Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield from Dodge Conference call; also quotes from Jamie McMurray

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004.
Dodge Motorsports Teleconference
Richmond Advance, Last Race to Qualify for the Chase
                           

Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield AND Jamie McMurray

 

 

 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge)

NOTE: Coming off back-to-back top-five finishes at Bristol and
California, Newman has moved from 13th to 8th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Standings. He's 404 points out of first place and 20 points ahead of
10th.

 

OPENING COMMENTS -- "First of all for California I think we achieved our
first goal and that was to get a top-five finish. I think a top-five
finish in that position, or in our position as far as points and
everything, was going to keep us in the hunt. We were capable of doing
that and did that. Obviously we went there to win the race, but looking
at the big picture, the top five was the ultimate situation. Going into
Richmond, it's the same old situation. We're going there to win the
race. If we win the race everything else will take care of itself. We
have to keep in mind, too, that we're 404 points out of the lead, so we
have a shot from that mathematical chance as well as the top 10. If we
can go there and do the same thing again, finish in the top five, we're
going to have a really good shot at being in the right position to be in
the top 10 as well as being within 400 points of the leader. We'll go
there with the same racecar we had in the spring that sat on the outside
of the front row and finished ninth. We had a good test there a couple
of weeks ago, and we'll see how we can do."

 

TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS OPPORTUNITY MEANS TO COMPETE FOR THE TITLE "It's
kind of a Catch-22 situation. We caught Matt Kenseth last year almost
300 points in two races. Now we're sitting 404 points out of the lead.
It's not like because of the chase for the championship we have a great
opportunity to win the championship. We'd have a great opportunity
regardless. We're just right now fighting for the top 10 situation.
After Richmond we were 408 points out of the lead and still had the
mathematical opportunity to win the championship, I'd be real upset.
That's part of the reason I don't like the point system, but just to be
in this position three years in a row is a great thing for our team as
well as me personally, and we just keep working for that ultimate goal
of winning the championship."

 

HAS THE NEW POINT SYSTEM CHANGED THE WAY YOU DRIVE IN CERTAIN
SITUATIONS? "No, I don't think so at all. I think if we had the
opportunity at California, if we had a first-place car we would have
tried to finish first with it. We had a top-10 car for most of the race
and turned it into a top-five car at the end. We were able to make that
happen and if we can win every race, which is almost mathematically
impossible for any team, then the points will take care of themselves.
That's just how we approach it."

 

WHAT'S IN BEEN LIKE GOING FOR A TOP-10 SPOT AFTER THE 26TH RACE? "It's
been just like business as usual for me. You've got to keep track of
what's going on and who's around you and making sure there's nobody who
tries to nudge you when they shouldn't, but the bottom line is we're
just out there competing. There has been some extra concern, but I don't
put any extra pressure on myself to try to perform. I just go out and
try to do the best job I can with the equipment I have and the people we
have around us."

 

ANY CONCERN HAVING THE 26th RACE AT RICHMOND? "Yes and no. If you look
at it that way, it sounds pretty traumatic. There's still 185 points
available for every race up until this one. We had just as much
opportunity to gain in the past 25 races as we have here at Richmond for
this one, so mathematically it's just another race."

 

WAS BRISTOL A SAFER RACE BECAUSE OF THE NEW FORMAT? "I think the Bristol
deal was a freak situation. I said to someone earlier we were close to
having a full moon, and I think it was a bad moon that week. It was a
very good race, a very clean race and a lot of fun at Bristol and
physically a great workout. Potentially, I think there is equally as
much a chance to have a race like we had in the fall Bristol race at
Richmond as well as well as a beat and bang up 20-caution type race this
coming weekend. It could go either way I think, easily."

 

DO YOU TRY NOT TO THINK ABOUT DNF's? "If we were in their position (24
team), we would be experimenting and being locked in to the chase for
the championship we'd be doing everything we could think of to make our
team that much stronger from an engine perspective as far as other
perspectives and performance. That's their deal. I don't know what cards
they have in their hand, and I don't know what cards they're playing.
We're in a position where we fold when we have to and we sometimes have
to end up playing cards we don't want to, but in the end, hopefully,
we'll be able to make it in."

 

WAS THE TOP FIVE AT CALIFORNIA A SURPRISE? "Our car was pretty decent,
and I was pretty good on restarts passing some cars. Then I'd get passed
a little bit. We were happy to have those four tires at the end and to
be in the right position at the right time to take advantage of guys who
only had two tires or no tires. Carl Edwards did a great job of racing
me clean there at the end. I had a couple of other guys that were
chopping me off pretty good, but it was a good run for us and the Sony
Dodge to be in that position at the end of the race and to be able to
capitalize and get that top five for our points day."

