dodge quotes from michigan

Friday, June 14, 2002					              Ray Cooper
Dodge notes and quotes.	Page 7.			                            Golin/Harris International
Sirius Satellite Radio 400.                                                                       803-466-9085
Michigan International Speedway.

     JIMMY SPENCER  (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T)
     NOTE: Spencer toured the DaimlerChrysler Corporation's Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Mich., yesterday. The 45-year-old driver from Berwick, Pa., liked what he saw.
     "It was an enjoyable day for me. As you're driving up the interstate, you see all the manufacturers. When you see the Chrysler insignia on the building, it's very impressive. From the minute I walked in the building, the receptionist was so nice. I got there right before lunch, and I couldn't believe how happy all the employees were. It was a different feeling than you see in a lot of places. All the people were talking and enjoying themselves. We got a tour of the plant and the dyno cells were incredible. The stuff they do, the things they can simulate. All the technology at Chrysler is incredible. The things they check on cars on stress machines, hanging these devices to check flex and noise, aerodynamics and fuel mileage. Then you step into the racing and the computers and people that are in our marketing, the computer technology we have there is incredible. The way they can make stuff out of plastic and wood with computers in less than a week's time and put it into testing, it's got to save hundreds of thousands of dollars. There wasn't one person I met there who wasn't happy to see you and they were all excited about the Dodge program. They're excited about NASCAR, and the Dodge Dealers are the same way. I've never seen an organization or company that's so behind their program as Dodge. From Jim Julow, (Vice President, Dodge Global Brand Center) to the guys who were riding their bikes to work, everybody seemed to be working in the same direction.
     "I learned something yesterday. The building is the biggest building in the world under one roof - five million square feet. The building is all granite. It's incredible. The wind tunnel is really impressive. The technicians running the wind tunnel are concerned about our cars and what we're feeling and how they can help us. They're concerned about the cars they're building, too. It's interesting to see how well all the employees get along. They're all trying to get to a common goal, building a better vehicle. The wind tunnel is state of the art. They're a step ahead of almost anyone in the wind tunnel simply because of the way it was designed, the air flow, temperature controls. 
     "We were right there when they were blowing a Dodge Ram truck yesterday, trying to make the truck better. It was awesome, and it's so clean. They had a dyno cell that I stood in one corner and another guy stood in the other corner and we couldn't talk to each other. It was deafening. You could have yelled, but it was amazing what all they could check in this soundproof room. It's stuff they're doing to make our cars better.
     "One of my favorite cars is that 300M. It's black with chrome wheels, and it's an awesome car. I ordered a new Dodge Ram SRT-10 truck. I know it's going to be the fastest production truck made, but I just think it's cool."





Friday, June 14, 2002					              Ray Cooper
Dodge notes and quotes.	Page 8.			                            Golin/Harris International
Sirius Satellite Radio 400 Qualifying.                                                    803-466-9085
Michigan International Speedway.

     

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"It was a little tight compared to what it was in practice. It pushed in the middle of the corner, and I hadn't done that all day. I guess it just got cooled off and the race track got a little tighter. I stuck too good, and I pushed up in the middle. I eased out of it a little bit on the next lap and it picked up. Now we're back to old and young drivers. You learn something from your first lap and pick up on the second lap. That'll get me in the race."

HUT STRICKLIN (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I wish we could have been a little quicker, but considering where we unloaded, it's a pretty big gain. This Hills Bros Coffee Dodge wasn't too kind to us today, but the guys kept working on it. I've got to give a lot of credit to the guys at Bill Davis Racing. They did a great job, and hopefully we can have a great run on Sunday."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Original Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We took a little gear out of the car. The track got faster. It got more grip. It's probably not going to matter. It's fine with me if it rains out qualifying again. That's probably the only way we're going to be on the pole again. It doesn't matter where you start here. We started 29th in this race last year and should have won it. We led a lot of the race and finished third. We started 15th in the second race and won it. This is such a good track. You can run three deep, side by side. If your car drives good, you'll be all right. We'd been pretty good in practice, but then we put on tires for a banzai run and we only picked up two tenths. Everybody else picks up half a second. We can't figure it out. You want to qualify good, but I'd rather race good. It pays more to race good.
"It's a tough way to get the pole. Dale Jarrett put up a real good time. We didn't have anything for him. One time in practice we were pretty decent, but we just can't understand qualifying. We were probably the eighth quickest one time in practice and we put on new tires and just picked up two tenths. I feel like we'll race good. This is the car we had at California and it was a good one for us. It looks like it might rain qualifying out, and I just hate it for all the guys who put in all the work to get qualified.
"This is a different car from what we had and the track is different. We need to win. Last week was good for us. We took a 25th-place car and wound up fourth with it. We had a good car at the end, but we were terrible at the start. The past two weeks, we were good to halfway and then the chassis went away. The guys went to work on it and got it fixed. We had a second-place car at California. Kurt Bush had us beat. We got stuff in the wall off four and it knocked the tow-in out. I came back and ran seventh with it.








Friday, June 14, 2002					              Ray Cooper
Dodge notes and quotes.	Page 9.			                            Golin/Harris International
Sirius Satellite Radio 400 Qualifying.                                                    803-466-9085

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Original Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"Look back at last year, and I think we ran better last year. We could lead more. We've still got a top-five car. Don't get me wrong, but we want to lead and win. With the rule changes, they gave Chevrolet an inch and a half. That brought them past us. They gave the Fords a kick out and that brought them past us. The Dodges and Pontiacs are kind of struggling. They gave the Pontiacs a little break. I don't know if it helped them or not. It looks like we're behind right now. The Fords at Pocono could pull up and turn their stuff 9,400 rpm's. We can't turn ours but 9,000 rpm's or it'll blow up. With the gear they pull, they can beat you off the corner because they'll pull more gear. I think we're a little behind.
"Handling comes into play at Michigan, so it might not be as big of a problem here. I'd much rather have a car that handles good than one with 20 more horsepower. If a car drives good, you can wear 'em down.
"We'll just have to roll our sleeves up and work harder."

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