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Mike Dunn (Mopar), No. 5 qualifier, 4.587, 320.97:
"What a comeback! I never saw $100,000 go through my hands so fast during the first round of the Big Bud Shootout. We really blew the tires off the Mopar dragster. The car reacted exactly like it did when we lost to Gary (Scelzi) in the finals at the U. S. Nationals. We couldn't have been 60 feet out before the tires went up in smoke. We went into the round knowing that we had to run at least a low 4.6. The tires smoke really caught us by surprise. It looks like the crankshaft acted up and we had to make a change for the last session. I told Ken (Veney) to throw everything that we had at it on our last pass and we did. To reach the 320-mph mark is a pretty neat feeling. The crew has seen a lot of other cars run the big numbers and we felt that we had a car that could do the same. This Mopar dragster still has more left in it. We mixed up the cylinders a bit right near the end of the track, but other than that it was a great ride."

"How can you not call this day a huge success?" Hill said. "The car was fantastic and we did everything we could to win. To advance to the finals of this classic race when you're facing the best drivers in the sport every round is just a thrill. We were as competitive as we could be each round and we didn't beat ourselves with engine problems or tire-smokers. It's hard not to be pleased with how everything came out.

"We have also placed ourselves in a good position to make a real run at the title tomorrow. It's very comforting to have the amount of confidence in your car that I do. I credit (crew chief) Dan Olson and the rest of boys for having the car ready to go every single lap. I would love to finish with a win. It would be a huge lift for all of us."

Hill will open Sunday's elimination rounds against Cory McClenathan, who ran a 4.646-second lap at 300.60 mph to finish in the No. 11 spot. McClenathan beat Hill in their only meeting this year. Hill has recorded nine elimination round wins in 1998 and has qualified for every race, extending his current streak to 40 straight races.