MBNA America 400 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE QUOTES FOR THE MBNA AMERICA 400 NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES RACE AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2003.

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 42 HAVOLINE DODGE:

Note: Jamie McMurray was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race at Dover. McMurray finished sixth, his ninth top-10 finish of the 2003 season. He has more top-10 finishes than any other Raybestos® Rookie. McMurray took top finishing rookie honors for the 14th time this season and for the fifth consecutive race. He finished 13th at Dover in June.

"I really think that if we hadn't had the flat left rear tire that we would have had a shot to win the race. We put ourselves in position. I think we were third or fourth and came out from the pit stop and tire was flat. I never even made a lap. I had to come back in and we were like 20th with 180 laps to go. It's so hard to pass here. The way the new rule is with the lapped cars all being on the inside and so many of them it's just tough. Even though the racetrack is wide, it's still hard to pass. All in all, it was a pretty good day." WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE TIRE PROBLEM? "I don't know. It did it when I left pit road. Nemechek wrecked over here (points toward turns one and two) and I pulled out and I was kind of racing the 19 car. I was on the apron. I didn't even get to the backstretch and it was like I had a flat or something. I don't know what happened." YOU ARE RUNNING CONSISTENTLY BETTER EACH WEEK. "We are a top-10 car every single week. We beat Biffle again so that's important when it gets down this close to the end because he had a good run, too. We had a flat tire with like 180 laps to go and had to go back to 20th and our car was good. We worked our way all the way back up to the front and all in all, had a pretty good day." WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE YELLOW FLAG RULE? "I thought it worked out good. It made it really tough because there were so many cars a lap down at this racetrack that it was hard to pass and get position." YOUR TEAM IS STARTING TO JELL. "Really, since Chicago, we've been a top-10 car every single week. I don't know about Daytona but for the most part we've been good every single week. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year and especially starting over next year on the points. I think we've been a top-10 car since Chicago in points, so I'm looking forward to that." WAS THE RACING DIFFERENT WITH THE NEW RULE? "It's a good rule. It's going to take a little while to get used to. I think somebody is going to run into the back of somebody one of these times but I thought the rule was great." THIS GIVES YOU A LOT OF MOMENTUM GOING INTO TALLADEGA NEXT WEEK. "We're taking a good car. We had a good car at Daytona but got caught up in a wreck and that's a part of that place. That place (Talladega) is a 50-50 shot if you finish. We'll finish good, I'm sure of that." WHAT'S THE KEY TO RUNNING WELL AT TALLADEGA? "Staying out of trouble. We've got a really good racecar. We just have to stay out of trouble."

GREG BIFFLE, NO. 16 GRAINGER FORD:

Note: Greg Biffle finished seventh at Dover, his sixth top-10 finish of the 2003 season. Biffle scored his best finish since he placed fourth at Michigan, five races ago.

"It was pretty bad at the beginning. We were just surviving. Doug (Richert, his crew chief) and the guys worked on it a bunch. We made a bunch of pit stops and worked on the thing a whole lot. It's unfortunate there on the start. I don't know what happened. Guys started racing three wide on the green flag, which I guess is becoming typical in Winston Cup: three wide on the first lap going into turn one. Somebody checked up and I had to hit the brakes. I ran into the back of the 40 and ruined the front of my car. I had to pull tape off and suffered all day on front downforce. It's unfortunate. We had a good car and we were going good there at the end. Lap traffic, man, we were stuck behind cars all day. I think I could have finished up there third or fourth if I could have got clean in those lap cars a little earlier. I had to work on my teammate Matt (Kenseth) for a little bit there but I wanted to careful because he is the point leader and he finally let me go. Seventh is just a good day for us. I think we were a lot better than that at times but coming in and putting water in it killed us. We were running ninth." WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE RULE? "I think the rule is going to work well, I really do. I've been saying all along that they need to do it. The no passing on pit road, I think that rule has been long coming. I don't know why you should be able to pass on pit road. If you are under caution, you shouldn't be able to pass to start with, whether you are on the racetrack or on pit road. We were passing on pit road and now we're not. I think it's a good thing." YOUR CAR SEEMED TO GET BETTER ON A LONG RUN. "It was kind of up and down. I was trying to get a balance. I just wasn't right all day. I was off a little bit here and there. We just need to keep doing our homework and working on it some and maybe we'll get it a little better for next time here." IS THIS A TRACK WHERE AERODYNAMICS PLAYS A BIGGER ROLE THAN MOST PEOPLE THINK? "It does because I got behind cars and I was so dang aero-tight that I couldn't go anywhere. It was terrible and besides I knocked the grill out of it on lap one when they were racing three wide into turn one. I still don't understand that. I've got to watch the tape and figure out who keeps messing up the starts of these races. It's just ridiculous. We're all grown up and we're all professional. Why do you have to do that on the first lap and potentially wreck everybody, knock the grills in. I don't understand." lap traffic."

