dodge cup notes from pocono

Aug. 1, 2004
Pocono Raceway.
Pennsylvania 500.

 

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge - Finished Third, Top Rookie

"We had a really good car there at the end. We worked with it all day
long and made it better. I'm worn out right now. It was a hard-fought
day by everybody. Kurt Busch and I ran into each other early on. Then we
got together with Stewart. I thought Kurt Busch did it, and I got
screwed up there, too.

 

"I'm surprised it took off like that (after accident). We had the
fenders and part of the nose was still really good. I'm worn out. I
don't know if anybody else is, but I'm worn out.

 

"It was very surprising after what happened with Tony Stewart and Kurt
Busch. We were lucky it didn't get the fender, 'cause then we would have
been loose. It was a great finish. I think we were really even with Mark
(Martin), but we weren't able to get around him. I don't think we had
anything for the 48, but we just kept getting tighter and tighter in the
corner. We kinda fought that all day long.

 

"The crew responded really good. It was an unfortunate deal. I was
falling back. Me and Kurt hit the lap before that in the tunnel turn
pretty hard. I was falling back and I got on the outside of Tony. We got
three wide. I had to lift to give Tony plenty of room. As I lifted Tony
spun. I thought our day was done at the time. From where I was it looked
like Kurt Busch hit him, but I guess he didn't. I need to apologize to
him.

 

"When we went three wide coming back to the corner I knew I was going to
get squished into the wall. I lifted and Tony got loose. I was on the
brakes hard when Stewart hit the wall, but I was still going fast enough
that I hit the right rear corner of the trunk and my nose was down. I
just got hit right in the middle of the car.

 

"If it was the fender or front nose, it definitely would have screwed up
our day pretty bad. They just taped up all around the hood, and I think
pounded it out a little bit and flattened it out.

 

"Obviously you want to know (about points) at the end of the day, but
during the race if you've got cars in front of you you want to beat 'em.
Every race we go out and try to qualify as fast as we can and try to
race as fast as we can. We know we have to finish races and I try not to
put myself in a bad spot. When it comes down to it I go after it every
race pretty much."

 

 

 

 

 

 "I was actually having fun racing with him (Tony Stewart). Me and Tony
have had a few problems this year, but I still don't have any problems
racing with the guy. I don't think he has any problem racing with me. I
don't think he's probably tried to wreck us in any of them, but it's
just happened. I'm just glad neither one of us ran into each other to
cause it. 

 

"Me and Kurt hit a few laps before. He ran into my door pretty good, and
then that happened with Tony. I thought he ran into Tony and crashed
him, and I thought our race was over. I definitely need to apologize to
Kurt. There was no need for that, and I was just frustrated at the time.
I need to control myself."

 

NOTE: Kahne moved from 14th to 12th in the standings with his
third-place finish Sunday and gained 93 points on 10th place. Kahne is
69 points out of 10th.

 

Jeremy Mayfield remained 11th in the standings but gained 66 points on
10th place.

Mayfield is 40 points out of 10th.

 

Jamie McMurray dropped two spots in the standings to 15th but actually
gained one point on 10th place. McMurray is 133 points out of 10th
place.

 

Ryan Newman entered the race in 10th place but moved up two spots to
eighth by virtue of his comeback 13th-place finish. Newman now has a
52-point cushion on 10th place.

 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge) - Finished 13th

"I think we missed it on the gear today and everything else. We had the
car off at the beginning to go with it, and that made us look really,
really bad. Once we got the car right, I think we had a top 15 car and
just needed some track position. We never got it because we were two
laps down. There at the end it was just a matter of getting timing and
taking advantage of fresh tires when everybody else had older tires on.

 

"If it hadn't been for the Lucky Dog we wouldn't have finished on the
lead lap today. I think we had a good car at the end in the corners. We
just weren't going down the straightaways. We've got some homework to do
for sure to catch them Hendrick boys.

 

"It was a decent day for us today in the points. To run where we were
and come back and finish 13th that was definitely a good thing for us. I
didn't have much confidence in it at all after about 30 laps. We don't
know exactly what we're going to do for Indy next week. That's a really
big race, and we've got some thinking to do."

 

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) - Finished 9th, third
straight top 10 finish.

"We weren't having a very good day, either. We struggled all day, but we
kept fighting and came home with a top 10. That's pretty cool. That
shows you what kind of team this is. They worked their guts out in the
pits, and I gave it all I could driving.

 

"They kept telling me the big picture was going to be good today. I knew
what that meant. That meant we were going to have a good points day. The
88 and 12 were struggling. We did what we had to do today. We kept
fighting. We didn't get any practice, and we tried some stuff that
worked for us at Indy and tried some stuff that worked for us at
Chicago. We're not conservative by any means, but we couldn't take a
chance and gamble on the setups. We had to go with what we knew would be
safe, and it kinda bit us a little bit. We were too tight.

 

"I'm a little bit surprised. If you had asked me at the beginning of the
year I would have said I didn't know. I wasn't sure where we were as a
team. I knew where we ended up last year. At the beginning of this year
we struggled a little bit. We kept fighting and fighting as a team. If
we'd had a day like we had today last year we would have been about 18th
or 20th. That tells you what kind of deal we've got now. Now it wouldn't
surprise me if we went on and won the whole thing. Look at these guys.
We finished ninth and they worked their hearts out today. Everybody is
working for one goal. Everybody is on the same page, working for the
same thing."

 

DONNIE WINGO (Crew chief No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge)

"Something happened in the engine on that last restart. We didn't have
any warning. I don't know what the deal is. These DNF's are killing us.
I think we've had six this year, and you can't do that. I think we've
had as many top 10s as anybody almost, but those six DNF's will just
kill you. I think we'll keep going to try to win races just like we're
doing right now, but this deal right here has kind of killed us (making
the top 10)."

 

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Dodge)

"We had a very strong Dodge this week. We got down from a pit road
penalty, and we got our lap back twice. We made a mistake and got it
back with the Lucky Dog deal. Then we got back down a lap and made it
back. The Kodak team is coming. I'm starting to get excited. It's a
bummer. It's the second time we've run this car. It made it about 30
feet in the Nextel Open. Now we know it's a heck of a racecar. We're
going to put it back together and bring it back. It was just a racing
deal today. Somebody got the 99 and I hit the brakes. The Kodak Dodge
went up the racetrack and hit the wall hard. We got lucky. It really
didn't hurt me or Burton, but the Kodak team is coming. We're getting
better racecars. Our cars are getting quick. You'd better watch out for
the Raybestos championship (rookie title)."