 |
 |
| Winston Cup Series |
 |
|
In-Car Radios | Silly Season | Forum | Photo Gallery | Newsletter | In the Pits
2001 Schedule and Results
MBNA America 500 - Chevrolet Qualifying Quotes
Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 3rd:
"I wasn't wide open in (turns) one and two. I should have been, and
probably could have been. In turns three and four, I had it on the mat. I'm
real happy with Tony Eury Jr. and all the Bud guys. They've done a great
job. This racecar was great rolling off the trailer and that's what we need.
We missed that a little bit the first couple of races. And hopefully I can
get us a good finish this weekend.
(Could this jump-start your season?) "Yeah, we need a good finish. We need a
couple two or three top five runs in a row to get us up in the points where
we want to be and where we should be. We came into the season thinking we
were really going to be the team. We've still got that feeling, we just
need back the finishes up."
Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 8th:
"Anytime you finish a lap or two here at Atlanta, you're happy because you
can breathe again. We came down here and tested and the guys have done a
good job on this Goodwrench Chevy. I just had to crack the throttle a little
bit off of (turn) two and that hurt us a tenth or so. But our big concern is
the race and seeing what happens when we untape the car. The Chevrolets have
been so far behind the eight ball here lately when it comes to race trim,
that we're a little nervous about that now.
"If you look in the record books, every time we qualify good, we race good.
This is the same car we ran here last year at both Atlanta races. We raced
it at Texas and Charlotte and all the mile-and-a-half high-banked
racetracks. We've just got to keep up with the car."
Terry Labonte, No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 13th: "We
were kind of disappointed with our qualifying for the past two races. This
is a brand new Chevrolet and the guys have just done a great job. We didn't
get a chance to test it. It felt like it was pretty good right off the
truck. We were a little disappointed with our practice qualifying run
because we were too loose. We made a couple of spring changes and some air
pressure adjustments and I was a little too tight in qualifying. But
everything is going good and that was a good run for us. We're looking
forward to Sunday."
Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 17th: "It
cooled down a little more than we anticipated. We played the guessing game
and we were a little off. We were just a little to tight this time around."
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified 15th: "We
didn't have any provisionals, so it's a great accomplishment for everybody
on this Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo team to make the field for the first
four races. Luckily, we didn't have any rain or anything to interfere with
us. Hopefully we can continue to run this solid all year long and not have
to worry about provisionals at all. But if we do, we know that we're going
to have one so we're pretty happy about that. It was a great lap. I
chickened out a little bit between (turns) three and four. I drug the brake
a little harder than I should have and I was yelling at myself the whole way
off of (turn) four. The car took it. I should have stayed after it a little
bit, but we're solid.
(Do you feel confident about Atlanta after finishing 6th in Las Vegas last
weekend?) "I feel real confident about the race pace and what you need to do
in the race. Qualifying-wise, I was a little too cautious in Las Vegas and
came here to sep it up a little bit. We had a great car to do it. So it
looks like we'll have track position and a good pit box. So we should be
all right as long as we don't pit and the caution comes out again. But here
at Atlanta, you're definitely hauling the mail here. You're getting it
done."
Robby Gordon, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualified
23rd: "At least we're consistent. Every time I go to qualify, it's my best
lap of the day so far. That's a couple tenths faster. Gil Martin (crew
chief) and all those guys did a great job tuned and feeling comfortable for
me. I'm pleased. If we can just qualify in the top 20, I'll be happy.
"Traffic has been my problem. The Chevrolets are missing it by a little bit
right now. If we can pick that up a little bit - find some downforce
somewhere - a Christmas present maybe?"
Additional comments by Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte
Carlo:
(Do you feel like your team has struggled or is it just circumstances?) "It
was circumstances at Daytona. We struggled through Rockingham. We fought a
tight car all last weekend at Las Vegas. Rarely do you dial-in a racecar at
the race track. If you can't produce a great racecar from the shop, it's
hard to be a great race team.
