Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

TONY RAINES, NO. 74 BACE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET:

Note: Tony Raines was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race at Rockingham. Raines finished sixth, his first career top-10 Winston Cup finish in 41 starts. He took Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the fourth time this season and for the first time since the July race at Pocono. He finished on the lead lap for the second consecutive race.

"It was a good weekend, really. We didn't run very well here in the spring and we came back and we qualified well. We were a little bit tight at the start and fell back and then the driver, brain dead, drove through the pits and missed the stall. We did everything we could to make it tough for us and we fought back and worked on the car. From the middle to the end of the race I thought the car was really good, certainly top-10 speed wise. We might have had a top-five, we finished sixth, so we can't complain." IS IT EASIER TO RACE UP FRONT THAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD? "It's a lot easier to start up front, I know that. I think everybody through the field pretty much races each other extremely clean and it's hard here because the track is so slick. It's hard sometimes to get your car to turn or not get loose. All in all, I think it was a good team effort. It's starts at the shop. We had a good car. We qualified well and practiced well and to end up racing well, that's a pretty good deal." THIS IS YOUR FIRST TOP-10 FINISH OF YOUR CAREER. "It's pretty exciting. I probably won't realize it until I look at the paper tomorrow and I won't have to go all the way down to 20th to find my name so that will be exciting. I think it's just a good solid team effort and that's a good feeling. I'd like to finish fifth but sixth isn't bad. We got some momentum for hopefully this last race and if we can get another one down there it would be awesome, a good way to end the year." CAN THIS TEAM WIN A RACE? "I think it can definitely win. Today no but tomorrow maybe. Is it possible? It certainly is. Anything is possible in this sport. This is a good group of guys that we've got. It's fun. Bill and Brian (Buamgardner, team owners) make it fun. Days like this make Monday mornings exciting." THIS IS A SINGLE CAR, UNSPONSORED, ROOKIE TEAM. HOW SWEET IS IT TO RUN SO WELL ALL WEEKEND? "My biggest fear was to qualify well and then to go out and have a bad race, that we couldn't back it up. To back up a good team you have to do it more than once. So we backed it up with a decent race. If we can start qualifying better and racing better each week I think it will just prove what we already know." YOU HAVE BEEN RUNNING BETTER NEAR THE END OF THE SEASON. IS THAT A PRODUCT OF BUILDING THE TEAM? "There's no doubt. It's the last eight, ten, 12 weeks coming together. Buddy Sisco the car chief said that every track that we have come back to the second time we had been faster and qualified better so hopefully we go back next time we'll do even better and who knows? Maybe we come back here in the spring next year and qualify even better than fourth."

LARRY CARTER, CREW CHIEF, NO. 74 BACE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET:

"We ran good. We kind of made a call to stay out that one time hoping that we'd get a caution and we did so that ended up being a good break for several teams and we happened to be able to take advantage of and our car was good enough to stay on the lead lap the rest of the day. We ended up with a good finish so it was a good day for us." YOU RAN WELL ALL DAY. "You're not going to win a race out here if you don't run in the top-10 every week. You're not going to run 30th every week and luck into a win and you're not going to luck into seventh or sixth if you don't have a good car. We had a good day." HOW BIG IS THIS GOOD RUN FOR YOUR TEAM? "It's big. It was a good day for us. We've been shooting for this kind of performance all year and I think we've got it in us. This is evidence of Raines doing a good job qualifying this week. He got us up near the front where we could race and it really helps a lot and it showed what the team could do." CAN THIS TEAM WIN? "I think the team can win in the right situation. I'm not sure this team is 100 percent ready to win right now, but they are 100 percent more capable of doing it now than they were at the start of the season."

GREG BIFFLE, NO. 16 GRAINGER FORD:

"It wasn't a bad day but it certainly could have been better. We had a pretty good car. Every time we would pit the caution would come out. We did it twice and we almost did it a third time but we decided 'Heck with it. We're staying out until nobody is left.' That can cost you big, too. We got lucky that we didn't get trapped in the pits again and ended up with the group of cars that we were running with, which was in the top-10 or top13 all day. It was tough getting track position and it was a crazy race. My car was really tight all day. I was trying to do all I can to get it to turn. It wasn't a bad day, I guess." WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU SPUN? "I got my left front down on the apron coming off the corner and I thought somebody had got me from behind but I wasn't sure. Joel (Edmonds, his spotter) said there wasn't anybody right on me. You never know. The car snapped right out from under me and it spun. I think the 42 was just an aftermath wreck. Somebody ran into the back of him or something. I don't know what happened. I'm not sure if somebody got into the back of me or not. It felt like it, but I can't say yes or not until I watch the tape. It may have just snapped out from under me. Being that tight and the wheel turned that far it's possible that's what happened."

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 42 HAVOLINE DODGE:

"It definitely was not our day today. I feel our Havoline Dodge was one of the best cars out there, but we decided to pit during a caution when the leaders stayed out, and that bit us as we got caught up in a wreck while running in the back on the restart. I'm not sure what happened other than someone spun in front of me and everyone checked up and I got tagged from behind. It's really disappointing and frustrating to know that you let a chance at victory slip away. Who knows what might have been."

LARRY FOYT, NO. 14 HARRAH'S DODGE:

"We had moments where we were pretty decent. Today is one of the few days that I was passing a lot of cars and had a little bit of fun out there. I got caught up in some fluid when a bunch of them wrecked down there and brushed the wall and toed the thing in. We needed to fix it but we tried to stay out and live with it because there were only a few laps left and I slid up in front of Tony (Stewart) and did that accident so that was my fault. It was a decent day. We ran all day and I think we learned a lot. That's two races in a row where we've at least been able to race some guys and run with some cars." IS THAT ENCOURAGING? "Today was probably more encouraging, even though the finish maybe wasn't as good as Phoenix. We passed a lot of race cars today and ran competitive lap times all day so that is really encouraging for us."

©Copyright 2003 Race 2 Win