Dodge Cup Quotes from AMS : NASCAR Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500

Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004.
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500.


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

"It was a long day for us, probably the worst day we've had here in a
long time. I'm not sure what happened, but we never could hit it. We
qualified decent, but we weren't good in practice and it showed today.
The 48 and 6 had a good day. I hate it for the 97, but it's about time
some of those guys had a bad day. We beat ourselves again. We just
fought it all day."

 

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Mobil 1/ALLTEL Dodge)

"We had a left front tire that was four ounces out of balance which is
pretty big. It was shaking pretty bad, and we didn't know what it was.
We didn't want it to shake and blow a tire or anything goofy, so we just
decided to pit and play if safe. It was probably the right thing to do.
We fought the balance a little bit after that. I think we had one of the
fastest racecars, but it was just a little too little too late. It was a
good points day but not a great points day. It could have been a great
points day. If we can do in the next three races what Jimmie Johnson did
in the last three, then we'll be in pretty good shape. 

 

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge)

"That was one of the longest days I've ever had. We just weren't good
all day. We just hung on and stayed on the lead lap. We got the Lucky
Dog there at the beginning and went a lap down and kinda got stuck
there. I think we had one of the fastest cars a lap down there at the
end. The track really came to us, but we were a lap down. I thought we
could have finished about 10th. To come home 13th is pretty good after a
long day like that."

 

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

"We had a problem with the carburetor or fuel line or something. I'm not
sure, but we were pretty bad on the restarts. I'm happy to get fifth
after the problem we had. That was a pretty big problem. We came back
and still got fifth and to not get run over on those restarts was pretty
nice, too. We battled back all day. We fought the racetrack all day and
the way the cars moved around was very different from the way they
handled yesterday. I think we had a pretty good handle on it, but the
engine issue slowed us down a little bit too much. I'm happy to have it
in one piece. There was some pretty wild stuff going on in those last 15
laps. It was a lot of fun, but it was wild. I think we had a car that
could have run better than we did. It's tough to say what would have
happened, but it's pretty cool that Jimmie Johnson won for Hendrick
Motorsports. That's pretty awesome for the week they had. I wouldn't
want to take anything away from them, but I think we could have run
better than we did."

 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge)

"We were just a little too loose all day. Something happened on that
last restart and we fell back a little bit, but all-in-all it was a
pretty good day. That's another top 10 finish (10th in last 11 starts).
When you look back and think at what might have been if we'd qualified
for The Chase.... Oh well, we've got a good hold on 11th place and we'll
see if we can't kick it up a few notches and win one of these last three
races."