MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 - Dodge Post-Race Quotes

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Intrepid) - Scores Second Victory of season

"The ALLTEL Dodge was really good. We lost the power steering with about 180 laps to go. We were smoking. It made it hard to steer, but Matt did what he could for me and we did what we could to stay out front. Jeff (Gordon) raced me clean and professional, and I appreciate that. One of the biggest things was I couldn't clean my tires like most people on restarts, but I'm happy to bring this ALLTEL Dodge home in first. It was a great race for Penske Racing."

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid) - Finishes sixth

"I had a good, solid top-five car all day. I was a lot pushy in some points of the race. I don't think I got loose all day long. Maybe I was loose once all day long and I kept wheeling wedge out of it, raising the track bar up on it, moving air pressure around on it. It kept responding, but I don't think I was doing it quick enough. I think I was making too many baby steps instead of making one big whack at it. It looked like I was adjusting my car just like everybody else. I didn't see anybody get away from me a lot.

"The aero push was a handful all day. You could be stuck like crazy, and you'd get behind a car and all of a sudden both front wheels would start chattering. You'd get back from behind the car and the front wheels would stick. You'd get back behind it and the front wheels would start chattering again. You can't believe how important the air is for downforce on these stock cars. That was one of the reasons if I was a little tight and then I got behind somebody I couldn't pass. Out front was where you wanted to be. At first, I got out front and my car was real good. We came in and tried to make it better by taking air out of the left front tire and really hurt it. All in all, it was a good day for us. We moved up two positions in the points. We're still chasing that win and hopefully it'll come soon.

"Ryan was solid all day long. His pit crew had good pit stops for him all day long. My stops today were fantastic. Last week they were a joke, but today they were fantastic. Ryan's stops were good, too. He just had a better handling car than I had today. His car turned better in the center of the corner, and it ran real good. I was watching him and before he broke the power steering he was kind of like everybody else. When he broke the power steering, he might have got a better feel for the car and the car took off.

"I think overall we're a good, solid team. We were both on the front row and Ryan won today. Basically, the worse I ran was fifth and right there at the end Johnny Benson got past me. I didn't see him coming."

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Intrepid)

"It was just clean air. Our car was a little bit tight. It enabled me to be fast out front. I hung on to it, and I had to do what I could on that restart and get a good jump. I spun my tires. Without power steering, I couldn't scrub my tires very easy. It lacked in that area, so I knew the start was critical and the clean air was going to be there. Obviously the first person to get to it was me, and could keep it at the same time was going to have the best shot to win the race and fortunately we did.

"This track is awesome as far as holding up and not changing. It changes a little bit as the race goes on, but that's just because of the rubber on the race track. It's an awesome race track, it's fun to drive and it's fast and tough. I'm just happy to do well at it. It's just like when we started. Names that have done good here are pretty great names.

"I wouldn't say the toughest of my career, but it was definitely tough. You've got fast guys behind you. I didn't have the mechanical advantage as far as having power steering. I couldn't get my tires cleaned off very well. I was focused on it, and I had to do a little blocking myself going into turn one on Jeff. From what I understand he had to do the same for Tony, but it worked out pretty good. We finished the last six laps under green, which typically doesn't happen sometimes on these restarts with about five to go.

"I knew he (Tony Stewart) had a really fast race car and at times the fastest on the race track, but whatever we could do. From what I was told he screwed up in the pits and he pitted out of his box. He had to take the one-lap penalty. That's not a piece of tape or a blown tires or something like that. That's his own screwup. We did what we could to keep him a lap down knowing he had a fast race car. Thankfully I think we did seeing he came all the way back and finished third (fourth).

"It's just too hypothetical to say. If we had power steering the whole race I might have lapped the field. It's just hearsay.

"He (Stewart) tried to bump me. I had to run clear up the race track. I guess it's just kind of typical. He was pretty upset, and I'd be upset, too. But he had a fast race car and he would have done the same thing to me I believe if the roles were reversed.

"It's all part of the sport. It's been that way. As long as we race back to the yellow flag it's going to be that way. If you get your lap back and the yellow comes out and people are locked in position, you've earned it. We've done a couple of times this year already. It's just part of the sport and something you've got to go along with. It's no different than politics or anything else.

"You can give it to him or they can take it. He wasn't in position to take it, and I wasn't in position not to give it to him.

"When you're on a paved race track like this and you're in a situation where you potentially could be oiling down the race track, officials typically frown on that. I was kind of wondering what was happening, too. All the gauges looked good in the car. As soon as I started losing the power steering I wanted the NASCAR officials to know I was losing the power steering and it wouldn't be but a couple of laps and it would be gone and quit smoking. Fortunately, it did.

"I did it at Atlanta for 150 laps, and I think we finished 10th there (without power steering), and I think the time before that was at Watkins Glen last year.

"All it takes is one little thing to slow you down. We're going to ride the wave as long as we can and see what happens. Hopefully we won't bite the dust.

"We raced quite a bit in midgets and silver crown cars. I never raced sprint cars much with Tony, but we've got a background doing that up through '95 when Tony started moving on and even after that when he came back and ran through '99. We don't have a full year of racing each other under our belts, but pretty close to it.

"Once I realized it was the power steering I knew I could overcome that. This is one of the hardest places to have that problem, and overcome it, but we had a fast race car and I wasn't about to pull it in the garage and say that's it. Our team is no different than anybody else. We've got a great bunch of guys. That to me is the difference as far as their character. They're a great bunch of guys and the same things happen to everybody. It's who can fight through it the best, and they've done a great job of doing that. I think it showed up today.

"I'm definitely tired. My arms hurt, my back hurts, my neck hurts, and I'll be really sore tomorrow and probably Tuesday, but it pays good money to win you know.

"We look forward to going to Pocono. We led quite a few laps in the spring race and finished in the top five in the fall race. I think we've learned a lot since then and can go back and be fast and competitive again. I look forward to that, and Michigan is pretty much home for me as far as race tracks go. I look forward to the next few weeks, and going to the road courses is going to be interesting, too.

"We're racers. We compete against each other and we try to be friends, but it's a competitive sport. He's not going to invite me to dinner tonight. There's times I haven't wanted to invite him to dinner either, but we can get through it. We'll talk and get over it and go on. To me, it was his own fault. What happened, happened, and we'll go on.

"It's a tight pit road no doubt, but that's what qualifying is about. You get that good pit pick in those positions and it pays off. It's the same for everybody else. I guess Tony just missed it.

"Midgets and stuff don't have power steering. I've had midgets with power steering that didn't have power steering at the end of the race, so it's old new for me, but it's just a pain in the arm."

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