NASCAR WCUP: CAT Team ready to improve at Homestead
7 November 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
"We learned some things last weekend at Phoenix that we hope we can apply this weekend at Homestead. We have something to build on at least, so we're looking forward to getting back. We'll look to improve on last year's performance and get ourselves a top-five.-Ward Burton
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY PENZOIL 400
BURTON ON PHOENIX
"We fought with the nose all day. I just couldn't get the car to turn in the center of the turns. Tommy and Bill did a great job at helping me get through the turns a little better and that helped pick up the lap times. Tommy had me adjust on the brakes throughout the race, but we couldn't get it dialed in perfectly or at least close enough to allow us to get to the front and contend. We made some real gains at Phoenix, so we're really looking forward to getting to Miami."
BALDWIN ON PHOENIX
"After struggling at New Hampshire in September, we approached Phoenix with a little hesitation, but we seemed to have improved some as a team. Ward is driving a better race and we have a better set-up in the car for him. He ran pretty well at Phoenix, better than in the past. We got the car handling a little better for him and then Bill (who spotted for Burton on Sunday) and I helped get Ward a better line through turn one. We were watching what some of the faster cars were doing and we told Ward where he needed to run his line and where he needed to get on and off the brake. Once we got him running that line, he picked up a lot. He was running lap times as fast as the leader, we just didn't have the track position when we needed it.
"We saw what the Bill Davis Racing team is capable of after Ward had a better run than he has ever had at Phoenix and Dave (Blaney) had his best finish of the season. We have come together at the end of the season and now we need to make sure that we carry this over into next year with the new Dodge program."
BALDWIN ON HOMESTEAD
"We're taking the car we ran at Charlotte. It is a great car and we feel that combined with the knowledge we can take from Phoenix, we'll have the ingredients for a solid run this weekend. We can apply most of the set-up information except for spring combinations. The two tracks have similar characteristics with them both being flat, so we'll try and improve our flat track program some more this weekend."
FAST FACTS
Bill Davis Racing is in Charlotte this week testing the new Dodge with Dave Blaney at the wheel. Next week, they will go to Talladega and test with Tom Hubert. They are still awaiting the nod from NASCAR on the Dodge engine, but have been able to start building bodies.
Text provided by H K Stoddard
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