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JIFFY LUBE MIAMI 300
POST-RACE NOTES
GLENN ALLEN JR. (No.
99 Luxaire Chevrolet) "It was a pretty good day, considering where we started and
where we finished. The guys worked hard, and they're making progress. I'm hoping Bill
Papke (team owner) gets a sponsor and a good driver, because he's a great man. It's a
tough deal to leave them, but that's the way it goes. I knew we were in trouble early
because the car was real tight, and had to pit early under the green. I was hoping
that we could make up some track position with the new tires, and we were able to do that.
I'm really excited about next year, because I see some good things happening."
CASEY ATWOOD (No. 63 Lysol Chevrolet) "It
wasn't a bad day. We couldn't quite get it hooked up at the beginning of the race, and it
was real loose. At the end, we had it hooked up good, but when we'd get behind somebody,
it'd push bad because of the aerodynamics."
RANDY LAJOIE (No. 74 FINA Chevrolet) "We
were tight all day. The car started off a little tight, but it got good on long runs. But
we loosened it up a little too much, and for the last 20 laps I had my hands full. It was
fun racing, though -- I had a good time. We only loosened it up a half-turn, but that was
a big difference. We're in once piece, and the most important thing was getting these guys
back to fourth in points."
DAVID GREEN (No. 36 Stanley Pontiac) "It
was a fitting end. We raced Jeff Burton all day long, and when we made that pit stop I
didn't want to make any changes, but we made a little one and that hurt us. The car was
that good. We just changed the air pressure -- it was a little tight on a long run, and we
put a little air in the left-front tire. But this was a drop-snout car and it really
didn't like that. It got too loose at the beginning, and Jeff got away from me. It got
better, but by the time that happened the race was over. It's not a win, but we'll take a
top
five."
DAVE BLANEY (No. 93 Amoco Pontiac) "We
were okay. It's just inexperience on my part with the car, not knowing what to do and
being able to tell the crew what to do. It's the same thing we've been fighting all year,
but we're getting better. As long we can run with these guys, we'll learn a bunch. We got
shuffled back at the start a little bit because we were starting on the outside, but we
were okay. There were times when we were fast and times when we weren't fast. It was a
good day."
TIM FEDEWA (No. 33 Kleenex Chevrolet) "It
was a really good day, considering where we started. I don't know why, but we just
couldn't find the package all weekend and had to use a provisional. We came all the way
up, though, and that was unbelievable. I'm happy for the guys, this being out last race
together, and we finished in the top 10. We were just a little bit off all day, but
considering how bad we struggled, it just shows you how hard work and not giving off can
pay off. Early on, I kept getting some smoke in the cockpit, and I didn't know where it
was coming from. It went away, but with about 30 laps to go, it came back. I was hot, but
the smoke really got to me. It was still a good day."
MATT KENSETH (No. 17 Lycos Chevrolet)
"That was really good for us, because we weren't expecting to run very good. We ran
terrible all weekend. We had a problem and didn't get to practice much yesterday, so that
was a very good run for us today. We came all the way up to fourth place. We were the
highest-finishing Busch car, but I would've liked to have beat those Winston Cup guys. To
run fourth was really good for us today.
"It'd be real easy to beat myself up over
losing the (Busch Series) championship since we were so close, but there's 31 races in a
year and every single point matters all year long. We lost too many points. We didn't run
good enough on short tracks and we didn't run good enough on flat tracks. Basically, we
just lost it on performance. They (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) performed better than we did --
they had four more wins that us, but we had more top-fives and more top-10s. They led more
laps and won more races, and anytime you can do that, you can win the championship. The
bonus points made the difference. The difference in bonus points between us is probably
what the overall difference was in the championship. Those points play a big part in
winning the championship."
JOHNNY BENSON (No. 26 StaffAmerica Chevrolet)
"The car was really good. The guys worked hard on it, because this car wasn't even
close to being ready to go racing. I really needed the track time here, what with Winston
Cup racing here next year. We needed to do this, so those guys put a car together. They
really didn't have a car ready and just a few people
to work on it, but they did an awesome job. They got it ready, and it was really good off
the truck. The first set of tires were way too tight, so we made a change that made it too
loose. So we changed it back, and it was really good from that point on. It was a good run
for us. This was a group of all-new guys. They're just starting to work together. They had
some problems, but it gives them an excellent idea of what they need to do next
year."
DICK TRICKLE (No. 64 Schneider National
Chevrolet) "Hermie got a good line on me down on the back straightaway and I didn't
think he was up on me that far and we got together going into three trying to take it down
the middle and we got together close and I got my car knocked sideways. It's half my
own fault, you know, I probably needed to stay out and I hadn't quite cleared him, but I
didn't think he was up far enough where he'd back out of it and he did. It was one of
those hold the pole deals, and evidently I didn't hold the pole just right that
time."
ANDY SANTERRE (No. 43 Monro Muffler-Brakes
Chevrolet) "Well, we had a decent run going, you know, we started last in the Monro
Muffler-Brakes Chevy and worked our way up to mid-pack and we lost a motor here today,
it's unfortunate, the last race of the year. But we did clinch the rating of rookie of the
year, so we had a good day overall."
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