POSTRACE Dodge NASCAR Winston Cup notes and quotes from Dodge/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma, Calif.

Sunday, June 23, 2002					              Ray Cooper
Dodge notes and quotes.	                          		                            Golin/Harris International
Infineon Raceway                                                                                    803-466-9085
Dodge/Save Mart 350K  


    BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T)
    "I got loose in the corner and Nadeau and I got together a little bit. It was fun leading while it lasted. We've just got to get a little bit better, but we keep digging on it every week. We ran out of gas about 200 yards from the finish and Mark got by us. We were off a little bit gearing wise today. The 97 was really good. On long runs, I wasn't bad. On short runs, I had a hard time with those guys."

     JERRY NADEAU (No. 44 Georgia Pacific/Brawny Dodge Intrepid R/T)
     "We broke a rear end gear. The car started vibrating real bad with about four laps to go. I thought it was the fuel pressure, but it wasn't. Coming off turn 11, I spun the gear and we lost the rear end.
     "A good shot at it? I had a five-second lead. I think that was a good shot to win. It was a lot of fun. We took a chance there. Me and Greg (crew chief Steadman) started talking and he told me to stay out. It paid off. The car ran great up front. We started pulling away. We had a six-second lead.
     "I had plenty of fuel. The car was great. Temperatures were great. I just spun the gear. That's a weird deal. I'm usually pretty easy on equipment unless I wreck. Unfortunately it broke the gear.
     "I would have really had to screw up bad for Ricky Rudd to catch me. Anything can happen in Winston Cup Racing. I was being real easy. I was listening to his times and my times. I was staying within half a second of him.
     "I'm not emotional at all. I just want to get home. I've got to go test tomorrow with Michael Waltrip in Chicago. I've got to thank everybody with the Georgia Pacific Dodge team today at Petty Enterprises. They did a terrific job.
     "I thought it was fuel pressure at first, but the fuel pressure was fine. Then it started getting worse and worse. It finally broke. Everybody is driving hard. It was just a freak thing. We were leading Atlanta last year with one to go and ran out of fuel. It's just unfortunate, but that's kind of the way my career has gone. I'm humble about it. It's no big deal, and we'll go get 'em at Chicago."

    CASEY ATWOOD (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T)
     "We had a real good car. We were trying to get track position and we finally got it. Then we got hit from behind in turn two and got spun out. The guy in front of me slowed down, I slowed down and the guy behind me didn't. We were headed for a top 15 finish until we got spun out. I felt real comfortable out there today. We got in 110 laps today in the Sirius Dodge, so I'll be even more comfortable when we come back. We had a good car, but it just didn't work out for us the way it was supposed to because of the way things happened. That's part of racing."




    KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T)
    "The Sprint Dodge struggled all week, but John Andretti and the 43 team ran good today for the third straight race. The 43 had a top 10 car for the third week in a row. He was running in the top 10 at Pocono and Michigan, so that's three in a row. That car has turned the corner. He had a shot at winning today. The 44 car put themselves in position to win. Jerry drove the wheels off of it. We had two cars capable of winning the race, we had two cars that led laps and it's been a long time since Petty Enterprises had one car capable of doing that. It was a good day for us.
     "Nadeau is committed. We made some commitments to Steve Grissom. Jerry is committed to Michael Waltrip and that crowd to run Chicago. Maybe when you get past that point, we'll sit down and talk to him again. He says he's got a couple of things working for next year. I don't think we've got a shot at talking to him for next year, but who knows. After this race, you never know.
     "He was incredibly impressive. He was struggling over there at the 25 car, but obviously this will help his confidence. It showed that Jerry Nadeau can drive a race car. It helped our guys' confidence on the 44 team. They've struggled a lot this year. To come back and have a car that's capable of winning the race is huge. We kind of worked ourselves in a hole provisional wise with the 44. We couldn't afford to come out here and take a provisional. A.J.'s car went home, and that shows how close you are. When you look at stuff like that, he came out here and did exactly what he was supposed to do - make the race. Then he was supposed to finish. I didn't know he was going to have a shot to win it. What he did was over and beyond the call of duty."

     JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T)
     "I'm pretty happy. We came here and didn't tear up anything. We had a good run. The way the day went was good. The pit strategy was good. It seems like every time we have something good, something bad happens, but I want to make this positive and say this was a good momentum booster for the team,"

     RAY EVERNHAM (Car owner Evernham Motorsports Dodge Intrepid R/Ts)
     "We made a gamble with both cars and the 19 just used a little more fuel than the 9. It looked like we were headed for top 10s with both cars. It was another top 10 for Bill. That should help him in the points. A lot of guys had trouble. We'll get this 19 team turned around. They had a top 10 run going today and just ran a little short on gas."


#####