Dodge Cup notes from California Speedway

Three Dodges Finish in Top Five at California; Two Dodges in Top 10

California Speedway
Pop Secret 500
Sept. 5, 2004.
 

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) - Finished 2nd, Fifth
Runner-up finish in 2004. Moved to Ninth in Series Standings.

"Mark was pretty strong on the long runs, so I guess second is the best
I was going to get either way. I was getting tired of 'em (runner-up
finishes), but I guess it's a good thing. We have to keep running second
until we get our win. It was exciting. I was real surprised the 38 was
as good as it was. I was thinking the 6 was going to be real strong.
Elliott was pretty darn good there at the end. It made for an
interesting finish. I had a lot of fun. I wish we had had a couple more
laps to see if we could have raced with 'em. I wish the car could have
been a little looser, but that's all we had.

 

"We've got the same story, different week next week. Every week has been
so close. Everybody has been within just a few points there. I know
Jamie gained some good points there, and Mark Martin is right there. I'm
there, Jeremy, Ryan Newman, we'll see what happens. It'll be exciting.
It's going to be that final finish that decides the top 10.

 

"It was a great race. We had a great car all day. We had great pit
stops. The car got better every pit stop. We just never got it quite
loose enough, quite fast enough for the long runs. It took off pretty
good a few times, but the last time we were a little bit tighter than I
wanted it. Elliott got away there. He started coming back to us at the
end, but it was a little bit too late. Elliott Sadler was really good at
the end, and Mark was right there. A few more laps there would have been
three cars battling for the lead.

 

"I was thinking that (Texas finish) on the last lap. I was thinking I
was going to catch him again. At least here we weren't quite as dominant
as we were in Texas. Mark had the dominant car here on the long runs for
sure. We were right around with Elliott most of the race. We were the
second or third quickest car and we got second so I was pretty happy
with that.

 

"Mainly they just did air pressure and tried to free the car up some
more (on final pit stop). We were trying to make it cut through the
corner better. On the restart I was just hoping it would and I could get
on the outside of some of those guys and pass 'em. Elliott moved up a
little bit and blocked me from going on the outside, and it put me at
the bottom. I couldn't do anything at the bottom. We were too tight to
run down there, especially early on. He did a good job by moving up. It
just killed our momentum, and he ended up winning.

 

"It's going to be where you finish (at Richmond) if you're going to make
the cut or not. I really don't know where the points are right now.
We're ninth, so that's an improvement. We did what we needed to do here
today. It would have been nice to win, but second is darn good. We led
some laps, got five points there. We'll go on to Richmond and keep all
the fenders on it, hopefully in the top 10, and we'll have a shot at
making that top 10."

 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) - Finished 4th, Moved to
11th in standings, 25 points out of 10th place.

"Donnie (crew chief Wingo) made some real good changes there, and I'm
really proud of him. The pit crew did a good job tonight. We had
struggled a little bit there. Really, all-in-all it was a good night for
our race team. We came from 18th with about 75 laps to go to get a top
five. We had to make huge adjustments (after the sun went down). Our
first run we were great. The next run was pretty good and then I
couldn't believe how tight the car got. We made huge changes.

 

"I heard Ryan (Newman) say if you could finish in the top five in the
last two races you could more than likely make it. I don't think either
one of us were thinking everyone else would finish in the top five with
us, but it was a good night. I thought after Happy Hour we had a
top-five car time-wise, and it drove great. We changed a lot of stuff,
and Donnie earned his year's salary tonight."

 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Sony/ALLTEL Dodge) - Finished 5th, moved to eighth
in standings, 20 points ahead of 10th-place Mark Martin.

"We fought the balance for a little while, but we had a good racecar,
and that kept us in the top 10, top 15. I didn't feel the greatest, but
getting track position and trying to outrun those guys was pretty tough.
I've had a cold all week, and that didn't help tonight.

 

"It was pretty eventful there at the end. It was a good run for us to
get the Sony Dodge up in the top five. It was a good team effort. We got
some good track position there at the end, passed a few cars and got a
top five. The track got a lot faster. We fought the same balance issues
from the beginning until the end of the race. The car just got faster.

 

"We're still as much on the bubble as we were before. We're going to
Richmond to win. We can still be 13th or 14th after Richmond. We've got
two shots now. We're eighth and 404 out of the lead, so if we can just
finish in front of the points leaders we might still have a decent
opportunity no matter how everybody else does eighth-12th.

 

"It was definitely hairy running three wide there at the start of the
race because the track was so greasy. There at the end it was hairy
again and the track was stickier. Guys were running a lot harder and
there was a little less give and take. I know I had to check up a few
times and a few times people had to check up for me, but we had a decent
race it seemed like.

 

"Not a bit (surprised at the problems Hendrick cars are having). I'm
pretty sure they're experimenting right now, and they should be. They
have the ability to because of the points. We would if we were in their
position."

 

 

 

 

 

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines & Transmissions Dodge) -
Finished 42nd

"Our guys build safe stuff and all those things are very well put...
Bill Simpson's helmet, the impact helmet, I'm fine. I'm very upset. This
is a kid (J.J. Yeley) that will go back and drive a sprint car and be a
superhero, but he comes out here and won't have a clue how to save a
racecar, how not to turn it back up the hill. Either leave it at the
wall or bring it down. He had a chance to leave it at the wall and do no
damage. He tried to bring it down, I went low. He brought it down and I
went high. He came right back up in front of me. He'll be in that ride
next year, and he'll be the superhero, but cost some of us our jobs
going out here doing it week in and week out. The Kodak car was a pretty
good car today. We got a penalty, went to the back and didn't get to
finish.

 

"When you're running back there with guys like him, sometimes it
happens. Unfortunately for us, that's the story of our year, little
mistakes. This is a great race team. Shane Wilson and Matt Lucas, our
crew chief and engineer, they do a great job on pit road calls. We just
keep having those little things bite us in the butt, and this is one of
those things. I didn't look over to the flag honestly (to see if pit
road was open). I here things in the helmet and follow people depending
on what's said. Enough people came in that I came in. I should have had
my eyes open a little better and looked at the pit road open and closed
flag probably.

 

"He's a superstar. He's a World of Outlaw winner or whatever he is.
He'll be cleared for Daytona. He'll come and race next year full time.
He'll make his mistakes, and they'll be rookie mistakes. I'm glad I
didn't do it to anybody."

 

JEFF GREEN (No. 43 Pop Secret Dodge) - Finished 27th

"The guys did everything they could do tonight. Everyone was sliding
around. We just couldn't get off the corners. That hurt the Pop Secret
Dodge all night. I'm still proud of everyone on this team for sticking
with it tonight and getting a decent finish."