Samsung/Radio Shack 500 - Ford Post-Race Quotes

SADLER GIVES FORD SECOND STRAIGHT WIN AND FOURTH TRIUMPH OF 2004

· Elliott Sadler followed up Kurt Busch's win in last week's Food City 500 at Bristol with the second NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series win of his career here at Texas. Sadler's previous series victory came at Bristol when he drove for the Wood Brothers in 2001.

· Ford now has a series high for wins in 2004 while Chevrolet is second with three. Dodge is still looking for its first victory of the season.

· Sadler's victory was the first for car owner Robert Yates since Dale Jarrett won the Subway 400 at Rockingham on Feb. 23, 2003. Roush Racing had registered the last nine Ford Cup wins.

· The win was Ford's 548th all-time series victory - most among manufacturers -- and the 78th for Taurus.

· Ford has now won five of the eight NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events here at Texas Motor Speedway. Sadler also became the eighth different driver to take the checkered flag at Texas in eight series races.

GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 National Guard/Subway Taurus (Finished 31st) - "First of all, I've got to apologize to Ward Burton. I got under him coming off the corner. I don't know if he knew I was there, but he didn't really leave me a lot of room. He kept me pinched down and took the air off me and I got a little loose and got up into him. But the car was really good today. It's unfortunate. Two engines in two days here at Texas. It's really tough. We had a top six at least because I was catching the 20. I had the 20 and I had a few others, but it's unfortunate we lost track position like that. The guys are working real hard, but that's just the way it goes. That's racin'."

KURT BUSCH - No. 97 Sharpie/IRWIN Taurus (Finished 6th) - "It's a good consistent run for us. We were working on the car all day and it just got better and better as we progressed. The last set of tires was a scuffed set and that helped us. As the season progresses we'll see where we are in points. It's great to be the points leader and it's great to have a good finish for Irwin, but we've got to be able to attack in those last 10 races and so far we've done a good job with consistency." HOW HARD WAS IT TO PASS? "It was tough in certain aspects, but if you had a good set of tires or if you had a car that would run on the long run, you could make time on the top or just wear the guys out." ARE YOU GETTING A FEEL FOR THE TIRE? "We've got some good ideas. We're gonna take this off week and we might go test somewhere just to go play around and understand a few more things. We've got a couple of tough tracks coming up that can shake up the points real easy with Martinsville and Talladega. We've just got to get through them and then we'll go to California where we know we've got a good car." A GOOD TIME FOR AN OFF WEEK? "It's a happy time. I wish the guys a Happy Easter and take a week off. We'll come back next week and do the same thing again." HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE THE POINTS LEAD? "It's a new aspect. I was once a Winston Cup points leader for a race and now I'm a Nextel Cup points leader, but it's not at the right time. We've got to keep working and make sure that we're there when it counts."

MATT KENSETH - No. 17 DEWALT Tools Taurus (Finished 16th) - "It was just a tough day. We didn't run very good and just about got lapped there. We did get lapped, but the next time under green we pitted early and then got caught and lost two laps over that deal. We just never could get it back and we just didn't run good. We had our setup too far off. We just have to do our homework and figure out what we're missing." WHEN YOU HIT THE WALL DID THAT DO MAJOR DAMAGE? "It didn't do any major damage. At the end of the race we were running as good as the guys in front of us, but it didn't help anything either."

DALE JARRETT - No. 88 UPS Taurus (Finished 18th) - WHAT ABOUT ELLIOTT IN VICTORY LANE? "That's pretty exciting. He's always said that this is probably his favorite race track and he's always done well here. He came here and had a really good test and you could tell he was excited about the weekend. Everything seemed to work good for him. I couldn't be happier for Elliott. He's got a lot of talent and he's a really good kid. He's deserving of a lot more victories. Todd and those guys worked really hard and they've worked well together. I'm really happy for Todd that he was able to get back and get back where he belongs as a crew chief in victory lane." WHAT ABOUT YOUR DAY? "The car just pushed off the corner all day. The whole weekend we couldn't get this car into the corner and in trying to get it into the corner, we got it too tight off the corner that it just killed it. We kept adjusting and a few times we made it better, but in the end it just wasn't very good. It just wasn't our day."