"I still feel we can turn around with three or four good finishes in a row.
And I think we're the kind of team that can have three or four top fives in
a row. There's a chance. We always run good here. We've just got to figure
out how to finish here."
(On his luck at Atlanta Motor Speedway): "I don't really feel like I have
bad luck or bad karma here. I love the race track and I look forward to
coming here. You can move around here. For drivers, this is one of the best
racetracks that we run on. There's always a good three or four car battle
here at the end."
(On the one-engine rule) "I feel like we don't have the speed that we had in
qualifying last year. A lot of the teams don't. I feel like our race motors
are so conservative (vs. qualifying motors) that we're really not qualifying
as good as we should have. I'm the type of guy to push the envelope a little
bit and try to get the horsepower out of the motor even if it's a risk. I'd
rather blow-up running first than run 20th all day. I feel like we're really
soft on our motors. I feel like there's a lot there that we're not taking
advantage of. Also the new rules of the components being a certain weight
has really hurt our engine program as far as the race motor goes. We've just
got to find ways around that. I like the one-engine rule, myself. It's very
cost effective for the programs. I give it a year or a year and a half, and
it'll be old news."
(Are the Chevys at a disadvantage?) "Last week, I thought the Chevrolets
were at a huge disadvantage as far as front aerodynamics. But when we come
to a track like Atlanta or Charlotte, we seem to be able to compete pretty
well, if not a little bit better than the Fords and Dodges and even the
Pontiacs. It seems like certain styles - certain shaped tracks - are good
for certain cars, teams, and manufacturers. The Chevrolet teams have
something to be learned or gained at flat track programs. But when we come
here, it seems like we're as good as anybody else. But we are at a
disadvantage at flat race tracks. I don't know why, or where on the racecar
we need to go to improve it. I think overall, the balance of our cars is way
off. The Fords and Dodges have a good balance. We have
way too much rear downforce compared to what we have on the front and it
makes our cars real tight. I'd give up 40 on the back to get 40 counts on
the front."
(On Steve Park returning to the No. 1 car) "I have mixed emotions. I'm
excited about it. Kenny Wallace and I were friends before, but when he came
to DEI I learned a lot more about him and got real close with him. He's the
kind of guy that you would like to see the opportunity he probably deserves
and be with a competitive team. He's definitely a good spokesperson for a
sponsor. He's got a good attitude and he's fun to be around. And he's a
talented racecar. I hate to see us unplug him and plug Steve in, but that's
the way business works sometimes.
"But I'm glad to have Steve back. It's probably real emotional for him to
make his return at Darlington. I can't speak for him. He wants to get in
the racecar and run good. He's ready to come back."
(Do you think NASCAR's decisions are still under scrutiny?) "I think if you
have to ask that question, the answer is probably yes. Before the TV
contracts and long before NASCAR came into the public eye, they had run the
business 'as is'. I don't think they thought about the kind of scrutiny that
would come to them because of the decisions they made. They have to make
some decisions at the blink of an eye. There's not really time to sit around
and talk about it. Apparently we have learned something from it. But I hate
to see in the news that their credibility is being questioned. Some of their
decisions haven't been that great. But I don't really know what they could
have done different. It's not good to see that in the headlines instead of
who won the race."
(Is it too early to worry about the end of the season?) "I started worrying
about the season at Daytona. You really want to get off to a great start.
We've made such a steep hill for us to climb in the first three races
already. I wanted to come out with good finishes and be in the top 15 in the
points at this point in the season, but we're not. So there's a sense of
urgency, but also caution. As much as I want to get a great finish out of
here, I know that I have to be smart to get it and be reserved at times and
not take too many seasons. Maybe this isn't our season. But we'll go week
in and week out. We might be good at one and totally miss the set up
someplace else. But there's no one thing that plugs in your team that puts
you up front. It just evolves."
2001 Schedule and Results
In-Car Radios | Silly Season | Forum | Photo Gallery | Newsletter | In the Pits
©Copyright 2002 Race 2 Win |