Kenseth champion, Bill Elliott wins
race, Dale Jr. 13th after yellow flag woes_11/9/03
 No. 8 Budweiser Team Records Career-Best at the Rock
Matt Kenseth finished fourth today at the Pop Secret 400 at the North Carolina Motor
Speedway in Rockingham, but he became the 2003 Winston Cup Champion with one race
remaining. Bill Elliott won the race, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Jeremy Mayfield. Dale
Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team were among the fastest cars all afternoon,
running in the top-five until making a pit stop one lap prior to a yellow flag on lap 243,
putting them one lap behind the leaders. The unfortunate timing was duplicated later in
the race on lap 369, when the No. 8 team pitted as the yellow flag flew again. Despite
falling two laps behind, Dale Jr. and the team finished 13th, a career-best mark at the
Rockingham oval. Johnson’s second-place finish moves him into second-place in the
Winston Cup point standings, 38 points ahead of Dale Jr. in third.
The Key Moments: Dale Jr. started 26th, and wasted little time climbing
through the field, sliding into the top-15 in less than 20 laps. After the first two pit
stops, Dale Jr. made two heroic/miraculous/lucky moves to barely avoid accidents ahead of
him, which allowed him to gain a top-10 position after 128 laps. With another set of fresh
tires, Dale Jr. climbed to fourth position on lap 170, then rode there until the fateful
pit stop on lap 242, followed one lap later by a yellow flag. The team climbed back into
the top-10 again, but lost another lap under similar conditions when the yellow flag came
out as the Bud car was entering pit lane. Despite finishing two laps down, it is the best
Winston Cup finish for Dale Jr. and the team since joining the tour in 2000.
Dale Jr. Quotes: “Congratulations to Matt and Robbie (Reiser) and
those guys. Unless you’re out there fighting with ‘em every week, you don’t
appreciate how tough it is to do what they’ve done. They’ve had a great season.
Matt and I have been through a lot together, so if I can’t win it, I’m happy to
see him get it. He’s a great driver and I’ll tip a cold Bud to him when I get
home tonight.”
“I don’t know what to think about our day. I’m angry we were 13th, but
I’m happy we finally found something that worked at this place. We’ve never been
competitive here in the past, but we were easily a top-three or top-five car today. Man, I
was so happy to have a car that I could really drive. We lost a lap on that yellow flag
deal, then we had one set of bad tires where I was outta control every lap. Then, we lost
another lap when we came in the next time. The last segment of the race, I think we were
easily faster than anybody but the 9 (Elliott) and the 48 (Johnson). I restarted on the
inside lane, but I let the leaders go because I didn’t want to get in their way with
so few laps left.”
“I’m happy that we tested here twice this year and we found some things that
meant we were able to run with the leaders. Even when I was coming up through traffic, my
guys gave me a great car, and I could stay on pace with the leader. I really hadn’t
pushed it hard or really raced anybody until we lost the lap. This was like a final exam,
the last remaining track where we didn’t have a clue, and I think we overcame that
today. Now I’m not so sure I’m as happy as I was before we’ll only race
here once next year…”
Best Radio Conversations
The team ran strong all afternoon, until a yellow flag immediately after a green flag
pit stop dropped them one lap behind the leaders who had not yet made a pit stop.
Dale Jr: “Guys, I’m sorry about that. I couldn’t hang onto
the car any longer. Those tires were shot. If I could have just saved the tires a little
better or held on a little longer, we’d be up front. It got so bad as I went down the
back straight, it’d try to turn me to the right, it wanted to climb up the wall offa
turn two…”
Tony Eury Jr. (car chief): “We’re OK. We’re only one lap
down… we aren’t too bad…”
Dale Jr: “Guys, I’m really sorry, but I think if you look at
the right rear, you’ll see my point.”
