dodge nascar winston cup notes and quotes from friday qualifying at richmond

Friday, Sept. 6, 2002				 	                           Ray Cooper
Richmond International Raceway                                	                          Golin/Harris International 
Dodge notes and quotes.                                                                                      803-466-9085
Winston Cup Qualifying. 

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We were real loose. We adjusted for it a little bit, but the track changed a whole lot from practice. It was a whole lot looser for us. We tightened the car up from practice, but it was still too loose."

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"I'm not sure how good that lap is going to be, but we were pretty loose in practice. I think we've got a good car, and we're going to be pretty good in the race. We were just a little too free for qualifying. I feel real good about the race. We ran well here last time. It's a good car and we're due for a good finish."

JIMMY SPENCER (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"Somebody's got to go first. Unfortunately we were one of the first cars out. Any time the track sits for two hours, you know going in you're going to be in trouble if you're one of the first cars out. We tried to fix the car for it, but it's just part of it. We're going to be good in the race. We tested here and were really strong on the long runs. We're just giving up track position on the start and it's going to be hard to make up." 

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We went out early and the track got better and better as qualifying went along. I had to take a provisional here in the spring, so I just wanted to bring it home in one piece. That's all I did. It's going to be a horrible starting spot, but at least it wasn't a provisional."

KENNY WALLACE (No. 23 Hills Bros Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"The first lap was pretty decent and then the second lap I got too free and it came around on me. I was really concerned about making the race. I didn't know if it was going to hold up or not."

WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid R/T)
NOTE: Burton's Dodge was best in class in qualifying. He'll start 13th.
 "I thought that might have been good enough for a top 10 starting spot, but the track kept getting better every lap. The car wasn't quite as good as we had it last time for qualifying, but it feels real racy. I think it's going to be good Saturday night. It wasn't that good of a lap. It was OK, but if we could go back and make one change we would and that would make it better. The car is awesome. It's responded to everything. Tommy Baldwin and his guys have done a lot of work to the car. I'm real proud to be driving it because I think we'll have a shot at it Saturday night. We had a good opportunity to win here in the spring. This car won at Loudon and hopefully we'll be in the hunt Friday night. Our fastest lap today has been on older tires, so I'm real excited about Saturday night."






KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"Our car wasn't very good. We may have picked up a bunch, but I felt like I had a flat right rear when I qualified. I don't know what the problem was. We were a lot better than that in practice."

CASEY ATWOOD (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We didn't slow down any from practice. It looked like some people slowed down. This is the same car we had here last time and it raced really well. We didn't qualify good here last time and had a good car in the race. I think we'll be fine. We didn't qualify the way we wanted to, but if it races like it did last time we'll be good."

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We didn't pick up anything from practice, but we ran the same. We made some changes and got just a little too free. I'm proud. The guys have worked hard and we've just got to get going in the race. I figured we'd end up about 15th, but 19th isn't too bad. We had to take provisionals the last two times here, so it's a heck of a lot better than that."

JERRY NADEAU (No. 44 Georgia Pacific/Brawny Dodge Intrepid R/T)
"We didn't quite back up what we ran in practice, but most people slowed down and we didn't slow down that much. That's a decent starting spot. We had the second fastest Dodge at least. Now we'll concentrate on getting ready for the race and try to get a good finish Saturday night."

###