ELLIOTT SADLER - No. 38 M&M's Taurus - POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE - "We had a great race car all day today. We started 19th and easily moved up through the field. I think the tale of the tape was when the late caution happened and the 24 and I had stayed out and got great track position. It was a great call on Todd's part to stretch the fuel as much as we could. Clean air is such a very important part of running good here at Texas because it's such a fast track and it just worked out good for us. They got us a good pit stop. Due to the 24's misfortune got us out in clean air and I was coaching Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as much as I could to hold the 9 off as long as he could because I knew he would be coming and once he got around, boy, he started making up a lot of time. I was trying to hit my marks and go as fast as I can and I was just lucky enough to hold him off. I probably messed up in turns three and four more than I should. He shouldn't even have gotten beside me, but I was so focused on the 30 car because I didn't know what in the world he was doing racing the leaders like he was and I was so focused on him that I really forgot about the 9 car. I almost lost the race doing that, so that's something I'll always keep in the back of my head. I was lucky enough that Eddie Gossage and the guys had the start-finish line closer to turn four than to turn one and I was able to win." HAS TODD ADDED STABILITY? "Yeah, I think Todd is the cornerstone of what's making this whole operation go good. I learned so much about him last year. I'm glad we had the last 12 or 13 races to race with each other last year. I made these comments earlier in the season that he's a very demanding crew chief. He expects a lot of his driver and I didn't know how to take that last year, but over the winter we became better friends and are finishing each other's sentences more. Now I think we're communicating as well right now as we ever have, so I think we're just gonna get better and better. I believe him 100 percent. His record speaks for itself. He knows what's going on with the race car. His aerodynamic knowledge is second to none and when he tells me it's gonna do something, it's gonna do it. So when you have that kind of confidence on the other end of the radio, it makes me help me do my job that much better." HOW DID THE CAUTIONS HELP YOU THE LAST 50 LAPS? "It 100 percent benefited me because I wasn't thinking about the 24 as much as the 9. I thought the more caution laps we could run, the less time the 9 had to get up through the field. We knew nobody could run with him, but keep running cautions, keep running cautions. I kept looking at him and he went from eighth to seventh and stayed there through that long stretch of caution laps. I couldn't believe he got up there that quick. I looked and I was pulling away from Junior and I was trying to run the 24 and by the time I got by the 24 I looked and the 9 was already on the 8's back bumper. I went, 'Man, he's already made it this far.' But the extra caution laps definitely helped our chances of winning here today."

TODD PARROTT, Crew Chief - No. 38 M&M's Taurus - WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE RACE? "I thought it was a great race (laughing). It was very nerve-wracking to say the least. We had a great race car. We were really fast in practice yesterday when it all started. We made, I think, three adjustments from the time we started race practice yesterday to today. The only thing we touched all day today was air pressure. We had a great test down here and went home and worked on the car a little bit and I think we made it a little bit better. All the guys on the team did a great job. Kasey Kahne, I couldn't even tell him how fast the 9 car was coming because I couldn't stand it. I didn't know how much he had left. I didn't want him to get looking in his mirror and take his eyes off of hitting his marks, so I elected not to say anything. I let Brett (Griffin) do all the talking up in the spotter's stand and let him really concentrate on getting all of his marks and trying to win this race. The boy did a good job. I'm proud of him."

