|
Fin
|
St
|
Car
|
Driver
|
Make
|
Pts/Bonus
|
Laps
|
Status
|
|
1
|
43
|
#17
|
Matt Kenseth
|
Ford
|
180/5
|
334
|
Running
|
|
2
|
24
|
#24
|
Jeff Gordon
|
Chevrolet
|
170/0
|
330
|
Running
|
|
3
|
8
|
#6
|
Mark Martin
|
Ford
|
170/5
|
330
|
Running
|
|
4
|
3
|
#28
|
Ricky Rudd
|
Ford
|
165/5
|
330
|
Running
|
|
5
|
29
|
#20
|
Tony Stewart
|
Pontiac
|
160/5
|
330
|
Running
|
|
6
|
13
|
#48
|
Jimmie Johnson *
|
Chevrolet
|
150/0
|
330
|
Running
|
|
7
|
20
|
#40
|
Sterling Marlin
|
Dodge
|
151/5
|
330
|
Running
|
|
8
|
21
|
#41
|
Jimmy Spencer
|
Dodge
|
142/0
|
330
|
Running
|
|
9
|
1
|
#9
|
Bill Elliott
|
Dodge
|
143/5
|
330
|
Running
|
|
10
|
27
|
#5
|
Terry Labonte
|
Chevrolet
|
134/0
|
331
|
Running
|
|
11
|
26
|
#2
|
Rusty Wallace
|
Ford
|
135/5
|
330
|
Running
|
|
12
|
39
|
#4
|
Mike Skinner
|
Chevrolet
|
132/5
|
330
|
Running
|
|
13
|
31
|
#10
|
Johnny Benson
|
Pontiac
|
124/0
|
329
|
Running
|
|
14
|
10
|
#32
|
Ricky Craven
|
Ford
|
121/0
|
329
|
Running
|
|
15
|
37
|
#77
|
Dave Blaney
|
Ford
|
118/0
|
329
|
Running
|
|
16
|
17
|
#30
|
Jeff Green
|
Chevrolet
|
115/0
|
329
|
Running
|
|
17
|
7
|
#19
|
Jeremy Mayfield
|
Dodge
|
112/0
|
329
|
Running
|
|
18
|
2
|
#21
|
Elliott Sadler
|
Ford
|
114/5
|
328
|
Running
|
|
19
|
6
|
#14
|
Stacy Compton
|
Pontiac
|
106/0
|
328
|
Running
|
|
20
|
14
|
#45
|
Kyle Petty
|
Dodge
|
103/0
|
328
|
Running
|
|
21
|
11
|
#1
|
Steve Park
|
Chevrolet
|
100/0
|
328
|
Running
|
|
22
|
18
|
#43
|
John Andretti
|
Dodge
|
97/0
|
328
|
Running
|
|
23
|
19
|
#97
|
Kurt Busch
|
Ford
|
99/5
|
328
|
Running
|
|
24
|
5
|
#88
|
Dale Jarrett
|
Ford
|
101/10
|
327
|
Running
|
|
25
|
25
|
#29
|
Kevin Harvick
|
Chevrolet
|
93/5
|
327
|
Running
|
|
26
|
28
|
#23
|
Hut Stricklin
|
Dodge
|
90/5
|
327
|
Running
|
|
27
|
38
|
#44
|
Buckshot Jones
|
Dodge
|
82/0
|
327
|
Running
|
|
28
|
4
|
#15
|
Michael Waltrip
|
Chevrolet
|
79/0
|
327
|
Running
|
|
29
|
30
|
#90
|
Rick Mast
|
Ford
|
76/0
|
327
|
Running
|
|
30
|
15
|
#18
|
Bobby Labonte
|
Pontiac
|
73/0
|
326
|
Running
|
|
31
|
36
|
#55
|
Bobby Hamilton
|
Chevrolet
|
70/0
|
326
|
Running
|
|
32
|
34
|
#25
|
Jerry Nadeau
|
Chevrolet
|
67/0
|
326
|
Running
|
|
33
|
40
|
#26
|
Frank Kimmel
|
Ford
|
64/0
|
326
|
Running
|
|
34
|
12
|
#36
|
Ken Schrader
|
Pontiac
|
61/0
|
325
|
Running
|
|
35
|
23
|
#7
|
Casey Atwood
|
Dodge
|
58/0
|
322
|
Running
|
|
36
|
16
|
#49
|
Shawna Robinson *
|
Dodge
|
55/0
|
318
|
Running
|
|
37
|
33
|
#71
|
Jay Sauter
|
Chevrolet
|
52/0
|
309
|
Running
|
|
38
|
41
|
#11
|
Brett Bodine
|
Ford
|
49/0
|
280
|
Running
|
|
39
|
35
|
#99
|
Jeff Burton
|
Ford
|
46/0
|
255
|
Off Track
|
|
40
|
32
|
#12
|
Ryan Newman *
|
Ford
|
48/5
|
252
|
Out of Race
|
|
41
|
42
|
#31
|
Robby Gordon
|
Chevrolet
|
40/0
|
236
|
Out of Race
|
|
42
|
9
|
#8
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
|
Chevrolet
|
42/5
|
192
|
Out of Race
|
|
43
|
22
|
#22
|
Ward Burton
|
Dodge
|
34/0
|
169
|
Out of Race
|
Post-Race
Quotes
RYAN NEWMAN
--12-- ALLTEL Taurus (Finished 40th) -- WAS THERE ANY
INDICATION THE ENGINE WAS GOING TO GO? "No, just all at once
coming off of four. We had a really good race car for
qualifying so poorly. My hat's off to the guys. The ALLTEL
