Jason Leffler qualifies in front row; Bobby Hamilton, Darrell Waltrip field Dodges at I.R.P. -- Dodge notes & quotes

Friday, August 02, 2002
Indianapolis Raceway Park
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Power Stroke Diesel 200 -- Qualifying

Patrick Mason
Golin/Harris International
773-593-2044

JASON LEFFLER (No. 2 Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Ram) 
"It definitely helps to come back to a track where you've logged so many laps.  Right now, we're running just as good as we can run.  We're the fastest Dodge in qualifying, so we're just doing all that we can do.  You've got to battle around this track a little bit.  It gets slick when the sun is out, but the track conditions have been good today."

TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Parts Dodge Ram)
"When we unloaded the Mopar Dodge to start with here, we were just running race runs.  That's all we were looking at.  We didn't worry about qualifying or anything like that.  I think we got our Dodge running pretty decent for a long duration run.  I didn't know it was going to run like that in qualifying.  We also went to the Brickyard today and ran the Sirius Dodge Intrepid, which turned out to be 20th quick over there.  I was hoping for a little bit better, but that'll be okay.  It was a big adjustment going from a little short track to a big speedway deal over there.  But for now, we're staying focused on the night race at I.R.P.  There's a lot of beating and banging that goes on around here, so we've just got to stay up front and see what we can do tonight."  

DARRELL WALTRIP (No. 17 Tide Dodge Ram)
"Our Dodge is running good and looking good.  With Tide on the truck and the No. 17, it's kind of like a nostalgic look from 1989 when I won the '500.  I love this truck.  I'll tell you though, I'm just envious of Bill Elliott.  You know, why couldn't Ray have picked me up and made me a star again?  Of course, I'm a little bit older than Bill is.  But, it's fun being here in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.  I really am a firm believer in this series.  I believe when all those guys get too old to ride in those Cup cars, they all should get themselves a truck and come on over here and have some fun.  That's how I feel."

BOBBY HAMILTON (No. 4 Square D Dodge Ram)
"I'm happy to be racing, but I didn't want to be on the track today.  I sort of got forced into being here tonight, and if I could've found somebody to drive this truck, they'd be driving it right now because I've got a big weekend.  But, I'm more concerned about our No. 18 and No. 8 Dodges.  I'm just here to log points in this thing, and it's not driving very good.  Actually, we qualified better than I thought we would.  I just hope it's a good night for Dodges, no matter whose they are."

ROBERT PRESSLEY (No. 18 Square D/Dickies Racing Dodge Ram)
"It's been a long time since I've run these things, besides Martinsville.  Man, I forgot what this whole slick racing was like right here.  We had our hands full out there.  But the thing is, I believe everybody's like that here.  I guess that's what's going to make this race so good.  The biggest thing is just getting a hold of the racetrack. We've got no forward bit at all - zero forward bite.  So, we'll hang in there and see what we've got."

BILL LESTER (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram)
"Everyone on the team knows that I like the fast stuff, but I've got to master these short tracks too.  I'm looking forward to this race with an open mind.  We're pretty happy with how everything's going.  I think we're doing better now than we were in practice.  As I understand though, if you're comfortable here, you're not running fast enough.  Bobby (team owner, Hamilton) just edged my qualifying time, so if I can just hang onto his back bumper and let him pull me through the field, I think we'll probably have a good finish for the both of us."
 
CARLOS CONTRERAS (No. 43 Hot Wheels Dodge Ram)
"We've been too loose off all day, but we just can't fix it.  The truck should be loose off all night, but it's hard to drive like that.  I know being loose makes us fast, but it's a little scary.  We'll just have to see how things go tonight."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 62 NAPA/Orleans Dodge Ram)
"This seems like a really nice place to race.  It's a lot of fun.  It has a high groove, kind of like Irwindale, which we run out west.  Right now the NAPA Dodge gang is struggling at the moment.  We need to get back on track.  We're not handling like we were earlier in the season.  We don't know what's wrong.  We just need to get home from this stint, and reevaluate some things.


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