 

DOES THIS RACE ALMOST FEEL LIKE THE SEASON? "In a way, yes, it could be
very easily. We just have to stay focused on what we're at Richmond to
do. We'll see how we feel afterwards depending on how everything comes
out. We can only try as hard as we've been trying. Our guys at the shop
and the guys on the team, they're all on the same team, and we try just
as hard no matter if it's this race or the Daytona 500 or Brickyard 400
or Martinsville. We'll have to see how everything turns out. If we're on
the edge of the waterfall, we'll have to figure out on the way down to
land and take off for the next 10 races."

 

IS THERE ANY TALK BETWEEN DRIVERS ABOUT THIS RACE? "I haven't had any
discussion with any other drivers. Usually that happens before driver
introductions. Usually, whatever is going to happen is going to happen.
If it's going to be a beat and bang up race or a long green-flag run
race, it just happens. It's not something we prepare for. I don't know
if NASCAR is going to give us a speech going into this deal or we're
going to have to give each other our own speeches."

 

DOES HAVING A CHANCE TO MAKE THE CHASE ENERGYZE YOUR TEAM? "We're not
where we want to be, and that's the bad side of that coin. Ultimately
we're still in a great hunt, and we've got our sights set on the target.
Basically all we have to do is stay focused and follow through, but yes,
the team is real excited about being where we're at. Usually at Penske,
one of the three cars has a shot at the championship. The other team
members are very excited as well, and that brings more excitement for
everybody in the team, so we'll just do the best job we can."

 

DOES YOUR RECORD AT RICHMOND GIVE YOU EXTRA CONFIDENCE? "It just lets us
know, No. 1, that we can get it done. The ultimate answer is something
so little can knock us out for the weekend, whether it's a piece of
debris or somebody else's misjudgment. Our performances in the past are
just that, history. We'll have to try to create better history. It's a
fun racetrack and it's a track you can race on. It's one of the few
short tracks we can race and pass and have some fun on. That's the good
part of it. The bad part is it still has the potential to be a beat and
bang up racetrack. If you can stay out of that function of it, you'll
have a good day."

 

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE TRACK GOING INTO THE FINAL 10? "Darlington. I
think that's going to be a pivotal race. At Darlington, guys usually hit
it or miss it. Being where it's at in the schedule, that's a very
pivotal weekend."

 

WHAT'S IT LIKE RACING AND NOT FEELING WELL? "I've had a sinus type cold
and headache. I think that's what everybody that's been sick has had and
it's going around. I was very, very weak. I told the guys when I started
the race I felt like 75 percent. I felt like 75 percent at the end of
the race. It was pretty warm in the car because of the temperature
outside. I got out of the car and I felt cold. I tried to get over it
and get a lot of sleep going into Richmond. It's tough, but if you're
mentally sane you can overcome a lot of those things."

 

 

 

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

NOTE: Mayfield ranks 14th in the standings, 55 points out of 10th place
with three drivers to pass to get there. He finished 11th, 22nd and 16th
in the past three races and dropped from 10th to 14th.

 

OPENING COMMENTS "California and Bristol were two pretty bad weeks. We
just didn't perform as we needed to and fell back in the points. That's
pretty much what happened to us. We're going to run harder and do
something different than we did at California and Bristol for sure.
We've just got to go in there and run hard and hope all the guys in
front of us make big mistakes and we don't. That's all we can do. We've
got to go in there and win the race. If we make it in, fine. If we
don't, I guess we just didn't make it."

 

MENTALLY, HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO RICHMOND? "Mentally, you've got to
put it behind you, and it's not behind me yet. I'm still (upset) about
it. You've just got to go on and get over it and go to Richmond open
minded and do all you can. We have no choice. We've got to go in there
and win the race and have 13-second stops all night. We can't go in
there and run like we did last week or the week before and you also
can't put pressure on yourself and try to go in there and make it all up
in one week. We should have done this two or three weeks ago and we
would have been all right. We've got to go in there now and try to make
up everything we've lost in the last couple of weeks and it's going to
be hard to do. It's going to be hard to do."

 

HOW IMPORTANT WILL IT BE TO UNLOAD FAST AT RICHMOND? "We tested there
and had a great test. We've got to go in there and roll off the truck
fast, be fast in practice and qualifying. We've got to do a lot of good
stuff to overcome this. All you can do is do the best you can and at the
end of the night know we did all we can do. I can't say that about
Saturday night (Sunday night at California Speedway). We had several bad
stops that kept putting us behind, and I can't say we did all we can do.
I want to be able to leave Richmond saying we did all we could do and we
had the best of everything and that we had good stops all night and
nobody made mistakes. Maybe you'll know you did everything you could do
that night anyway. We had a great test there, and the car ran really
good. That's all you can do, try to lead every lap and do everything you
can. Hopefully at the end of the night you're in the top 10 in the
points."

