Dodge sweeps top four Cup spots at Rockingham

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004.
Ray Cooper

North Carolina Speedway
Clear!Blue

Subway 400 Qualifying.
704-975-3232                    

 

RYAN NEWMAN WINS 19TH CAREER POLE; DODGE TEAMS SWEEP TOP FOUR SPOTS, SIX
OF TOP EIGHT IN QUALIFYING AT ROCKINGHAM

 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge) - On the pole again

"It was fast. I came in here trying to find a Subway sandwich. I'm a
little hungry, but I didn't find any.

 

"Matt and the guys did an awesome job tuning the race car. Being at the
right place at the right time with the way the car is set up and hitting
my lines and my marks... We've got a great package and great horsepower.
I thought we could run a 23.49 (actually ran a 23.398). That's what I
thought we were capable of, but obviously we surpassed that. We had a
substantial pickup from practice. It was just a matter of hitting
everything right and the guys tuning on the car to make it perfect.

 

"(Track conditions) I can say for sure it didn't hurt our performance.
Typically Rockingham is not real sensitive to heat because the track is
so porous and the grip goes away so fast it doesn't give it a chance to
heat up the racetrack. Nevertheless, I think the conditions were better
for qualifying. I think they were pretty similar for everybody.

 

"We tested here and learned a few things. This is a place where you
typically plan for rear traction later in the run because the tires fall
off. With the downforce being less in the rear because of the spoiler
this year, I think you're going to see situations with rear tires later
in the run. You come here and test and maybe trick yourself sometime of
how good or bad you might be. We just look forward to taking the things
we learned in the test and apply them in the race on Sunday, if we get a
practice tomorrow. 

 

"I was teasing Borland at Daytona. I told him if we drove the car
backwards it might go faster. It doesn't say which direction you have to
drive the car. We struggled with qualifying at Daytona. We look forward
to coming back here. It's something we've always said in Daytona.
Rockingham is next week and it's something we're looking forward to.
You're right. It's been a big drought (poles). It does feel good to be
back.

 

"I don't understand why we spend 10 days down there (Daytona) for 500
miles. It offers the same points at Daytona as it does here. This is an
equal opportunity to better yourself in the points position and work
your way toward the championship. There's no difference in the outlook
from that perspective. We struggled at Daytona finding speed, and that's
the main thing to get over. Typically, if you struggle at Daytona you
look forward to Rockingham. If you do good at Daytona then Rockingham
may not matter as much. "Getting four days at home sometimes is nice,
but routine, after doing this for two years, routine isn't very
important anymore.

 

"If they could take this race track, ever how many acres they have here,
and cut it out and re-implant it into a different market, I think that
would be the ultimate. It's a great race track. It's really close to
Concord. It's really close to Darlington and a couple of other race
tracks. It might hurt it from a certain perspective, but I really enjoy
the race track. I really enjoy racing here. It's a great racing
facility. We were talking earlier, and the garages we have here in
Rockingham are better than the ones we have in Daytona, so it's a great
place and a great place to race. It's a lot of fun. I'll miss the second
race, but California isn't a bad racing race track, either.

 

"I don't think they (Dodges) have an advantage. I wouldn't tell you if
we did. I think it's just coincidence. Rusty usually qualifies well
here. The 9 car won the race here in the fall. Mayfield ran good here in
the fall. It's a combination of things. I think it's more coincidence
than anything.

 

"I don't necessarily do what Rusty does because we both came here and
tested. We drive different and like different things because of the way
we drive. It's Rockingham and I've raced here four times in the Cup
Series. I wasn't in dire need of knowing what's going on. Nevertheless,
I'm sure notes have exchanged hands.

 

"I haven't thought about that, but no matter where you're at and nobody
who it is or where it is they have to meet NASCAR's speed number.
Whether it's an injured car on lap 398 or a slow car on lap 2, it
doesn't really matter.

 

"We're not doing anything different than we've ever done. It's just a
matter of having experience under our belts and coming back and doing
what we did today. Experience has given us that opportunity. I thought
that last year and it didn't happen. It didn't happen for different
reasons. You've got to perform on Sunday whether it's bad luck or good
luck or pure skill.

 

"The only things that were of our making were the rear gear failure at
Richmond and the blown engine at Michigan. We crashed at Daytona and we
blew a tire at Talladega. There was nothing I could do about that. It's
just putting everything together and figuring out what's right and wrong
and then being able to do it.

