dodge quotes from second gatorade 125

Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004.
Daytona International Speedway
Gatorade 125. Second Race.


 

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge) - Finished Second

"Well I had two or three good runs on Kevin down the back straightaway
and down the front here.  I just kind of waited. We had all of them
Chevrolets laying there, and if I went with two or three laps to go I
would have finished sixth or seventh. It looked like Kevin layed up
trying to get a run on Elliott off of turn two and he pushed and had to
get out of the gas.  That gave us a real good run at him going down the
back straightaway.  I'm proud of the Coors Light team.  They've done a
good job.  Our motor ran great.  We've got to get it freed up just a
little bit and we'll be there.

 

"We were really good in the first 30 laps, and it started to get a
little tight.  We got it freed up and then for some reason it got a
little more tight.  So, you started having to lift off turn two and off
of turn four a little bit.  The No. 29 laid back and then tried to get a
run on the No. 38 and his car got tight off turn two and got into us
just a little bit.  We got the run at him in turn three.  We got bumped
and gave him plenty of room and we got hung on the right rear.  So,
Jimmy almost got by us.

 

"At Daytona the handling comes into play in the racecars.  It's not all
just aero and motor.  You're going to see slaps on the tires, no
problem.  The tires give up a little bit and cause us to wiggle around
and move around. You've got yourself lifting a little bit.  You've just
got to try to make the car drive as well as you can all day long.  The
best handling car is going to win the Daytona 500.  I'd love to see it
go green flag all the way.

 

"In these cars you can run wide-open for 10-15 laps, and then you've got
to break a little bit every now because you get a run on somebody.  If
you pull out you're going to lose your spot.  After 15-20 laps the car
will start losing grip, and you start searching around for a spot.  You
ease off on the throttle a little bit getting in the corners and try to
come off strong.  You just try to get your car working the best you
can."

 

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)

"It was slick out there. Slimy, real slimy. The car was nothing like
it's been. We've got to find a happy medium there somewhere. We've got a
pretty good car, good enough where we could have driven away from most
of those cars. I got caught out of pit sequence, and that kind of messed
me up. I saw the leaders hit pit road, and I slowed. When I came back I
was way behind. We'll talk about how to pit next time, but all-in-all it
was a pretty good day. I like the tires. They get better as we go along
with more rubber on the track."

 

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge)

"We were just sliding around, pushing the nose. We took two and gambled
and it helped us out a little bit. We're trying to learn for the 500.
Maybe it'll help us. It was quite a bit different today. We were a lot
tighter today than we were the other night. Overall, it was a good day.
We just wanted to get in the race and learn some stuff for Sunday. I'd
say the weather was the big difference today because everyone was
sliding around. We'll listen to the weatherman for Sunday and be ready
for the 500."

 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge)

"We were pretty good. It always helps if you have somebody behind you.
We've got to get the car better to have more confidence. If we don't get
the car better, there won't be more confidence. It was a lot different
because of the heat. The balance, imperfection showed up a lot more
today because of the heat. The competition was better. We got caught up
behind the 4 car blowing up. That slowed us down. The pit stop being on
the end stall really hurt us. We would have had a chance to mix it up
with the guys up front, but we never got track position. The tires don't
like to live very long. Everybody made it through the race without
blowing a tire. Goodyear took a big risk coming here with a softer tire,
so I hope it works out for everybody. We've got to watch a little bit of
everything for Sunday, track position and everything else."

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