to be like when you're actually in the race itself. You don't let that stuff get you down because this is just one or two races of a very long championship and it spices it all up. It's a crew chief battle out there more than it's a driver battle on a qualifying day and that's what makes it so interesting."

Scott Lagasse Jr., No. 04 Hemi Dodge Dodge:
"We're real happy. We were way off the pace yesterday and all three teams got together and came up with whatever they did to make it better. From the driver's standpoint, I really can't tell you what they did but it was a lot better. We'll see what happens with we pull tape off. I'm excited. We're going to do the standard BHR plan and that is ride in the pack until 15 or 20 to go and then try to hook up together and go."