 

 "From a driver's perspective this track is a little misleading. The
track has so much grip when the tires are new you want to drive it so
hard. You can only make it around one or two laps. The bottom line is
you need to be smooth and you need to gauge what speed you're going
versus what speed you need to slow down and hit your marks. It's no
different than any other race track. It's just that here the tires fall
off faster. There was nothing that stood out on our run. It didn't feel
like a strong lap. It just felt like a plain, old lap."

 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) - Qualified second

"We made race runs this morning (in the Busch Dodge). We only made one
qualifying run. My car is as good as it's ever been here. The thing I've
learned about racing is the fastest car doesn't always win. I haven't
had the fastest car here the last three times. I've been fast at times
but not always. We just have to put ourselves in position to win. If
it's our turn we'll get there and we'll have four in a row (at
Rockingham in the Busch Series).

 

"That's the second time that Ryan has beat me out for the pole here. I
think two years ago when I drove Sterling's car here I qualified second
to him. It was a good day for the Texaco/Havoline Dodge. We unloaded
fast and made the right adjustments. That was as good as our car was
going to be, so I'm happy with that. I'm happy with the fact that we
made it better every time we went out in practice. We made the right
adjustments. Donnie and everybody on the team did a good job today.

 

"It doesn't really matter where you start here. You could start dead
last and still win the race. The best car usually wins at this track,
but anytime you start up front you get to pick a good pit stall and
that's important. There's a big curve going into turn one. You don't
want to be on that curve.

 

"We've got as good of a shot as anybody at winning Sunday. We ran really
strong here last fall. This is really the first track, I think, that you
can see what everybody has for the season. I'm not concerned about the
tires. At this place, tires wear out quick anyway. In my Busch car, I
ran 50 laps and had pretty much the same drop off I've had here in the
past. It's the same old Rockingham.

 

"I wish we raced here every weekend. I love this place. I just wish they
could get some more people in the standings. It didn't look like there
was a lot today. This is a wonderful racetrack. Even the drivers who
don't run well here like it because you can pass. You don't have to
follow the guy. You can go wherever he isn't, and you can pass. 

 

KASEY  KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) - Qualified 3rd, top
rookie.

"It wasn't a perfect lap. I jumped back in the throttle real quick to
carry the speed. It pushed a little bit. I gave it more wheel, and it
pushed off after that. It wasn't a perfect lap, but it was our darn good
lap for our Dodge Dealers car. Where we were I needed to get back in the
throttle like I did to go as fast as Ryan. I saw what he did. I tried
doing it and we pushed a little bit, but it was a good lap for us.

 

"We qualified pretty good last week, too, but now we've got to get to
the races. I backed it up a little bit in practice. We were second and
third (in practice) and ended up qualifying third and fourth. We lost a
spot. We needed to go the other way. We're real happy with that.

 

"I'm very satisfied. I'm starting third in a Nextel Cup race. That's
pretty cool. The team did an awesome job. I'll keep working with Tommy
Baldwin, and the team and hopefully we'll keep getting better. I've
always loved qualifying. Now that we've got Evernham engines, they're
always great. We should be able to qualify good at a lot of races.

 

"I watched Ryan Newman qualify, and I saw where he got back in the
throttle. I knew I needed to do that in order to run as fast as him. I
did it and actually got too tight and pushed the nose. I had to get back
out of it. That kind of slowed us down in turn one. We got through three
and four pretty good. The car was really good. I was just a little too
aggressive taking off in one and two. Other than that, it was a great
lap for the Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge.

 

"Bill (Elliott) was really good here at the end of the year. We tested
here three or four weeks ago, and Bill came here and helped out a little
bit. Tommy Baldwin has done a great job with the car. It's probably a
little different than where Bill had it. He drives a little different
than I do, but it's fairly close. I think it's going to be really good
in race runs.

 

"So far we've qualified good in the Cup and Busch races. We haven't
raced very good. We've got to work on that Saturday and Sunday and
hopefully we'll come out with a couple of top 10s.

 

"We practiced just qualifying. When we tested here we just did race
runs. Jeremy made a 30-lap race run at the start of practice. That'll
help us if rain gets in the way. Our tests will help us out a lot if it
rains. Hopefully we'll get all the practice we need tomorrow morning,
but if not, I think we'll have a good starting point."

 

JEFF GREEN (No. 43 STP/Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge) - Qualified 8th

"These guys never surprise me on this STP/Cheerios Dodge. We've got STP
back on the 43 car and that's where it belongs. I'm proud of Cheerios
and General Mills and what they've done. Gary and the guys tuned it up
and we adjusted from practice. We had a great practice (10th fastest),
but we just needed a little bit more and it picked up like it was
supposed to. We all grew up watching STP on the side of the 43. I'm
proud of General Mills and their brands. For STP to be a part of it
makes me real proud to drive this Dodge. Rockingham has a lot of
tradition and I enjoy this place. The 43 is right there with it, so
we're going to give it all we've got this weekend. We've got the car
turning better in the center. We should be close to the front with that,
at least a top 10. It'll be a good starting spot for the Cheerios
Dodge."

