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DODGE NASCAR WINSTON CUP NOTES, QUOTES FROM SUNDAY'S PEPSI 400 AT MIS

Sunday, Aug. 18, 2002					                       
Michigan International Speedway 
Dodge notes and quotes.  
Pepsi 400 Pre-Race. 
COMMENTS FROM DODGE DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP  PRESS CONFERENCE

RAY EVERNHAM (President, CEO and team owner Evernham Motorsports)
"Mike Ford (crew chief No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T) and I talked about a year ago about how it would be good if we could get kids out of school that understood a little bit about a NASCAR Winston Cup race car. We needed kids out of school that had a good, basic understanding of hydraulics and brake systems and fuel systems and things like that. Dodge has provided a training ground for those kids to come out, and also gave me as a business owner an opportunity to be a part of something that I'm proud of. I was raised never to look at race, color or religion. So, it's great to be a part of something that is giving an opportunity to people who would not otherwise have an opportunity to get into Winston Cup racing. The more opportunities we provide for them, the more our sport will grow. I'm very proud to do that."

DARRYL JACKSON (Vice President Dodge Marketing)
"This is a great honor for us. It shows Dodge's commitment and the dealers' commitment to the people we're selling cars to. We sell them to everybody, and we want to be committed and involved with everybody. That's what we always said we were going to do. The program was started by Jim Julow, and I'm just lucky to be sitting here and taking a little of the credit for it. It's a tremendous opportunity for us. I met Jason a year ago and I thought, 'what a confident guy.' I meet him now and think, 'what a real confident guy.' It just shows how the program really works and it really shows how people who have a dream can fulfill their dream. It's amazing to see the transformation. It's like a butterfly. I looked at the press clips and he says he wants to be a crew chief. I think that's great. I would challenge any of the other manufacturers to get involved as we have, even one tenth of what we've done. I'd just challenge them to be a part of the program. I think it's a major commitment to the people we sell our products to. If you think about it, it's probably not a bad marketing idea also."

JASON FLAMER, 23, HOUSTON, TEXAS 	 
Flamer has already begun working with the No. 19 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T team.
"The program has done a lot for me, and I like what Dodge is doing. I've enjoyed working with Ray Evernham and the rest of the guys. It's a great deal. I'm really happy with the results of the program. It's a great team and a great bunch of guys. The hours are 7:30-5:30 with an hour for lunch, and we've been working six days a week on the average. I'm cleaning radiators, tearing down the cars. I'm originally from New York and I came south and went to school at N.C. A&T in Greensboro. That's where I really got interested in cars. I started working in dealerships, and I really got into it. I never wanted to drive, but I do want to be a crew chief. I'll give myself five years and then Mike Ford better watch out."


POST RACE


STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T)
FINISHED SIXTH
"On restarts on new tires I had to be real careful. I needed about five laps, and it bottomed out on new tires, too. We were better on the long runs. It just won't go green when I need it to. Sixth place wasn't too bad, but we had a better car than that. We put on four tires on the last pit stop and the 88 and 6 got through traffic. I had to get out of the gas because someone in front of me almost wrecked and four or five cars got by me. You just never know. It worked out pretty good. The 6 wasn't that good all day. He was decent, but I never saw him all day until he stayed out."

CASEY ATWOOD (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"The motor blew up without any warning. We were running fine. It popped on the back straightaway, and it was really unfortunate. We didn't have the best car here this weekend, but we were working on it trying to make it better. We've been struggling on some of these big tracks. I'm looking forward to getting back to some of the smaller ones."

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"It was just one of them days. We were pretty good at the beginning, but you've got to be there at the end, too. I really don't know what caused the transmission problem. I'm just ready to go to the next track and try it again."
 
JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We had a good finish today. It was a good team effort. I'm proud of all the guys. We started off really bad. We were really loose, but we kept working and working and we came back. We missed it by one spot (15th place finish), but we accomplished our goal. We're not breaking and we're finishing races. Now we've got something to build on with this Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge."

ROBIN PEMBERTON (Petty Enterprises General Manager and Vice President)
"Kyle just battled track position all day. The 43 was up and back. The race track got tight and they over compensated once and didn't compensate enough the other time. The 44 was up and back, too. They got to running pretty good and then it came time to adjust. Track position killed you when you got in the back. It was the same thing for everybody else."