Little Trees 300 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

JASON WHITE, NO. O EAGLE JET INTERNATIONAL CHEVROLET:

"I think we broke something in the motor again. It was acting up a little bit and then it finally went. The car could have been better. We had a throttle sticking so I couldn't run it as good as I wanted to because every time in the corner you had to hit the brake to get the throttle to come up. I don't know what the problem is there; we need to fix that. We just have to get over these motor problems. Every week it seems like something is happening." WAS THE THROTTLE PROBLEM RELATED TO THE RAIN DELAY? "It's possible something in there could have gotten a little rusted or a little water or something. I don't know. We'll have to look at it when we get back to the shop."

Note: David Stremme was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race at Charlotte. He finished 14th and took top rookie honors for the ninth time this season and for the first time since the September 5 Funai 250 at Richmond International Raceway (race number 26), four races ago. Stremme also led the Little Trees 300 (once for one lap), the third race he has led this season.

DAVID STREMME, NO. 1 YELLOW TRANSPORTATION DODGE:

"It wasn't too bad. Track position hurt us. It was good for the Yellow team, my first time here a top-15 and didn't tear nothing up. It's definitely a hard place to get around but I learned a lot. Hopefully we can use it at some other tracks coming up. It's a step toward Raybestos Rookie of the Year. We're going to take a shot at it here at the end of the year." ARE YOU A LITTLE FRUSTRATED THAT YOU DIDN'T RUN ANY BETTER? "Oh, I want to win. I felt that we were decent enough to run in the top-10. We got five points for leading. I think we stayed out a little long but I think we needed to do that and it kind of hurt us. The 57 finished like three spots ahead of us and I was better than him. It wasn't too bad. The car is in one piece." DID THE TRACK CHANGE A LOT DURING THE RACE? "This place always changes and you just had to adapt to it and set the car up for it. We weren't too bad on times; I just had to not overdrive the place so much. We'll go on to Memphis. I sat on the pole there in an ASA car and I'm kind of curious to see how we're going to do in the Busch car but I feel the Yellow team will do great. Staying the seat will help me out and I think we'll get some top-10s and top-fives." WITH THE RAIN DELAY, WAS THIS A DIFFICULT RACE MENTALLY? "What's mentally hard about this place is how much it changes. I was on the chip hard at the beginning of the race and we might have hurt the motor a little bit because at the end it didn't quite have it on the top end. It's a good day for the Yellow team." IS IT DIFFICULT TO PASS HERE? "It's real narrow. I had Riggs there at the end and a lap car bobbled and about wrecked us. I about got wrecked by guys coming on to pit road. It's so narrow you've got to really be careful. It's fun though. It's one of my favorite tracks. It's bumpy but it's more of a driver's track. You've got to really hustle a car but be patient and again, a lot of experience helps here and I gained a lot today just finishing the race and getting the car home in one piece." WHAT DID YOU LEARN HERE TODAY? "How much the track changes, how you have to be patient with the racetrack. It's something that you have to be really smooth and you can't overdrive the track. It's definitely difficult because the track gets so slippery. The sun would go in and out and the conditions would change so much that I would have to watch what I would tell Wolfe (Jon Wolfe) the crew chief. I'd tell him 'I'm tight' and then all of a sudden 'Whoa, all of a sudden I'm loose.' I just about wrecked once off of turn four. It wasn't too bad of a day." WITH THE TRACK CHANGING SO MUCH, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO MAKE THE CORRECT ADJUSTMENTS? 'Throughout the run I knew we had a pretty well balanced car. I was screwing the car up too by overdriving it in the corner and making it tight and then I'd have to back my corner up and I'd catch them. It's a very difficult racetrack to run but it's a cool place, one of my favorites." HOW EASY IS IT TO BURN YOUR TIRES UP HERE? "I was running the 10 down and once I got to him I couldn't do anything. I burned them up getting there. You've got to be patient but yet you have to charge pretty hard. Track position is huge. We were running about the same times as the lead pack but everybody is so spread out we couldn't nothing."

Note: Coy Gibbs led the Little Trees 300 at Charlotte (once for one lap). Gibbs became the first Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap since Joey Clanton in July at Pikes Peak International Raceway (race number 21). Gibbs led for the first time in his 34-race Busch Series career.

COY GIBBS, NO. 18 MBNA CHEVROLET:

"It was great to see the front of the pack today. We just struggled all day. We were in position to get our lap back but we didn't get a yellow flag when we needed one. I had really hoped to give Bass Pro Shops and MBNA more to cheer about."

CHASE MONTGOMERY, NO. 27 TRIMSPA PONTIAC:

"It's been a tough weekend. I've come here and ran great in an ARCA car and really had high expectations when we came back. We tested pretty well but I've been struggling since we unloaded the car. At the beginning of the race I thought we were okay, had something to work with. But there was a miscommunication between Terry (Shirley), Sandy (Jones) and myself. I told them one thing and they misinterpreted what I told them. It's not their fault: it's the way I think I worded it. They worked hard all day. They never gave up. I was ready to climb out on lap 50. I was getting pretty frustrated. They did a great job and I appreciate them standing behind me. Maybe we need to go testing every week. We'll figure it out."

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