ELLIOTT SADLER CONTINUED - DID YOU THINK YOU COULD HOLD HIM OFF WITH 20 TO GO? "I tell you exactly what was going through my mind at that time. With 20 laps to go I knew he was gonna catch me, but I was trying to run replays in my head of watching him and the 8 car battle and thinking he must be getting aero-tight behind the 8 car. So when he gets to me, one, hopefully he's burned his right-front off because he's running so fast and, two, I've got to do whatever I've got to do to make him aero-tight, so I was starting to go into turn one a little higher to try to take some wind off his nose and do things like that. It wasn't working too good in three and four because he was so fast there, but I didn't know. It was a 50-50 shot. I'm thinking, 'I can see him coming. I know he's coming.' I'm doing all I can do. I mean, I've got pedal to the metal - not saving anything. I didn't know at that time whether I could hold him off or not, but I was just trying to create as much of an aero-push as I could on the front of his race car. The chips fell in my direction and we were just able to pull it off there at the end." HOW CLOSE DID SAUTER COME TO COSTING YOU THE RACE AND WHAT SHOULD HE HAVE DONE? "He should have done like every other smart person we've got to did and pull over. There wasn't anybody within a half-a-straightaway of him - behind him or in front of him. We come off turn two and he pulls down and then he pulls right back in the groove and runs right on the bottom of three and four, which is where I had been trying to run all day long. I hadn't even run up high in three and four. I didn't know what my car was gonna do. I just had to go up there and block the 9 car like crazy. His awareness is hideous. Pardon my French, but I wish he would have left it down to me and Kasey to race and should have never been a factor here, but, hey, we all knew that going in. We race with him every week. We understand that he's gonna make a factor one way or the other in the outcome of a lot races - it started in Daytona - so we're just glad we were on the winning end. It was my fault, though. I was so focused and didn't know what he was gonna do that I forgot all about the 9 car and it almost cost me the race. Like I said before, I'm just glad the start-finish line was a little bit closer to turn four. If I would have lost I would have got mad because, actually, 334 laps is 501 miles around here and that's too long (laughter)." WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET THAT SECOND WIN? "It means a lot. I've heard from some of the other guys who were picking on me that, 'Hey, you've only won one race.' They were teasing me week-in and week-out, so to come back and win at this track is very special. To win anywhere is very special, but Texas, to me, since the first time I ever drove a Busch car around here in 1997, it's just been one of my favorite tracks to race on. The people are so polite down here. The people here that run this race track have done all the changes in the world to try to help us put on a great race for the fans and I think we've got a great race track to race at. To be able to win here is very special and the reason for that is it's one of my favorite tracks, it's a good purse, it's National Autism Awareness Month - and I think everybody that follow me know about my little niece, Hayley Drew, so I can't wait to get home and see her tomorrow night because of this. So it's a very special weekend for me and my family. A lot of things were lifted off my shoulders here this weekend, and we're in the all-star race. To win before we get to Charlotte, we don't have to run the heat race. So it's pretty cool to be in the all-star race, too. There are a lot of great things lifted off my shoulders here today." DID YOU THINK IT WOULD TAKE THIS LONG? "I wanted to step in and run this good right off the bat and we just had a very frustrating year last year with the teams getting changed around and things like that. I started looking myself in the mirror wondering if I'm doing the right things as a driver. Am I giving the right feedback? You start questioning yourself so much every night when you go to bed. It's tough. This is a tough, tough sport. It's not like stick-and-ball sports where there's one winner and one loser. I mean, you've got 42 losers every week. All 42 of us are wondering what we did wrong and what could we do better. It's already been 108 races and then a whole season with Yates without a victory was very trying, so to give M&M's their first win in 13 years in this sport is very special to me, and to see Robert Yates' smile on his face when I pulled into victory lane means more to me than anything I've ever done. It's just a great feeling to be able to give back to people that have taken a chance on you." HOW MANY GROOVES ARE THERE NOW? "I think each year we race here it's only gonna get better and better because the asphalt is gonna sit and it's gonna get older. It's gonna lose some of the grip that we have and that way you have to slide up some. I think even the next time we come and the next time we come this track is gonna get better and better and better. This is a very smooth surface. It's one of the smoothest race tracks we race on. Eddie and his guys have done a great, great job. I think the more we let it sit, the better it's gonna be. We'll see what happens."

