Ultra Motorsports takes 3-4 truck finish with Musgrave, Leffler combo -- Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes
Saturday, June 22, 2002 Memphis Motorsports Park - Memphis, Tenn. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O'Reilly 200 Patrick Mason Golin/Harris International, 773-593-2044 JASON LEFFLER (No. 2 Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Ram) NOTE: Leffler earned his series-high fourth pole position yesterday with a time of 22.887 sec., (117.971 mph). He finished fourth today behind teammate Ted Musgrave. "We were all right. We were a fourth-place truck. We weren't as good as we wanted to be, and we weren't that good after happy hour. But, the Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge was fast in qualifying and good in the race. We've just got to work on it a little bit. These short tracks are the worst type of tracks for me as a driver. I've got a lot of experience on short tracks, but not in heavy racecars. So, just getting laps here helps. We ran sixth in Martinsville and fourth here, so we just keep moving up." TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Parts Dodge Ram) NOTE: Musgrave's third-place finish today was his best finish at Memphis Motorsports Park, and his fifth top-five finish in eight races this year. Musgrave finished sixth in last year's race. "Well we finished sixth here last year, so maybe next year we'll be first. We could go sixth, third and then first. I don't want to dwell on last year, but we ran out with a brake problem there. But today we had brakes. Everything was fine, we just missed a little bit. The Mopar Dodge was really, really loose up off the corners, which would just spin the rear wheels. We couldn't get any traction to get going, and the harder we tried the worse it would get. Early on, actually the Mopar Dodge was okay, but we just had a little problem with a wheel coming loose. We made an adjustment for it because it shook the truck around and made the thing tight. So, the Mopar guys did well in the pits. The truck was good and it was a brand new Dodge. We've never raced the thing, so now we know what to expect from it." "The track was so hot and slick that if you overdrive the truck it'll just get tires really hot and you'll lose more traction. It was tough to slow down more or less and make it last. I'm chasing Terry and Travis for the win, but the harder I tried the worse the truck would get." CARLOS CONTRERAS (No. 43 Hot Wheels Dodge Ram) "Basically I'm happy. It was just too hot today. Howard (Comstock, crew chief) found a very good setup for our Dodge. We were able to be aggressive out there. Thanks to Howard and the guys because our truck was perfect today. It's really tough to be fast on these tracks. But if we can continue to find more setups like we did today, we can easily be in the top-10 in points. I'm happy after today though, because a race like this gives me a lot of confidence." BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 62 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Ram) NOTE: Gaughan was the top-qualifying and top-finishing rookie in his first start at Memphis Motorsports Park. "The NAPA gang tried hard for me today, but we just never quite had the balance we needed. Normally we get pretty good balance, but this was the first track that we really just didn't have it. We were loose, tight, loose, then made an adjustment and were tight, loose, tight. Our setup just kept bouncing back and forth. In the end we just pushed as hard as we could. It's kind of a bummer to lose those last couple of spots. We could've stuck it in there in the top-10. But we brought our Dodge Ram home in one piece, so we didn't give the guys too much work. "At Memphis the weather does seem to effect the track a little bit. It made it a little slick, and as it got hotter, it got slicker. The temperature definitely makes it a little more slick, which makes it even harder. If you're not right, then you just end up battling for the rest of the day." BRIAN ROSE (No. 4 Perry Connection Dodge Ram) "That was a pretty important 10th-place spot I was battling for wasn't it? I was proud of all of the Perry Connection Guys today. My crew busted their tails all week. We kind of didn't have a break in the pit cycle today. We led a lot of laps, and had a great Dodge when we were out front, but it just didn't cycle out to our favor. Coming out with about 40 laps to go we took on four tires and went back to about 16th position, and I was only able to march up to about 10th position. Robert (Pressley, teammate) raced me so hard, I maybe should have had an eighth place finish. But he can do that. That's the heart and soul of a racer that we all are." "We kind of got off to a slow start today. We started 13th and didn't want to race too hard. You give and take, and we did a whole lot more giving this week compared to those last couple of races. This one mainly was just for points this week. It would have been nice to have had a win, but I needed a finish. BILL LESTER (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram) "It was hot out there, and was no cooler behind the wheel. This was a learning experience for us. We had a rough time in qualifying, and we definitely had a better truck than that. We're just dejected with that finish, but were happy to just finish on the lead lap. We clicked off 14 positions. Really, we should have finished 15th, but after one of the restarts I was really trying to be courteous to the No. 4 Dodge and I went a little bit too wide. As a result of that I got up in the loose stuff in turns one and two, and gave away two our three spots that I just couldn't get back. So, we definitely had a top-15 truck, and we brought it home 17th. We'll go on to the next track. We're still heading in the right direction. We didn't gain too much on 'em today, but we didn't away give too much MICHAEL RITCH (No. 81 Ware Racing Enterprises Dodge Ram) "I believe it was an electrical problem that got us. We've been under the gun since we got here, and we were just trying to maintain and bring this Dodge home in one piece. We're out here trying to get sponsorship, so I guess we'll just have to try and get 'em in Milwaukee." ### >