Dodge NASCAR Quotes from Wednesday at DIS Test

Jan. 12, 2005
Daytona International Speedway
Day Two 2005 Testing.


SLUGGER LABBE (Crew Chief No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

NOTE: Labbe joined the Evernham Motorsports team with driver Jeremy
Mayfield in mid-December after four seasons at DEI. Both of Mayfield's
Dodge Chargers were in the top 10 in Wednesday morning's practice
session at DIS.

 

"We just wanted to come down here and make sure the Charger was driving
good and we had competitive speeds. It's been pretty good so far. It's
been driving good and the times have been decent. That was the big thing
that Ray wanted to work on this winter - to step up the speedway
program. The body side of it, they've done a lot of work, and they've
done a lot of work on the motor side. When I got there, all the guys
asked me to show them what I wanted them to cut. We started cutting on
stuff because they knew they had to get better. It's been a lot of hard
work. I started work on Dec. 13, and we've been going strong, paying
attention to every little detail. It's been going good. Everyone is
excited. The guys in the shop have been busting their tail. It was nice
to call back yesterday and tell the guys we had a good day. It makes the
winter a lot easier. Both cars are running really good. The only problem
with that is we've got to decide which car to bring back for the Daytona
500. That's a good problem to have, having both cars in the top 10 on
the speed chart both days is a good thing."

 

WHY DID YOU LEAVE DEI? "Well, they weren't very happy about me leaving.
That's part of racing. I saw where Ray had the offer over here, and I
wanted to come. I worked with Michael Waltrip for four years. There's no
big secret that when you come restrictor-plate racing you've got to have
everything perfect. You've got to have the best body, the best motor,
your car's got to travel good, it's got to stay out of the air for a
long time, you've got to have the best brakes to get on pit road, the
best transmission and clutch to get off pit road, the best pit crew. The
two big things I've tackled this winter is restrictor-plate racing and
getting the pit crew going. We had issues, and we've worked on that.
I've been out there every day with them. We've seen good results. We've
got to make sure the pit crew stays competitive, and I think they will
be when we come down here for the Budweiser Shootout. They'll be on
their game. They're ready for it, and they understand how important they
are in winning these races down here. I want Evernham to win the first
race in the Charger. They've done a lot of work, and the guys see the
picture I have. They want to come down here and win this race."

 

WOULD THE BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT COUNT AS THE FIRST WIN? "If you win a race
at Daytona it's big. Any race you win down here is important. I've won
quite a few down here, and it's a good feeling - especially if you're
down here for two weeks. I've never won the Shootout, but I've won the
125s, and that's a good feeling. That's a big shot in the arm. I think
when we come down here we'll be competitive."



IS THE DRIVER PART OF THAT TOTAL PACKAGE AT DAYTONA? "They tell you it's
simple, but he's got to hit his marks. He's got to shift at the right
point. It's not easy by any means. You see it in Jeremy's eyes. He's
fired up. He's ready to go. He's got to be motivated. I told Jeremy I'm
an open and honest person and if there's something going on I'm going to
tell him about it. We're going to work on it together because if we
don't tell each other there's a problem we won't get better. We've got
to communicate and work together and that's something we're going to
work on, but so far everything has been great. If he says something and
I don't quite understand it, I've got Kenny Francis (team director)
here. I can't stress it enough. The whole thing to this thing was to
have Kenny stay. I wouldn't have done this if Kenny hadn't stayed. Me
and Kenny worked together before at Yates. We're real good friends.
We've known each other for a long time. I wanted Kenny to stay here to
be my right-hand man. He agreed to it. Everything is cool and we're
looking forward to it. If we can come out of here (Daytona 500) with a
top 10, we'll really be looking forward to California and Las Vegas. We
want to make a statement and start the season off strong. We've got a
bunch of testing coming up. We're going to test at the first six tracks.
We're going to start the season off right."

 

HOW IMPORTANT WILL THE LAS VEGAS AND CALIFORNIA TESTS BE FOR THE
CHARGER? "Tommy Baldwin is in Atlanta today tire testing the 9 car.
That's going to help us out a lot. We're going to Nashville again next
week. We've done a lot of preparation in the offseason to be ready when
we get to Vegas and California. Both Evernham cars ran good last year at
Vegas. The 9 car really started off strong. We want to make sure the
same thing this year."

 

HOW'D YOU GET THE NICKNAME SLUGGER? "The day I was born my grandmother
gave me a pair of pajamas that had little baseballs on it that said
Little Slugger. Since that day it stuck. People say my name Richard, and
I won't even look. I've been accustomed to being called Slugger since
day one."

 

WHAT'S YOUR VERSION OF THE STORY ABOUT THE TRIP TO THE DODGE DINNER AT
LPGA INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY NIGHT? "Jeremy is late for everything. The
itinerary I had for last night said it started at 6 o'clock. I asked him
about 4:30 yesterday what time he wanted to leave and he said quarter to
seven. I told him it started at 6, but he said we'd be all right. I was
sitting in the lobby and at quarter to seven and no Jeremy. At five
minute 'til, no Jeremy. I called him up and he said he was coming. We
were leaving the motel and we needed to turn left to go back toward the
racetrack. All the other traffic was going right. I told him to cut
through the median, but he said there was a sign with a big X that said
not to enter. I told him it was 

all right. He went through the intersection and turned left. We made it
about a quarter of a mile and saw the blue light flashing. We started
laughing in the car. The cop came up to the window and asked for
Jeremy's license. Jeremy asked him if he was speeding, and the cop said
no, that he ran through the do not enter sign. Jeremy pointed toward me
and said, 'He told me to do it.' I knew then that I had this deal
figured out, but the cool part was he listened. That's the way I feel
about all these guys on this team. They're dedicated to winning and if I
told them to throw a trashcan across the parking lot, I think they'd do
it. They're dedicated to do whatever it takes to win, and that's a good
attitude to have."