TODD PARROTT CONTINUED - DO YOU FEEL VINDICATED? "I think it's big. To win here at Texas is a great place. It's a place Robert Yates Racing has had a lot of success at. We won here in 2001 with DJ and in 2002 we were leading the race and ran him out of gas. All the guys in the engine shop, they work really hard. Everybody has worked really hard for the last two years, but it's just good to see a smile on Robert's face. For us to be able to do the things that we're doing right now, to put a smile on his face and smiles on our faces - and our sponsor, their first win in 13 years, that's pretty huge for the Mars family. So to be able to come here and do this is something that's very, very satisfying." CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR EMOTIONS TODAY? "I knew we were gonna get there, it was just a matter of time. We got to victory lane in Daytona and won the 125 and raced against some great race teams and some great race car drivers. We've run well at several places this year and I knew it would just be a matter of time. Like Elliott said, our communication gets better each week. Last year, the last 12 races coming back from the whole summer - spending the summer with my kids and my mom and dad, it was pretty cool. The time off was well needed. It's a shame a lot more people can't do that. I'm just glad I was able to come back to Robert Yates Racing - a place that I love. It's a place I feel like is my home. To come back here and win with Elliott, our new driver, is very special and something that I'll remember for a long time."

ELLIOTT SADLER CONTINUED - WITH 3 TO GO HE PUT THE SLIDE JOB ON YOU. HOW BIG WAS THAT? "A lot. I didn't know he was as far up as he was. I was trying to pay attention on my line so much that I didn't realize he was running high in three and four and getting such a big run coming off the corner. I knew he wasn't there at the time, but I tried to move up slow in front of him and I clipped him and he hit the wall. Then I got a little space. I was like, 'Alright, I've got a little bit of breathing room.' But he was so fast he got right back on my back bumper again. That might be the reason why I'm sitting here today and he's not - not really the move on the last lap, but that particular move right there. Like I said before, he's a very clean racer. He could have done a lot of different things to me after I did that. Now I know how he's gonna race me, I know how to race him for the rest of our whole careers. He's definitely a great race car driver. He's gonna win a lot of races and they have set the bar right now. That car is the car to beat pretty much every week. We're just glad we had great pit strategy, great track position and it just really worked out in our way today. So it worked out good, but I think that move was more important than even the last lap." TALK ABOUT THE DECISION TO STAY OUT. "Before the caution came out? He was just telling me to conserve fuel, which I thought you told me pretty late actually, Todd (laughing). But he started telling me to conserve fuel, conserve fuel, and I knew what he meant - we were gonna try to make it on one more stop. I think some of the guys were gonna be really close in making it to the end of the race and we've been getting great gas mileage. Again, that goes back to Robert and Jack working together. We had great, great gas mileage again today and we were just trying to make it to the end. We were staying with the 24. He was gonna do the same exact thing. The 8 car, the 2 car - all of us were trying to do the same thing. When the caution came out, now with NASCAR's new rule, you can't pit the first time by. We were like, 'Oh, God.' And my fuel light was on. My fuel pressure was going back and forth. Robert was in my ear teaching me on how to save fuel with his motor, so it all in the end paid off. That's why you saw us riding around on the apron trying to keep all the fuel we could near the right-rear of the car. It just paid off for us. It was a great, great call on Todd's part."

TODD PARROTT CONTINUED - HOW MUCH OF A GAMBLE WAS THAT? "We were actually gonna pit the next time by when the caution came out, so, like I said, that was a chance that here at Texas I didn't really care that much to take because we ran Dale Jarrett out of gas leading the race in 2002. So, anyhow, I kept asking the guys, 'Can we make it? Can we make it?' We said, 'This is what we're gonna do.' I heard Robbie (Loomis) tell Jeff (Gordon) to pit in three laps and then the caution came out. I told Elliott we were gonna do what the 24 does and, like he said, the 8 and the 2 were gonna do that same thing, so it just worked out. We took a gamble and it paid off today."

ELLIOTT SADLER CONTINUED - WHAT ABOUT THE PARTY? "Every Tuesday night at my house at home, my dad and I feed about 60 or 70 of employees and closest friends. Usually, when we have a good weekend or like after the Bristol race we won a couple of years ago, we have a good turnout - probably 150 or 160 people will show up. I just want everybody to know that was watching that we're gonna eat at the barn on Tuesday night. It's just a cool place to hang out behind my house at home in Emporia, Virginia. It's a great time for me to spend with all my family and friends. I love going back home. That's why I still live there and it's gonna be pretty neat. That's all I said, to remind everybody we are eating at the barn on Tuesday night." IS THE ROUSH-YATES ENGINE PAYING OFF? "I do. We had two cars on the front row at the Daytona 500. We won the Twin 125. Matt Kenseth has won a couple of races. Ask them how much they like the new motor deal. We've run good with ours. They've run good. I think it's a win-win situation. You take Robert's horsepower knowledge with Jack's fuel mileage and some other stuff he know with intakes and stuff, it's just really worked out great for everybody. It's a win-win situation. We feel like if we want to go to the 17 or the 97 or the 16 or whatever and ask them questions about gears or fuel mileage, everybody is shooting each other straight. It was a great decision on their part and Ford's part to put us all together because we needed to do that. That's the direction Dodge has been working in. That's the direction Toyota is gonna work in when they get here, so to give us a few years of practice and knowledge before that happens was a great, great decision on everybody's part."

