---

NASCAR: Sears Point Winston Cup Post-Qualifying Notes, Ricky Rudd

26 June 1999

RICKY RUDD -10- Tide Taurus -- (15th)"We didn't lock the brakes up. We spent so much time working on brakes, but you know you come out here. Generally you come out here, and you don't have any problem. I was really surprised we fought it like we did. We need to start working on the chassis. We have a good bit of speed left in the car. It's pushing too much going into the corners. We need to get the front to bit. But that's the first time I made it around the track without smoking the brakes. So we are gaining on it." HOW MUCH FUN IS IT WHEN YOU HIT THE RYTHM JUST RIGHT ON A ROAD COURSE? "When the car is driving like you want it to drive, and stopping when you want it to stop, it is a rhythm situation especially when you get the car swinging up through the esses - you swing it one way. Then you swing it the other. What's good is when you have a car hang out just the right amount. You want the backend in a little bit of a yaw situation. When you've got a car that does what you want, it's a lot of fun to race here. If you hit every corner just right, it's good. You can miss a corner by a half a second, not just a little bit. If you come in the corner and smoke the brakes, lock the brakes up it won't just be one tenth or one one hundredth. You'll slow down half a second, three quarters of a second. In qualifying you just can't make that back up. In the race everyone can make a mistake. Everybody is doing the same. The one with the least amount of mistakes goes to the front."

Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.