 

WHY DID THE BAD PIT STOPS HAPPEN? "I have no idea. They do a great job
every week, practicing and all that stuff. Then you come in second and
go out ninth, come in seventh and go out 18th. I have no idea why it
happened. It's just hard to swallow. It's the time we had to step up and
we didn't do it, and if you don't do it, then you don't deserve to be in
the top 10 anyway. You've got to keep working hard and do the best you
can and get prepared for Richmond this week. Hopefully they're on their
game and I'll be on mine and the car will be on its game and we'll do
the best we can. We'll give it all we've got, and hopefully at the end
of the night we'll be in the top 10."

 

WILL YOU TALK TO PIT CREW? "I'm not mad at them for what happened. I'm
not sure what happened on the stops, but I know it's not OK. That's
something I can't swallow when you get out of the car they say it'll be
all right, well, it's not all right. We've got to fix something and
figure out what happened to the guys, but you know we've got to go on,
put it behind us and race and go to win Richmond. That's all we can do."

 

HOW WILL YOU REACT TO THIS NOW OR NEVER SITUATION? "I pretty much feel
like I'm in that situation all the time. I've never been in a situation
where everything is great and you don't have to run every lap as hard as
you can. I don't really know. All I know is that I've got to go to
Richmond and do all I can as a driver and go for it. I've never been in
that situation, but I've also never been in one where everything is
great, either. There's always been a lot of pressure in every situation
I've ever been in, so there's nothing any different going into this
week. It's just not right. You can't come into this deal and expect to
make it all up in one week. I'm the first one to say you can't be
conservative when you're in that situation, and I feel like the last
couple of weeks we haven't performed like we needed to. Now all we can
do is go to Richmond and get all the points you can, but it's going to
be tough."

 

IS QUALIFYING MORE IMPORTANT? "I don't know if it's any more important
than it is any other week. It's definitely going to be the most
important thing for us this week. We've got to sit on the pole and win
the race and lead all the laps. That means when we come in second we've
got to go back out second. That means when we come in 10th, we've got to
go 7th. We've got to execute this week like we never have before. If
that means qualifying on the pole, that's what we've got to do. We've
got to be on our game this week, and that starts with qualifying."

 

IF YOU DON'T MAKE THE FINAL 10, WHAT THEN? "It would be a reality check
and let you know you could have done this and this and this. There are
probably a lot of things I could have done different to help the race
team and things the race team could have done to help itself. That's
what you'll look back on. If we hadn't done this, we'd been a little
better here and made it in. That'll get us ready for next year, but if
we don't get in, I'm expecting to win races quick and fast. We've got
to. We're a better race team than we've been the past two weeks. If we
don't get in, we have no choice but winning every race from here on out.
That's the way I look at it."

 

WHAT'S THE STRESS LEVEL OF SEASON COMING DOWN TO ONE RACE? "It's a shame
to have the season come down to one race for us. I feel like we should
have been close enough to be in it a few weeks back and now we're not.
We've got further away. It's really not one week. It's not one race
that's going to turn around our season. We've just got to do the best we
can this one week just like we do every week after that. We're still
here to win races and whatever, but it's not over yet, either. If we're
not in the top 10, we'll try to win every race from here on out. If we
are, we'll still do the same and get ready for next year."

 

WILL YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE THE COMPETITION FOR THE TOP 10 IS ON THE
TRACK SATURDAY NIGHT? "You'll pretty much know as the race goes on
you'll know who's ahead of you and all that stuff. A lot of the guys
we've been racing with have really picked the pace up. The 6 car is by
far been the best the past couple of weeks. They've done a great job,
and the 88 has been good. The 42 has come on. The 9 has been good. We
all know pretty much who we're racing. This week we've got to race
everybody and win the race. There ain't no way around it."

 

HOW AGGRESSIVE WILL YOU BE AT RICHMOND? "We've just got to go in there
and race and do whatever it takes to win the race and get all the points
we can get. Whatever the consequences are we'll have to deal with them
later and race aggressively and do whatever you've got to do to win.
That's the way I look at it. That's the way I'm going into it this week.
I don't care about anybody around me. We've got to win the race."

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY? "It's not every day you get
a chance to get in the top 10 in this kind of sport. It's a tough
season. It's tough all the way around. We've got a lot of good
competitors. We've got the opportunity and just let it fly right by you.
That's what (upsets) you. It's not over yet, but we've got to perform
this week. If it gets by, we've got to get prepared for next year. Maybe
it'll make us a better race team, but like you said, you don't get this
opportunity very often."

