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2001 Schedule and Results
Virginia 500 - Chevrolet Qualifying Quotes
Led by Jeff Gordon, Team Monte Carlo takes the first four starting spots for
the Virginia 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. Gordon
was the quickest in his Chevrolet, followed by Bobby Hamilton, Dale
Earnhardt, Jr. and Terry Labonte.
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo - Bud Pole winner - "I've
got to thank the guys on this DuPont Chevrolet. They just never gave up and
kept working on it throughout the whole practice session getting it better
and better. We started out tight and then we got loose. But Robbie (Loomis,
crew chief) made some great adjustments there at the end of practice. We
scuffed the tires and luckily got a real good lap there. The car just turned
real good in the middle and allowed me to get on the gas hard up off the
corner. I couldn't be happier, more surprised, and more proud of this team
and this effort. We're just thrilled to be on the pole here at Martinsville.
"I tried to carry a lot of speed to the line and I took it out a little bit
wider. I knew my last lap was going to be the one going to have the best
time. I tried to get the most solid lap that I could. I drove in deep and
got on the brakes hard and I was getting everything out of it that I
possibly could. I was doing that just to get in the top 10 or 15 because we
weren't very good in practice. I certainly wasn't expecting that type of a
lap. This is awesome."
(Did your 2nd place finish last week in Texas give this team some momentum?)
"We certainly hope so. There's no doubt about it - that 2nd place finish did
a whole lot for us. We hope that we can capitalize on it by continuing that
momentum. This pole today certainly does that for us."
Terry Labonte, No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "The Kellogg's Chevy
ran good. This is a brand new car and the guys did a great job on it. We
unloaded good and we're looking forward to Sunday. This is the first time
we've had a real short track car in a while. We were pretty good from the
first time out. We just need some more new cars. But we're doing good. I
knew the first time out we were going to be good because the car unloaded
good. It was a good run for us. I haven't started up front here in a long
time - maybe in 20 years. But we have really raced good here quite a few
times. We have not always qualified good here, so that's a pretty good
indication for us that we're close to that race set-up and we should have a
good race."
Bobby Hamilton, No. 55 Schneider Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "We didn't cool it
much. I think the more heat you get in these tires, the better they are. I
knew if we didn't slip much, we'd have a shot at it (the pole). Martinsville
is a good racetrack for us. If we have to race on Monday, well the race I
won here was on a Monday. So maybe that will play a part and help. This
speed is about what I thought we would run."
Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "Testing really
helped us a lot. To be able to run that fast on our first lap, we really
worked on our shocks and stuff to get that. We wanted to get the pole. I
felt like we had a pole-sitting racecar. I made a mistake. I got up on the
curb between turns three and four. I didn't think the car would turn that
good."
(How do you turn that frustration into a good race?) "It turns into
confidence, I think. Hopefully. We'll see how practice goes."
(Do you have the qualifying thing down now at Martinsville?) "Yeah. We got
our car driving good and that's the most important. I feel like I can drive
the car if it's good. We came here and we really worked at it. I think we've
got a great racecar for the race. If we can be up in the top five at the
start, we'll be there all day, I promise."
Additional comments from Bobby Hamilton, No. 55 Schneider Chevrolet -
qualified 2nd: "We have a real good car for here. I think it led the most
laps here in the spring ('01) and then we had a shot at winning the second
race here but got into a little scuffle. It's the same car, we haven't
touched it. It's got the same body on it. The motor program has gotten a lot
better. Goodyear has brought a great tire back. I picked Jeff Gordon, Dale
Jarrett, Terry Labonte and three or four other cars that I thought could
beat what we ran. So actually, I thought we'd end up about fifth. So to end
up second, is just awesome. I think if Dale Jr. hadn't got on the curb, he
would have been sitting on the pole and we would have been third."
(On the sunny forecast for Sunday) "What's cool about these concrete corners
is that if it gets slick, you lose forward bite but the front end gives away
too so it's just a little bit of a balance issue. But the tires run forever
here. You'll come in and take on four - sometimes two. The weather here is
usually not an issue as long as it's dry."
(How important is your spotter's role?) "I have an easier job than he does.
This place and Talladega the next two weeks will keep him kind of busy."
(On the strategy of starting on the outside front row and being there at the
end) "We've always been pretty good about being here at the end at this
race. The key to this thing is brakes and keeping the front end on it.
Sometimes you have a mishap that you get tangled up in. But this type of
race you have to be pretty aggressive but you can actually space yourself
out and stay in clean traffic a lot except on restarts."
Media Center comments from pole winner, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont
Chevrolet:
(How often does a driver practice 25th quickest and then end up on the Bud
Pole?) "Well, I figured last week at Texas, I practiced first and second and
qualified 26th. So it's a nice change to do it this way this weekend. Maybe
this is how we'll do it from now own. We'll practice slow and qualify fast.
