Top-five race finishes for Dodge's Musgrave, Leffler secure top-five point finishes for both drivers -- Dodge Notes & Quotes

Friday, November 15, 2002
Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Ford 200

TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Parts Dodge Ram)
"Well we took a full tank of fuel in our truck in that last pit stop and tried to move out and get going.  I would've needed some more laps to catch (race winner Ron Hornaday).  This Mopar Dodge was really good today, but the championship wasn't there for us.  We just had too much bad luck.  But each and every week we were running right up near the front.  That just shows all of the dedication that these guys gave back home."

"Actually, it was a pretty good day for us.  We started out on the front row and got to the lead right off the bat and led the most laps.  The Mopar Dodge did good all day long.  We were in good shape.  The caution at the end kind of mixed things up where (Ron Hornaday) got out front and got some clean air.  I had to hang out and follow the No. 2 and No. 14 that were side-by-side.  They were battling, and I had to wait for that kind of battle to shake out before we could get to him.  By that time, though, he was quite a ways gone.  In the championship battle we did everything we could do, and Mike Bliss just did everything that he was supposed to do.  I don't know exactly where he finished, but he was right where he needed to be.  My hat goes off to him and his crew.  They did a really good job all year long.  They hung in there and had hardly any DNF's.  The big thing was that he finished a lot of laps in the series and got that team a lot of points.  

"I can't say enough about my team either though.  Each time we run, we run good, we run in front and we have a chance to win.  Today Ron just took one away from me, but that's the way it goes.  That was a good job by his guys.

"There's a lot of things that we could've changed this year, but on some days things were simply out of our hands.  With four laps to go, leading the race at Las Vegas we got a flat tire and it forced us to lose it.  At Texas Motor Speedway while we were leading the race a caution came out for oil on turns one and two.  We actually spun around in the oil and they put us in the back of the pack, so we lost that one.  Consistency is a big thing that wins races, just as it wins points races.  This year we put our heads down and did everything we could, and we just came up short with a couple of things that happened to us that were out of our control.  You'll have those years.  I've seen it in every aspect of motorsports.  One year you're a champion, and the next year you're fighting to stay in the top-20 of the points standings.  This year we've had really good luck, but we've had a couple of things that have come up that may have taken the championship out of our hands.  But that's racing.  That's what happens.  You've just got to put your head down, keep going as hard as you can.

"Hopefully, next year NASCAR will let us qualify by age and let the oldest guy take the pole.  Next year we really, really, really need to go to the wind tunnel.  The top three trucks in points this year include a Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet.  We should take them to a wind tunnel, blow on them rather than rolling them on a racetrack and get your numbers that way.  We need to even them up where they're a little bit closer so the competition is a little bit better.  I think that's the biggest thing right now.  As long as it's close, you can put the rest in the hands of the teams. 

I think we've done a pretty good job on things, but it needs to be a little bit closer.  We've had lot, and I do mean a lot, taken away from the Dodges last year.   That was really, really uncalled for.  But we've just got to play by their rules.  They've got a really good team in the Chevy camp, a really good team in the Dodge camp, and a good team in the Ford camp right now.  Those are top-three teams in the points standings, and if any one of them would've faltered then each one of the manufacturers would've have really been suffering.  I think what they need to do is go back and be sure that everything is really, really close so that everybody has a chance, not just those top-three teams."

JASON LEFFLER (No. 2 Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Ram) 
"It was a good day for us. We've been struggling lately, so to come home with a top-five is nice.  Thanks to help of these Ultra Bad Boys, we've had a pretty good year even though we didn't win a race.  Our Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Ram was competitive today.  It's just disappointing that we had problems with some lap traffic in the end.  We were racing hard, but that's just the way it goes.  That's racing."

"Well we ended up with a top-five run for us, which we're always happy to get. I owe a lot of thanks to all of the guys.  They did a good job.  Tim Kohuth made a good call at the end, so we stayed out there when that yellow came out.  That put us on top of about five trucks on the lead lap.  It's been a good year for us.  We haven't won a race yet, but we've finished in second place six times, got eight poles and had a chance to win a lot of races.  It could've been a lot worse.  I've got to thank Team ASE, CARQUEST, Dodge, Arrington Engines and everybody at the shop.

"When Rick Crawford pitted ahead of everybody he probably wasn't getting quite as good gas mileage as we were.  If you take a chance you can pit early when your truck's handling bad and come out on fresh tires and make a lot of time up to everybody that's still running on old tires.  It's just a gamble, and then the caution came out and he lost.  We took two tires on that last stop, and that got us second to behind Ron Hornaday.  It would've been nice to race him, but we just didn't get a chance there.  Crawford held us back pretty bad."

"As it was getting towards the end of the race you're doing whatever it takes to win.  It's just hard racing. The No. 14, when you get down there towards the end of the race, the truck should give the leaders respect and let them go on and win the race.  I'd do the same thing for him.  I'm just really disappointed that we didn't get a chance to race for the win.  We basically lost because of a lapped car."

ROBERT PRESSLEY (No. 18 Square D/Dickies Racing Dodge Ram)
"I'll tell you what, we had a nice little Dodge under us today.  I've got to thank Dickies, Bobby Hamilton and all of the guys over in Tennessee for a run like this.  We had a little mess up there in qualifying.  We got caught up on something, but it really didn't matter there.  The rules are the same for everybody.  I just wish we would've had another caution or something, so we could've caught up a little bit sooner.  But heck, we'll take it."

BILL LESTER (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram)
"Well, we weren't able to meet one of our goals in bringing home a top-10 finish this year. It hurts me, but what can I say?  I do the best that I can with what I have.  I'm just hopeful that we'll be able to work on this platform next year, so we can use the experience that we got this year and build upon it.  I'm optimistic for the future."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 62 NAPA/Orleans Dodge Ram)
"This was my first time to Homestead.  I gave up one spot to Matt Crafton late in the race.  He got to watch me take Mr. Toad's Wild ride.  This is a fun place.  You can flirt with the outside, but you get in the rubber.  I talked to Jimmie Johnson before the race and he said, 'Don't flirt with the outside.  There isn't any banking, the rubber just sits there and it'll take three laps to clear it off your tires.'  But sure as hell, I kept trying to flirt with it.  We almost got a top-10 today.  We wanted to end in a really good way for NAPA.  We'll take 11th I guess. We're 11th in points. Maybe that's just what place team we are.  But I can promise you next year that we're a better team than that.  Dodge is coming with a lot more support for us next year.  We're going to find us a primary sponsor, get more money than we had this year and come out ready to win a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship in 2003.