guys did an awesome job, but, obviously, it was some kind of
equipment failure inside that engine. Rusty's is still running
and he's got all the same stuff, so, hopefully, his can run
throughout the rest of the day and he can put one home for
Penske Racing. I'm just happy to be running up front where we
were. We struggled when we came here, but we had a top five
race car without a doubt there at the end." YOU RAN WELL.
"Yeah, we didn't qualify near as well as we should have, but
we had a really good race car from the start of the race. We
fine-tuned it here and there and were really happy with the
balance we came up with. My crew chief, Matt Borland, said we
had the second fastest lap of the day on that very last lap,
so the truth be known, they always run good before they blow."
DID IT GO REALLY FAST? "Yeah, it chunked it all at once. I
looked at the oil pressure and it was zero."
JEFF BURTON --99-- Citgo Taurus (Finished 39th) -- WHAT
HAPPENED? "We made a change on the car and when we took off we
were loose. Buckshot was behind me off the corner and I just
got a little bit free and had to breathe the throttle a little
bit and he didn't get checked up. He caught me in the
left-rear and off I went." JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS? "It's a
tough deal with no practice or anything. The car never handled
the way we needed it to. It's a brand new car and a totally
different kind of car than we've ever run before and we needed
some practice with it. This car is more like our teammates
have. We're getting more of what they've got and we just
didn't have enough time to practice to run and find out what
we needed. It's just not a good day."
RUSTY WALLACE --2-- Miller Lite Taurus (Finished 11th) -- "I
can't find anything that was wrong with it. It was perfect all
day long, just bullet fast, and then all of a sudden after one
pit stop I went out and I was so loose that I couldn't get in
the corner at all. I thought we must have had an equalized
left-front tire and on that last pit stop we got four tires
and when I went back out it wasn't any better. We raised the
hood after the race and something is all locked up in the
right-front corner. We don't know what it is if it's a ball
joint or a shock, but something is crazy over there. We don't
know what it is. Man, it's disappointing. To come from there,
the thing was so fast it was unreal." YOU LED SOME LAPS.
"Yeah, we had a great car. Honestly, I really thought we had
the best car in the field but something went disarray and I
don't know what it is yet." WHAT ABOUT THE TRACK? "I liked the
track. The track was good all day long. I ran the second lane
a lot. As a matter of fact, right off the bat I started
passing cars in the second lane." DID THAT SURPRISE YOU?
"Yeah, a little bit that early, but I give it a thumbs up.
It's a really neat track. Whenever you get 160,000 people come
and see you, there's got to be something cool about the
track." SO IT MIGHT NOT TAKE FOUR YEARS FOR THIS TRACK TO COME
IN? "No, I wish we had two races here. I wish we had two races
at Fontana and two here -- a couple that we run twice at right
now ought to go away."
