Richmond Pontiac Racing Saturday Notes, I

Note: Rookie Tony Stewart handed Pontiac its sixth win of the season, be coming the first rookie to win since the late Davey Allison in 1987.

TONY STEWART (No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac Grand Prix): "It's been a great day for us. I'm glad all these fans were able to share it with me, it me ans a lot. We never changed a screw on it all night. All we had to do was adjust on the air pressure. It was great for Pontiac. It was a team effort . That's what we were working for -- a 1-2 finish. I'm just glad I was the guy in first tonight. I knew I wasn't going to run out of fuel, that 's for sure. I was a little concerned about the lapped cars at the end. I just appreciate all of the guys professionalism tonight. They really helped out. They let us go and let Bobby and I race for the win. I really appreciated that. Greg Zipadelli is no rookie. He may be a rookie as far as staff and everything, but that guy's no rookie. He knows what he's doing.

With all his abilities and all the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing, he showed it tonight. As far as me being a rookie, the part about being a rookie is you 're going to make mistakes. The guys are doing a great job in the pits as far as changing tires and putting fuel in the car. I'm just the weak link on the pit stops. Getting behind like that we knew we just had to be patient and pick the right spots to go by. I was just worried about lapped traffic (last 10 laps). We knew we were at least matching Bobby's times or a tenth quicker."

KYLE PETTY (No. 44 Hot Wheels Pontiac Grand Prix): "We were hoping to col lect that half-million from Players Inc., but it as an OK night. Our program's coming around. We're still not as consistent as we want to be, but we're headed in the right direction. We're still having our ups and downs, but we're having more and more ups."

WARD BURTON (No. 22 Caterpillar Pontiac Grand Prix): "We started off tight and never could get it loosened up. I don't know. we felt pretty decent after happy hour, but the track never came to us. We gave it all we had.

Maybe we can get it done at New Hampshire."

TODD BODINE (No. 30 State Fair Brand Corn Dogs Pontiac Grand Prix): "We were really tight in the center of the turns early on and that cost us because Tony Stewart was setting such a hectic pace. But then Barry and the boys dialed in the car nicely and we ran competitively. I really think we had a good car. Late in the race I hit a lapped car in front of me and I just kin d of backed off after that. But all in all, we had a darn good race car."