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Rockingham: Scott Wimmer preview

Scott Wimmer on Rockingham-- "We really struggled here last fall," said Wimmer. "We got better once the race got underway, but we were just way off when we first got there that we played catch up all day. But this time, I think we can have a ...

Scott Wimmer on Rockingham--

"We really struggled here last fall," said Wimmer. "We got better once the race got underway, but we were just way off when we first got there that we played catch up all day. But this time, I think we can have a better day. First of all, we went and tested there and we felt like we made a lot of gains from where we were last fall. It's hard to be sure just how competitive we were because we only had Ryan Newman to gauge our performance off of and we looked to be pretty close to him, but we'll see. We'll go there and keep our nose clean and try to improve on where we were last fall."

Frank Stoddard on Rockingham--

"I am cautiously optimistic about heading back to Rockingham," said Stoddard. "We went and tested just before we left for Daytona and I thought we looked pretty good. We definitely were better than we were in the fall, so that's good. You know, you go down there and have solid pit stops, stay on the lead lap and you are almost guaranteed a decent finish. We'll see what we can do; I think we'll be okay.

"I don't think the new tires are going to wear anymore than the old ones did last fall, so that shouldn't be an issue. They wear a lot there anyway, no matter what. We felt like we were pretty decent on a longer run, but we'll just have to wait and see. Rockingham is definitely a track that wears the tires out, so we'll focus on the long runs and make sure our lap times don't fall off drastically once they begin to wear out."

Scott Wimmer on Daytona--

"It's been an incredible week," said Wimmer. "We have really enjoyed this week. I think that a lot of people have overlooked us, but that's okay we' ll just have to go out and prove them all wrong. The CAT team has a great foundation and I think we are a legitimate contender for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title. Frank made a great call to put two tires on and that put us out front in front of the leaders. We weren't able to stay in the lead, but we finished third and that was above our expectations, so we were really pumped up."

Frank Stoddard on Daytona--

"We had struggled all week and ran the 125 and realized we were way off. We made a lot of changes after the twins and got the #22 handling better and we were confident we would be better for the 500. We had exceptional pit stops, stayed out of trouble and just all in all had a flawless day. We know it won't be that easy every week, but it sure does get the season off to a good start. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. I think we can surprise a lot of people."

North Carolina Speedway Notables--

* Wimmer finished third in his first Daytona 500, the highest finishing rookie since Jeff Gordon finished fifth in his rookie season.

* Crew chief Frank Stoddard has one Winston Cup win at the one-mile oval, better known as the "Rock." He was the winning crew chief for the 1999 Pop Secret 400 at North Carolina Speedway.

* Wimmer and Stoddard will go to Atlanta Motor Speedway next Tuesday and Wednesday to test in preparation for the upcoming race.

Cat equipment for the Subway 400--

* Wimmer and the No. 22 Caterpillar team are taking car #78 to North Carolina Speedway.

-bdr-

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