Busch Earns First Victory, Earnhardt Jr.
Fourth_3/24
 No. 8 Budweiser Team Leads Most Laps,
Grabs Third Consecutive Top-Four Finish
Kurt Busch secured his first NASCAR Winston Cup victory this afternoon at the Food City
500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway while Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser
team led four times for 181 laps and finished fourth. Busch, in his second year of Winston
Cup racing, led the final 55 laps and held off Jimmy Spencer and Ricky Rudd at the finish
of the 500-lap race for his first win. This is the second week in a row that the Bud team
has finished fourth after starting 23rd, and it is the third consecutive top-four finish
for the team. The dominating run for Dale Jr. (including 10 bonus points for leading the
most laps) gained him four positions in the point standings to sixth place after six of 36
races.
The Key Moment: Dale Jr., starting 23rd for the second week in a row, had a
fast car from the start, climbing easily into the top 20 in the first 50 laps, and then
taking advantage of an aggressive pit strategy to take the lead for the first time on lap
84. Avoiding trouble on the small half-mile oval is key, and Dale Jr. managed to side-step
accident after accident through the middle segments of the race, leading easily at times,
and enjoying the benefits of five consecutive pit stops of less than 14.5 seconds each.
With 90 laps left in the race, Dale Jr. led Busch and Spencer when the 13th yellow flag of
the day flew. The Bud team chose to pit for four tires, while Busch and eight other cars
on the lead lap chose not to pit. Dale Jr. rejoined the race in tenth position, and was
able to slice and dice his way past six cars to gain the fourth place finish. The red No.
8 car finished the race in spotless condition, but was damaged on pit road following the
event when an angry Robby Gordon slammed it from behind.
n spotless condition, but was damaged on pit road following the
event when an angry Robby Gordon slammed it from behind.
Dale Jr's Quotes: "I'm happy - a top-five and our first-ever good finish
at Bristol. This has always been a really tough track for us… we had finished on the
lead lap only once before. (Their previous best was a 14th place finish last August.)
We've got a week off, which is great- so we can think about these great finishes at tracks
where we've never done well before. Now, we can look forward to going to tracks where
we've always been strong - like Texas, Fontana, Talladega… We left here last year
with our tail between our legs (31st place finish/ 26th place in points), but we're
really coming on strong this year. The guys were awesome on every stop - we were the first
ones out nearly every time."
"We needed to make that pit stop (with 90 laps to go) because we didn't feel
like the car was as good as it had been earlier. We didn't believe the car or that set of
tires was fast enough to win if we didn't stop. We were great all day on fresh tires, so
that was why we came in. I restarted 10th, and made my way past a lot of guys who had
older tires, but we ran out of laps."
About the damage done by Robby Gordon following the race: "I don't know
what the hell he's doing. He was a moving chicane all day. He was a lap down and he held
us up early in the race. I had to move him over a bit then (on lap 148) because he was
holding us up and we were beginning to overheat. Then, he slid in front of us on the
restart with 15 laps to go and held us up again. I was trying to catch the 28 car (Ricky
Rudd) and he's in our way. I feel bad for my guys who have to fix all the damage - we had
finished the race with a clean car."
Best Radio Conversations
Dale Jr. avoided the carnage that usually prevails at the small Bristol track, with the
help of spotter Ty Norris. The high speeds and tight conditions force a driver to be aware
of a massive amount of action in front of and around him. As if driving at such break-neck
speeds is not enough, the driver must also be aware of an immense amount of additional
race information. Following the first yellow flag of the day, Norris asked if Junior had
seen the accident ahead of him.
Ty Norris (spotter): "Good job, man. Did you see that one,
Junior?"
Dale Jr: "Yeah. They just showed it on the Jumbotron…" (referring
to the gigantic video screen on the inside of turns three and four)
Late in the event, Dale Jr. had raced his way from 10th to fourth place, and was
closing in on the top three cars as well as some lapped traffic on lap 461.
Ty Norris: "Great! Great job. Now - the 55's (Bobby Hamilton) next. The next
position right in front of you."
Dale Jr: (correcting Norris with the correct number of the third-place car that
was nearly a straightaway ahead.) "No. The 28 (Rudd)… the 28 is
next."
Because they were working on a pit strategy that was different from other early race
leaders like Tony Stewart and Jimmy Spencer, the Bud car had not been matched with those
cars on the race track all afternoon until all of the lead lap cars pitted on lap 283. A
stop of 13.58 seconds put the red No. 8 out first, followed by Stewart and Spencer.
Ty Norris: "Great job guys. We're out of the pits in first place."
Dale Jr: "Now we're gonna find out how good we really are. The car seems
to be getting a little better each time we stop."
