NASCAR Winston Cup Bud at Watkins Glen: Post Race Quotes from Chevy Drivers
11 August 1997
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Chevrolet Post-Race Quotes
The Bud at the Glen
Watkins Glen International
August 10, 1997
WATKINS GLEN, NY - The following provided by Chevrolet Motor Division, General
Motors Corporation Public Relations:
DALE EARNHARDT (#3 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo) -
Started 3rd, finished 16th - "We had a good car at the beginning of the race.
The pit stops got us behind. They said I ran over an air hose and we had to
come back in. We just can't catch a break. Nothing but bad luck seems to
follow us these days. We keep having trouble in the pits and we're going to
have to turn that around. We'll try to go to Michigan and get it done there."
ROBBY GORDON (#40 Coors Light Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 10th, finished
4th - Gordon scored his career best finish on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit
with a fourth-place run in Sunday's race. All three Team SABCO drivers
recorded their best finishes of the season.
"We had a really fast car. I thought I could not pass Todd (Bodine) before
the start-finish line but at least get alongside of him and have the
opportunity to pass him going into turn one. It was a big penalty to get a
stop and go and go to the back of the pack. We fought hard all day, but we're
proud of breaking into the top five for Team SABCO. I fought real hard trying
to get past Musgrave. I wanted to race him real clean and I didn't want to
get into anybody. You build your reputation around here by racing everybody
clean. I finally got a clean opportunity on him and I took it. Too bad we
didn't get him a little earlier.
"The guys did a good job for me. That stop and go penalty killed us. I tried
to pull a fast one on Todd, but the guys did a good job of getting us back up
there. The car was handling beautifully. We thought we would have
opportunities to win on road courses. We passed a lot of cars. I don't think
anybody passed us all day long. The car was really good. It's really hard to
pass here. I drove the same race I was driving before (after stop and go
penalty). A lot of people thought I would run off the track after getting off
twice yesterday (Saturday).
"I think we proved some people wrong today. We were competitive. I thought we
could get alongside of Todd at the start-finish line and that would give me
the inside going into the corner. I didn't know they were going to give me a
black flag for being inside of him.
"I'm pretty excited because the last few weekends we've been pretty strong.
We had a pretty good run at Indianapolis. To come back here and be smooth is
great. We made one mistake that probably cost us the victory. If not, it
would have been a close race anyway. You slide these babies around. It
reminds me of my off-road truck in the dirt. You don't have a lot of grip and
you slide around a lot. It's competitive.
"There's got to be some sun on the other side of the tunnel because it's been
dark for a long time. We're on a roll. Hopefully, I've proven I can be
competitive in a Winston Cup stock car. I think we had the fastest car today.
We passed everybody. I came from the back. We passed most of the guys that
were real strong."
WALLY DALLENBACH (#46 First Union Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 5th,
finished 10th - "We got killed on track position on that first pit stop. You
can't give up 20 positions. We were loose and had to pull the rubbers out of
the rear springs. We've got a lot of work to do on our road course cars right
now. At Sears Point, we really didn't get a good finish. We thought we were
going to be a lot better here, and I think we would have, but you can't give
up that kind of track position."
JOE NEMECHEK (#42 BellSouth Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 8th, finished
12th - "It was a long day, but I think everybody knew we were here. We had an
awesome race car, but we can't keep giving it away lie that. We had some
awesome pit stops. Tony Glover made some excellent calls. We just didn't stay
up front long enough. I probably tried to push it a little too early, but
we'll be back.
"I think we had the class of the field today. It was a brand new car and it
was awesome. It ripped all the brake ducts off when I went off the track the
first time. I didn't have any cooling going to the front brakes and we were
overheating them. It still ran fast for having to start pumping 'em going
past the start-finish line to stop for the next corner. I can't keep giving
them away like that. The car was awesome and the team is really coming
together. I'd rather be running good and have something like that happen than
be running terrible in the back of the pack. All three SABCO teams are
improving and I think our team has improved more than anybody's.
"I don't know how hard Jeff Gordon was running, but if I could get out on my
own we could run a second a lap quicker than anybody out there. At the start
of the race we just put it on cruise. We were gone. That feels good. It's
about like the Busch race when I came here. It's fun coming here. A lot of
people don't like it and you can take advantage of it. It's a driver's track
and you've got to really hustle the car. I'm worn out right now."
STEVE GRISSOM (#41 Kodiak Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 33rd, finished 9th
- "We had a real good car today. We came off the trailer on Friday and had a
top 10 car. We dropped back some and then didn't pick up in qualifying. we
felt like we had a decent car in practice yesterday. We had some awesome pit
stops and good pit strategy. It wasn't handed to us. We had to work for it.
Everybody did their job and we were able to get a top 10 out of it. We had
close calls about once a lap, but that's the way road racing is. Brakes and
transmissions get sticky and people get off the track. You never really know
what to expect. This is the best finish I've ever had on a road course, so
we'll gear up and try it again next week."
STERLING MARLIN (#4 Kodiak Gold Film Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 6th,
finished 13th - "After last week, I guess anything feels pretty good. The car
felt pretty good at the start. We got blocked in on that first pit stop and
that cost us a few spots. So we had to play catch up a lot of the rest of the
day. The boys on this Kodak Gold Film Chevrolet team did a good job.
Circumstances just kind of bit us."
DARRELL WALTRIP (#17 Parts America Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 32nd,
finished 18th - "We had a plan and it almost came together. We stayed out as
long as we could and got to lead a couple of laps. A caution came out with
about 30 laps to go and we were really looking good. Unfortunately, a couple
more yellows came out and ruined everything. The car was good most of the
day, but we got behind early and couldn't pass anybody until it was too late.
I feel bad for that fender-bender I got into early with Rick Mast. The
gearbox stuck between gears and I couldn't go anywhere. And there was nowhere
for him to go but into me."
TERRY LABONTE (#5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 16th, finished
8th - "It's hard to pass here. Everything's got to be right, and we couldn't
do it today. The brakes wouldn't stop good. We couldn't get in the corners
good enough. We had to get out of the gas too early. The only reason I lost
positions was because those guys could out-brake me on the restarts. If I had
gone in as deep as they did, I would have been over there in the sandpit. The
brake pedal would go down all the way and the car wouldn't stop. It was kind
of like anti-lock brakes. Considering the last two races, it was a good day.
We gained some points on the 88 (Dale Jarrett). You can't expect to gain
points on all of 'em all the time, but at lease we gained on one of them
today. We've got a good car for next week at Michigan. It's the same car we
had at California and the same car we ran last week at Indy. It runs good,
and Michigan is a good track for us. We're really looking forward to that
race."
STEVE PARK (#14 Burger King Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 12th, finished
33rd - "We were just trying to stay out of trouble and get a top-10 finish. I
think we were in pretty good shape, but rookies make rookie mistakes, and
that's what I did today. Instead of a top-10 finish, we ended up 33rd. You've
got to learn from your mistakes, so we'll try to learn from everything that
happened today and do better next time."
KEN SCHRADER (#33 Skoal Bandit Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 15th,
finished 14th - "That was a decent finish, but I thought we might have enough
for a top-10 today. I got to thinking I was a road racer out there one time
and spun out. Then I get to the garage after the race and run into a pit
wagon. I guess the driver was just a little too excited."
RICKY CRAVEN (#25 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo) - Started 39th, finished
17th - "We came from the back and finished in the middle. I wish we could
have finished better, but it wasn't a bad day. We stayed out of trouble and
that's always tough to do on a road course."
###