nascar craftsman truck series quotes from martinsville

Saturday, April 13, 2002				               	Ray
Cooper
Advance Auto Parts 250
Golin/Harris International
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.		803-466-9085


	DARRELL WALTRIP (No. 17 Duck Head Footwear Dodge Ram)
	"I forced between Morgan and another truck. It was early in the
race, and I thought he'd give me a break. I guess he was carrying too much
speed and couldn't get stopped. He got into the back of me and turned me
around, but it really didn't make any difference. I was going to win this
race. We had the best truck today. I love this truck.
	"I honestly think in 30 years of racing this is the only time it's
ever happened to me. It was an awesome truck. We got knocked around early,
but I really thought we could win the race. I'm disappointed, but I had a
lot of fun.
	"I'd like to drive this truck in the race tomorrow. You've got to
get it where it will turn, and we did. You've got to have some forward bite,
and we did. Goodyear has done an incredible job with the new generation of
tires. They last and last and they don't give up. You just hammer, hammer,
hammer, hammer. They're tougher than I am, so they're pretty tough.
	"It felt great, particularly to be in something as good as I was in
today. I know I had a chance to win. I could have walked right through the
field and got to the front. I was having a ball. I'd love to drive this
truck again. It's a really good team and a good truck. When you come to
Martinsville you never know about the gears. That's one of the weak links we
have when we come here. Richmond, IRP, a couple of places I'd feel
comfortable racing.
	"The Dodge Ram is really great. It runs great. They've got a really
good package. Dodge people should be very proud of what they've got. It's
the first time I ever drove a Dodge. It might not be the last. We'll just
have to wait and see."

BILL LESTER (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram)
	"It looked like the 90 ran into the back of me. I was a little loose
coming off turn four. I sure didn't deserve what I think he gave me, which
was a nice hit in the rear. It sent me right into the wall heading right.
I'm disappointed, but I'm happy to be here. I'm living the dream. Ken
Schrader got loose in turn four earlier, and everybody stacked up. I
couldn't get to the right of him. Somebody punched me in the rear, and I hit
him in the rear. I don't have any problems with this track. At this point,
I'm starting to roll with the punches. I'm not dejected. I'm disappointed,
but I'm not dejected. There will be another race."

JASON LEFFLER (No. 2 Team ASE Racing Dodge Ram)
	"We struggled. Right as Ted spun out, our truck went away. We just
had problems turning in the center, but the guys did a great job. We hung in
there and gave me a good truck. We just tried to stay out of trouble and get
'em at the end when it counted. That's all right. We finished one finally.
It's a good day for points. We'll go to St. Louis where you can race a
little harder and if you're faster you can get around guys easier. I'm just
glad to finish. It was pretty rough, especially at the end. You've just got
to go. You get aggressive at the end after a frustrating day and you want to
get it over with and get as far up as you can. That's smart racing at
Martinsville."

	TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Dodge Ram)
	"It was a good day to start out with. The truck was real good. We
were riding out front, just biding our time. They gave me some lap times and
told me what was going on. I eased up on the truck a little bit and the 2
truck came up, so I picked up  the pace a little bit.  We went from a 21.40
to a 21 flat. It's a typical deal. I can't believe some of these lapped
trucks. They're laps down and they take out the leader. That's the second
time it's happened to me, leading with a real good truck. That wasn't the
end of the day. It was a big deal, but we hung in there and worked through
traffic trying to save the tires and wait for pit stops. That's the third
time we've had trouble with the brake calipers. It busted in half on the
right rear and we didn't have any brakes.  Three times and you're out. We're
not going to run those brakes any more, no matter what. That's going to cost
us the championship. It was just one thing after another it seemed like.
There was nothing to gain at the end. A lot of guys lost their heads today.
You can see that by what the trucks look like. There was a lot of stuff
going on out there that was very unnecessary, very unnecessary, not even
racing. It was a little beyond short track racing. Short track racing is all
about beating and banging. I've seen stuff that was so deliberate. It wasn't
racing. They were just trying to fist fight out there with trucks. I think
later on we'll have a little something to talk about with some of these
guys."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 62 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Ram)
 	"Not bad for a Dodge team that was going home 24 hours ago. We had a
great truck.  In practice, the NAPA Dodge was always in the top 13. We knew
we had a great Dodge out there today. In qualifying, we were flabbergasted.
We didn't know what was going on. When the whole deal happened, it breathed
life into this team. We promised each other that we were not going to come
out of this race empty handed. Thirty-sixth after blowing a motor. Dennis
Setzer got to the front and we almost got there. We got to fourth a couple
of times and kept spinning out. I guess t	he driver needs to be a
little more patient. We had great calls on pit stops all day, four tires,
two tires.  The guys did it well. We had the second fastest Dodge. We had a
chance at Jason Leffler. We had a right front tire with a big gash in it. We
were able to finish in the top 10, so as long as I beat one of the Ultra
trucks I'm happy. TV doesn't do this track justice. Looking at the stands
and the facilities, it's an awesome looking place. The Cup garage looks real
nice from where I'm standing. It was a fun place. Everybody said we'd have
trouble at Darlington and here. We didn't struggle at Darlington and we had
a heck of a Dodge truck here. They always say take your worst body to a
short track. The problem is all we've got are all new NAPA Dodges. We'll
just make it brand new again. Now we can focus on getting that Cup car done
for California, but our main goal is to win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year
program for NAPA and Dodge and Orleans Racing and to be a championship
contender."
	
	ROBERT PRESSLEY (No. 18 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge Ram)
"It was a long day. The best thing I heard was when they told I was 14th.
Right off the bat we were just no good at all. We cut down a tire. I think
somebody got into our left front. We were just a bullet out there trying not
to get hit. I know where they get that truck racing commercial now. I'm so
discouraged because this is a race I've really been looking forward to. We
went to Lakeland, Fla., and did some testing, but we just got here and we
were off. We're going to work on our communication and I think we'll be all
right."


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