Tropicana Twister 300 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

JOEY CLANTON IN THE NO. 27 TRIMSPA PONTIAC WAS THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE OF THE RACE AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY. CLANTON FINISHED 14TH AND TOOK TOP RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HONORS FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE RACE. HE WAS ALSO THE TOP QUALIFYING ROOKIE AT CHICAGOLAND, CLAIMING THE 23RD STARTING POSITION.

"It's just momentum. These guys are working hard every week in the shop. We're trying to get this TrimSpa Pontiac to the front and I'm learning a lot. I learned a lot there at Daytona and carried the momentum over here. It's just a confidence builder. That's all it really is, is just building confidence in this car and the team and they are building confidence in me and making decisions and we can adjust the car and keep the car up front all day. Hat's off the 25 car (Bobby Hamilton Jr.) though, they ran a heck of a race. We did our job and tried to stay on the lead lap and just came up a little short." IS IT HARD TO STAY FOCUSED WHEN THE LEADER HAS SUCH A BIG LEAD? "No, because I know the situation. That's kind of like I was last year in ASA (American Speed Association). I'm just waiting until we get to the point where we can get that much momentum and have that much confidence in the car. We'll be there. We'll get it." DID YOU HAVE ANY CLOSE CALLS DURING THE RACE? "When the oil got up there from (Johnny Sauter's blown engine). Actually it wasn't even that lap; we got through that when Johnny blew the motor. It was coming up through the pack right there on the outside and I went into the corner down there and they thought they had it cleaned but it still had oil on the very outside. I got into it and lost five or six spots so that kind of hurt us." IT LOOKED LIKE IF YOU GOT OUT OF THE MAIN GROOVE YOU WERE IN TROUBLE. WAS THAT THE CASE? "I don't think so. Our car was a little snug off the corner but I could roll it in on the outside, especially on the restarts, our car was great. We went by five or six of them on the outside and the car was coming and I tired to arch it out a little bit more to get a run up off and I got up where the oil still was and it got our car loose. I think the outside was there. We didn't have a problem all day and the car ran great. The car was great in practice yesterday. In 'Happy Hour' we had a left front spring collapse on us and we had to put a new one in this morning. The car felt like it was up in the air on the left front and it was making the car push because it didn't matter what we done to the rest of the car. It was just kind of an aero-deal where the car wasn't down. I think if we had been able to practice that spring and get the car down in attitude it would have been a whole lot better." WILL YOU TAKE THIS CAR TO LOUDON NEXT WEEK? "No. We're taking the car that we ran at Milwaukee. We had a pretty good car there and hope to carry it over to Loudon."

SANDY JONES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 27 TRIMSPA PONTIAC:

"It was a good run. Joey is learning a lot. We're learning a lot about these new Pontiacs and we're having fun, for a change (laughs). I think we're about where we expected to be right now. There is such a big difference between the little cars that he's used to driving and these things and the competition is so much greater here, too. Just like today, what happens today happens maybe once or twice a year. They could have parked it, went 10 laps down, and still won the race. He could run a flat anytime he wanted to. And we've got to congratulate those guys for doing their homework, too. It was an awesome run for those guys and we had an awesome run for our guys. DID YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR GUYS PUMPED UP BECAUSE THE LEADER WAS RUNNING AWAY WITH THE RACE? "We were running our race. Bobby, he's gone. We're racing 42 other guys. I think we ended up a lap down so we could have ended up sixth or 14th. We got a little too tight there at the last of the deal. We could have finished sixth just as well as 14th. We got a little too tight but that's the luck of the break. We brought it home, loaded it in the truck, we don't have to do nothing to it, and we're going to the next one."

SELECTED CLANTON POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES:

"Our biggest race is probably to get laps. We keep coming to these racetracks where I've never been and I don't have a single lap on them. We ran all but one here today. Hats off to that 25 car (Bobby Hamilton Jr.). They had the field covered. Being able to run all those laps I can come back to the next race and be much further ahead when we come to practice and hopefully have the car further along for the race." YOU DID NOT TEST HERE. HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR THE RACE? "The biggest thing was the confidence coming off of last week. We almost had a top-10 there at Daytona. We're just learning what it takes to run these cars at speed: how they handle what situations you might get into. I never thought I'd learn that much at Daytona that would carry over but the experience and momentum carried over to yesterday and we've really got it better compared to what we've been in the past."

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