GM RACING NASCAR TRUCK SERIES NOTES & QUOTES--HOMESTEAD

GM RACING WINSTON CUP NOTES & QUOTES; CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES SEASON FINALE; FORD 200; HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY; NOV. 14, 2003; PAGE 1

 

DAVID STARR, NO. 75 SPEARS CHEVROLET SILVERADO: Finished 3rd: "The crew gave me a great truck all week long. We knew Bobby was pretty stout all weekend and Crawford was good. I just couldn't do anything with those guys. It was a fun race and it's sad it's the last race of the season because we have some momentum now. I'm looking forward to Daytona next year. What a great season. Congratulations to Bobby Hamilton for winning the race and I'm not sure if they really know who won the championship yet, but congratulations to either Ted Musgrave or Travis Kvapil for that. Hopefully, it's Travis. It was a fun race."

 

JACK SPRAGUE, NO, 11 IWX MOTOR FREIGHT CHEVROLET SILVERADO: Finished 5th: "It wasn't bad. We fought it all week, we were real tight. In Happy Hour, we got a clue and got closer. We adjusted on it this morning. The first set of tires, the IWX Chevrolet was really running, and I got up to sixth or seventh. We just got tight again. Toward the end, I was too tight to race the 4 and the 14, for sure. I think we had a third-place truck. I saw all that going on behind me, and I was going to have to make decisions, and being told what to do there, I was more concerned with what was going on back there. I've had help winning championships, and I am driving their truck and I knew the deal. Fortunately, I didn't have to do that here. At Vegas, I helped him and here we didn't. I'm just happy for the whole IWX Chevrolet team and I can't wait to come back next year with Chevrolet on board and try to win it the third time in a row."

 

DENNIS SETZER, NO. 46 ACXIOM/COMPUTER ASSOCIATES CHEVROLET SILVERADO: Finished 7th, and placed second in the season championship, nine points behind Travis Kvapil: "We had a great truck, but I got a little tight at times. I don't know what to say." WHAT ABOUT TED MUSGRAVE PASSING BEFORE THE START/FINISH LINE? "I don't know. I've seen a lot of guys penalized over the years for that type deal, but I don't know what they'll do here. It's a little different deal since there's so much on the line. Travis had to back off, I had to back off, and Ted went to the left to pass, so I don't know what they'll do." WHAT ABOUT THE LAST 10 LAPS? "It was tight, a lot of jumping around. A couple trucks out front would get loose and somebody would make a run at somebody. We got three or four wide down the back straightaway. It was fun racing, and this is a great track to race on now."

 

 

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GM Racing Communications

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GM RACING WINSTON CUP NOTES & QUOTES; CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES SEASON FINALE; FORD 200; HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY; NOV. 14, 2003; PAGE 2

 

TRAVIS KVAPIL, NO. 16 IWX MOTOR FREIGHT CHEVROLET SILVERADO: Finished 6th, clinching his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title by nine points over Dennis Setzer. It appeared that Kvapil initially lost the title to Ted Musgrave when the latter passed him on the next-to-last lap, but Musgrave was penalized for passing on the left prior to the start/finish line.

 

"I have to thank the guys on the stage, all the IWX Motor Freight team and owner Steve Coulter. They build a great race truck, because two different drivers, two years in a row, won the championship. Talk about drama. Right from the first lap of the race, sideways down through the grass, just tight racing right on the start. We had it in hand if this thing would have gone green. I was going to pass the 11 and the 50, we were gaining ground on them, but the caution came out and we had green-white-checkered, so I didn't know what was going to happen. Those things always get crazy. I guess Ted took a chance, he had to pass the 46 and me to win, and he took that chance. On a green-white-checkered, that was probably his only chance, and I guess that's what the rule book is for."

 

YOU'RE MOVING ON NEXT YEAR AS THE DEFENDING CHAMPION. TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS. "I'm just so proud of the guys. It's such an accomplishment to win in this series. Brendan Gaughan probably had the best truck all year, and just a little bit of bad luck took him out of it today. Ted Musgrave, Dennis Setzer, it was a great championship run all year. Everybody back at home in Wisconsin and the Midwest that have been there with me, helping me out, this is for them. It's probably the only way I could pay them back."