Jason Leffler takes fifth runner-up finish, moves to third in Truck standings at Indy -- Dodge notes & quotes

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

JASON LEFFLER (No. 2 Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Ram) 
"We were just off a little bit tonight.  The No. 29 was the dominant truck all night.  If it weren't for the Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge guys, we couldn't have made it this far though.  The guys did a great job getting me running out there.  This is the truck that got banged up at Loudon earlier this year.  Second place was as good as we could get with what we had.  That's just where we were going to run tonight no matter how much we worked on the car.  I just wish we had half of what the No. 29 is running with as far as rules and everything - we'd be set.  I wish we could've taken the win, but I'll take all the second places I can get."

"We were really good, but we just didn't have anything for the No. 29.  Everybody at Ultra Motorsports did the best they could.  I don't know.  We need some help.  If they just gave us half of what the other makes have, we'd be in pretty good shape.  No one had anything for the No. 29 tonight, he could just drive straight up off the corner.  But, hey, they did a great job."

DARRELL WALTRIP (No. 17 Tide Dodge Ram)
"We thought if we could just try and get to the end and then hang in there - we had to miss whatever happened on that last lap - we'd probably get a pretty decent finish.  That's what we were thinking.  Jeff made a great call to get four tires.  Larry made a really great call there at the end and got me through that last wreck.  We came home in sixth place, and that's a good night.  What a great time." 

ROBERT PRESSLEY (No. 18 Square D/Dickies Racing Dodge Ram)
"Well, our Dodge has got all kinds of battle scars all over it.  But we survived, and I'm really happy about it.  We had a great Dodge out there tonight.  It was a lot better than what I thought it was going to be during practice.  That's the thing, with Danny Rollins and with our deals with Square D and Dickies Racing, those guys have not quit on me all year long.  If this race could've been green flagged, I think we could've had something for the No. 29.  We couldn't beat him on short runs, but the longer we ran the better we got.  He was dominant all day, so at least we had a good points day.  We wanted to be better, and I wish I could've raced up there with Terry a little more, but those cautions really slowed us down.  This is another top-five finish for us, and we're getting on a roll here, but we've got to get going and win some more races now."

BILL LESTER (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram)
"The beginning of the end of my day was when the No. 1 turned me sideways.  I couldn't understand that.  I got knocked sideways, and it took the front of my nose off.  By that time, I was just trying to basically finish the race, and I saw some stuff happening ahead of me towards the end of the race in turn four.  I thought I learned from Martinsville that you can't really check up because everybody just hits you in the rear.  So, I just tried to pick my way through it, and I followed the truck ahead of me.  All of a sudden that truck broke left, and the next thing I know there's a truck stopped dead in front of me and I hit it.  That was it."