UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

SCOTT WIMMER, #22 CATERPILLAR DODGE:

"We had a part failure in the motor. I don't know if we broke a connecting rod or what. It's kind of disappointing. We were running real good, all the temps looked real good. We were actually running pretty good on the long run. The car was coming around real good but we got cut short a little short today." DID YOU HAVE ANY WARNING THAT YOU HAD A PROBLEM? "I felt it shudder at the start finish line and I thought maybe I just ran over something and then she blew going into one. They thought that maybe we broke an oil line or something but I knew we blew up. These guys put great horsepower underneath the hood. We just had a rod or something break. It was nobody's fault. We'll go get them at Atlanta." YOU STRUGGLED IN QUALIFYING. WAS THE CAR BETTER IN THE RACE TODAY? "We made a lot of gains. We still weren't where we needed to be, but we were a lot more competitive on the long run with these guys and that's encouraging. All the guys worked real hard to get this car right for me today. We'll just have to wait to next time when we come back out."

KASEY KAHNE, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE WAS THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE OF THE RACE AT LAS VEGAS. HE FINISHED IN SECOND PLACE FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE RACE.

· A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-10 in each of the last FIVE NEXTEL Cup races: Tony Raines (sixth at Rockingham, November 2003), Jamie McMurray (ninth at Homestead, November 2003), Scott Wimmer (third at Daytona, February, 2004), and Kasey Kahne (second at Rockingham, February 2004 and second, Las Vegas in March of 2004).

· At least one Raybestos® Rookie has now finished in the top-10 in four of the last five races at Las Vegas: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th) in 2000, Kevin Harvick (eighth) and Ron Hornaday (ninth) in 2001, and Ryan Newman (fourth) and Jimmie Johnson (sixth) in 2002.

· Kahne became the first Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap this season.

"This was a great run for the Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. We need a few more laps. We keep getting down to the end of these races. We need NASCAR to put about 20 more miles in these races and we'd be a lot better off. We're having fun. It would have been nice to win the UAW 400 for UAW and everything but it was a great run for our whole team today." HOW BIG OF A CONCERN WAS FUEL AT THE END OF THE RACE? "It was a concern. The last 30 or 40 laps Tommy [Baldwin, crew chief] was telling me to be real smooth on and off the throttle and try not to use the brakes and try to save as much as I could. I was trying to do that without giving up too much. I wanted to keep going so I didn't know if I was saving enough or not." YOU RACED HARD WITH TONY STEWART IN THE CLOSING LAPS. "At the end I caught Tony and it got pretty close there a couple of times. I remember getting into three one time he got real close to my right rear and I got real loose and slid around. We got by him there and he got me back and got by him again. It was a great run for our Dodge Dealers car." HOW MUCH DID YOU LEARN TODAY? "We learned a lot. We started out strong. We missed it during the center part of the race. We got too loose on entry and it hurt the car pretty bad. I made a couple of mistakes during the middle part and fell back. It was nice to get that car going again at the end and drive up through there." YOU HAD A GREAT WEEKEND HERE AT LAS VEGAS. "To run second both days, qualify third and first, that's all you can ask for in any stock car division, especially NEXTEL Cup. It's a great team effort and great run for us this weekend. It was exciting. We were sliding around a bunch there at the end saving fuel. They told me to save fuel and be real smooth on the throttle so I was trying to do that but I didn't want to slow down, either. Obviously I saved enough but too bad that we didn't go any faster." WHO GAVE YOU THE GOOD ADVICE THIS WEEKEND? "Tommy Baldwin. Every weekend he gives me advice and keeps my head in the game throughout the whole race. He's the crew chief. He's the man right now."

