dodge nascar craftsman truck quotes from dover qualifying

Thursday, June 3, 2004
Dover International Speedway
MBNA America 200 Qualifying.


STEVE PARK (No. 62 Orleans Racing Dodge Ram) - Qualified Third

"I don't think you ever get a perfect lap here at Dover. They named this
place The Monster Mile for a reason. I love coming here to race. Dodge
has done a great job working on our effort to qualify. That's where
we've been struggling the first part of the year. At Charlotte we
handled good, but we qualified 25th. The Dodge engineers put their heads
together and came up with a plan, and the Orleans team did a good job of
enacting that plan in a short amount of time.

 

"We're making gains. We're still trying to put personnel in place, but
we're gaining on it slowly but surely. The track was hot, and I turned
about 50 less rpm's than in practice. We were looking for about 50 more.
The track got slicker and the speeds got slower. If the sun stays out
and it stays hot and we don't get a cloud cover, which we might not get,
that should put us somewhere in the top five. I felt like if anyone went
faster than that they deserved it. We were real happy with our
qualifying effort."

 

COMMENT ON CONGRATULATIONS FROM KEN SCHRADER AND MIKE SKINNER
IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOUR QUALIFYING RUN "I rode up here on a motorcycle
with Schrader. I got the tolls at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and it was
$24. Schrader said, 'don't worry, I'll buy lunch.' So he took me to
McDonald's and lunch was $12. He still won out. Coming off the track he
held up four fingers like I was fourth. I thought I was third because he
only has half of one finger. Schrader is a great guy. I enjoyed the ride
up here. I enjoy truck racing. Mike Skinner is a great guy, too. He's a
fierce competitor, so to beat Skinner and Schrader is a tribute to this
Orleans team."

 

TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Dodge Ram) - Qualified 10th

"We got tight. We were a little bit loose, and these tires are just a
little bit different, but what the heck. At least we're headed in the
right direction. I'm tickled to death to qualify in the top 10. We
haven't done that all year. The truck is driving well, and I know it's
going to be good in the race. We'll just have to take what we got today.
This track doesn't change much. We were just a little tight, and that's
all it takes here. Just a little bit and you lose a tenth."

 

BOBBY HAMILTON (No. 4 Square D Dodge Ram) - Qualified Seventh

"It's hard to pick up on the second lap here. If I did, that was all
driver (said with laughter). I figured we'd wind up 11th or 12th. We're
in the top 10, so that's real good. We can run .70 and .80-second lap on
old tires, so I think we'll be good in the race. That's really our
strategy during practice. We work on race setups. This is the same truck
we had at Charlotte and won with at Atlanta. I've only got two trucks.
We're finishing our third one now, but three is enough. You can get the
job done right with three."

 

 CHAD CHAFFIN (No. 18 Dickies Dodge Ram) - Qualified Ninth

"We want a pole, but at the same time the truck ran great. I drove it
absolutely as hard as I could and it did everything it could have done.
The guys did a great job. We probably could have done some things
different that would have made it faster, but I'm real happy. I think
I've got a really fast truck. Qualifying doesn't pay anything. I've
already found that out. We've got a real good starting spot with the
Dickies Dodge. It's not like we're 20th or so. We're right behind my
teammate (Bobby Hamilton), and he's the best driver out here. I know who
to follow. I don't know if I can keep up with him, but I've got the
model right ahead of me. We'll see what happens.

 

"Our trucks are built alike. Last year Bobby and I had different trucks.
I think I'm a good qualifier, but this year we've made a real effort to
concentrate on races. I'll be honest with you. I drove that thing as
hard as I could, but we didn't spend two or three hours working on this
truck to get one good lap out of it. We're worried about race setup.
When it comes time to qualify we're going to tape it up, put new tires
on it and see what we've got. Somewhere this year we'll get a pole. If
midseason we don't have one, we might try a little harder."

 

 

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