 

IS THERE ONE RACE BESIDES BRISTOL AND CALIFORNIA YOU CAN POINT TO? "Oh
yeah, we've been doing that. There's several races you look back if we
had done this or that better or if I hadn't spun out at Sears Point or
if we'd have better pit stops at Darlington and Charlotte or if we'd not
run out of gas at Texas. There's going to be a lot of things we look
back and know where we lost this year. We definitely should be solid in
the top 10 right now if we hadn't made those mistakes. We've had our
eyes on that. It's something we'll look back on at the end of the year
and not let happen next year and go from there."

 

WILL IT BE TOUGH IF NO EVERNHAM CARS ARE IN THE TOP 10? "If they (9
team) fall out it'll be because they made mistakes and beat themselves
also. Our goal was to get both cars in and if not both, then get one.
That's what we're trying to do and we're doing the best we can to do
that. It certainly wouldn't be a good situation, but we'll learn from
it. It'll make us better and we'll move on. No matter what happens we're
better than last year and ahead of our schedule anyway. We still want to
get in, if not both, then one car anyway. If not, we'll go back to the
drawing board and I'll guarantee you we'll be tough in that deal next
year. We'll fix the problems we've had this year and not let it happen
to us again."

 

DO YOU THINK DRIVERS ALREADY ELIMINATED FROM THE CHASE WILL CUT YOU ANY
SLACK AT RICHMOND? "I doubt it. They usually don't anyway. I certainly
wouldn't and wouldn't expect them to. I doubt it. It's tough racing and
very competitive and we're all here to win. Normally these guys don't
cut anyone any breaks."

 

DO YOU STILL LIKE THE NEW POINTS FORMAT? "Oh yeah, I think it's good.
It's going to be great. There's a lot of talk about it and fans are
pumped up about it. The media is excited about it. I think it's going to
be good. Saturday night should be interesting. It should be very
interesting. Who knows what's going to happen after that? That's what
it's all about, putting on a good show and entertainment, and I think
that's what you're going to see."

 

 

HOW WOULD YOU DRIVE IF YOU ONLY NEEDED TO FINISH SECOND OR THIRD TO MAKE
THE TOP 10? "Coming down to the end of the night if you're running
second or third or whatever, and if you finish like that and the team
lets you know you're in, you don't do anything crazy. As far as I'm
concerned right now, we've got to go in and sit on the pole and win the
race and lead all the laps and everything else. That's my goal anyway
right now. Until I'm told otherwise, I'm not going to expect anything
else. I think it's going to be a great track for it, a short track,
Saturday night, I'm sure there will be a full moon out and tempers
flaring at the end of it, too. I'm sure it's going to be a spectacular
event."

 

 

 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge)

 

NOTE: McMurray ranks 11th in the standings, 25 points out of 10th place.
He's finished in the top 10 in four of the past five races and moved up
from 15th to 11th after his fourth-place performance at California
Speedway. McMurray was unable to participate in the Dodge Teleconference
today because he was getting fitted for a seat for Thursday night's
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Richmond. He's driving the No. 2
Team ASE/Carquest Dodge Ram in that event. Team PR rep Jason Wise
supplied this Q&A with McMurray.

 

What is your outlook heading into this weekend's race in Richmond?

 "I feel pretty good about our chances of getting into the Top 10 and
being part of the Chase for the Championship. We're taking the same car
we ran at Richmond back in the spring and had a strong run going until
we were caught up in a wreck with Joe Nemechek. That's the thing about
Richmond, it's a short track and you can be caught up in someone else's
mess and have your night end early. The points are so tight between
eighth and 15th-place. It's going to be interesting to see who makes the
top 10 after Richmond is over. Hopefully the Texaco/Havoline Dodge is
one of those that make the cut. If we can avoid trouble, I feel good
about our chances."

 

You're only 25 points out of the top 10. You had 25 points taken away
back at Bristol in the spring when your car was impounded for an illegal
rear window. How much sleep have you lost the last few days over losing
those points?

 

"There's nothing you can do about it now.  I mean, if after Richmond we
miss the Top 10 and the Chase for the Championship by 25 points, yeah,
of course, everyone is going to start playing the 'What If?' game. But
you have to look back at our season as a whole. We've given away
numerous points this year with blown motors, so if we miss the Top 10 by
a small amount of points, it will not be for just one infraction."

 

Many drivers have been vocal about the new points system. As we approach
the final race before the cut-off, what are your thoughts?

 

"You know, I was one of the vocal drivers at the beginning of the season
that did not like the new points system.  But I must admit, it's been
exciting to see all the coverage that those of us trying to get into the
top 10 have been receiving by the media over the last few weeks. It's
great for our sponsors, and I think it's created a lot of buzz for
NASCAR. Usually this time in the season is when there are a handful of
drivers that are competing for the championship and there's not much
media focus. I think overall the new points system has been good for all
involved."