TOMMY BALDWIN, CREW CHIEF, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE:

"We struggled a little bit in the middle part of the race. We didn't do a very good job of adjusting on it but we got it back on the last two stops. Overall it was good for the guys. The big thing was that we didn't get down when we were struggling. We just kept fighting and the thing really took off on that last stop. Kasey did an awesome job just keeping his head on straight once again. Being the top Raybestos Rookie is cool." HOW CLOSE WERE YOU ON GAS? "We didn't run out so I guess we were all right [smiles]. We don't know because we had to fill up with fuel over there with NASCAR. Kasey did a good job saving fuel there the last 20 laps. It was all in the cards today." DID THE TRACK CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RACE? "I was basically dialing the car out but I put it back and made some other changes to it that helped it. Kasey had patience. He got up in the high stuff and lost like 15 spots so that didn't help but he stayed cool and calm and had the faith that he was going to get back up there and here we are." IS THIS TEAM TO THE POINT WHERE YOU ARE DISAPPOINTED IF YOU DON'T WIN? "We're all still learning together. We just happen to get two good finishes the last two races. This business is like a roller coaster: you've got to ride high while you're high and when you're low you've got to learn from it. We're still learning from the high. Hopefully we'll get a win. We're not supposed to be here right now and here we are. We'll take that and use the momentum to get to Atlanta and Darlington and so on." DID YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO TEST AT ATLANTA? "We tested last week and had a really good test so we're pretty pumped up to go back there."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, #77 KODAK EASY SHARE DODGE:

"Buddy Baker [spotter] came in afterwards and I said 'Buddy, if I ever have to work that hard for a 20th place finish again.' The Penske-Jasper guys never gave up and we ended up making the Kodak Dodge not bad for a couple laps there. We got our lap back and dug hard and that was because of great pit stops. They had a pit stop to keep us in front of everybody to be the lucky dog. We drove our butts off on the racetrack and got it so that was a nice deal there. Just one too many adjustments and it went back to being pretty loose again and it was just hang on for the ride. We brought it home in one piece and that's always a bonus. When you can bring your Dodge home in one piece it gives the guys in the shop a little less work and they can make them better instead of rebuilding. Today we didn't have a great Kodak Dodge but next week we will try to have a better one. We were fighting it most of the day. We chased it and like I said the guys really worked their tails off. They made adjustments every stop: pulling spring rubbers and making shock adjustments. They never gave up. I just looked at the scoring monitor and we were the second Raybestos Rookie of the day. That's points for the Raybestos championship that we want to get and that's half the battle."

BRIAN VICKERS, #25 GMAC CHEVROLET:

"It was tough. We had our ups and downs today. The GMAC Chevy crew did a good job. The car was really, really loose and we worked all day to get it better and finally right there at the end we made some major improvements and we worked our way back up through the field a little bit. We just ran out of gas. You're going to have that sometimes. It was a miscue under the last caution on whether to come in or not and by the time it was clear we were already past the commitment line. That's part of it. We're going to learn from it and move on but I'm real proud of the guys. They never gave up and we came back again to possibly have another top-15 finish from a bad day but unfortunately we ran out of gas. We'll go to the next race and get 'em." WHERE DID YOU RUN OUT? "Coming to take the white flag."

SCOTT RIGGS, #10 VALVOLINE CHEROLET. Note: Riggs led his first lap in the NEXTEL Cup Series Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"The pathetic thing was that we were absolutely terrible. We missed it somewhere. We had a problem in happy hour that we didn't find until happy hour was over and that's why we felt like we were so bad. We found the problem but the only bad thing about it was we really had no idea where we were going to stand in race conditions once we fixed the problem, where our setup needed to be and what kind of balance we needed on the racecar. It was definitely a shot in the dark. We missed it big. It was rough but every time we came in, as bad as we were, all the guys would jump out there and give me a heck of a pit stop and we'd gain positions even to lap cars. Nobody is giving up. Everybody is trying hard. It was just a hard, frustrating weekend."

UNOFFICIAL Raybestos Rookie standings after Las Vegas:

Kasey Kahne 46
Scott Wimmer 34
Johnny Sauter 27
Brendan Gaughan 27
Brian Vickers 24
Scott Riggs 21