elliott wins pole at nhis; dodge cup notes and quotes

Friday, July 19, 2002	
New Hampshire International Speedway  
Dodge notes and quotes.  
New England 300 Qualifying. 


BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
NOTE: This is Elliott's third pole of the season and his seventh top 10 starting spot in the past eight races. He's started in the top 10 a total of 11 times this season. It's Elliott's 54th career pole.

"We ran a 29.25 in practice, and we felt like we need to clip a few off of it. Mike (crew chief Ford) and the guys made a lot of changes on the car and it worked. The race track got a little cooler. I'm sure the 55, 12 and 48 are going to be hard to beat, along with the 28 and 18. We'll just have to see where we end up.
"I'm proud of the guys and all the work they put in week in and week out. We've come together well as a team the last couple of months. We ran better than we did in practice. We changed a lot of stuff from practice to qualifying. It worked. The communication has been great on our team. The general morale is great. Going into a long stretch like we're going into, morale is going to be the key. Last year we were riding a roller-coaster and right now it seems like we just keeping nipping away at it. We'll do the best we can, and we've come a long way as a team."

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I'm real proud of this Evernham Motorsports team. They've got this Dodge running real good for qualifying. We changed a bunch of stuff before we went out, and everything was in the right direction. The car was a lot better than it was in practice. I've run good here, and I've run bad here. I think the better the car is, the more you'll like it here. This is a place I'm not too sure about, but this is the best I've ever qualified here. Track position will be very important here, and that's why we wanted to have a good run."

HUT STRICKLIN (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We made a lot of changes before qualifying. We were pretty bad before practice. We thought we might hit on something for qualifying, but it just got worse. We were struggling in the corners. It was loose in the corners and tight off."
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CASEY ATWOOD (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"The car was just too tight for qualifying. I feel like the Sirius Dodge will race good. It turns good in the middle of the corners. We'll try to get it ready for the race and see if we can do anything with 'em Sunday."

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
 "It's all about teamwork. You never know who's going to beat you or who's going to run good when qualifying starts. We just kept working with it, getting a little better. We made a lot of changes right before qualifying and ironically it was in a good direction. We picked up a little bit. A lot of guys lost. That's typical here at New Hampshire. You go out on cold tires and try to get hooked up. I told Mike (crew chief Ford) I couldn't run but a 29.20. That's what I seemed to run about every lap, between a .20 and .25. Mike Hawkins, the motor man, came over and said he wanted a 29 flat. I said, 'OK, I'll do the best I can.' Ironically, it was just a little under that. It's all about teamwork. I'm proud of my guys and what they've done. We've all worked hard here the last several months. I'm sure from Mike (Skinner) to Rusty (Wallace) to Ryan (Newman) it's all about the crew and what they put under you each and every week. Right now, I'm happy with where I'm at. Ray (car owner Evernham) has done a great job. I feel like he's one of the best car owners in the garage area. He pretty much leaves us alone. He gives us the necessary tools to go race week in and week out. I've missed that over the last several years, trying to run my own deal. It's a tough situation, but right now I'm very comfortable with where I'm at and I'm very proud of what my guys have done.
"I've never liked to go out early here. It's a race track that lends inself to the later draw for whatever reason. If you get to a 25-30 range, toward the end tends to be a good place. I feel like the track got a little better as it went along, but how much I have no idea. I feel like when the sun went in and it got cooler the track got better.
"I'm sure tomorrow in practice we'll test the track and see where we can go and how the track will lend itself to racing. I watched the Busch race here earlier this year, and it seemed to be some pretty good racing. We'll just have to see.
"I've been up and down at this race track. I've struggled. When we unloaded, I was totally out of control. I really hoped I didn't have to drive it all day like I was running then. Yet, as I said, the guys kept working on it and it got better. These guys are very adaptable, and I think that's what separates Busch from Winston Cup. Plus, maybe the guys that have been here for a period of time had a particular setup and it didn't work as good as the guy that came in with a new deal and didn't know what he was looking for. We came here pretty much with a whole different deal anyway.
"I contribute it to the guys on the team and where we're at right now. I can't say enough about how well our team has come together. We all communicate well, we're all going in a good direction. That could all turn around tomorrow, but right now we've got a year and a half working together and Ray has made some adjustments along the way. This group now I guess has been together about a year or so and it seems like we've turned the corner. Those guys have confidence in me and vice versa.
"We're still on a long stretch. We've got a lot of races to go and whether you make it up (253-point deficit to leader Sterling Marlin) or not, I have no idea. We've got to attack each and every race and see how well we can run week in and week out, and that's going to take care of itself.
"It's great they made some changes here, and we'll see how practice goes tomorrow as we test the waters. It ain't me. It's those guys. They work their guts out week in and week out. We went to Indy and tested hard for two days. At the end of the day, everybody's tongues were hanging out. To come here and start out struggling and we kept working and put it all together. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I go out there and put out 100 percent and they put out 200 percent."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"That was better than practice. We changed a bunch on it. We've got a different car here than the one we had in November. The track is different. It takes a different setup. It's like everywhere you go. You can be good one race and go back the next race and be a 25th place car with the same setup. I don't know what gets it messed up, but that's what I'm seeing. It looked like a lot of guys slowed down, and we picked up. When we made our banzai while ago, somebody got in the way and I couldn't run, but the car drove pretty good. It was just too loose. The car is pretty good, but it's a new car and it's got the new car bugs. We'll get it worked out and see what happens."

STEVE GRISSOM (No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I wish we could have had a little better lap, but the track conditions are different now and hopefully we'll just get a decent starting spot. It's like being on a skating rink out there. We're sliding around, and it's hard to judge where we're going to be."

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We've got a good car. We were the fastest in practice, and the sun came out when we qualified. Now it's going back behind the clouds, and it's going to be better. The track was really hot, and I went out there and smoked it into turn one and it didn't stick. It didn't stick in a big way. Then I drove all the way up to the wall and had to bring it back down and get it going again. It wasn't a good qualifying effort. I did a real conservative qualifying on the second lap so we wouldn't have to start last. We may start close to last anyway."