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NASCAR WCUP: Post Race Notes and Quotes, Pepsi 400, Mark Martin

2 July 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

MARK MARTIN --6-- Valvoline/Cummins Taurus -- "It was a good run for us. The guys did a great job. We just got behind on one pit stop and never did get much further up than about fourth. It was a good finish for us. With different circumstances things might have been different, but at least we didn't go backwards on the last lap."

A GOOD DAY FOR ROUSH RACING. "It's good for Roush Racing, Jeff Burton and those guys. It's good for us. We've bounced back from all that trouble we had and have had some good runs here."

IS THAT AS INTENSE AS IT GETS? "Pretty intense, but it gets worse than that sometimes here and Talladega. At least we didn't have a big wreck and go backwards on the last lap."

WHAT ABOUT THE LAST RESTART? "We didn't have a run for the last lap. We had a run before that and made our move and did our deal. We weren't in position to do anything else there on that last lap."

WAS THAT DUE TO THE PLATE? "Well, yeah. I mean, you've gotta have restrictor plates on these things but the bodies are too slick. That's the real problem. With 420 horsepower you can run like that, that's 350 horsepower off what we can make. The bodies are just so slick that handling's not a factor. If the cars were slipping and sliding then the chassis setup would make a difference and the driver could make more difference, but at least we didn't wreck tonight."

Text Provided By Ford

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