Quotes from Talladega: Dodge Drivers

Sunday, April 21, 2002					               Ray

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We've got to work on our car. We didn't have anything for that 8. He had a
rocket or something in that car. It looked like that thing that guy shot
through the Grand Canyon. Kenseth got in a wreck, so we gained some points
on him and that's good. I figured the big wreck was going to happen sometime
today, and I just happened to be in front of it when it did.  I don't know
why they red-flagged the race. No one was going to outrun that 8 car. We
weren't close to him. He was in a league of his own. Everybody is still
bunched up. They just need to cut the spoilers off and the valence off and
make these cars drive better where you've got to get out of the gas. It's
pretty wild the way it is. It kind of favors the Chevrolets the way it is
now. They've got a good package."

WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I was trying to go for it. Sterling hung me out and the 97 hung me out. The
car wasn't like it needed to be. It would either run like Jack the bear or
it was nothing at all. We were in the middle of the pack all day long. We
just missed the wreck. I saw that coming. I'm not blaming Sterling or
anybody. I'm just disappointed right now."

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We had a really good race car. Our fab shop guys really worked hard to give
us a good race car. The car ran good and drove good. I just could never get
where I needed to be. All of a sudden it opened up and I got where I needed
to be and the big wreck happened. I knew I didn't have anything for those
guys at the end. With about 15 laps to go I went to the bottom and I knew I
had everything to gain and nothing to lose. If I got shuffled to the back it
didn't make any difference. I got shuffled to the back and had to fight my
way back up there. This is another race we finished on the lead lap. It's
another race we finished in the top 15. That's our goal, and you can't get
ahead of your goal. A couple of guys seemed to have a hard time running in a
straight line today, but other than that... They were good in the corners.
They just couldn't run down the straightaways, but it was a good day for all
of us. 
"Steve did a good job for us today. It was just at the wrong place at the
wrong time and cut down a tire. It was just one of those deals. There was
nothing he could have done. We're going to test this week and as long as he
keeps running like he's running, it's his.
"I think our momentum is building. It's building every week. If you go back
to Daytona, we struggled there. We don't look for huge gains. We look for
small gains. We run 20th one week, we try to run 18th the next week. We
don't run 20th one week and try to win the next week. I think that was our
deal coming in."


HUT STRICKLIN (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We just couldn't get any helpers. Ward wasn't in a position where he could
help me, and I was never in a position where I could help him. He was in
good shape at the end, and I got shuffled back on that next to last restart.
When I came back, he was on his way to the back and I was on my way to the
front. I couldn't really help him. I had a great race car. I can't say
enough about these guys at Bill Davis Racing. They've done a great job and
we just keep getting better and better every week. I'm more and more
confident. We just needed some luck today, needed some helpers. We just
couldn't get it. It feels good to run good here. I probably had the best
race car today that I've ever had here. I really felt like I had a shot at
winning if I could have ever got up there. We finished 11th and that was on
our own. We didn't get a lot of help, so all-in-all, that's not too bad. It
got rough out there today, especially there at the end. Everybody was
protecting their line. You needed to be on the bottom at the end, and that's
where everybody wanted to be. I had to get pretty aggressive there. I had to
body slam a few people, and I think I got body slammed, too."

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We had the car up front today.  I'm happy with the way the guys worked on
the car. We got into the big wreck, and that kind of thing happens here."

STEVE GRISSOM (No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I locked up the tires getting in the pits and cut down a tire. We went two
laps down, got in a wreck and managed to bring it home in the top 25. It
felt good to race again. I'm ready to go again."