NASCAR WCUP: Driver Notes and Quotes, Post Race, Phoenix
6 November 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
RICK MAST, NO. 14 CONSECO PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
(ON THE INCIDENT WITH MIKE BLISS AND RICKY RUDD) "We cut a tire down coming out of turn two and down the back stretch. I was just trying to get whoaed down and I had my hand up. Everybody was going by me, but I guess somebody didn't see me, got me in the back and ended our day. It was just a bad day."
MIKE BLISS, NO. 27 VIAGRA PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
(ON THE INCIDENT WITH RICK MAST AND RICKY RUDD) "I don't know what happened to the '14,' but he was like dead-stopped on the track and I didn't see him. Somebody turned right in front of me and then there he (Mast) was." (DID YOU HAVE ANY CONTROL OF YOUR CAR AFTER YOU HIT MAST?) "No. I didn't have any brakes or steering or anything."
DAVE BLANEY, NO. 93 AMOCO PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
(ON GETTING HIS BEST CAREER FINISH) "To me it's a day that's been coming for a long time. We just finally put a whole day together. "We were good most of the race. At one point we weren't so good and got way behind and almost got a lap behind. But after that, they fixed the car and we were good. We kept gaining the whole time. I couldn't ask for much more than that. We're getting close."
(DID YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE A PLACE WHERE YOU COULD RUN THIS GOOD?) "I think we can do it any week if we just put it together and have a solid week. Like I said, we've been showing flashes of it. We just haven't put a whole day together and we finally did. I just couldn't be happier. "I know (crew chief) Doug (Randolph) and I talked a week or two ago. These last four races we really needed to buckle down and try to get something going for next year and try to build something for the future."
(DID YOU THINK IT WOULD TAKE THIS LONG TO SCORE YOUR FIRST CAREER TOP 10?) "No, I didn't. But it's sweet none-the-less. We could have done better, but we have to be happy with that. I just hope we can finish out like that the next two."
(ON BEING SO HARD ON HIMSELF THIS SEASON) "You've got to enjoy racing with those guys and having a car capable of doing that. I've had a car capable of doing that a lot of times and I just can't get it done or something puts us behind. It's frustrating. It's probably the most frustrating thing I've ever been through - the first half of this year. But that's racing. If it was easy it wouldn't be as gratifying when the good stuff comes." (ARE SOME OF THE OTHER ROOKIE TEAMS CATCHING UP WITH THE ROOKIE FRONT-RUNNERS?) "It looks like it to me. I know our team I feel like has been as fast as those guys since midway in the season probably. We maybe haven't gotten the finishes they have, but as far as just racing all day I feel like we've been pretty close to them. They definitely came out fast. I don't know that they've dropped off any. I just think we've picked up a little like we ought to."
JOHNNY BENSON, NO. 10 AARON'S PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
"It was a long day. I thought we were going to have a really good race car and it just didn't end up being that way. The track conditions changed on us and we just never got a hold of it. We were OK at the beginning, but then it just kept steadily getting a little worse. But we'll go to work on it. We did get a little bit better at the end, so we've got a direction for the next time we come back."
Text provided by Al Larsen
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