Tony Jr: “It’s alright. It looks like the left front and right
rear were pretty worn out…”
Dale Jr: “I just think it’s me. Every time I scream ‘I
need to pit!’ at this place, a damn yellow comes out. When I scream ‘I need to
pit!’ the next time, tell me to shut up and just suck it up…”
During the final yellow flag period, with less than 15 laps to go…
Dale Jr: “Guys, I’m pretty satisfied with how we ran today.
(Half joking) My car’s pretty good if (Tony) Jr. wasn’t so lazy and gave me that
bad set of tires…”
Tony Jr: “I think my stuff was pretty good all day, especially if my
driver would quit whinin’ after 70 laps on a set of tires. If he woulda been able to
run 80 laps, we’d be up front and I wouldn’t have had to change so many sets of
tires…”
Dale Jr: “Well, I’ll be satisfied with how our car
ran…”
Tony Jr: “We learned a lot. We learned some things we can use next
time we come back here…”
Today’s Stats
Started: 26th
Finished: 13th
Points: 3rd (lost one position)
Best Pit Stop: Stop 2 of 5 / lap 94 / four tires & fuel / 13.56 seconds
Correction: Last week we reported the No. 8 Bud team had led 10
consecutive races, when it was actually nine consecutive races… The team has,
however, led 24 races this year, more than any other team.
Below are select Dale Jr. quotes from Thursday's Wind
Tunnel with Dave Despain on SPEED Channel.
Earnhardt on taking control of his career: "Early on, I was just
really busy and didn't know what direction I was going from one day to the next. I was
being pulled and tugged in so many different ways, that I didn't have any idea what I had
accomplished or where I was headed or what my future held for me. Over the last three
years, my big thing has been to get more control over where I'm the guy that you come to
get the answer. Instead of somebody else pushing the buttons for me, I'm pushing all my
own buttons and that really helps out. That way, I know where I'm at and where I'm going
-- I can have a yes or no answer for everything and that's the final answer."
Earnhardt on new attitude toward safety equipment: "I'm ashamed to
admit it, but I should have been a little more about making changes and been a little more
open-minded to the new things that were coming into the sport, but I was very bull-headed
about it and very selfish about putting new safety equipment into my car. ... I was
running a lot of older style headrests that we've been running over the last couple of
years. And after the (Dover) crash, I went into the shop on Monday and the crew, mainly
Tony Eury Sr., and Tony Jr., were already installing the newer stuff without even asking
me. That was kinda the wake-up call that you gotta quit thinking about yourself because
there are a lot of people that care about you and depend on you. It meant a lot to me that
they were making those changes for me because I was so bull-headed, thinking 'I don't need
that stuff. I'm out there and my car is as safe as anybody's.' And it really wasn't."
Earnhardt on evolution from Busch champ to Winston Cup contender:
"When we moved from the Busch Series, we were a dominating Busch Series team, and
when we moved to the Cup Series, we were able to put together a few flash-in-the-pan wins
and some great moments, but we had a lot of things about our team that were obsolete --
personnel, it may be an individual, it may be the way you prepare the car, it could be a
number of things. And it takes all those things -- I know you've heard time and time
again, it takes the right people. Not necessarily the right 'good' people, but the right
personality to mesh with this other personality. ... One of the big things is having good
morale. Everyone goes to work looking forward to it, you've got friends their and you
enjoy it. That's what we've obtained this year -- a friendship amongst all of us."
Earnhardt on living in his father's shadow: "I definitely am my own
person and want to be appreciated for my own stuff and my successes. I kinda don't like
being measured up to my father 'cause everyone knows how good he was. It would be hard for
any driver to be compared to that man. But there is a part of me too, that will always
want that close to me - always want that right next to me wherever I go and whatever I do,
even if it's not racing."
Earnhardt on why he dons his helmet before getting into the race car:
"It's not really a superstition, it's just the way I've always done it. I feel like
you suit up before you go to battle. ... and with the Hutchens device that I wear, it's a
lot easier for my guys to hook the Hutchens device up and make sure it's hooked up
properly and make sure none of the hooks are attached backwards or anything like
that."
