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02-11-2004
Dodge Notes: NCTS Qualifying
CHASE MONTGOMERY (No. 8 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge Ram) – Second
20-year-old Raybestos Rookie contender Chase Montgomery won last year’s ARCA
race at Daytona Int’l Speedway and will start Friday’s Florida Dodge Dealers 250
on the front row. Friday’s race will be Montgomery’s second NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series start.
“I felt we had something for the No. 10 truck. These guys have worked hard
through a lot of long hours at the shop. But, hey, Friday is when it counts, so
we’ll go get them again then. Bobby (Hamilton), Chad (Chaffin) and I all live
about 20 miles from each other, so that’s cool. Bobby builds first class
equipment, and I think it shows. All three trucks are going to be really strong
on raceday. We were all really strong when we came down and tested. We thought
we had the pole, but we’ll get ‘em next time. I can’t ask much more out of this
Bobby Hamilton Dodge Ram.
“I’m part of what I feel is one of the strongest Craftsman Truck Series teams
there is. As a Raybestos Rookie, what better place is there to call home? We’re
starting to get the package together. They’ve worked hard. We’ve all stayed late
and worked really hard. My guys take a lot of pride in their speedway program,
and I think that has showed in the past few years. I’m really proud. I just get
in there, hold it to the floor and hope for the best.
“It’ll take some luck (to get back to victory lane at Daytona). I’m racing
against guys like Mike Skinner, Steve Park, Bobby Hamilton and Ted Musgrave.
These guys have run Cup cars, and they know a lot more about drafting than I do.
Fortunately, I’ve got a great coach in Bobby Hamilton. He’s actually the one who
originally taught me how to draft, and I’ll have to go quiz his brain and see if
he’ll tell me a little bit more. I think he’ll be happy with that effort. We’d
all like to have that pole. We’re happy, though. This is only my second
Craftsman Truck Series race, but I think we’re going to turn some heads this
year.”
“Honestly, I think that’s about all we had left. Yeah, we would have loved to
have gone out there and got the pole. I did it my first year coming here in an
ARCA car, and I would have loved to have done it in my first year in a Craftsman
Truck. But it just wasn’t in it. The water was running high, and I just wasn’t
going to make the power to get after it.”
ANDY HOUSTON (No. 2 Team ASE Racing/Carquest Dodge Ram) – Seventh
“That wasn’t bad. It’s about what I expected. After I saw Ted’s lap I was a
little concerned because our stuff is so close. I felt like we’d be about where
he was at. I saw some surprises up there, but there always is here. This is just
a place to start. Friday night is when we need to shine, have good power and
stay on the bottom. I know it’s Friday the 13th. Seems like when you race on
Friday the 13th or under a full moon the races are a little wilder, but I’m not
very superstitious. Once you get strapped in there it’s just another night.
Terry Cook surprised me, and Matt Crafton surprised me. Some of these guys are
pretty slick. They don’t show everything they’ve got. I knew Terry would be
fast, but I didn’t think he’d be that good. We’ll take what we’ve got and hope
we end up in the top 10 and get ‘em Friday.”
RANDY LaJOIE (No. 59 Melling Engine/Harris Trucking Dodge Ram) – Ninth
“That run felt good. You always expect more if you’re not on the pole. Out of
the box we were a little late with our practice this morning. It might have hurt
us just a tick. But all in all, we’re in the show. If you can be in the top-10
you can win this race, and I plan on doing that. If we can get this thing to
where it ran last year – in the lead coming off of turn four – I’m not sure I’m
going to block going high. I’m looking forward to it. This is my first time in a
Dodge Ram, and going through the gears – 182 mph is still 182 mph it doesn’t
matter what you drive – but just going up through the gears and feeling that
power is pretty darn neat.”
BOBBY HAMILTON (No. 4 Square D Dodge Ram) – 10th
“It was just what we wanted. I didn’t want the pole. This Dodge Ram likes green,
and their asses are in trouble. We would have liked to be a little better,
obviously. But we worked on race-run stuff here. Usually we have something that
races good and drives good. It has a little more drag. That’s going to be cool
for us. Last year I think we started 13th and had a good truck all day. It ought
to be a good day for Square D. Everything seems to be running along. All of our
tests seems to be paying off. We’re just really concerned about the race. This
is a handling racetrack. With the different tire that Goodyear has brought here
there’s a lot of stuff going on, so we’re just going to focus on getting the
thing drivable.”
CHAD CHAFFIN (No. 18 Dickies Racing Dodge Ram) – 24th
“We had a lot of speed with this Ram in preseason testing, but we came back down
here and it just hasn’t been right all day. We didn’t back up our practice time.
There’s a lot of variables in this deal. I’m not crying, but the way they tape
up the air box and stuff, you might not get a good tape job. We thought we were
legit in practice. We ran a 49.50. It just wouldn’t do it in qualifying. Some
guys picked up speed tonight and we didn’t. We’ve got a good truck. We’re going
to be all right. This year we’re going to run identical trucks with similar
setups everywhere we go with the exception of Daytona. So much R&D goes into
Daytona. We tested down here with two different trucks, and they were both about
the same. Now it looks like we should have been more like Bobby (Hamilton).
That’s hindsight. Once we leave here it’s going to be the same. That 49 flat
(Terry Cook’s speed) is shocking. I didn’t think anybody could do that. I’m
surprised.”
TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Performance Dodge Ram) – 16th
“We should have picked up like everybody else, but it didn’t. The truck is
running good and it did everything it’s supposed to do. We just didn’t pick up
any time. We didn’t have as much in our bag as these other guys. I don’t care.
I’m in the race, and that’s all that matters. We’ve got a good truck. Within
laps we’ll be up there getting points for leading. We didn’t know if we had a
shot for the pole. A couple of guys shot some good speeds in there and picked up
half a second. If you’re not on the pole, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got one of
those pole trophies already. The race is the biggest thing. I’m good to go
there.”
STEVE PARK (No. 62 The Orleans Hotel/Dodge Dodge Ram) – 22nd
“We were hoping to get somewhere near the top-20. We know the Orleans Dodge Ram
is going to race good. We learned that in testing. It’s a wicked balance between
downforce and pure speed, so we had to kind of go for what’s going to race good
and go from there. We feel we have a truck that’s going to race good. We’re just
going with the gameplan of run and gun on Friday night. Kevin Kroyer is taking
good care of me. Kevin’s a great guy and he has great engines. Michael Gaughan
was here tonight. They’re just good, good people. They showed last year what
they can do. Brendan did a great job winning races, and we just want to uphold
that tradition and win races.”
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