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2001 Schedule and Results
Virginia 500 - Jeff Gordon Practice 1 Quotes
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo: "We were working pretty
hard at trying to get a good qualifying run. This car doesn't typically
qualify as good, but it races real good. We've got to work real hard to get
it qualified decent so we can start with some good track position."
(What do you think about Darrell Waltrip racing the Craftsman Truck event?)
"Wasn't he faster than Kevin Harvick in practice? That was pretty funny.
I'm sure he's thinking that he's still got it and can still do it if he
could just put the right team together and the right truck out there, I can
have some fun. More power to him."
(Do you think a common template car would help Chevrolet?) "Well, I think
we're definitely a little bit behind the Dodges and Fords right now. They're
basically a common template among the two of them. I've always said I'd just
love to be on equal ground with everybody - all the competition - and just
let our team, our people, and our engines speak for themselves."
(What's the key to winning at Talladega?) "A lot of luck. You're lucky just
to get out of there in one piece so it obviously takes a lot of luck to win.
I don't know what it's going to be like this time. The rules are a little
bit different than they were when we were there last time so we're just
going to have to wait and see how you've got to race and how you've got to
race with those rules."
(Is Chevrolet at a disadvantage going into Talladega?) "I don't know. We
qualified good at Daytona, but they made so many changes during that week
after we qualified, that I don't know where we stack up. I haven't been able
to keep up with all the rules changes that are going on in the last couple
of weeks with the superspeedway rules for the Fords and the changes for us
(Chevrolet). I don't know where we're going to be."
(Is the body style the biggest comment thread between all the Chevy teams
and their performances so far this year?) "Usually when it's consistent,
that says something. It started to become consistent toward the end of last
year. I think those guys really had their cars figured out the end of last
year and they made it better during the off-season. I feel like we were
limited as to what we could do coming into this season. That's why NASCAR
made the concession to help us out with a little front downforce. It's
helped a little bit. I can't say it's helped a lot. We've run good this
year, though. I haven't really felt like our problems have been that we
haven't run fast enough. We've been fast. We've just had a little bit of bad
luck. I can't put a whole lot into all the rules and the way they are right
now."
(Has blocking become common practice on the speedways?) "Oh yeah, but it has
been for years and it always will be. It's just a big, wide, fast racetrack
and if you get out of line you get hung out to dry and you're in big
trouble. When you know how important that is, you (want to) hold your
position and you block and you do what you can. We saw at Daytona what the
consequences can be of blocking. I think that we've all got to respect that
when we're out there."
(Do you watch racing when you're not racing? Will you watch Harvick and
Waltrip in the truck race?) "I always watch the Truck races and the Busch
races and Cup races from the past. I love races. A lot of times I watch
other types of racing like motorcycle racing or Formula I - things like
that. But when I'm at a racetrack and I'm in my motor coach and the Busch
race or the Truck race is on, I'm definitely going to watch it."
(On the new format for The Winston) "I think it's a great format. It's going
to be extremely exciting and it's already an exciting race. It's hard to
make it much better than it is, but I think it will be. I think it's going
to be a heck of a race. Your strategy is going to change a little bit this
time around, which always makes things interesting for the competitors
also."
(Regarding handling, what is the difference between Talladega and Daytona?)
"Talladega and Daytona are almost as different as Bristol and Charlotte. It
really is that much different. It's hard to imagine because there's only
almost two-tenths of a mile difference between the two. Handling at Daytona
is very important and at Talladega it means absolutely nothing. The corners
are so big and so wide, it's really almost like a dragstrip. You just get
your car to get through the air the fastest way possible with as much
horsepower as you can get, and then just get yourself in position. It's not
about whether you lift the gas or not. I think that's why it's a little bit
tougher for us at Talladega because at Daytona, handling is a component that
we can utilize. We have typically handled real good at Daytona like we did
this year."
2001 Schedule and Results
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