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NASCAR WCUP: Pontiac Driver Notes and Quotes, Richmond Pre Race

9 September 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

JOHN ANDRETTI, NO. 43 CHEERIOS/STP PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

"Qualifying was a bit of a struggle. We made it a little better, but qualifying is over with now so we'll get ready for the race. Hopefully we won't be too far back and we can race our way to the front." (AREN'T YOU DUE FOR A LITTLE GOOD LUCK?) "We're due for it. I don't know when it's going to come, but I hope when it comes it comes in big truckloads."

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

"It didn't feel that bad. I thought we ran quicker than that, but it didn't show up near as good on the board. I probably overdrove it trying to get that one quick lap. This is one of those places where it's really easy to overdrive, so I probably hurt myself as much as I tried to help. But we'll race good."

WARD BURTON, NO. 22 CATERPILLAR PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

"The team did a really good job. They kept working on it. They used a lot of good knowledge today that we could have maybe overlooked. But they came really prepared and it showed. The team has just gotten a lot smarter with the cars, the way we leave the race shop. From some of the testing on the short tracks and some of the other places, they've helped me to improve in some areas, too. But I think we're learning things to get the nose to turn without losing the rear, and the whole combination you've got to have to be fast."

(HOW EASY IS IT TO OVERDRIVE THIS TRACK?) "With my style, going in too hard is easy. It's easy for me to overdrive anywhere. It's a thin edge there between driving too hard and not driving hard enough. Today's Winston Cup class is so competitive, you can leave a little bit on the table so you'll be good on long runs, but you can't leave a whole lot or you're going to get lapped."

BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

"We had a good run. We had a good draw, qualifying kind of right at a critical point. If you draw later it's probably just a little bit better. The car was just a little bit off on the exit of the corners and didn't really get enough speed there. I could tell it right away, but there wasn't really much I could do about it. Still all in all after the past couple weeks of not qualifying good, it's good to qualify good. It's a great starting spot for us."

(DOES THIS RACE SEEM EASY AFTER DARLINGTON?) "Last weekend was great. We had a roller coaster weekend. We were up and down - actually more down than up. After that, the week was pretty happy because a lot of times you don't get that fortunate to come out of there with a win. But Richmond is still a good track for us. It hasn't been the best track, but still all in all last year we finished second and third both races. We've run pretty good here most every time the past two or three years, so I feel confident that we've got a race team that can make the right decisions tomorrow in 'Happy Hour' to go into Saturday night's race."

(WHY DID THEY TEST HERE WITH ALL THE SUCCESS THEY'VE HAD?) "Last spring it just seemed like we missed the boat a little bit on a few things that we had last year compared to this year. So we ran the first part of the season and didn't plan on testing here at that point in time, but it seemed like this type of racetrack wasn't going as good for us this year as it did last year. We figured this race was coming up prior to a Loudon, prior to Phoenix, prior to Homestead that have the same characteristics, so we said, 'Let's go to Richmond first because it comes up first on the schedule and try to make it better,' and then hopefully it will make the other racetracks better that we felt like if we didn't test here we wouldn't do as good at. Plus it pays a million dollars Saturday night."

(WHAT ARE HIS THOUGHTS ON POTENTIALLY RUNNING A RESTRICTOR PLATE RACE NEXT WEEK AT NEW HAMPSHIRE?) "I don't know. I qualified second tonight and I'm pretty excited about that. I really don't have any comments on next weekend right yet because anything can happen, anything can change. I'm not 100 percent sure about it. I don't build motors, so it's kind of out of my league there. I feel like right now that I'm going to go to bed tonight thinking that we're going to start second on Saturday. I just don't have a good answer for you. We'll just see what happens when we get there."

(IS HIS MIND ANYMORE AT EASE ABOUT NEXT WEEK THAN IT WAS?) "I don't know. I've got the Jack Roush device in my car, as far as the throttle deal, but that would make me feel better if I was going down the highway, too. It's just a delicate subject that we've all got to go through. None of us want to see what happened last time. But at the same time, we're all here this weekend and we'll be there next weekend."

KEN SCHRADER, NO. 36 M&M'S PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

"We haven't been real far down the list, but we've struggled. Oh man, the thing just never felt good. We didn't get it feeling good until right at the end. But the last couple times we got out it felt a lot better. I thought we had a shot at something. I knew if the driver didn't mess up we'd be decent and it looks like that's where we're going to be." (IS IT NICE TO BE QUALIFYING BETTER?) "It's wonderful. I've enjoyed it already. We just need to keep it up."

(IS IT EASIER TO POLISH ON IT NOW THAT THE TEAM HAS SOMETHING TO WORK WITH?) "We struggled immensely at the start of the year. We just got caught off-guard - not qualifying good, not running good. If we wouldn't have changed a lot of stuff, I still don't think we would be. But the guys at the shop and the guys on the road crew, they've made a ton of changes to these cars and it's showing up."

RICK MAST, NO. 14 CONSECO PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

"Pretty cool, huh? This is another one of the Coyote qualifying engines. We did it in Michigan and qualified third and now we've used our motor again here. And we're going to use our motor to race with tomorrow night for the first time so that's got me pretty pumped. It was a good lap. The car was a little tight. It didn't leave any speed out there, but if I could go back right now and adjust the car I think I could make it go a little quicker, but we'll take it."

(ON NOT QUALIFYING HERE IN MAY AND QUALIFYING 4TH THIS TIME) "Honestly I really think from going home in May to what we did today shows how much improvement this team has made. I think that is a real good judge of what this team has done. This is just a much better race car than what we had. It's a much better, basic, sound race car. We're doing the same things. We've just got more to work with right now. It'll just keep getting better."

JOHNNY BENSON, NO. 10 AARON'S PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

"That wasn't bad. I'll say it like everyone else: I thought we'd go a little bit quicker, but I'm real happy with that."

(ON STARTING WITH GOOD TRACK POSITION) "If we can back up how we've always raced here, this will be good starting up near the front. We just need to evaluate what we're going to do for the race, get our practice in and go from there. But I'm looking forward to the race. It's always fun being here at Richmond. It's always fun racing here during the night. As much as anything, I'm looking forward to The National Anthem."

Text provided by Al Larsen

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