Kraig Kinser Qualifies Third  at Texas Motor Speedway; Four Silverados To
Start in Top-10
 
Team Chevy Silverado driver Kraig Kinser will start the No. 46 CENTRIX Auto
Finance Silverado in third-place Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. The
effort was the Raybestos Rookie contender's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
(NCTS) career-best qualifying position
 
Ron Hornaday, No. 33 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Silverado, Aric Almirola, #75
Spears Manufacturing Silverado and Kerry Earnhardt, No.13 National Pork Board
Silverado will start seventh, eighth and 10th respectively.
 
***
 
RON HORNADAY JR., No. 33 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Silverado, Qualified 7th:
 
"You know it was the heat of the day in practice earlier and we didn't want
to go out there and set the world on fire earlier. But we've got one great
truck and this Chevrolet Silverado raced at Charlotte and we took it to Dover
and to now go out there and practice and qualify like that and show what this
thing's got, these guys are unbelievable. We've got some great notes for the
race and we know its going to cool down tomorrow night and we know what to do
with some spring rubbers, track bar, and all that stuff. That's what we
worked on, not to go all that fast in qualifying but prepare for the race,
but I'll definitely take that lap for the race tomorrow night."
 
***
 
ARIC ALMIROLA, #75 Spears Manufacturing Silverado, Qualified 8th:
 
You must be happy with that effort? "Yeah, heck yeah. Our Spears Chevy
Silverado was pretty good right there and a big improvement from practice. I
tell you, every week these guys just keep getting me better and better
trucks."
 
You are a rookie this year, but you actually ran a Craftsman Truck race here
last year. Does that make you more comfortable at this track? "Oh yeah, and
the way that me and (crew chief) Dave McCarty are working together and the
guys are jelling real well, to tell you the truth I'm real comfortable
anywhere we go right now. Heck I think we could go to a road course next week
and be real good. I think we are improving each week and it's a lot of fun to
drive these trucks and they are handling real well and we are on top of our
game right now."
 
***
 
KERRY EARNHARDT, No.13 National Pork Board Silverado, Qualified 10th:
 
Pretty good lap there and better than practice, how was it? "Yeah, I just
held it flat footed there but everyone is picking up here tonight. The pork
the other white meat Chevrolet Silverado was really stout. We are all excited
about having a good lap and we'll hope that we can continue to run well,
finish up front and maybe get a top-five out of this machine tomorrow night."
 
Lots of guys are expecting more grip tomorrow night. How will that affect the
way the truck is right now? "Well, again, I just had that thing flat-footed
on both laps out there and the truck never twitched on me or nothing. The old
Pork Chevrolet Silverado is driving really good right now and we're pretty
happy. I'm comfortable in the truck and its really smooth through the
corners. We might be lacking a little bit in some departments but it's
definitely not in the handling."
 
***
 
DENNIS SETZER, No. 85 Shell Rotella T Silverado, Qualified 11th:
 
"That was the best we've been all day. It could have been a little better
because I got loose through turn three and had to work the wheel a little
coming off (turn) four to correct it. But I'm happy with that lap because
it's a long way from where we were in the second practice. You know, tomorrow
night when we race there will be a lot more grip in the track and I hope
that's going to be good for us, because in the heat of the day, we weren't as
good as we needed to be."
 
***
 
MIKE BLISS, No. 16, IWX Motor Freight Silverado, Qualified 15th:
 
"We didn't do a qualifying run so we probably shouldn't be disappointed with
running at 90 (29.926 seconds). But it is slower than we wanted to be. We are
counting on the practice and qualifying we have done in the heat won't have
much to do with how the track is when we actually race tomorrow night. We
need to be a whole lot faster than we are now, that is for sure."
 
***
 
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Menards/Energizer Silverado, Qualified 27th:
 
"I don't know what else to say except it was a pitiful effort. We just knew
we weren't going to go any faster than that. We say that everyone else really
picked up from their qualifying run in practice. We did a qualifying run in
practice and we were a little tight so we freed it up. I told them we would
be lucky to run a 20 (30.200 seconds) and we ran a 25. We will just keep our
fingers crossed for the race. I am not sure where we will be. Here you have
always have to be looser at the start of the race to get the grip you need
later on, so we are hoping that is where we will be."
 
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