“The start of this race is really a good indication of how good this team is and how fast this truck can be, especially compared to how we were yesterday. Johnny Allen, Steve Hibbard and the guys made changes. I had confidence in the truck. It really boosted my confidence. I was taking what they were giving me early on. I wasn’t really even pushing it, yet. It was too early to push it. The Orleans Dodge is a fast race truck, and it is a shame it ended up sitting in the garage. This is a shame for the Orleans Dodge. We had a fast, fast truck tonight. We knew we had a good race truck. We knew we probably wouldn’t qualify well, but we knew we had a good race truck. We had no radio communication. We were using hand signals to communicate. I kept coming in putting my thumb up telling them to just put tires on it.”

(About two lap penalty): “NASCAR didn’t like it that I spun around on pit lane. We had a flat tire. We couldn’t go around two-and-a-half miles with a bunch of flat tires. I couldn’t back up. I figured I would just flip it around and go back to the pit. They didn’t like that. I’m not real up on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rules. They obviously didn’t like it. Then they said I ran the stop sign. They neglected to put it out, but they said they put it out.

I was having fun. I had a fast truck. I was just trying to pick my way to the front.

We went three wide and David Reutimann, who I think drives Darrell Waltrip’s truck went low. Maybe Darrell needs to give him a driving lesson because he is probably not too impressed with what he did there. He took me out, and he took Bobby Hamilton out, which I feel bad about because Bobby had a good truck. I have to remember where I am. The Craftsman Truck Series has a lot of regulars and a lot of rookies, too. I learned a big lesson tonight.

I really want to thank the Orleans team, Michael Gaughan and Wyler.com for their support. We will get them. We go to Atlanta in a few weeks. If this truck keeps running like it did tonight, we will be fine.