 

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge) - Qualified 14th

"That lap felt real good. The guys did a great job getting the Target
Dodge hooked up. It bottomed out pretty hard in the three and four, and
that's the only problem we had. Every time it hit the ground it slowed
the car down. I was wide open and it ran great. The weather is cool and
a lot of guys are left to go so there's no telling where we'll wind up.
It should be a decent starting spot. We're looking forward to starting
the race. I'm very happy with that lap. The balance of the car was
really good. We made some changes and then went back and we came out in
the right spot. The track's got a lot of grip. We picked up, and I'm
sure some other guys will pick up even more. We finished 14th at Daytona
last week and we were 14th fastest in practice today. I don't think
we're stuck on 14th. I'm hoping that's a place to move forward from."

 

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge) - Qualified 13th

"We didn't make a qualifying run in practice today. We didn't know how
it was going to shake out. We just went with what Jamie had. We changed
it a little bit for our car, and it worked out pretty good. We just made
race runs in practice today with this new tire. I wish we could have
been on the front row. Our stuff is looking pretty good for the race. We
made a solid 18-lap run in practice today, and Tony Glover says we're
going to be in good shape. We'll work on it some more tomorrow and
hopefully we'll end up with a decent starting spot and be in good shape
for Sunday."

 

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) - Qualified 6th

"We're satisfied, but we're kind of confused with that first lap. If I
had got the first lap in we would have been in real good shape. Overall
it was a good day. The guys worked hard and the car ran good for us and
that's all you can ask. Kenny Francis does a good job setting up the
car, and we've got a good package for this race. Everybody is working
good together, and that makes a big difference. Our Dodges just seem to
run good here. This is pretty much the same setup we ran here in
November. We changed it a little bit, but I think we'll be in good shape
for the race."

 

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) - Qualified 4th

"We picked up a couple of tenths from practice. We've got a real hot rod
for this track. We had to make some big changes to the front springs
when we first got here. The track has tightened up so much from when we
tested. Ryan laid down a heck of a lap. I expected that. I didn't expect
it to be that fast, but I did expect a good lap. Right now we've got
both cars on the front row and it looks pretty good. It is a game of
inches, there's no doubt about that. We've got two good cars. We both
tested. We both ran good. We tested to try to figure out the softer tire
and shorter spoiler. I felt like it was necessary we did that, and now
it's paying off. I think I'm going to win Sunday, I really do. I feel
really good about it. We ran good in practice, and we've got a great
car."

 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge) - Immediately after qualifying run

"I think the track picked up some, and we picked up a little bit, too.
Matt and the guys did an awesome job preparing this ALLTEL Dodge. The
track is the same old track. It'll eat tires just like it always has. I
knew what Rusty had run and I thought I could beat it, but it was just a
matter of doing it. All it takes is just a little something wrong going
on, but it was a good lap. It was just a matter of putting everything
together. I hope it holds up. I had complaints. I was watching the crowd
when I came around on my second lap, and I didn't see anybody cheering.
I didn't know what it was. Sometimes when you try harder you go slower.
This time I tried harder and went faster. We've got to get there first.
They're calling for rain for tomorrow's practices, so we'll see what
happens there. The car is fast, and we're looking forward to another
opportunity to do well here. This racetrack is one of the best tracks we
come to. It's important to start up front, but it's not the end of the
day here at Rockingham. You can start in the back and work your way to
the front. You can pass and don't have to worry about the clean air and
dirty air. Tires always come into the picture, but I don't think we're
going to have any big problems."

 

###

 

Ray Cooper
Clear!Blue, LLC
rcooper@clearblue.biz
C: 704.975.3232

The information contained in this electronic message is confidential
information and/or trade secrets intended only for the use of the
individual entity named above. If your are not the intended recipient,
be aware that any downloading, copying, disclosure, distribution or use
of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have
received this communication in error, please FORWARD this message back
to the sender at the email address above. DELETE this message from all
mailboxes and any other electronic storage medium and DESTROY all
copies. Please note:  Although Clear!Blue, LLC has anti-virus software
in place, it does not accept any responsibility for viruses once this
email has been transmitted. It is recommended that any attachments be
scanned for viruses.

www.clearblue.biz <http://www.clearblue.biz/>