dodge notes and quotes from saturday night richmond race

Saturday, May 15, 2004.
Richmond International Raceway.
400 Race Notes and Quotes.
 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge) - Finished Ninth, third straight
top-10 short track finish this season.

 

"We had a good car in parts of the race. We just got out of sequence
there with track position, and I stepped on my own foot when I stuck it
in the fence up there in one and two. I got in a little too deep. It
definitely hurt it. It changed our car after that, but the ALLTEL Dodge
was still pretty good. We'll go on to Charlotte now.

 

ON LAST 10-LAP BATTLE WITH MICHAEL WALTRIP "We congratulated each other
for not crashing because we had a heck of a race there those last few
laps. We're working on the short track program. It's a turnaround for
our team, and it's definitely important for our team momentum and
points."

 

COMMENT ON ANOTHER TOP 10 "Every night you finish in the top 10 is a
good points night. We just need some great points nights." NOTE: Newman
moved up to sixth in the standings, and he's only seven points out of
the top five. Newman has gained five spots in the standings in the past
three races.

 

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

"It was a long night to run like that the whole time. Everything was a
little different. It was weird what went on. Then we had some brake
issues. I don't know what happened with the brakes. On the other car
they were great. They swapped everything to this car and it seemed like
something was never right. I couldn't figure it out. We got going pretty
decent and I hit the wall. I was just loose and slid up and hit it off
two. That's what finished our day off right there."

 

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge)

"We battled a loose car all night. We kept making changes and got the
car up to the top 15. We'll take that and get ready for a good run at
Charlotte."

 

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)

"We were too loose getting into the corner. We could not charge into the
corner because it was too loose. We just never got the total package.
We'll go back and talk about it. It looks like we needed some more
rebound in the front shocks to flatten it out, softer springs, bigger
swaybar. We just missed it. We might have to blow a test at the end of
the year and come back and get it right. The new track was so much
different from anything I'd ever run here. It threw me for a loop. This
is a good car. I just underestimated how tight the new surface was.
We'll go back and work on the car and get it better."

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

"We missed it a little bit today. We got up front for some laps and we
thought our Dodge was better than it ended up. We just got tight and the
chassis went away on us. It seemed like we had a good day overall and we
just kept fighting our way back up there. Being consistent and getting
good finishes is so important. It seems like we're bouncing around a
little bit. We're good one week and not the next week. We'll get it
done. We're just not quite there yet, especially on the short tracks."

 

JEFF GREEN (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge)

"His car (Kasey Kahne's) was tight, and mine was tight. I got up on the
outside of him in turn four, and he ran me into the fence. I don't guess
he knew I was there. Down the back straightaway I lifted him up a little
bit to tell him I was there, and I didn't like it. He spun me out down
here. He was probably frustrated, but he didn't need to take it out on
me. I didn't wreck him. He wrecked me, so I hit him hard enough to get
his attention but not wreck him. He wrecked me, so we're going to have
to have a talk.

 

"I think we can get back out, but that's no good. We'll just be trying
to gain some points, and we're so far behind now every time something
like that happens it just puts us that much more behind. We were just
looking to have a good run and have a good finish so we can build on
something. That's not going to happen tonight."

 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge)

"I was going to let him (Joe Nemechek) go and he just got turned around.
He's not that kind of guy. It was just a tough deal, but we had a good
car. We had a good car last night. We just haven't had any good luck
this week. It knocked the rear clip out so far, I don't think we can get
back out. I don't know if he (Nemechek) got loose underneath me. I knew
he was there. My spotter said he was there, and I could see him. He was
a little bit quicker than I was, and I was going to let him go. We just
got turned around.

 

"The racetrack is good. I was skeptical. I didn't think it was going to
be that good. It's brand new, but it seems like you can pass. I got
passed on the outside a couple of times. I could pass guys on the
inside, so the track was good.

 

"I don't know if Joe got loose underneath me or I pinched him off. I'm
not sure. We're wrecked now, and I think we're done for the evening. It
knocked the rear end out so far I don't think they can get it fixed.
Both times I got up there (front).... That's just part of it."