Daytona 2004 - Dodge Quotes from First Gatorade 125

Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004.
Daytona International Speedway

Gatorade 125. First Race.  

 

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge)

"There's a lot going on out there. There's a lot to learn. The tires
fall off so quick, and it seemed like they fell off quicker on the
second run. We were loose. It was a little bit tight on the front end,
but the back was really loose. It was a learning experience."  

ON PIT ROAD INCIDENT - "There was a white car, I think it was the 23,
and it checked up when he went to go to his pits. I took my eyes off him
and swerved to miss him to the right. When I swerved to the right, I
took my eyes off my pit and drove by it. I had to hit the brakes and
Gordon ran into me when I hit the brakes. He wasn't expecting me to hit
the brakes. It was my fault. 

"I think we learned a lot today. I know I learned a lot as a driver.
We'll keep working, and I'll talk to Jeremy after the next race and see
if we can make our Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge better." 

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge)

"It was OK, but the car really didn't feel very good. It was really
tight, and the back end would just jump out every now and then. We were
a little bit worse than we were in practice. It was a good test, but I
know we don't want to do that for the race. It got us that much further
ahead for the big race, but that wasn't the way we needed to be today." 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge)

"I think we had the best car on the first run. I don't know if the track
got tighter or what. I'm happy, and we're looking forward to the 500. We
were just a little bit tight after the pit stop. I could really get
through turns one and two well, but I couldn't get a run off three and
four. We put a pound of air in the right rear, and that really didn't do
a lot. I had more fun today than I've ever had superspeedway racing. I
know Tony knows what I'm talking about because he knocked the hell out
of me once. That was a qualifying engine, and it was real loose, a lot
of cylinder oil clearance. It's not a big deal. It just killed all the
bugs in Florida. I got a good run on the 8 car. The 15 car I didn't
think was going to take a chance on wrecking his teammate, so he pretty
much had to let him go. My car, like everyone else, the handling went
away and I was tight in three and four.  We struggled here last year in
both races. Man, after our run in the Shootout and here today, I'm
really looking forward to the Daytona 500. I really don't think we'll
practice very much more though because the car is pretty close."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 77 Kodak Easy Share/Eckerd Drugs Dodge) -

"For the Kodak folks it's the No. 77's first race under the new
Penske/Jasper banner and the new sponsorship, and hopefully we made
those folks proud.  The guys over the wall gave us a decent stop.  I had
to come back in and put a little tape on because we took too much off by
accident. So, we had to come stick a little bit back on.  We went from
the back of the field and learned a lot.  We were able to draft our way
back up and get ourselves a decent start in the Daytona 500.  I'm
excited.  

"I learned a ton. One of the other Raybestos Rookies, Kasey Kahne, he
and I ended up teaming up for about 10 laps there. He helped me a little
bit, and we moved up together.  I don't know where Kasey ended up
finishing.  We got ourselves nicely tucked away in that draft and caught
up with 'em.  A couple of guys pulled out.  Buddy Baker, thanks to him
he wasn't on the radio so much this race.  We had Billy Wilburn and my
spotter Billy Holbrook, they were kind of coaching me on the grooves
where they wanted me.  I know Buddy Baker was up there smacking Wilburn
on the head telling and pointing where to go.  The coaching paid off.
We drafted in the right groove at the end.  Daytona is definitely about
putting this Dodge in the right groove.

"Actually they (the veterans) were all pretty good to me.  Terry Labonte
- I hooked up with him for a few laps there.  We worked our way around
some guys pretty good.  It's pretty nice, since I'm a little bit older
than a Raybestos Rookie it adds a little bit of experience.  I got to
race with a lot of these guys who stepped over to the NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series too.  So, hopefully I had a little bit of respect there and
earned a little bit more today.  They all worked pretty good with us.
Daytona is kind of like an organized chaos.  You go out there, look
around and just try to find one line to work with.  Buddy Baker did yell
at me once for kind of picking and choosing two different people.  He
told me to stick with one, and I ended up sticking with a fellow
Raybestos Rookie, Kasey Kahne."