DONNIE WINGO, CREW CHIEF, NO. 42 HAVOLINE DODGE:

"The car was really good all day. We adjusted just a little bit every stop and got it pretty good there and we had that one caution there and the left rear tire went flat. I don't know what happened there. We battled back a little bit. We had a little bad stop there that one stop but Jamie drove a super race. He put it back up there where we needed to be and I'd have liked to have seen what could have happened if we had been closer to the front there at the end." WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT STOP? "I don't know what happened. He came around and said he had a left rear flat and sure enough the left rear was flat so we just came in and put four more tires on it. I don't know what happened. It knocked the valve stem off it somehow." WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS, HOW HARD IS IT TO KEEP A YOUNG DRIVER FOCUSED? "Lorin (Ranier, McMurray's spotter) does a good job with that. He really keeps him pumped up all day and he kept him going there. We gained four spots before the next caution and then after that we got four more and then stayed out there at the end and gained back to about where we should have been, I think." WAS TODAY ANOTHER BUILDING BLOCK FOR THE TEAM? "I think so. We weren't that good the first time up here. We made a lot of changes this morning and the biggest thing, I think, every time we go back to a track a different time, we've been better each time." ARE YOU TO THE POINT NOW WHERE YOU CAN CONSISTENTLY THREATEN TO WIN A RACE? "I think so. I think we've shown that. We consistently run at the front the second half of the year. We've still had some trouble but I think if we can ever win one I think we can win some more." HOW WAS THE PIT CREW TODAY? "They kept us up at the front at the beginning of the race. We came in and came out in the same place or gained a spot or two. We just had that one little stumble there and that kind of got us behind but Jamie picked us up and drove us back up to where we needed to be." ARE YOU PLEASED WITH THE YELLOW FLAG RULE? "I thought everybody would be pleased with it today. I don't think they had any close calls racing back to the flag or anything like that. I think everything went well with that."

DOUG RICHERT, CREW CHIEF, NO. 16 GRAINGER FORD:

"It was a good day. We ran out of water there 150 laps from the end. We had just worked ourself up and got some good track position and here it goes: no water. We're real fortunate to finish seventh and come out on the lead lap. We made a pretty strong change on the first pit stop and then we were half a pound and one round changes from there is all. We finished basically very close to where we started the race." WHAT CAUSED THE WATER PROBLEM? "We're not real sure. Right on the very first start of the race, the whole field checked up and we plowed into the back of somebody and it bent the grill in. We thought we were okay though and then we started noticing some fluctuation in the water temperature. It was still okay and then it got to where it wasn't and then finally we had to come in. That was a long period of time for all that to happen, though." WAS IT A LEAK? "It's hard to say. Until we get back and are able to look at the radiator. We haven't had the hood up on it. We couldn't get it up because it was dented pretty bad. We'll get it home, look at it, and see what the problem was." WERE YOU PLEASED WITH THE RULE? "It was no different situation for us. We never had to get our lap back, let's say, but I'd say that you go talk to the guys that we able to get their lap back during the course of the day and they loved it because they didn't have to race back to the line and put people's health in jeopardy. That's the whole idea behind the rule and it definitely worked." HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR THIS TEAM TO HAVE A BAD DAY BUT TURN IT INTO A GOOD DAY? 'We're fortunate to have to pit like we did for water and still finish the race in seventh. I'm happy for that. I see that and we're also looking strong at the Raybestos® Rookie battle and McMurray, there he was one spot up. We did all we could do with what we had and we'll go on to the next race." IT'S GOOD TO HAVE SOME MOMENTUM ON YOUR SIDE. "I'm looking forward to a little momentum. We came out of the box real good at Darlington and couldn't capitalize on it. We had some fair runs going at Richmond and Loudon and then the oil pump problem at Loudon really put us out early. We test next week at Kansas City, which will be mine and Greg's first test together. I'm looking forward to that. There's a lot of good things on the horizon." AT THIS POINT, ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE TEAM? "I'm happy. It's only my fourth race (smiles). It's definitely something to build on. Every race we run is just more data for the bank and it just gives me a better idea to make calls and how to show up at these racetrack as we come around to the next ones."

Unofficial Raybestos Rookie standings after Dover:

Jamie McMurray 257
Greg Biffle 238
Casey Mears 185
Tony Raines 184
Jack Sprague 158
Larry Foyt 127

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