Go to content Go to navigation Go to recent PR reports Go to search

Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes - All-Star Race Final

Sunday May 18, 2008

 

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) Winner
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU WON THE ALL-STAR RACE? “I wouldn’t have believed it until about lap 60 or so. At that point, our car was getting better and better. We were making the right adjustments. In the final 50 to 75 laps we were pretty loose. We made one small adjustment with the track bar, and left the tires on it. I knew we were quick the longer the runs went. I thought if we could get by some cars, the car was good enough to win.”

THE FIRST 25 LAPS YOU WENT FROM 24 TO 13TH, WAS THE CAR GOOD ALL NIGHT? “The car was good all night. It was a little too loose early. We could have had (passed) a couple more cars there in the end on a couple of those runs in the end and kind of got held up. I didn’t want to force anything with the way it was slipping around on the bottom at the end. It feels pretty special to win this race. To get voted in by the fans – they voted us in – we didn’t even make our way in. The fans put us in the All-Star Race and hopefully we made them happy. Twenty-fourth to 1st, that’s the best that we can do.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PIT STRATEGY AFTER THE THIRD SESSION? “That’s what we had to do; it was our only shot at winning the race. I knew that the longer the runs went, the better our Budweiser Dodge got. I thought we were getting better and some other cars were getting worse. We did that (stop and go pit) and came out in second. Denny Hamlin got a great start and we had to battle a little bit and get back out front.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOLDING OFF GREG BIFFLE AND DENNY HAMLIN LATE IN THE RACE? “I knew both of them were going to be tough. I was better than Hamlin and was better than him off the corner. I was just waiting and knew we were a little bit better.”

RAY EVERNHAM (Co-owner, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)
YOUR THOUGHTS ON WINNING THE SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE? “That was awesome and a really great effort put forth by Kenny Francis and all the guys on that team. I really want to thank the fans because if it wasn’t for their vote, we wouldn’t have been in the race. We won the race.”

KENNY FRANCIS (Technical Director, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)
HOW GOOD DOES THIS WIN FEEL? “That was an awesome run for the Budweiser Dodge, and it’s a lot of validation for all the hard work all those guys on this team have put into this program. We have to really thank the fans for voting us into the race- that makes it pretty special. We’re really excited to win for all the fans that voted us into the race. We really didn’t do anything special as far as pit strategy. We just kind of worked our way through the field.”

MARK MCARDLE (VP & Managing Director of Competition- Gillett Evernham Motorsports)
“Kasey, I’m damn proud of you.”

SAM HORNISH JR. (Driver, No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) 7th
YOU SCRAPED THE WALL EARLY IN THE ALL-STAR RACE. “Oh yeah, we scraped it pretty good, too. We had a really good car. I thought we had a car that was capable of running in the top-10 here. Once we got out there running I think we had one that was capable of winning. I went down into that turn and I was right behind the 42 car. He’d been running the bottom and he moved up and it was either me go up in the marbles and try to keep from crashing or run over him. I did what I thought was the right thing to do and I had to move up a little bit and I got in the marbles and got the back end which drug the front. Then we get the flat tire and go two laps down and it was a struggle the whole day but we had a really good car.
I wish that we would have been up a little bit better because we would have had an opportunity to maybe take some tires there on that last stop or do something a little bit differently or we would have just got better track position than what we had.

“I was just really happy with the way that the Mobil 1 Dodge handled. The guys did a great job in the pits. I think we had a car that could have ran in the top-three easy and I think that’s part of the learning process for a rookie is learning who to run around, who you can’t run around and who you need to be extra-careful about. It’s just unfortunate that it happens that way but the biggest bummer for me of the whole thing is that we don’t get any Raybestos Rookie of the Year points for this weekend [smiles].”

YOU PASSED NINE CARS IN THE THIRD SEGMENT. DID YOU REALIZE THE CAR WAS THAT MUCH BETTER? “We were really good. I think we would have probably passed about 15 in the first segment if we hadn’t got up there and got into the wall and then we would have been able to take our time from then on out. The big thing was that we knew we had a really good car it’s just how we get back on the lead lap. In all the all-star races that I’ve ever seen there’s been about 12 cars running at the end because everybody else was wrecked. This year there’s no yellows other than the mandatory ones. It was a strange deal but we got back on the lead lap. We finished seventh and I’m real happy about how all the guys on the Mobil 1 Dodge did. They’re making me really proud. We keep trying to advance all the time and we think we’re heading in the right direction and we just need to get the monkey off our back and get a little bit more luck. I’m just really, really blessed that I got to come down here and be part of the all-star race. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, that’s for sure.”

RYAN NEWMAN (Driver, No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) Finished 6th
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR RACE TONIGHT? “The Alltel Dodge was decent tonight, and I think we learned some things that will help us come back here with a better car for next week’s race. Track position was everything tonight. We opted for two tires on the final pit stop, and some of the guys in front of us didn’t take any. Sixth-place is a solid finish, and we’ll take what we learned and hopefully improve on that next Sunday.”

Still haven’t joined the Frontstretch Forums? Here’s a peek at what you’re
missing this week:

How do you feel about A.J. Allmendinger’s release from Red Bull Racing?

Are you surprised to see Paul Menard leaving DEI?

If you’d prefer to stay out of controversial NASCAR topics, feel free to join us in The Infield, where we talk about everything from politics to stick and ball sports to jokes and odd news from around the world.

And for those of you that might visit The Frontstretch Forums to kill time, feel free to join in our Games forum. It’s the perfect place to waste away countless hours playing word association, hangman, and much, much more.

Click here to join the forums and tell us what you think. Don’t miss out on a chance to share your opinion with a growing community of fans just like you!

Message Board Quote of the Week: “I don’t see how Rusty + DEI + COT = competitive on the racetrack in 2009. I do see how Rusty could hook a sponsor, though, which DEI needs more than ever with Paul Menard leaving and taking the Menards money with him.” Scott B on rumors that Rusty Wallace would be making a return to NASCAR behind the wheel of a DEI-owned machine

This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

©2000 - 2008 Kim DeHaven and Frontstetch.com. Thanks for visiting the Frontstretch!