NASCAR Racing Notes - Dale Jr. Wins Phoenix
CHECKER AUTO PARTS 500 AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
November 2, 2003
RICKY CRAVEN, NO. 32 TIDE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: Note: Craven spun on Lap 137 after getting hit from behind and sustained heavy damage to the Tide Pontiac. He returned to the track after going behind the wall for a lengthy stop for repairs. "I'm not going to make any excuses, you know, we got run into, but the fact is we've got to run better. You can't run like we did today in the Tide Pontiac because you're defensive all day, and the only way to play this game is to be offensive. We'll just pack up and get ready for Rockingham. It's one of my favorites, and this team always rebounds."
WARD BURTON, NO. 0 NETZERO PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: "The 7 car blew a motor and put down a bunch of oil. I was going around two lapped cars, the 4 and the 16, and I really couldn't see where the oil was and I must've run right over it. It's a shame because the team's worked really hard. Netzero, Pontiac, Automation, and all of our sponsors do a great job for us. It's just one of those things we can't control."
BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "The Interstate Batteries Chevrolet was running really good today. We were just biding our time. We thought we had a good race car. The No. 2 (Rusty Wallace) and the No. 29 (Tony Stewart) were racing pretty hard. The No. 2 was chasing the No. 20 pretty hard on the inside. Finally the No. 20 got by and it looked like he got into to him and turned him. I went in there and kind of slid up the race track trying to get back by the No.22 (Scott Wimmer) because I kind of held on waiting for the No. 20 to get by the No. 2 car. I went on the outside thinking that might be the thing to do. In the meantime, the No. 2 was trying to clear him and by this time I didn't have enough momentum to get by."
MICHAEL WALTRIP, NO. 15 NAPA CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Finished 5th - "The boys did a great job for me. We're real confident after the last practice that the NAPA Chevrolet would be good today. It handled well. I had to run up high and got really tight at the end of the race. What we didn't do well was stay on top of the track. It got cooler and tighter and we just pushed a little bit too much at the end. It was a good day for us considering what the last few races have been for this team."
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Finished 2nd - "We were so close today. We had a great race car but we were just a little loose at the end of that run there. Dale Jr. got by me. It was a great day for the Lowe's team. It was a great day in the points. When we get closer to Homestead, hopefully we'll be in the top three in the championship." - MORE TO FOLLOW
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Winner - "We've been wanting to win one of these for a long time. We've come so close a bunch of times and we've finished in the top five a lot. They gave me a great car today and I could just pass and do whatever. It feels so good to be in Victory Lane. We've wanted to be in Victory Lane so bad this year. We wanted to show that we're not just a restrictor plate team. These guys gave me such a good car. My car just drove so good. I could pass and race with whoever I wanted to. We had one heck of a race today. It was so much fun out there today. It's a great race track. I liked it last year. They made improvements on it this year. It's just a great day."
(ON THE PASS FOR THE WIN - IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD PLENTY OF HORSEPOWER) "Yeah, Richie Gilmore gave me a great motor which I about destroyed in my burnout. But he gave me a great motor. We've been on these guys for the last two months about the motors and they gave me a great one today. I hate to tear it up, but I haven't been in Victory Lane or done a burnout for a long time. I was just sitting there and waited behind Jimmie. I patiently waited and waited and he got easier and easier to catch. I didn't want to burn myself up trying to keep up with him. And it finally came to me. We saved all we had for the end. It's great. These guys deserved it."
(HOW ABOUT PASSISNG THE NO. 48 OF JIMMIE JOHNSON?) "Jimmie is a clean race car driver. I can race him and I don't really worry about him making too many mistakes or me making a mistake around him because he makes you comfortable. But his car was just going away a little bit. And we were finally good at the end."
(AFTER WINNING ON RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACKS, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO WIN AT A PLACE LIKE PHOENIX THAT REQUIRES THE WHOLE PACKAGE?) "We've been pretty good all year. We've improved in a lot of spots. We've got one next week that we've got to work real hard on and that's Rockingham. I'm just so proud of my team. They are all the same guys. We have a few new additions and they are so much fun to work with. If they stick around next year, every single one of them is going to win the championship, I can guarantee you."
(AND YOU SPENT A LITTLE TIME RACING AROUND THE NO. 12 OF RYAN NEWMAN) "I like Ryan a lot. He's a fun guy to race hard with." MORE TO FOLLOW
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Post-race press conference highlights:
(ON TODAY'S RACE) "As a whole, we had a very strong car. There were probably five or six cars that were very equal and it just depended on where you came out on pit road unless somebody made a mistake or got hung up in traffic. Fortunately we were one of those strong cars all day long and led a couple of times. I was leading there at the end and I'd been pretty tight. We freed the car up and put two tires on. So it took a little while for everything to come in and settle down, pressure-wise. Unfortunately by the time I started getting straight, Dale Jr. was in my mirror. I was trying to hold him off. We had a great car. We had a great race together and he got by. With those couple of restarts there at the end, my car had tightened up to where I could do something but Joe Nemechek was in between us one time. After that I could run with him but I didn't have anything for him so it didn't really matter.
