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Musgrave earns runner-up, Gaughan gets top rookie start in Dodge Truck qualifying at Milwaukee

Friday, June 28, 2002

NASCAR TRUCK EVENT

TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Parts Dodge Ram) Note: Musgrave will start second in Saturday's race, marking the fifth time this year that he has started in the top-two for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. "Our qualifying lap felt okay. We could use a little more down force. But we had a deficit there, because we tested out another truck all day yesterday and then decided to pull out this one at the very end. All in all it was a good team effort from the Mopar Dodge guys. We ran this truck at Dover this year and won with it, so it's a decent truck. We've just got to more or less keep our heads on straight and see what we can get for the race. Last year we didn't have the dominant truck, but we came out here with the end. Hopefully we can do it again this year." BILL LESTER (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram) "Up until this session prior to qualifying we were struggling. Everything we were throwing at the truck was like a 30.900 (sec.) We changed bars, springs, gas, tires and we were just kind of scratching our heads, asking ourselves, 'What's going on with this truck?" But we found something here in the last practice session before qualifying and it picked us up a good three and a half or four-tenths. So, we were encouraged by that. We thought we might just get a little bit more out of it in qualifying. But it wound up basically being consistent. We ran almost the same thing we ran in the last practice. We can't be too disappointed with that. The thing we're really focusing on is good finishes. I think we'll have a good truck rolling off in the 16th spot, and we'll work from there." BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 62 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Ram) NOTE: Gaughan was the top qualifying rookie in his first visit to Milwaukee, starting 10th. "We wanted to be a little bit quicker, but anytime we have an extra test day we always do really well, especially when we're coming to a track we've never been to. Just like always, we end up around the top-10. We're really happy with that. The guys have built a hell of a truck. This is the same truck we ran here at Memphis. We beat a little bit of the nose back out and brought it here. It's sticking pretty good here, so I think we're going to race pretty well tomorrow. "This is a cool track. It's kind of like a drivers' style track. You've got to drive it in, dance it around the middle, and it's not going to be perfect at any time because there's no banking to help you. Coming out of turns three and four it kind of reminds me a little bit of Monroe, because you're automatically going to be loose. I swear it's negatively banked in turn four. But you've just kind of got to drive it that way, and not let it be too loose. You've got to try and keep all four wheels going in the same direction. It's even a little bit like St. Louis in turns three and four. You've got to drive in hard, use some brake, get it to turn and drive away without getting too loose. "We're not trying to get poles out here. We'd like to be in the top-10 or top-12 for the race. That's a good place to start - you're normally safe there. That's what's basically turned us around. We've quit trying to move a lot around, and do a million different things for qualifying. We'll work on that maybe next year. Right now, we're just trying to go out there and run well." ROBERT PRESSLEY (No. 18 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge Ram) "That lap was a little bit like what we figured we'd post. We picked up a little bit, but we really worked a lot on the race stuff here all weekend. This is the first week together for me and my new crew chief Danny Rollins. We knew we'd be in the top-10 in qualifying even if we had a bad day, so we opted to test out our race setups, and maybe it'll pay off tomorrow." JASON LEFFLER (No. 2 Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Ram) "We're alright. This is the best truck I've had in race conditions. In qualifying we just haven't found the speed we wanted. Everybody's working hard on the Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge crew. We'll have a good truck tomorrow. This is a brand new Dodge that we've never run before, but it feels pretty good so far." LANCE HOOPER (No. 5 Diamond Cut Jeans/Blair5.com Dodge Ram) "The truck feels good. I really like this track, and I'm always happy coming to Milwaukee. We've been chasing tires all weekend. We were really loose there in qualifying, so hopefully we'll be better in happy hour and have fun in the race." CARLOS CONTRERAS (No. 43 Hot Wheels Dodge Ram) "Last year was terrible here for us because we got into a wreck in the second lap, and didn't get a good finish. But I really like this kind of track. Milwaukee is one of my favorite tracks because the banking here is more flat like a road course. I don't know though, I think our Hot Wheels Dodge doesn't seem to like it here because we always seem to have problems here. But the guys will keep working, and we'll be ready for tomorrow." BRIAN ROSE (No. 4 Perry Connection Dodge Ram) "I thought the first lap was extremely slow, and I hustled it on that second lap. I felt like we could have run that second lap in 30 seconds flat. I had to crack the throttle about three times in turns three and four, and I about spun out. I just was hustling it really hard. I'm really proud of al the boys working on the Perry Connection Dodge team. We've got a new crew chief this weekend with Randy Fields. The team's taking real well to all the changes back in the shop. It kind of hurts us to come here not knowing we've got a different boss for the week. But, I think it's all working out for the best. As a team, I think we'll all work better in the end."