NASCAR WCUP: Wally Dallenbach: 'I feel like I got robbed'; Watkins Glen Preview
8 August 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
|
Success on the esses is nothing new to Dallenbach, known as one of America's finest road racers. He is a four-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, a three-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring and won the 1985 SCCA Trans-Am championship.
Dallenbach is coming off a disheartening run in last Saturday's Brickyard 400. After starting 31st, he had one of the quickest cars in the field, quickly cracking the top-20 before a pit road collision caused him to lose a lap. Dallenbach finished 35th, two laps down.
Because of his road racing expertise, Dallenbach will be among the favorites in Sunday's race.
RON FELLOWS HAS HAD GREAT SUCCESS AT THE GLEN IN A BUSCH CAR. HE'S IN THIS RACE. YOU NEARLY WON IT IN 1995. IS IT POSSIBLE FOR AN 'OUTSIDER' TO WIN? WALLY DALLENBACH (No. 75 RedCell Batteries Ford Taurus): "It's tough. Ron is going to run and they're focusing on one race for the year. They're going to qualify great. But it comes down to the fact you've got to run the whole race fast and you've got to have great pit stops and strategy. It's going to take the whole combination. If there's any one weak link in the chain they're not going to win the race. You have to have everything. As a road racer he's going to come in and do well just because of the experience he has. But it's a long race. The guys that run up front every weekend are going to be the same guys that run up front at Watkins Glen. That's because they have the best teams behind them."
COMMENT ON YOUR NEAR WIN HERE IN 1995. "To this day, I feel like I got robbed and everybody that was there feels the same way. The car was excellent. It was fun to have a good run for Bill and Gail Davis because they were really struggling at the time. They were in between drivers and needed a good run. I wasn't running a full season so I needed a good run. It was one of those fairytale weekends that could have been a little bit better if we could have pulled into victory lane. The car was awesome. The guys did a great job on our pit strategy. The crew chief made the right calls. It was a fun weekend."
HOW DID YOU GET BEAT? "The restart was kind of mundane. We had an 11-second lead with 10 laps to go. Mark was about two-tenths to three-tenths of a second faster. He wasn't going to catch me. No way. He was the fastest car on the race track, but we had track position and it just wasn't going to happen. When they threw the phantom yellow, I couldn't hold him off. He was faster. That's all it took to beat me at the end. I didn't have anything for him and I knew that. He wasn't going to eat up an 11-second lead in 10 laps."
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S ON YOUR MIND EVERY TIME YOU COME BACK TO THE GLEN? "No. I don't think about it. You've got to pick 'em up and move on. There are plenty of races. Watkins Glen has been a really good track for me in the past and I love racing there. Hell, I'll take my first win anywhere. I really don't think that my chances are better winning at the Glen than somewhere else any more. Three or four years ago, I would have thought that. I feel my chances are good to win my first race at 10 race tracks now. We just need to get our act together. Watkins Glen is just one of those tracks as far as I'm concerned."
IS THE GLEN YOUR FAVORITE ROAD COURSE? "Yep, because you have a lot more room to pass than you do at Sears Point. It's almost the perfect kind of track for a Cup car."
Text provided by Brian Hoagland
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