"We had a great day and I wish we could have had another trophy. But in the big picture, it was a great day for us. I've been saying all along that it's going to boil down to who doesn't make mistakes. That's going to determine how we finish in the points. Last weekend, the No. 12 had some bad luck. This weekend it was the No. 29. Hopefully the No. 48 can stay consistent and keep knocking top fives and top tens these last few races and be in the top three in points.
(IN THE SECOND HALF OF THIS SEASON IT'S BEEN THE SAME 7 OR 8 DRIVERS THAT HAVE DONE WELL. IS THAT AN INDICATION OF WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT YEAR?) "I think so. There are a lot of young teams and a lot of guys growing together and coming into the lead group together as a team. I'm one of the oldest guys in my crew and I'm 28. We've started with a young group of guys and we've gotten our team into championship form. A lot of teams are fairly new and going through the same thing. The key is keeping your team together over the winter. These desperate team that are not used to being lower in points and having some troubles are going to offer up a lot of money to keep their teams together.
"We've already been dodging some bullets and having to spread some love through the team and the shop and keeping everybody in place. We've finally gotten our stuff polished up now and we're getting ready for a championship push for next year. I think it's the same for a lot of people. The competition is so tough, you'll probably see those same seven to 10 teams up front."
(IF YOUR CAR HAD BEEN IN FRONT OF DALE JR'S, WOULD IT HAVE BEEN THE SAME SITUATION?) "Really, I started up there on that restart. He was fourth and I was in the lead. I thought it was going to take him a lot longer to get through traffic. And make it through traffic quick and I knew I was going to have my hands full then. I had my chance, but I just wasn't able to get it done today."
(GIVEN THE HIGH NUMBER OF CAUTION FLAGS TODAY, WAS THE DRIVING A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVE BECAUSE IT'S AT THE END OF THE SEASON?) "I've noticed in this points race from second to sixth (place), there has been a lot of tough racing. The No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) and the No. 29 (Kevin Harvick) were bouncing off each other like we were in go-karts out there under a caution (laughs). In certain groups, the intensity has definitely been turned up. It seemed like we had a lot of engines fail today. That seems like it caused more cautions than anything."
(ON RACING THROUGH TURN 2 WITH THE NEW TRACK MODIFICATIONS) "At first, I thought it was going to eliminate a passing zone because it would be easier for everyone to get off the corner. That really didn't happen. You've got some more room and could run a little better inside of somebody up off the corner. But that still is a tough corner. It's tough to hit it right. The entry is really important. One lap I'd roll through there and be on the money and the next lap I'd be sideways. I don't think it really had much to do with the change. It ended up a good move and let's people run side by side through there."
(WHY WAS TURN 3 SUCH A TROUBLE SPOT TODAY?) "I'm not really sure. It's a tricky entry into Turn 3 - especially if you're frustrated running side by side for a few laps with somebody. You want to try to lean on someone but that's the wrong spot to do it."
(ON THE POINTS RACE) "It's obviously very tight. I don't know where Matt Kenseth ended up today or if there are any longshots factored in. It's a very tight points race. We're all sitting there nose to tail in line. It's going to boil down to finishing strong the rest of the year. I don't think anybody is going to outrace anybody for second in points. It's going to be not having any troubles and still collecting points and ending up strong in the points."
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Post-race press conference highlights:
(ON TODAY'S RACE) "It was awesome and overwhelming to win here. One thing that sounds out when you go to the other side of the country to race is that nothing less than a victory is satisfying. You want to win just because of what you put into it - the travel and how far the crew has come to race here. When I came here as a rookie, that was the big deal. If we ran second, it was so disappointing because we had such a far ride back home. That was the first thing that came into my mind today.
"Last year, we started off good and qualified third. We led a lot of laps. But I was running along there and we ran out of gas. Our fuel mileage guess was wrong. So we talked about that ever since. This is a track that I like to run on mainly because my car drives like it drives. The first year I ran here I was in traffic all day and the car didn't like the race track because it was flat and I just couldn't get around it. The next year Tony (Eury) and the crew had really worked learning more about the flat track program. It was evident in how we ran.
"We came in here this weekend and we weren't quite as strong as we expected to be in qualifying. But when the race started I just went right up through there. We had some mistakes on pit road that might have cost us a few spots. But I got back by those people and there at the end we didn't have too many mistakes in pit road. They concentrated harder. But it was fun. We raced real hard with everybody. If we didn't hit them, we came real close to hitting them."
(WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN ON A TRACK WHERE YOUR FATHER HAS WON?) "I never came here before. It was just too far from home to go. I wanted to stay home. But we raced in the Busch Series here and ran second to Jeff Gordon. We won a championship here that day. That was a special day and I have a lot of pictures from that day when we drove the Superman car and my dad was here to celebrate my championship with me. That was just a real great day.
