BUSCH: Richmond Race Quotes

Hardee's 250 Friday quotebook

RICHMOND, Va. (May 14, 1999) Quotes from selected drivers following Friday night's NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division Hardee's 250 at Richmond International Raceway:

MARK MARTIN No. 60 Winn-Dixie Ford "I want to thank all the guys who work on the No. 60 car. This is my favorite car that they built for me. We had it pretty well hooked up today but we got real lucky there at the end with all that green flag (racing). I couldn't outrun those guys for a while. A bunch of those guys would just eat our lunch on new tires and on cold tires. But this thing was hooked up. It never spun a tire. The last lap I could still mash it to the floor in the middle of the corner. Usually that's what happens to me here. I get to spinning the tires and the next thing I know I've got nothing but cords left. They had the back end hooked up for me and the car worked well. "Matt (Kenseth) ran good tonight. I was really surprised how well he ran. Jeff Burton really didn't surprise me. He was testing a different kind of car when we were here and he wasn't happy with it. So he brought a regular car with the same stuff under it we had. So I knew if we ran good he probably would, too. Jeff Burton is the master here. To beat him tonight is something."

JEFF BURTON No. 9 Hardee's Ford "We brought a different kind of car on the same day (for testing). We threw their (Martin's) setup under it wasn't as quite good for me as it was for him. But I'm proud of my guys. They had the best pit stops of anyone and got us in contention to win. It was a good night."

MATT KENSETH No. 17 DeWalt Chevrolet "It's great to race against Mark and Jeff Burton. It's not too bad to finish third to the two greatest drivers there are. The guys put together a brand new car for here and we had next to no practice at all. Like I said these guys gave me awesome pit stops and track position when I needed it."

JEFF GREEN No. 32 Kleenex Chevrolet "It wasn't a bad run. Thought we might have had us another win there for a while. We didn't loosen it up like we needed to and it just wouldn't turn in the corners there toward the end. We didn't get any better and the others got their cars better at the end. That was the difference."

TODD BODINE No. 66 Phillips 66 Chevrolet "We had a fast car at the end of this thing. Donnie (Richeson, crew chief) made the call to make some adjustments on it on the last pit and it was the right decision. We've been a top-5 car just about every week, that is if we don't crash. We've just got to quit spotting them so much at the beginning of the race."

KENNY WALLACE No. 25 Dura-Lube Chevrolet "At least we were on the same straightaway with them (the leaders). I've been away from this Busch Series for two years and I'd about forgot what we had learned. This was my 4th race back with them and it hasn't been all that bad. But I forgot just how tough it is out here in the Busch Series. It's like tossing a piece of raw meat to a pack of bulldogs."

BOBBY HILLIN No. 8 Sparkle Towels Chevrolet "It felt really great, it did, finally to be running back up front with them guys. It really did feel good. We got out of sync on our pit stops with some tire troubles. I got tight at the end and was running up high, but I was skating the wheels. At least it was a step in the right direction for this team. We're really trying pretty hard to get this thing going in the right direction."

DALE EARNHARDT JR. No. 3 ACDelco Chevrolet "We had to put a new rear end in there and with about 10 laps to go, it burned up on us. By then, though, we had gained all the spots that we were gonna gain. It was no big deal, though. I don't really know where we finished."

Source: NASCAR Online