Aaron's 312 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

CHAD BLOUNT, NO. 26 MILLER HIGH LIFE DODGE:

"It's one of those racing things, I guess. I must have backed into him. I really hate it for Miller High Life. The came on board here for six races this year and we've had a lot of bad luck. We had a great racecar today. I was proud to drive the Miller High Life Dodge. We're going to get that thing ready for Homestead. What happened today, I'm sure he'll say is a racing deal but he just hit us." DID YOU KNOW IT WAS GOING TO BE CLOSE TO CLEAR HIM? "We were on the outside. We were up against the wall and he must have got a little bit better run up off the corner there. I didn't move up in front of him by any means. He just hit us and turned us into the wall. It's a shame. I really hate it. We got off to a slow start but these guys kept plugging and plugging. We got the car pretty good there. We were a little bit tight in the center that last run there but we were going to have another stop. We had something for those boys. The Miller High Life Dodge was pretty good today."

Note: David Stremme was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the Aaron's 312 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, posting a 12th place finish. He led once for two laps and was the only first-year driver to lead the event. This is the fourth race Stremme has led in 15 starts this season. He took top Raybestos® Rookie honors for the 12th time, more than any other driver. Stremme has been the top Raybestos® Rookie in each of the last three Busch Series races.

DAVID STREMME, NO. 1 YELLOW TRANSPORTATION DODGE:

"The Yellow team did a great job. We just could never get track position. We had an awesome car and learned a lot. I feel we got screwed a little bit on that call because they all checked up and I dove down. I slammed on the brakes and didn't advance a position or anything. Everybody did a great job. This is what we need to do, get these solid runs. I'm looking forward to Phoenix." YOU HAD SOME PROBLEMS BUT STILL CAME AWAY WITH A GOOD RUN. "The team is growing. When you move a shop in the middle of the year and you've got new employees coming in and so forth it takes a while. I haven't been in the car. This is the third week and we should have had another top-10. Three top-15s isn't too bad. I'm not going to complain. The car is in one piece and Jamie (McMurray) can run it at Homestead and I'll run that car he ran at Charlotte (smiles). I'm looking forward to it." WHAT DOES THIS DO FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE, TURNING A BAD DAY INTO A GOOD DAY? "It's huge. We need to be on a roll. We're going to Phoenix where, the first time I was there I finished second there in a tour car. I'm looking forward to going back to the short tracks. We've just got to keep our team rolling. I think it's big overall. I'm learning a lot and we're gaining on the Raybestos Rookie points. It's something that we've got to keep building and learning for next year." HOW IMPORTANT ARE THESE FINAL RACES OF THE SEASON AS YOU PREPARE FOR 2004? "It's huge. I can tell every race I'm learning so much more. You race against the guys and you stay in the car. It's huge. We dug deep. We were deep in the field and with those long greens we just never give up." WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY THAT YOU CAN BRING BACK NEXT YEAR? "Momentum and track position is huge. I get my momentum killed and three cars would pass me and it was terrible. We fought hard." IF YOU GET BACK IN THE FIELD HERE, CAN YOU GET BACK TO THE FRONT? "I'm going to go talk to (Matt) Kenseth and try to go to school because he was killer through traffic. My problem is that I run up to a guy and then I try passing him. I need to have him passed before I get there. I started doing that and then it worked out. It's just learning, just seat time. I feel better how we're running through traffic and everything. I feel like I have a lot more control of the car. Somebody got up behind me in one and it was going to get big because I got sideways. I love these fast tracks. I can't wait to go to Homestead. We're going to be on even playing grounds there and we'll see what happens." AS FAST AS THIS PLACE IS, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU CAN STILL RACE HERE. "This place is awesome to race on. You can pick so many lanes and that's what I was learning my first time here. It's not too bad."

CHASE MONTGOMERY, NO. 27 TRIMSPA PONTIAC:

"The car was really good. We changed a lot from yesterday to today and I learned how to run up high. Unfortunately, it was too late. I tried to run those first few cautions down low and it just wasn't getting it done. Once those faster cars got around me and I got going, the car took off. We were running lap times comparable to those guys in the top-five, top-10 pretty much all day. I got into the fence and we're thinking we broke a hime joint. I went off through the dogleg and I think that's when it broke. I went off into one and then it shot up to the wall. We got that fixed after a few stops and went back out there and the thing blows up. It was a tough day but the TrimSpa Pontiac was pretty awesome once I got in my rhythm. We were passing good cars. We'll get them next time."

SELECTED STREMME POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

"It wasn't bad for coming from the back of the pack twice. I told Matt (Kenseth) I kind of went to school watching him. We were coming through and didn't get up too bad but then when we pitted that first time they said we attempted to pass on pit road. I just moved out of line so I didn't run into the guy in front of me so we had to back up to the longest line. At the end of the day the Yellow team did a great job. I just learned a lot and wish we could have got to the top-10. Paul Wolfe about wrecked in front of me and the 10th place guy got away from me. It's not to bad considering this was my first time here. It was tough not getting to qualify and start at the back there and also with that penalty." WITH THE TIRES FALLING OFF SO MUCH HERE, DOES THAT ELIMINATE RYAN NEWMAN'S FUEL STRATEGY FOR TOMMOROW'S RACE? 'It depends. There for a while I was out there on a fuel run. It just depends on where the yellows are going to fall. I think if you are out there on old tires and everybody else pits for new ones you're going to get smoked. You might dive back a little bit but tires are pretty big here because you can run on the bottom for so long and then you can run up top. This place is nothing but about momentum. When you've got new tires you can keep it to the wood as long as you can. It'd be tough. Somebody would have to have a well balanced racecar to stay out front on old tires."

Unofficial top-five Raybestos Rookie points
Coy Gibbs 206
David Stremme 200
Joey Clanton 176
Chad Blount 172
Jason White 142

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