Earnhardt on best racing advice he ever received from his late father:
"It was real hard to get any advice from him or help from him when it came to racing,
whether it be set-ups or anything. But there was one day, here at Rockingham, that I took
my first provisional in my rookie season. I was just all to pieces and I couldn't believe
that we had run so poorly and that I had nothing to look forward to as far as the race.
The car wasn't working and I thought I was going to be an embarrassment. That was the
first and only time that he ever said anything to me about a race car or anything to do
with racing. He said, 'Look, there are going to be bad days and there are going to be good
days ... tomorrow, whether you win or lose, you're going to have another race the next
weekend and you're going to have another race the next weekend. You've got to be able to
maintain and control your emotions as far as that goes.' I was just letting it eat me up
inside ...I guess I was more worried about what he thought, and maybe that was the biggest
problem with it. And when I knew that he was alright with it and that he understood that
his son wasn't always going to be at the top or maybe this isn't going to work out all the
time, it made me feel a lot better about the deal."
Earnhardt on whether teaming with Richard Childress is in his future:
"I want to drive race cars as long as I am healthy and I enjoy it and that could be
for a very long time ... I don't see an opportunity to drive for Richard. I feel like my
loyalty belongs to DEI - what we've built up over the last several years and what we've
put into that company. All the money and all the effort my father put forth for years to
make that happen, I feel like my loyalty belongs there and I'm going to stick it
out."
Earnhardt on future as a team owner: "I feel like it is a huge
interest of mine and I feel like I would be very good at it. I think I've got a pretty
good eye for talent -- not only driver-wise, but who could run each department."
Earnhardt on pressure to win a Winston Cup championship: "I feel
like that is a legitimate goal and I feel like I should be able to win a championship in
the duration of my career ... it's a goal I set for myself. I'd be very disappointed if I
ended my career without a championship."
...and to settle a bet with a producer, "What was the last music you listened
to before coming on the show?" The answer: Boston's Greatest Hits.
-Budweiser
Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Pop Secret 400
Preview_11/3/03
Dale Jr. Quotes for Rockingham:
"It's great heading toward Rockingham with the confidence we gained at Phoenix. I may
have to sit down and buy a Budweiser for the media guys that seem shocked this team can
win at a non-restrictor plate track. If you're surprised, you need to pay attention. We've
finished in the top-three ten times so far on almost every kind of track. That doesn't
happen if you're just out there messing around. We've had a great season, and we've
improved on every kind of track. We got a top-three on a road course, we won on a flat
track, and now it looks like we have one hurdle left: Rockingham. It's the last track
where we've just never figured it all out. I've never been completely comfortable, and it
seems like we just need that extra little missing ingredient to get it done. But, we
dodged the rain last week and were able to get some testing in, and I think we'll be
improved. We've been better almost everywhere this season, so I expect to be better this
week. Until there aren't any laps left, we're going to battle every lap to gain as many
points as we can."
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Rockingham
Previous Winston Cup Starts: 7
Best Start: 7th (Feb. 2000)
Best Finish: 15th (Nov. 2001)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 22nd / FIN: 34th
Race Time:
Pop Secret 400
North Carolina Speedway, Rockingham, NC
1.017-mile oval, 393 laps, 400 miles
Sunday, November 9, 2003
TV: NBC-TV, 12:30 pm (pre-race) / 1:00 pm race start (All Times: Eastern)
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN), or on a radio station or XM Radio near
you.
Bud Pole Qualifying: You can tune in live for Bud Pole qualifying Friday
at 3 pm on the Speed Channel.
"Then we reached a point of fame where all of the
screaming began. Screaming, it was everywhere. The world used us as an excuse to go mad,
and then they blamed it on us. We were just the guys in the middle of the chaos inside a
car or trapped in a hotel room or something. We couldn't go out, we couldn't do
anything..." -George Harrison, The Beatles
-Budweiser |
