NASCAR WCUP: Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes, Martinsville, Dale Jarrett
3 October 1999
DALE JARRETT --88-- Quality Care Service/Ford Credit Taurus (Qualified 14th) -- "The car got a little high in three there the first lap. I knew the last lap was going to be the lap. I got off the corner good and the car stuck really well. It's better than our efforts here in the past qualifying, or better than mine. I shouldn't say the team's. Hopefully that should get us a decent starting spot where we can run our race on Sunday. It worked out pretty good. I knew the car was pretty good and the last lap it stuck right around the bottom pretty good. I've struggled here qualifying so it was nice to get in a pretty solid lap. It will be out of the top-ten probably but it still won't be far from there. I'd like to try to win this race. We know we can run pretty well here. We have run well here, and we've run not so good. But the last couple of races have been much better. We think we've got a good racecar so we'll have to see what we can do."WAS THAT WHAT YOU EXPECTED IN QUALIFYING OR DID YOU EXPECT A LITTLE MORE? "No, I don't know that we expected any more. We picked up almost a tenth from what we practiced. That's pretty good. We actually felt like we picked up two-tenths. It's been an exciting week for me already. I got to play golf with Arnold Palmer yesterday, and got home in time to see Zachery score three goals in his soccer game. So this has been a big week. (Laughing) So this was kind of a let down coming here today."
THAT WILL CURE YOUR BACK IN A HURRY WON'T IT? "Yeah. I think they reported I hurt my back playing golf. I actually hurt my back getting into the car Friday afternoon. It was a great experience playing golf with Arnold Palmer. What a gentlemen. Just a great person. He's been an idol of mine for a long time. He's been around for a long time, but he still hits it a long way, I can tell you that."
WHAT DID YOU SHOOT? "It was a captain's choice. Our team, I think, was seven under. But I actually hit some pretty good shots. I came close to making a hole in one, and that would have been the coolest thing in the world making a hole in one playing with Arnold Palmer. It's an experience I'll never forget for sure, just like I will Sunday if I can win this race."
HOW IS YOUR BACK? "The backs pretty good. I got it worked on all week, and it's much better than what it was last week."
WILL YOU HAVE THERAPY THE NEXT DAY OR TWO? "Right now I don't think so. I'm in pretty good shape right now so we'll just let it go and try to take care of it getting in and out of the car."
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