Jason Leffler takes pole at Pikes Peak; Bill Lester fastest rookie in NCTS qualifying - Dodge Notes/Quotes

Saturday, May 18, 2002                          			Patrick Mason
Pikes Peak Int'l Raceway - Fountain, CO     		Golin/Harris International,
Rocky Mountain 200 Presented by Dodge Qualifying	773-593-2044

JASON LEFFLER (No. 2 Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Ram) 
NOTE:  Leffler earned his second Bud Pole of the year with a lap of 27.178 sec., 132.460 mph.  This Sunday will mark Ultra Motorsports' team owner Jim Smith's 175th race.  Smith is the only owner to have an entry in every NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in history.

"It's still pretty early, so we're going to have to wait for a bunch of guys.  But it was a good lap for the No. 2 Dodge.  It's about 4-tenths faster than we went in practice.  The track has sped up a little with the sun going down and the cloud cover, it's certainly going to help everybody's speeds.  So, hopefully we'll hang onto the pole, and it'll be a good starting spot for us obviously.

"It's helped a lot to come race for a team like Ultra Motorsports.  After a year like last year, it's really helped my confidence.  We've got an awesome team, and our qualifying package is really good.  A bad qualifying effort for us now is fifth.  We probably should have been on the pole the last race, but I screwed up.  There's pressure on you because you know you've got to be on the pole or no one is going to be happy. But I like it that way.

"It helps to be up front here.  I really enjoy this place, even more than Gateway.  I've had some success here in the Midget and USAC.  I enjoy it every time we get here, you know."

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"It was a good lap for us.  Our Dodge Ram has been great off the trailer all day.  Tim Kohuth and all the boys on the Ultra Motorsports crew are doing a great job.  The whole team as a whole has been doing a great job, obviously with Ted qualifying second that's pretty awesome.  It will make our car owner (Jim Smith) pretty happy.  At St. Louis he wasn't too happy after qualifying.  He's used to getting these poles.  The race will be exciting.  I really like this track.  We ran a lot of USAC races here.  Mike Bliss and I are going to come back here in a few weeks, so it's a place I really enjoy coming to.

"I have a lot of confidence going into every track, knowing this truck is fast.  Everywhere they've gone they've had some sort of success.  To have a group of guys like I do, it's awesome.  It's just a great situation for me to be in.  They're all racers, they do whatever it takes to win.  If they had to work seven days a week, they'd do that.

"Our happy hour is at five o'clock, and the race starts in the middle of the afternoon, so we'll have to adjust some.  But, I like the track.  You can move around here, and it seems in the last couple of years the groove is really moving around.  It's going to make for good racing, and I'm sure we'll put on a good show tomorrow.

(Surprised you were that much faster?)
"Yeah, I was because I didn't drive a very good lap.  I took it easy after Gateway.  There we had a chance at the pole and I blew the lap pretty bad.  So, I just wanted to take it pretty easy this time, and I was surprised how fast it was."

BILL LESTER (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram)
NOTE:  Lester was the fastest-qualifying Raybestos Rookie of the Year entry.  (Ninth - 27.817 sec., 129.417 mph.).  Lester has been the top-qualifying rookie in four out of five races this year.

"This feels tremendous.  If you had asked me five minutes ago how I felt, I'd say 'Panic-stricken.'  We were having a heck of a time getting through tech there, the line was moving slowly.  I thought I was going to be nice and relaxed in the truck, but as soon as we got of the scales it was jump in the truck and go.  We felt pretty good based on our initial run there before we went on for qualifying, so we had a lot of confidence there.  But. I didn't really have a chance to get my thinking cap on straight, so I'm pleased by the outcome.

"I am surprised.  I knew we would be good.  I knew we were going to be fast, but I didn't think we were going to be exactly where we are now.  I'm just so happy with the Bobby Hamilton guys and have the Dodge Ram they put underneath me.  I'm tickled."

TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Parts Dodge Ram) -- Qualified second, behind teammate Leffler.
"This is my second time here, so there's a lot to learn about this racetrack, which I learned last year and how sensitive it is to the track temperature.  Earlier today it was a little hot, so we had our truck kind of tightened up a little bit.  But our Dodge Ram is doing good.  As long as we start up near the front and get a chance to try and keep up with the leaders and get five bonus points for leading a lap, that's pretty important in the overall standings at the end of the year.  So, that's our number one goal is to get out there and get the lead to get that five bonus points.  The Mopar guys are doing real good.  We've had some good trucks and have had some good runs.  We've had a little bad luck off and on.  Now that we're here at Pikes Peak International Raceway, we've got a really, really nice facility here to race on.  Like Bill Lester said, we can go two-wide and three-wide, with grooves on the bottom, top and middle, it doesn't matter in the race where you go.  I think we'll put on a really good show for the fans when they show up tomorrow.  They'll see some really good racing - not only in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, but any series that comes out here.  This racetrack is a very good racetrack for the fans.  They can see the whole racetrack and they can see all the action.  It's a great facility.

"Jason was fast all day.  He was fast in the rental car on the way here.  He's screaming fast, he's a maniac.  If I want to beat him, I'll have to take him into the first turn and put him in the wall in order to have a shot at this race.  He's really good.  He's run the open-wheel cars here.  He's been here a little bit, and he knows the racetrack.  The only thing I like about it is that I can go over there and pick up his book and take a look at it.

ROBERT PRESSLEY (No. 18 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge Ram) -- Qualified 10th on the day.
"Yeah, we picked up some time from practice.  The thing is, we didn't spend a lot of time on qualifying.  We made one qualifying run - we ran .88, and then .83 here.   I'm pretty happy with that.  I've never been here before, and you never know if it's going to rain or anything here.  We ran about 60 laps here this morning, so if it rains that'd be allright with me. 

"With these track conditions, I would have thought that we would've picked up a little bit more than that.  But then, if you let a race track set for an hour and usually it's going to slow down on you."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 62 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Ram)
"The way we've been qualifying lately, we'll have the pressure off us.  We've got provisionals now, and we'll take that lap.  That was the first time we've gone faster in qualifying all year.  Maybe we'll start to get our qualifying groove back.  We practiced race setups all day.  So, we know we're going to have a fast Dodge in the race, and we weren't concerned with qualifying.  We're actually pretty happy.  

LANCE HOOPER (No.  Diamond Cut Jeans/Blair5.com Dodge Ram)
"The lap felt good.  The truck was a little tight, still.  The sun went down and things cooled down, so I think that's why you'll see quicker speeds.  We're struggling right now, but we've got happy hour yet.  Hopefully we'll get this Dodge even better for the race."

ANGIE WILSON (No. 81 TotalRaceBabe.com Dodge Ram)
"We didn't do a sticker run in practice.  We were nine/tenths quicker than our first lap all day.  So, I feel really good about it.  I feel really confident, because we're learning in every race and we're gaining each time and that's what it's going to take.  I owe a lot to the crew today.  They've worked really well.  We haven't had to do a lot of changes, and that makes me where I can get more laps on the track.  It feels good, so overall it's been a good day."

CARLOS CONTRERAS (No. 43 Hot Wheels Dodge Ram)
"The truck feels too tight in the middle of turns three and four.  In turns one and two it's okay.  We've tried a bunch of things and the truck is still the same.  The problem is not the qualifying, it's trying to get a good setup for tomorrow.  We'll see.  We'll have to see about the weather.  Right now it's too tight, but last time I remember it was too tight on Saturday, and on race-day it was too loose.  You never know, here.  I really like this track, but this is my third time here and our last two times we've had wrecks.  This year, this is our year."

BRIAN ROSE (No. 4 Perry Connection Dodge Ram)
"Yeah, we picked up some speed from practice, but we're still not right.  We've been loose all the time.  It's just isn't really running right.  We've kind of been on both ends of the spectrum, so it's not one thing or the other.  We've fooled around with a lot of the geometry and stuff.  You know the old saying, 'Just keep it simple, stupid,'- we're just not doing it."

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