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NASCAR BGN: MBNA.com 200 post race notes and quotes, Dover

24 September 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Kyle Petty, No. 45 Sprint Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "I caught Jason (Jarrett). I went to the inside. He said he motioned me to the outside, but I never saw him. It wasn't his fault. I thought his spotter might have told him I was on the inside. But when we got to the corner, we were just fighting for the same piece of real estate for no reason. We just caught him so quick. I just put him in a bad situation. It would have been smarter for me to check up and give him room, but I didn't at the time. The race track's pretty good, there's just not a lot of rubber on it. It's kind of like it is when you show up for the first day when there is no rubber on it. I thought it was going to be the best race track it had ever been since you had the Trucks and Busch up here and the Winston Cup, but the rain kinda ruined that."

Mike Stafanik, No. 90 Coyne Textile Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "I feel bad for this team. We had a decent qualifying run and we wanted to get out there and pass some cars early. I got a little tight. I was just riding right there behind Kyle (Petty) and he came in low and the hole got closed up and I tried to get around it before it got caught up around me but I just couldn't get there quick enough."

Jeff Green, No. 10 NesQuik Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "We're getting beat-up here at Dover. But I'm fine. I don't know what happened up front. Kyle (Petty) got on the apron and somebody spun out or they spun out together, but I turned left to miss it and I had it missed. I was clear. I went around over in turn two and (Jimmy) Spencer run over me. I don't know if he was trying to beat me back to the caution or what.. But he don't have no room to talk about anybody else and how they drive, 'cause he flat run over me. He's not out there to do anything. Just to make money. I hate it for the NesQuik team. They worked their tails off all night to get this (back-up) car working.

"The suspension is bent, and we'll see if we can get back out. But this is not a place (where) you can just ride around. I'll let Harold (Holly) make that decision."

David Green, No. 34 AFG Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "I'm okay. Pretty hard hit. That's the hardest I've hit here before. I think I kind of stretched my neck muscles. Everything (safety devices) did what it was supposed to (do) inside the car. But I'll be okay. I don't know what happened. I just got down there in that corner, and low air pressure just after the pit stops and all. Just trying to be easy with it. The car pushed up a little bit and I was trying to stay off of Buckshot (Jones) there and the next thing I knew, I got turned around. Just one of those racing deals, I guess, but that sure hurts."

Jimmy Spencer, No. 12 Zippo Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "I hurt my ankle stepping on the brakes and my knee got twisted. Hopefully I can make it tomorrow. We both (No. 34 car) had new tires and were both down on air. He came down a little and I went up a little. It was just one of those things. I don't think I did anything wrong, and I don't think he (David Green) did anything wrong."

Mike Skinner, No. 15 Albertson's Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "I'll be all right. I've got some pretty bad burns on my neck, but I'll be okay for tomorrow. I don't know if I ran over something. I guess I cut a tire. It's kinda like the Texas deal. I mean the car turned real good down there in the corner. We had a problem with the engine. The engine kept skipping while we lost the lead. The car was running just about wide open through the corners. So we were probably a little harder on the right front tire than normal. I got to slow down just a little bit this time before we hit, but we're just getting too darn good at hitting these walls. We gotta quit this stuff somehow. I've going to have to pull some camber out of the Lowe's car so something like this won't happen tomorrow."

Michael Waltrip, No. 99 Aaron's Rent Monte Carlo: "Mike (McLaughlin) hit me real hard and that's what I'm most upset about. I got turned around, I guess. I don't know why what happened, happened. So, I guess I'll have to see the tapes. Something was wrong with it (the car), and I hated to just quit and not know. We just worked on it to make it better."

Jason Keller, No. 57 Excedrin Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "It was a great run for us. I just really messed-up on qualifying yesterday and it kind of set the tone for us all day today. But we had great pit stops and it was a great run for us. This Excedrin Chevrolet ran great, I was just the guy driving it. I drove hard there at the end. It was just lapped traffic kept me away from it (the lead), and he (Kenseth) drove a great race. I don't know if I could have done anything more there at the end. He (Kenseth) drove a great race. I'm just happy to get a good run out of it.

