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NASCAR WCUP: Dallenbach looks for 'Long Spell of Sunshine'

5 July 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Note: Wally Dallenbach finished seventh in last year's Jiffy Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway and has high hopes of forging another competitive run Sunday in the Galaxy Motorsports Ford. The race marks the debut of a new sponsor, America Online, for Dallenbach. AOL will also sponsor Dallenbach's Ford at Pocono and in the Sept. 24 MBNA Gold 400 at Dover, Del.

Dallenbach came through with a strong run in last Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Daytona. After starting 35th, Dallenbach ran as high as ninth before getting shuffled late in the race and finishing 21st, on the lead lap.

HOW HAVE YOU HANDLED SOME RECENT DISAPPOINTMENTS ON THE TRACK?

WALLY DALLENBACH (No. 75 America Online Ford Taurus): "I haven't handled it very well, to be honest with you. It's frustrating, especially when you don't make first round qualifying because you spend so much time qualifying for the race. Newt Moore has improved our qualifying performance since he came onboard. But we struggled at Daytona. We had to run second round qualifying, which basically meant we lost half a day of practice when we could have been trying to get the car ready for the race. That means you don't get a very good handle on your race setup. We're happy to make the races, but we're not at the races just to make the race. We want to be competitive. It's so important to get yourself qualified the first day because it gives yourself so much more practice time."

WHAT ARE SOME REALISTIC GOALS FOR THE TEAM THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON?

"It's simple. We just want to get better every single weekend. We really struggled the first three months of the season and now it seems like we have a better handle on things. We're getting better, but it's going slower than anybody likes. We all want it to happen tomorrow, but realistically, we know it's going to take a big part of the season to get our act together. Realistically, I want to have a three-to-five year sponsorship signed soon so we can start planning on what we're going to do with this team in the future. From that, we can build a stronger team."

THE BRICKYARD 400 IS ONLY THREE RACES AWAY. HAVE PREPARATIONS ALREADY BEGUN?

"We're not quite preparing for it yet. We go there for the Ford test (July 18-19). We've got our car close to being ready, but you really don't know what you have until you test there."

JUNE WAS A TOUGH MONTH FOR THE TEAM. CAN IT REBOUND IN JULY?

"We thought we were going to be great at Michigan and we weren't. We thought we were going to be great at Sears Point and we were until we broke the transmission. You can be good, but it really depends on what kind of breaks you get. We haven't had very many breaks go in our favor. There is still a lot of racing to do this year and I feel we can turn it around. All you need is one week where you have a good run and it turns it around. We're one race away from turning it around and being heroes."

CAN YOU TAKE ANY CONFIDENCE TO NEW HAMPSHIRE BASED ON YOUR TOP-10 THERE LAST YEAR?

"There's nothing you can take anywhere other than from the last race you've run. You've got to have good race cars. That's how you run well at these places. It's as simple as that. If we go there with a good race car, we'll have a good finish. You're only as good as your last race. There's a lot of truth to that statement. We had a pretty good run at Daytona and everyone should be pretty pumped up to go to New Hampshire. That's a nice attitude to take with you. If we had had a bad race at Daytona, the guys would be feeling down and we wouldn't have any momentum going into the race. It comes back to being able to turn the whole season around in one race. If we could have one good race this weekend, then we could follow it up with 10 great races. That's what we're looking to do. We've had a lot of unfortunate things happen to us. It has really been nobody's fault. When the black cloud passes, hopefully, we'll be in for a long spell of sunshine."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE?

"It's a good track for me. It's a flat track where you can drive into the corners real deep. The car has to roll through the center and you have to be able to get on the gas hard coming out of the corners. It's a fun racetrack. I like running there a lot. We had a great handling race car there last year. We had great pit stops. We had great fuel mileage. Those are all three things you've got to have at New Hampshire. We had all three of them, plus, I had a lot of lobster. What more do you want from a weekend up there?"

Text provided by Brian Hoagland

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