DALE JARRETT (#88 Quality Care/Ford Credit Thunderbird):
"The help in the second segment came from those Chevrolets racing each other instead of trying to draft by me. I was glad to see it everytime they started racing side-by-side. I got a really good restart on the second segment. Starting at the back -- it's a disadvantage in one way but it's an advantage in another. I was able to lay back and kind of get a running start. I was able to get my momentum up before the other guys did, and that's very critical with these engines with restrictor plates. I had a good head of steam, and when I got to turn one -- and in most cases, it's the right thing to do -- but everybody wanted to follow that 3 car. They just kind of opened up a line for me. My car was just really good in the draft. Anytime it sniffed any air, it just took off. I could feel the surge. When I got close enough to Elliott, I could feel that. I was able to get by him, and that was the whole key. I was able to get behind Earnhardt. Schrader then gave me a little push and I was able to get by Earnhardt a couple of laps later. "
ANY INDICATIONS ABOUT NEXT SUNDAY?
"Next Sunday's a whole different story, and even Thursday's a whole different story. I don't want sit here and complain after winning a race, but there's still a disadvantage on the Ford side of down force. If we could get those Chevrolets back to fit that stock template in the back where there not five or six inches wider and gain all that down force, then things would be a lot better. But that's not the way it is, so we're going to have to work on our cars a little bit harder to keep tires on it after 30 laps. That's when it seemed last year we were getting beat. We've got some ideas about that. We are very excited about next Sunday and next Thursday. We feel like Ernie and I both have great cars and opportunities to win the race."
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT EARNHARDT'S PROBLEMS, AND DID YOU THINK HE WAS SAND-BAGGING?
"I didn't know where he was when we got ready to line up. I didn't see him on the board. I asked, and they said he'd had trouble. You've got to just know Earnhardt to know that he's not going to sit back there so he can start the second segment up at the front. Not him. You have to figure he had some kind of problem there. It looked to me like he was running all right there in the second segment. Once I got by him, I guess they all got to drafting. No matter how good your car is, that makes it difficult, but I don't think by any stretch of the imagination was he laying back to get to start on the pole."
LAST YEAR YOU WON THE DAYTONA 500 POLE BUT NEVER LED A LAP
"Well, I think we learned from that. We brought a car here last year to run really, really fast. And we kind of lost sight of what it was going to take in the race then -- because we had no idea how good the Chevrolets were going to be. And they showed us how good they were. So this year, we knew that. We compromised, made more downforce, but not a lot of drag. Hopefully that's what we've done with our 500 car. The body is the same as this car today, and I felt comfortable in the draft. The new nose and new hood -- the hood doesn't make any difference, but the new nose gives us a little bit more down force on the front, but we're still lacking in the rear. We have improved it and some things we've learned chassis wise will help us Thursday and Sunday. "
COMMENT ON THE TWO CREW CHIEFS IN YOUR PIT TODAY?
"First of all, before I get to Larry (McReynolds), let me say that this was Todd Parrott's first race as a crew chief and it ended in victory lane. There's a lot to say about him and we'll be able to say it as the year goes on. He's a terrific person and he knows how to manage people and we've made the right choice by far in getting a crew chief for this team. Larry was there. He was asked to be there by Todd for the simple fact that it was in the 28 car that I won the pole last year. That's why I was in this race. We had a number of guys there, but Todd wanted him there because he knew Larry was a big part of me being in this race. We are a team. We may have two separate race cars, two separate numbers and two different sponsors, but we're one team. We work together and we're going to enjoy victory lane together and our wins. You're going to see a lot more of us being all together. Ernie was in victory lane, too. Ernie tested this car, too. We ran these cars, both tested these cars. Actually, this car we won with today, we came down here to test and it wasn't running like we thought, so we cut the body off and put another one just like the ones on my and Ernie's 500 cars. We didn't even know what it would do until we came here Friday. Obviously, it did the right things."
WHAT PART OF THE TRACK DID YOU TAKE SECOND PLACE ON THAT FIRST LAP IN THE SECOND SEGMENT? "I got into second just past the middle of turn three. That's when I cleared Darrell Waltrip and was able to get in behind Earnhardt. It took almost a lap to get to second, but when you've got a good car, you just hang on. It all worked out. You don't think about getting that far that quickly, but I knew I had a good enough car to get there in 10 laps. It's just that everything opened up for me in a short time."
