Kurt Busch wins, Dale Jr. sixth_4/27/03
 No. 8 Budweiser Team Fights Back from One Lap Down Late in the Race
Kurt Busch won Sunday’s Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, leading the last 21
laps to become the season’s first repeat winner in 10 races. Bobby Labonte finished
second and Rusty Wallace was third. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team were
forced to start at the back of the field after changing engines Sunday morning, but
launched into the top ten in only 34 laps. After running among the top-five for much of
the afternoon, the team fell one lap behind with less than 50 laps to go after an errant
pit stop. After getting back onto the lead lap by racing past the leader on lap 216, a
well-timed yellow flag allowed them to stay on the lead lap. In the final 32 circuits of
the race, Dale Jr. drove from 18th to a sixth-place finish. Dale Jr. remains in second
place in Winston Cup points, closing to 44 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. Dale Jr. has
finished sixth or better in seven of the last eight races.
The Key Moments: The team qualified in the eighth position on Friday
afternoon, but was forced to start at the rear of the field after an engine change on
Sunday morning. The poor starting position did little to impede their run into the
top-five, taking fifth-place for the first time on lap 46 (of 250). The red No. 8 car
remained in the top-10 until a disastrous pit stop on lap 204 forced them to return to the
pits on lap 205 to tighten lug nuts on the left-front tire. The extra stop put them
one-lap behind, but a yellow flag on lap 209 allowed Dale Jr. to line-up inside of the
race leader on the restart, and then raced back onto the lead lap by lap 216. After
dropping to 18th place, Dale Jr. passed a long list of cars (occasionally going four-wide
to do so) and escaped several accidents in the final laps to finish sixth.
Dale Jr’s Quotes: "I’m happy about finishing sixth, but
yet I’m still really (mad). On one hand, it was a championship-type day. We had to
overcome a lot to make that lap up and then make it through to sixth-place. When we had
trouble, we did what we had to do to get back all we could. That’s what you need to
do to win a title. We even gained a few points on Matt (Kenseth, the points leader), so
we’ll take it and go on.
"I’m mad because we had a great car and we really screwed up in the pits. We
cannot keep doing things to beat ourselves like that. I want to apologize to my crew guys
because I was really, really hard on them on the radio, but at the same time they need to
know that we can’t keep doing that. If you really, really want it, you have to not
make mistakes. I want to win the championship so much, and I know my guys do too, but we
need to WANT it. WANT it. "
Eight, Twenty and Three Doors Down
You can see the music video "The Road I’m On" by the band Three Doors Down
on MTV, MTV2, Much Music (Canada) or online at MTV.com. The video stars Dale Earnhardt Jr.
and Tony Stewart racing through the streets of Concord, NC and then around the Concord
Motor Speedway. (By the way kids, don’t try this at home. And, on a personal note,
why doesn’t SOMEBODY pick up that blonde!?) This is the third major music video that
Dale Jr. has appeared since early 2002… (Matthew Good Band/"Anti-Pop" and
Sheryl Crow/"Steve McQueen" were the others.)
Star Power
Among those who visited the Dale Jr. motor coach this weekend were actress/model Susan
Ward, the Dahm triplets (from Junior’s Playboy.com photo shoot) along with their
father, actor Skeet Ulrich, and a relatively unknown actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who
appeared to promote a new movie.
Best Radio Conversations
The team changed engines Sunday morning, and they became concerned after Dale Jr. reported
some strange sounds in the car on lap 30.
Dale Jr: "This engine doesn’t sound very good. It sounds like it’s got a
hole in the exhaust or it has an old 4-inch exhaust pipe from a late-model car. I let off
going into the corner, and it just kind of goes ‘pow… pow… pow...
powpowpowpowpow… But, it seems to run alright otherwise."
The team made a change to the handling of the car during a lap-92 pit stop. Dale Jr.
was not happy with the way the car responded to the changes.
Lap 104:
Dale Jr: "I may have a tire going down. I’m really, really
loose."
Lap 108:
Dale Jr.: "It’s not as bad now, but these tires just feel
harder somehow."
Lap 110 (after losing two positions)
Dale Jr: "I’m sideways! Everybody’s running me down! I
know you wanted to try some changes, but I’m not a guinea pig… let’s get
this (car) tightened up!"
Lap 116
Dale Jr.: "Alright, I feel a little bit better. It’s not so bad
anymore, but it’s still loose. I have my hands full out here, but I can handle
it… I’m a PROFESSIONAL racecar driver."
Today's Stats
Started: 8th (actual starting position was 38th, after an engine change.)
Finished: 6th
Points Position: 2nd (44 points behind leader)
Money Won: $120,217
Best Pit Stop: Lap 2 / Stop #1 of 8 / Fuel, four tires / 13.80 seconds
-Budweiser
Jr. qualifies 8th in
California
4/21/03 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified
8th on Friday for Sunday's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.
"I'm pretty happy," said Junior. "That was a pretty decent lap. We
probably could have gotten a little better, but the driver over-drove the corner just a
little bit. But, the guys did a good job getting the car fast. We got it comfortable in
practice and I'm pretty happy with the lap."(DO
YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN RUN UP FRONT EACH WEEK NOW?) "To us, as a team, we've always
been that good and it's been a case of getting the finishes to prove it to everybody else.
We're starting to get that now. I feel like we've got an opportunity this year of having
some great runs and some great finishes and a great end in the points championship.
Hopefully, it all works out for us."
Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser California Preview_4/21/03
Dale Jr. Quotes for Fontana
"I see a lot of people pointing at our poor finish here last year as a sign we
shouldn’t be expected to do very well this week. But, it (the crash) was a freak deal
– (Kevin) Harvick blew a tire and we had nowhere to go. It was a big-time hit, and I
struggled for weeks after that, but we hit the wall in practice the year before (2001) and
then came from the back of the field in a back-up car to finish third. I’d prefer to
look at that run (2001) as a more realistic example of what we can do as a team.
"It’s been a fun start to the season. Tony (Eury, car chief) Jr. has been really
good up on top of the (pit) box. He used to change the front tires on the stops and had a
lot of different jobs on his plate, but this year we all decided it would be better for
him to have a comfy seat up there on the box, and he’s really responded. We’ve
kept each other focused and we have been making the right choices on changes and strategy.
At Martinsville, we felt like we were the car to beat for 450 laps until a lapped car
almost crashed us big time. Tony Jr. was really great about keeping everyone calm and
focused on the bigger points picture. We did all we could to get as many positions back in
the last 50 laps. I’m not so sure it would have been as positive of a comeback for us
in years past.
"The weekend off was nice, but we’ll rest and celebrate in December if we win
the championship."
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Fontana
Previous Winston Cup Starts: 3
Best Start: 9th (2002)
Best Finish: 3rd (2001)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 9th FIN: 36th
Dale Jr. took what he has described as the hardest hit of his career last season at this
event after colliding with a car that had blown a tire. Dale Jr’s concussion as a
result of the major impact hampered the team’s progress for several months after.
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Dale Jr. will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC-TV
late night Thursday (early Friday morning for some) at 12:05 am ET.
What:
Auto Club 500
250 laps / 500 miles / Race #10 of 36 in the Winston Cup Series
Where:
California Speedway, Fontana, California
2-mile oval
When:
Sunday, April 27 / 3 p.m.
Watch:
Fox-TV (pre-race: 2:30 pm)
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Bud Pole qualifying can be seen live Friday at 6:00 p.m. on Speed Channel. You can also
hear qualifying and race action on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio station or
computer near you. The radio programming is also heard on the 24-hour NASCAR channel on XM
Radio. (All Times: Eastern)
-Budweiser |