TODD PARROTT CONTINUED - "It's paid big dividends. It started at Daytona and to see Jack and Robert working hand-in-hand together on a weekend is something that's pretty special, especially knowing the battle and how much fierce competitors they were and have been through their whole racing careers. Now to see those two guys work together, smile, laugh, cut up and have a good time - even see Robert flying home on Jack's plane. It's pretty cool. Doug Yates and all those guys back at the shop have done a fantastic job. Doug has actually quit coming to the races. He's gotten so involved with his engine, which is something he loves doing. That's what Doug Yates does and that's what he's good at. He told me I was good at crew chiefing and he had a big part in me coming back as the crew chief on the 38 car. Doug Yates is good at building engines and not general managing, so he's doing what he does best and, hopefully, we can just continue winning races."

ELLIOTT SADLER CONTINUED - WHAT ABOUT THE AREA HERE? "Everytime I've ever been here, since the first year I came, whether we're doing a PRN show at Billy Bob's or appearance stuff downtown in Fort Worth or any stuff we've done - the fans here have always welcomed you to the state of Texas. That's special to us. That means a lot to me anywhere you go. They're proud to have you here. They're glad to see this sport come here and it's just a great race track. Eddie and his guys do such a great job. Any problems or questions we've got, they're always right there on cue to help us with them. Everything we've ever asked this track to do to make it better racing for the fans they've done it. It's cool to work with people like that and tracks like that. Of course, their purse is great also. It's not only good for me, it's good for Robert and everybody involved - pay your tire bills and stuff like that. It's just a great place to race at. It's like an old pair of shoes that you like. Some tracks you go to, you might not like or you don't adapt well to. Some you do and I've just always felt very special about this track since the first time I ever laid eyes on it. It's a very fun race track and I'm looking forward to coming back here real soon." HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WIN AFTER THE WRECK LAST YEAR? "It's very redeeming. I've told everybody before I ever drove a NASCAR Nextel Cup car that my first win will come at Bristol or Texas. Well, I got my first win at Bristol and my second one is at Texas, so it's cool how that works out. To lead the most laps here last year, where we had a dominant car and to have the problems we had with the flat right-rear and wreck it and total one of our best race cars was very heartbreaking to all of us, so to come back this year and kind of redeem ourselves as a whole team is very, very special. The Goodyear tires we had this weekend were unbelievable. They never cease to amaze me on how good they can make these tires. No tire problems today. We went so many fuel stops and stretching fuel runs and the tires still stayed with us the whole entire time and enabled us to put ourselves in position where we were to win the race. I just commend everybody involved with Goodyear and this race track." WILL TOMMY MADDOX BE WITH YOU EVERY RACE? "I just told him that in victory lane. If you all know, Tommy Maddox was my special guest here this weekend - the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers and just a genuine nice guy. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met and a heckuva golfer if you ever want to play golf with him. I told him, 'Hey, it don't happen like this all the time.' That's what I told him in victory lane, but since I won - he has to go to work April 12 - that I want to come to Pittsburgh this year and watch him play their biggest rivals and they better win if I come up there. It was great having him here. We've made a great friendship here the last few days and I definitely have a new friend and definitely pulling for new team in the NFL. Hopefully, he feels the same way. It's pretty neat to have him here today and, also, Dale Jarrett had Rick Barnes, the coach of the Texas Longhorns basketball here, too, so we had a lot of special guests with us this weekend."