"It didn't matter how fast this Chevrolet was, we just couldn't make up that track position. We had great pit stops, which gave me some spots. But I ran my hardest and finished second. I thought maybe if he (Kenseth) got bottled-up in lapped traffic that maybe I could make a race out of it. But he was running about equal times when we were out in the clear. I probably couldn't have got by him, but I sure would have like to try. I was a lot better on long runs, so there was no way I could do any better if a caution had come out. But it all worked out for us. I probably gained five points on Todd. But the biggest thing is that we're continuing to run good and we want to end the year on a high note, and we'll just see what happens in the points."

Todd Bodine, No. 66 Phillips Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "The car went away. The middle run, we made some adjustments, the car was real good. This Phillips 66 Monte Carlo was right on the money. We was running there with Matt (Kenseth). The last run, the tires just didn't match up with what we needed on the car. The car got real loose. We didn't adjust the car but about a half-a-pound of air, and it just got really loose. At the end there, I thought I was going to catch Dave (Blaney), but I kept messing up. I'd get real close and get loose, and Joe (Nemechek) would catch me. It was fun. We had a good day. It was the best we've run in Dover in a long time. It feels good to come back here and run well. I've got three wins here and always love to run here."

Joe Nemechek, No. 87 Cellular One Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "Hey, I'll take it (5th place finish). You know, I'd rather take a fifth than all those guys that hit the wall there. Our Cellular One Chevy ran pretty good today. We run right there in the top five all day long. We were a little bit too tight, but we went very conservative on our set-up today. You know, Jeff Green had a tire problem there yesterday - late in Happy Hour - run over something and cut it down. We just went conservative. Dover's really, really tough - especially on the tires. I just tried to take care of my right front all day long. The guys had great pit stops and kept us up front. That's what it's all about.

"Todd Bodine and myself were battling real hard and we were catching the (No.) 20 (Dave Blaney). Todd was loose, but I was tight. Every time he'd made a mistake, and slide up the race track - about that time, my car would push and I couldn't make up the ground. At times, I'd get up to him, get up underneath of him, but then lapped traffic would get in the way and kind of spoil the run."

Mike McLaughlin, No. 34 Goulds Pumps Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "I guess Michael (Waltrip) got turned around. The spotter told me in time, I was just trying to slow down. The (No. 2 car stopped so quick, I was trying to avoid him. About that time, the No. 99 car came around. I don't know."

Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Visine Chevrolet Monte Carlo: - "It (the car) was pretty good from the start. We were a little bit tight and we came in and made some good adjustments the first stop, which was good for us. The middle stage of the race, the car was pretty much about perfect. We led for a while there. I was concerned about tires in that long green, so I let Todd (Bodine) lead a little bit. We were running pretty good and then when the caution came out, Dave (Blaney) was coming up through there and I never really knew he was coming up through there and then on the restart, he passed me. I couldn't run any faster than I was running. And the car didn't seem as good on that set of tires. And then we got that caution and then the tires equalized around a little bit. When they threw the green again, the car was how it was before that.

What is it about Dover Downs that suits your driving style? "I really look forward to coming to this track. When they put the schedule out every year, I always look to see when both Dover races are because it's one of my favorite tracks. I think that always helps a little bit. Most drivers dread coming here. I think when there's a place you really like and your team's enthused about it and you're going to be competitive, that helps a little bit. Since the first time I came here, I've really liked the track. It's real fast. It's real high-banked. It's about the right size, it's a mile. So you do most of your work in the corners here. You don't have overly long straightaways so you don't have to worry about aerodynamic drag and things like that. It's just a fun place."

Were you surprised by how strong your car was for the entire race? "I was a little bit surprised, but really yesterday, when we took it off the trailer, it was really fast. We went out and did some race practice in the morning before qualifying and the car was unbelievably fast. The car was perfect. Then we put our qualifying set-up in it and we ended up second in practice. and then I slipped-up a little bit in qualifying and I ended up I think 14th. We went out for Happy Hour and the car wasn't very good again. We took it apart last night and we found a piece that broke on there. We fixed it and put it back the way it was and it ran like it did before."

Kenseth's comment on winning the 200th Busch Series race for Chevrolet: "It's cool. I've won ten races in Chevrolet Monte Carlos and the Monte Carlo has always been a good Busch Series car for us. We struggled a little bit at the beginning of the year with the new body style and the changes we had to make between the body style and the tires and everything. This car was real balanced and it ran real good for us. We haven't raced it this year. We raced it last year here and dominated most of the race before me and Jr (Dale Earnhardt) wrecked. We fixed it, but we never raced it again for some reason. So this was the first time we've run it."

Text Provided By Nancy Wager

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