Loudon Pontiac Racing Race Notes

NOTES AND QUOTES Jiffy Lube 300 New Hampshire International Speedway July 11, 1999

GREG ZIPADELLI (No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac Grand Prix): "We knew it was probably going to be a half-a-lap gamble. It showed up to be bigger than that. We thought we were conserving more fuel throughout the whole run than we had previously. If we did and were getting the same fuel mileage we did earlier, we should have made it. We ran the car out of gas yesterday and had a real good indication of what it would pick up and it just didn't work out. Tony and somebody got together at the end. We've got to walk before we can run. This was just one of those stumbling blocks. I guess we shouldn't take chances like that. We had a good car and could have probably pitted and got a top three or four out of it. We ended up with a top-10 after going for it. That's the third or fourth one we might have given away this year. We'll just have to deal with it."

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 STP Pontiac Grand Prix): "I'm real proud of my team. They did a great job. They gave me a really good race car. The last set of tires we just couldn't hook up on, period. That was the worst we were all day. We weren't going to have a great finish but we were going to have a decent finish. We tried to go all the way and we ran out of fuel. That's the way it goes. The motor shut off right as the fuel went into the car. You don't really have a choice at that point. If somebody is going to go the distance you've got to try and go the distance. We're not in the points chase, so it's more about finishing up front. The only thing I'm disappointed about is that I would have rather have had that set of tires in the middle of the race and have the set of tires I had in the middle of the race at the end of the race. We weren't pushin then and I was real happy with the car. That's the way racing goes. Next week we're off so hallallelujah."

WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Pontiac Grand Prix): "At the first of the race we figured we might could be happy with a top-15. But once you get in the top-10 it's hard to be happy with anything else. We had a pretty decent car, but something happened after that last stop for tires and it was spinning the wheels in the corners. It helped us with the points. I think we picked up a position (ninth to eighth) and we can get this team where it belongs."

ERNIE IRVAN (No. 36 M&M's Pontiac Grand Prix): "I guess he (Tony Stewart) was mad at me or something, I don't know. He hit me in turn two. He hit me in the back and hit me in the right side, so I went ahead and hit him, too. I gues that since he ran out of gas he was mad at me because maybe I didn't get it full. He was probably disgusted. I was disgusted because we ran like total crap, so I wasn't the one to be jacking with at that time. I was trying to pass him towards the end. I don't know if it was for position or not. He bottled me up so much the 21 car got by me and that's the guy I knew I was racing. Tony's all right. I'd be pretty upset, too. He was going to have his first Winston Cup win and it didn't happen. It's just part of it."

RICH BICKLE (No. 45 Lucky Dog Pontiac Grand Prix): "We had a good car and that shows how important qualifying is here. We started way back. We did the best we could with what we had. I think at times there I had an easy top-five car based on speed. Actually, I was running the same speed as the leader was for quite a while. We've got to be happy. We gained 14 spots from where we started. If we can ever get this qualifying thing figured out and I can get my mind together qualifying again, we'll be where we're capable of running. It's not where we wanted to finish. Believe me, we had a lot better car than that. The car was tight from the beginning of the race. We got it adjusted and it got a little loose in and tight off. After lap 200 it was pretty sporty after we pitted. Poor fuel mileage put us from eighth to 14th. When you work all day to jump up into the top-10, it's disappointing. We'll take it and move on."

BOBBY LABONTE (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac Grand Prix): "I was racing real hard with some lapped cars there. I got into three awfully hard and I got together with somebody over there. That's the way it goes. That's racing here at Loudon. We were racing kind of hard going into turn three, I reckon. I got down on the inside of a lapped car and I got in there real hard. It went around on me. I don't know what happened. It was one of those deals and that's the way it goes. It's a shame. The Interstate Pontiac ran good all day. It's a shame that happened. Things like that are going to happen here. I was trying to give everybody all the room I could."

DAVE BLANEY (No. 93 Amoco Pontiac Grand Prix):  "We just got nicked from
behind a little bit.  We got turned around.  We finally got the car where
it was running good there.  We were kind of running in line with some lead
lap cars and I tried to stay out of the way every time I could.  I never
got a chance to move.  He just got into me before I could move."

KYLE PETTY (No. 44 Hot Wheels Pontiac Grand Prix): "We started off pretty good, but we've got to finish these things too. But they only count where you are after 200 laps. We had a rear end gear break. We've had a lot of good runs end early this season. We've got to start turning all this potential into more reality."