"I've got a lot of fond memories of this place and I guess that drives you a little bit to win here. I've always watched races that my dad was in and he would struggle to really be dominant here where he could be dominant at other race tracks. He was a top 10 car here, but that was the best he could do. And so when he won here that was a big accomplishment for him. I remember that day just like it was yesterday. It's cool to come in here and win and not have to struggle here. So it's great to come here to know that this is a track where we expect to run good. The more tracks like that we can get in our back pocket, the better."
(HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TO WIN ON A TRACK OTHER THAN A RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACK?) "It doesn't really mean a lot to me one way or the other. A win is a win. Being in Victory Lane is fun. A trophy is a trophy and adding one more to the pile is all the better. Today was the best win of my career in a few ways. One was seeing the expression of my guys when I came into Victory Lane. They had been happy before about winning, but they hadn't worked hard until this year. This year, every single one of them put in their heart and soul into this team to make the team better.
"We'd get so upset sometimes when we didn't run good because you weren't getting what you expected out of all your people. Right now, I feel like there isn't a person on this team that isn't working as hard as the next guy. So coming into Victory Lane and seeing their faces was a big reward for me because I was a part of it.
"I go to the shop just about every day. I don't go over there to see what they're doing or what's next, I go over there because I've got friends there. That's something I've never had before. Now I've got a relationship with 99 percent of the employees at that shop. That's the most I can say. When you win races, you feel like you've all done it together.
You don't have a chip on your shoulder with one guy. We're all pretty proud of ourselves and of each other. It means a lot. It's just neat being in the situation I'm in. We've got a unique team with me driving the car and my relationship with Teresa (Earnhardt) and whatnot and Tony (Eury) being my dad's best friend for so many years. We've got a unique situation. I feel real fortunate to have the success we're having and try not to take that for granted. Today was a day that sunk in more than any other day."
(ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR NEXT YEAR AND HOW THE TEAM IS COMING TOGETHER) "The team is really getting better and better. We seem to be growing more comfortable. We stumble a little bit under pressure, not only just driving in races and being in the front and trying to make good pit stops, but we've got a high profile team and a high profile sponsor. If we overcome the pressure from that, we're doing a good job. I feel like the team is getting better and that we can compete next year for the championship. The only thing I don't like about Winston Cup racing right now that could hamper my ability to be as competitive next year is loyalty. I feel like I have a pretty good group of guys and if they maintain their strong bond and loyalty for what we're trying to accomplish, then we can step it up again and again each year. I hope everybody understands the opportunities we have and that they stick around to make it happen."
(BECAUSE YOU ARE SO POPULAR, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU PUT TOGETHER FIVE OR SIX WINS IN A ROW?) "Hopefully it wouldn't be all that different. Hopefully it wouldn't be like it was when Waltrip won so many races he got booed to death. That was tough to even listen to a guy getting booed as hard as he did. I think the fans cheer for you - not because you win or lose, but because of who you are and your attitude. So winning six in a row, or finishing last for six times in a row - I don't know if it would change because we have a genuine fan base."
TONY EURY SR., CREW CHIEF, NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "The people we had on our team last year, we struggled and just had a hard time on pit road. We lost I don't know how many races on pit road. So over the winter we decided we were going to run for the championship. This was our fourth year, and it was time to go run for it, and our pit crew was holding us back so we made changes on pit road. You know, we still don't have it fixed. It's a lot better than it was, but we still don't have it fixed. We had problems today. It's just hard to get people that can perform under pressure. They can do it at home fine and not have any problems, but they come to the racetrack and the pressures there and it's just hard for them to perform. It's hard to find those people that can do that. We worked real hard on that, and I think we've got the group of people that can do it, we've just got to get them calmed down. The guys are a great team as far as building racecars, they build great racecars and they're not afraid to work."
(IS DALE JR. MORE MOTIVATED THAN LAST YEAR?) "I don't know that he's really any different than he was last year. Naturally when a guy's got a better car to drive, he's going to be a little more pumped up. I think this year he's had a lot better cars to drive, we build a lot better cars, and the engine shop's building better engines, and just the total package is better. We've got a better body style this year and more downforce, and when you're running up front and you've got a chance at winning the championship, it changes your frame of mind and I think that's all it is."
BRIAN VICKERS, NO. 25 UAW-DELPHI CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "It was a good run for us, our first race we completed together after we had some bad luck in Atlanta. The guys did a good job in the pits today, and the car just got a little tight on us and we didn't expect that. That got us off sequence. We went back a lot further than we ended up, so we came back from a long ways and I'm proud of the guys."
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: "We just never got the car quite right, and we didn't want to take a chance on fuel there at the end so we came in. But we kept pace with the guys in front of us and now we go to Rockingham. (ON BRIAN VICKERS' RUN TODAY.) "Yea, I had to race around him a little bit and he did an excellent job. The guy was driving the wheels off the car and being smart. That's impressive. That's what you really want to see from a young guy like that."