"We've been running good, we just haven't been finishing good and that 2nd
place finish at Texas definitely did a lot for the morale and momentum of
this race team. That was evident today. I hope we can continue that the rest
of the weekend and the rest of the season for that matter. We've had cars
capable of winning races this year, we just haven't been able to put it all
together. In the last few weeks, things have been going our way pretty
good."
(On the differences between this car and the car he raced at Martinsville
last time) "The other car really qualified well and it rolled through the
center of the corner well. It carried a lot of momentum through the corner.
It did it in the race too, but as the pressures built up and the tires
started going away it just got real loose. We just could not find a way to
tighten the car up. It just wasn't working out for us.
"This car seems to stay real consistent. It doesn't turn in the middle quite
as good in qualifying, but in the race when the pace slows down you can
drive in nice and easy. It seems to turn in the middle good and drive off
real nice and solid all day. Our biggest worry with this car was qualifying.
That worry is gone now. This should be a strong car for the race."
(Is this the same car you ran at New Hampshire, but with a changed
front-end?) "Yeah. We had to change the front. It didn't have any front end
left on it after I drove into Robby (Gordon, race-winner). This is like a
small Loudon in a lot of ways other than it not being concrete up there."
(On his success at short tracks) "What's helped me at a place like this or
like Bristol is just the type of racing I grew up doing - a lot of short
track races and Spring Car racing. Just racing on so many different types of
tracks as a kid has helped me to learn and adapt to tracks like
Martinsville."
(On winning the Bud Pole at Bristol and spinning out toward the end of the
race) "It certainly can happen here just as easily. But a lot of it had to
do with the banking at Bristol, you do a lot of different things with camber
curves and we were very aggressive on our camber curves, which makes a car
turn extremely aggressive. When I drove in there easy and turned underneath
Buckshot (Jones), it spun out. We try to learn from our mistakes and we hope
I don't make that same mistake twice. Camber curves are a lot different
here. Spinning out going into the corner here usually happens here because
somebody helped you - not you doing it on your own."
(On Robbie Loomis nagging him about staying off the brakes) "He's pretty
good. He lets me do my thing. If he sees them going red, or using them too
much, he reminds me. I like him to remind me every once in a while, but he
doesn't nag too much."
(On the importance of qualifying) "I contribute a lot of our success last
year to our qualifying effort. We know how important it is. We seem to have
our act together right now with the short tracks. You never know what
contributes to it. But track position is more and more important because it
gets tougher and tougher to pass every year."
(On the one-engine rule) "Hendrick Motorsports has the best engine
department out there. The one-engine rule might be helping us in qualifying
right now. We've brought an engine here that we're not going to do much at
all. That was basically a full-blown race motor that we qualified with
today. We should be just as strong with that motor in the race. Things are
staying together. We haven't had a DNF in something like 38 races. When it
comes to durability, I have no doubts as to the capabilities of our engine
department. And, we seem to have the horsepower these days too."
(On qualifying late in the day) "You never know. Sometimes it just lays more
rubber on as the qualifying goes on. I never like to be the first guy out
because I feel l like the track sits and it doesn't have any heat on it. But
more than anything else, is being able to watch the other cars and the lines
they take. I always like to go later to see how much I've going to have to
run and see how much I have to step it up."
(On positioning himself to get through 350 laps) "Because it's so hard to
pass here and track position is so important, you pretty much drive as hard
as you can every lap to hold on to that position. With the tires we have
now, there's so many different pit strategies. Some guys take two, some take
four, and different things work. That's why we've seen so many different
winners in the past year and a half. With the tire that Goodyear has, and as
competitive as it is, there's so many different ways to win these races.
Sometimes, being the leader can be a disadvantage. We're just going to fight
as hard as we can for 500 laps. I have confidence - even in my brakes - that
I can run pretty hard for 500 laps here and not wear them out."
(On different groups of cars that pit at different times) "It confuses the
heck out of Robbie (Loomis), I know that. There are a lot of different pit
strategies that will work at a place like this when you've got a tire that
lasts as long as it does. Some stay out and chance it. We learn more and
more about the tires with every race. Even here last year, we put two tires
on and it didn't work out for us. So we're going to stay out there as long
as we possibly can. We'll watch and see what other guys do. We don't do our
two tires or no tires and stuff like that until late in the race."
(What changes did you make between practice and qualifying?) "I never really
got a solid clean lap all day. We had been working on turns one and two all
day and got them going pretty good and then I started struggling in turns
three and four. But we ran out of time. The adjustments that he made worked.
He changed a spring and changed the wedge a little bit. They weren't major
adjustments. You never know. Sometimes a set of tires matches up a little
bit better as to what we're looking for also. I think I finally put both
ends of the track together and it came together at the right time."
2001 Schedule and Results
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