Tony Eury Jr. (car chief) "The 20's (Stewart) pretty good, but
otherwise, we're the one to beat. Should just be you and Tony…"
Dale Jr: "Alright then…. I'd be satisfied if they just decided to end the
race now. We'll take it… Naw, we'll be good here. Good job today guys - the car
is great and the stops are good. There's no substitute for fresh tires out here…"
Today's Stats
Started:
23rd
Finished:
4th
Money Won:
$87,850
Points Position:
6th
Laps Led:
Four
times / 181 laps
(Bonus
points for most laps led)
Best Pit Stop:
Lap
283 / 4 tires and Fuel / 13.58 seconds
(Fourth
stop of the day)
What a Difference A Year Makes…
Following a 31st place finish in this race last year, the Bud team sat in 26th place in
Winston Cup points. The team rebounded after Bristol, grabbing three victories and an 8th
place finish in the points at year-end. This season, after six races, the team is on a
roll, grabbing three top-four finishes in a row for the first time in their brief Winston
Cup career. They now sit in 6th place - an improvement of 20 positions. Going into the
next race at Texas, they are 41 points out of second place.
Team Monte Carlo Race Notes, Quotes_3/24
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE
CARLO (fourth):
"We weren't quite as good as everybody else on the same tires. We took
advantage on having new tires a lot of times. Congratulations to Kurt. I'm happy - a
top-five and our first-ever finish at Bristol. This has always been a really tough track
for us, and we had finished on the lead lap only once before. (Their previous best was a
14th place finish last August.) We've got a week off, which is great. We left here last
year with our tail between our legs (31st place finish/ 26th place in points), but we're
really coming on strong this year. The guys were awesome on every stop - we were the first
ones out nearly every time."
ON THE FINAL PIT STOP: "We needed to make that pit
stop (with 90 laps to go - dropped them from first to 10th) because we didn't feel like
the car was as good as it had been earlier. We didn't believe it was fast enough to win if
we didn't stop. We were great all day on fresh tires, so that was why we stopped."
TONY EURY JR., NO. 8 CREW CHIEF:
"We changed four tires. With 100 to go I just figured everyone was going to
come in and make one more stop and run 100 laps on the tires. We were starting to spin the
tires. I didn't think we were going to win the race like we were, so we just took a chance
and everybody stayed out, and it kind of messed us up. It's one of those deals, but we got
beat. But thatıs the first time we finished Bristol, so we're pretty happy about that and
now we're sixth in the points, so we're all pretty pumped." NO REGRETS? "No, I'd
probably do the same thing again. I feel that if we would have stayed out there we still
might not have won."
Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Race Preview_3/18
Dale Jr. Quotes for the Food City 500
"If the Bud team is going to challenge for the
Winston Cup title this year, we need to step up at tracks where we have had trouble in the
past. We have never had a good finish at Darlington - until Sunday. Getting a top-five
finish there really makes us more confident going to Bristol. We've been fast at Bristol,
but we just seem to always find some sort of trouble. We're like a magnet- stuff just
finds us, it sticks to us there. It's such a small track and the speeds are so fast that
you have no way of avoiding it sometimes.
"This race is like a 15-round championship boxing
match - you need to pace yourself for a few extra rounds of punishment. The g-forces and
the fumes and the noise are all brutal, so it really tests you in ways that are unique to
Bristol. It's painful by the end of the day, but the event is fun and the crowds always
add to the atmosphere. A great atmosphere to race."
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Bristol
Winston Cup Starts: - 4
Best Start: - 9th (Spring, 2001)
Best Finish: - 14th (Fall, 2001)
This Race, Last Year:
St: 9th
Fin: 31st
The Bud team limped home to a 31st place finish here last
spring after being swept into a multi-car crash on lap 380. The Bristol race marked the
lowest point of the season for the team in the point standings, dropping them to 26th
place after five straight poor finishes in 2001. This season, the team comes into the
weekend with momentum going in a positive direction, as they have chalked up two top-five
finishes in the last two races.
What:
Food City 500
500 Laps, 250 miles
.5-mile oval
Race #6 of 36
Where:
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, TN
When:
Sunday, March 24
1:00 pm
Watch:
Fox
Pre-race: 12:30 pm
(All Times: Eastern)
You can also listen to the race live on the Performance
Racing Network (PRN) on a radio station near you.
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Live coverage of Friday's Bud Pole qualifying session can be seen on the Fox Sports
Network at 3:00 pm.
What to Watch
Bristol is a track that produces some of the most exciting racing on the entire circuit.
The action is almost non-stop for 500 laps around the small, high-banked oval. Imagine
racing inside of a cereal bowl with 150,000 crazed fans cheering every bump, spin and
crash.
See Him! Meet Him! Smell Him! Touch Him! Feel Him!
(well... at least see him...)
Budweiser will present a special Dale Jr. autograph session
at the Food City Family Race Night at the Meadow View Convention Center in Kingsport, TN
this Thursday evening from 6 until 8 pm. The first 600 fans in line will receive a ticket
good for an autograph. (Ticket distribution begins at 3:00 pm that afternoon.) Follow the
signs at the Convention Center for the Dale Jr. autograph line. Only those with tickets
will receive an autograph.
Fans can also participate in a Q & A session with Dale
Jr. Wednesday night (March 20) at the Belk store at The Streets of Southpoint Mall on
Fayetteville Road in Durham, North Carolina from 6:15 until 8:00 pm. (Local media may also
visit with Dale Jr. beginning at 6 pm.)
-Budweiser |
