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JIFFY LUBE MIAMI
300 PRE-RACE NOTES
MIKE McLAUGHLIN (No. 34 Gould's Pumps Chevrolet) "Yeah, we're
looking forward to this race. We've run good here and qualified good, but raced terrible
last year. We're looking to qualify and race good this year. We've never finished the
season on the note I'd like. I think our best finish here is 20th, so I'd like to come out
of here with a good finish to make the off season a little more enjoyable.
"It's (Homestead) more of a race track now. Before, it was just really hard to pass
through the ends. Now, as the race goes on and the groove moves up, you can see some
side-by-side racing. The way it was before, you were never going to see that.
"We tested out here last month, and I thought we were decent. We never made
qualifying runs, but as far as the race goes, we thought we had something that would be
there all day. That was the problem last year. We were fast for a lap, but in the race we
were terrible.
"It was fairly hot that day (he tested), but you can test on any given day and when
you come back, things aren't going to be the same because of all the rubber that's built
up on the track. We really won't know what to expect until the day of the race. With three
different
divisions here, we'll have to see what they put down and what we put down, and adjust from
there.
"The Dash and All Pro guys use bias-ply tires, while we use radials. It doesn't mix
well. We saw that at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) last week. Man, we went out for that last
practice (after the ARCA race, which uses a different brand of radial tire) and they had
really made the track slick. That's when you find out how good your setup is.
"We go through the same thing at New Hampshire (where the NASCAR Busch-North Series,
running a companion event, uses bias-ply tires). There are some things we've learned from
that race we can apply here, but at the same time you have to make your car work when the
track gets slick. If you can do that, then you'll be in for a lot better day."
MATT KENSETH (No. 17 Lycos Chevrolet) "We tested pretty well here,
and we ran pretty decent here last year, so I'm looking forward to this weekend. The test
went pretty well. We didn't do any qualifying runs, just worked on race stuff.
"We brought two cars and they were both about the same, but the one I thought was a
little quicker got wrecked at Rockingham (North Carolina Speedway last week during
practice). The second car runs all right, so we should be okay.
"Our race stuff will stay the same, but the car will probably start off a little
tighter because of all the other rubber (from the Dash and All Pro cars) on the track. It
may be a little different during qualifying, but the race package will stay the same.
"We probably ran 250 miles or so during the test, just trying to work out what the
tire wear will be like for the race, make sure the car will stay the same. I'm glad it's
the last week. The championship was decided last week, so now we can go out and try to win
the race. Then we can get started on next year.
"I'm looking forward to next year, because we've got some things happening. I don't
look forward to the time off; I'd race every weekend if I could. But I'm looking forward
to building a few new cars and getting regrouped, and starting off for next year."
ROY "BUCKSHOT" JONES (No. 00 Bayer/Alka-Seltzer Pontiac)
"It's the last race of the year, but I haven't run very good here at Homestead. I've
always really liked the track, and they keep making changes to it to improve the place.
It's a pretty good track to race on, but being the end of the year ... you really want to
run well.
"It's the type of race where you can lay back, not push yourself for the first half
or so. You're looking to avoid wrecks, not pass anybody. Just let things sort themselves
out for the first half, then you can go race in the second half. It's a long race and I'm
not saying you can't get lapped here, but it's a mile-and-a-half track and it'd be pretty
hard to get lapped unless you're really, really bad. You can just sit back unless you
don't qualify well.
"I didn't get to test here, but in talking to guys like Mike McLaughlin, they said it
was like it was last year, no real big changes. You just have to keep your car on the
bottom (of the turns), because if you get up high and get in the sand, then you're
definitely
going for a ride.
"I don't think it (the tire-rubber difference) will be a huge problem except for when
everybody goes out for the first practice, and I wouldn't want to be one of the first 10
guys to go out to qualify after they (the Dash and All Pro drivers) practice. We'll get
"Happy Hour" tomorrow, and that'll put down a good bit of rubber. The track may
be a little off when we first go out, but as we get the rubber back down, we'll be all
right."
TONY STEWART (No. 44 Shell Pontiac) "Yeah, I'm looking forward to
this. Even though the last three finishes don't reflect it, we've ran well the last three
races and we've been able to roll the car on the trailer in the last four races. The last
four races have been good to us.
I'm happy with the way we're running right now, and I'd like to go to Homestead and have a
good run and finish off the season on a good note. I ran the race last year, but it's been
so long ago that I'm basically be like going back to scratch. It's not like going to
Rockingham, Darlington or Charlotte. Homestead is its own deal. I did some testing with a
Winston Cup car here earlier in the year, but that's like apples and oranges compared to a
Busch car. But I got a laps around here, so it oughta come back to me pretty quick."
##########
JEFF BURTON (No. 9 Track Gear Ford) became the first casualty of the
weekend when he lost control of his Ford Taurus and hit the second-turn wall just a few
minutes into today's first round of practice for the Jiffy Lube Miami 300 NASCAR Busch
Series race.
While Burton was uninjured in the wreck, a fire broke out after an oil line broke.
However, track safety personnel quickly extinguished the blaze and cleaned up the mess,
and practice was able to resume just a few minutes later. |
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