Leffler takes fourth in another near-miss for Truck Series win at Kansas -- Dodge Notes & Quotes

Saturday, July 06, 2002
Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, Kan.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series				
O'Reilly Auto Parts 250


JASON LEFFLER (No. 2 Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Ram) -- finished fourth
"When the No. 14 blew we were just sliding around in its oil.  I slid up the track and we couldn't see anymore.  Eddie Thrap (team spotter) was basically my eyes for me and told me where everybody was at.  My truck was still just as fast, but we just slipped in that guy's oil and couldn't quite see where we were going.  The Team ASE Dodge was good, so I'm just happy to have the support of the guys at Ultra Motorsports, CARQUEST and Dodge helping me out.

"We had awesome pits tops today.  The team always does a great job.  I owe it to them for getting us out in the lead today, and getting us those bonus points.  We're really consistent, we're fast wherever we go, but we just can't get to victory circle and that's why we show up to the track.  So, we'll probably take the same truck to Kentucky and we'll be in contention again for the win."

BILL LESTER (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram)
"I thought we were all going to behave ourselves going into turn one.  I knew the No. 46 had a run up high, but I didn't know the No. 29 was going to try and make it three-wide.  That's what he did and all I could do was hold my line.  The No. 46 came down on me, getting me in the right front fender, pushing me down, I think, into to the No. 29.  The No. 29 just spun off into the infield.  I did all I could and saved it, and I'm glad that that happened, and the No. 46 went merrily on its way.  The problem was that the damage that I incurred on the right front just tore up all my front aero and I think wound up cutting my tire.  All I know is coming through turn three it fell a little peculiar.  Then as soon as I tried to come off turn four I gave it all I could to go left and it just went straight.  I darn near took down that fence.  But the Bobby Hamilton Racing guys did everything to get me back out there, and we actually ran some pretty good speeds.  We just want to prove that we're a force to be reckoned with.  We were fast starting off third in qualifying.  We'll just look forward to a better outcome in Kentucky.  It'll be somewhat of a similar track, and we know we'll fast. We'll just do what we can to get that finish."

ROBERT PRESSLEY (No. 18 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge Ram) -- finished seventh
"It was slick coming to that green flag.  I guess when that No. 14 truck blew up it was a mess out there.  We lucked out and got a seventh place finish for us.  It was pretty good points day for us all in all.  We need to get things going around and start clicking off some top-fives and some wins, and I think we're heading that way.    The truck was good.  We just pulled the wrong gear.  We weren't low enough on our gear today.  I never though the pace was going to slow down so much.  We just went wrong, but Danny and all of us are learning now."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 62 NAPA/Orleans Dodge Ram)
"At the start we had a plug wire come off.  We came in and put it back on, and then another one came off.  That just doesn't happen too often when you're racing.  The NAPA team knows how to build speedway trucks.  We've won a lot of Winston West races on speedways.  We've won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race on a speedway.  I think we've proven our speedway program is definitely top-notch.  We got those plug wires back on, and I was told that we were faster by two or three-tenths than anyone on the racetrack.  The guys, they built a heck of a truck and they worked their butts to get us back running fast.  We proved we were still fast.  We felt we could get our lap back, and we knew early on that we were a little loose so I was running that high groove.  Running in that high groove the thing you risk is that the guy underneath you gets the air taken off your spoiler.  Our Dodge was fast, and we think we could've gotten both laps back with some breaks.  But Travis just got some air taken off his spoiler, he came on up and we both ran out of room.  There was nowhere we could go, and it just creamed us both."

LANCE HOOPER (No. 5 Diamond Cut Jeans/Blair5.com Dodge Ram)
"Well we burned a hole up front, broke a piston, and then the motor broke.  That's just the way it goes, there's nothing we can do now."

CARLOS CONTRERAS (No. 43 Hot Wheels Dodge Ram)
"The track was very slick.  For the first ten laps the truck was way too tight, and then for the rest of the race it was just awesome.  The thing is that we need more power and more engine.  We were really fast in the entry and exits of each turn.  I think we had a pretty good Dodge today.  I was fighting to get our lap back there towards the end and the No. 34 clipped me, cut up my tire and we missed the top-10.  But I'm pretty happy because we had a really good truck, it was very comfortable.  With more engine and a truck like we had today, we'll be running in the top-five."