MARK MARTIN --6-- Viagra Taurus (Finished 3rd) -- "Man, I love
this team. All of these guys, they're building me better and
better race cars and they're doing good on pit road. I'm
really, really privileged to work with this Viagra team.
They're good guys and I think that we'll be strong this
summer. I think we'll get better the more we work together. We
maybe had one of the very best cars here today on the long
run, but we were pitiful on new tires, so the way it finished
up there was good where we could take just two. I wished we
didn't have to take any, but we had to. It's just a great,
great feeling to work with these guys." AFTER YOUR LAST TOP
FIVE YOU SAID IT WAS EASY. WAS THIS EASY? "I didn't mean it
was easy, I meant it wasn't any harder than running 21st and
it's not. When you've got the stuff to work with it's all as
hard as it can be. If you try any harder, you'd wreck. Yeah,
that's about the same rate of difficulty as it is to run like
21st, but I just want to thank these guys. What an opportunity
I have to work with these guys."
RICKY RUDD --28-- Havoline Taurus (Finished 4th) -- "The
strategy on the fuel situation sort of hurt us. We actually
got a lap down there or at the tail end of the lead lap. DJ
was on the same sync with us and when that happened, we just
couldn't get caught up after that. We were lucky to get back
to fourth. We had a good race car, but it needed to be out
front. It didn't like dirty air." HOW WAS THE TRACK? "I think
the track was pretty decent. I think it's about what everybody
expected. I think the pace slowed up a little bit, which
helped these cars hang together. I'm sure the speeds were 15
miles an hour slower than we qualified, which is a pretty big
deal. I'm glad it slowed down for everybody." IS THIS AN
INDICATION OF WHAT THE 28 CAN DO THE REST OF THE WAY? "I think
so. These guys learned something. We came here and tested
because our intermediate track program wasn't very good at
all. Today we led some laps and ran well, so I was real
pleased with it."
KURT BUSCH --97-- Rubbermaid Taurus (Finished 23rd) -- "We had
three flat tires and that's very hard to overcome. We probably
overpowered it a little bit too much with the front bar, but
you shouldn't have three flat tires in one race. We had a
really strong car today, unfortunately, we had a right-front
tire that felt like it was going down and that forced us to
pit earlier than we would have liked. Then we went a lap down
and fought hard through traffic, but couldn't get our lap
back. We must have run over some debris and had another tire
go down, but the crew did a great job all day."
KURT BUSCH CONTINUED -- WHAT ABOUT THE TRACK? "It was one
groove. You could go high if you needed to pass somebody that
was slowing you up as far as lap traffic, but it's gonna come
it. It's gonna be a really great race track about a year or so
down the road."
DAVE BLANEY --77-- Jasper Engines Taurus (Finished 15th) --
"We survived and got a decent finish, but something happened
to the engine. We were either down a cylinder or had
carburetor trouble, but the whole second half of the race it
wouldn't run. In the corner it wouldn't run so good, so we
just kind of tried to hang in. We got caught on the one
caution and went a lap down and on the other ones we stayed
out and were OK. It just played out. We were decent, but I
wish it would have stayed running all day."
DALE JARRETT --88-- UPS Taurus (Finished 24th) -- "We
basically ran out of gas, there's not much more to say. We had
a good race car. I don't know if we had a fuel pickup problem
or what it was, but it kind of ruined our day." HOW WAS THE
TRACK? "There wasn't much of a second groove, but you didn't
have to be right on the bottom. The track was good and wasn't
a factor at all." DID YOU HAVE A CAR GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN?
"Anybody can say that, but you don't know what would have
transpired at the end. We had a good race car. We got a little
bit tight and kept trying to make some adjustments and finally
there at the very end we got it out of it." WERE YOU SURPRISED
WHEN YOU RAN OUT OF GAS? "Yeah."
RICKY CRAVEN --32-- Tide Taurus (Finished 14th) -- "I think,
again, it's a product of a second-year team that continues to
amaze me because it really was a bad day, but when you're 14th
on your bad days things are looking up. We were just
challenged with the handling and the guys never gave up on it.
They got it really good at one point and then it really turned
around on us and got away from us for one run. They put it
back to where I could drive it, so it wasn't beautiful but it
was productive." HOW WAS THE TRACK? "In a few years it will
probably be better. There's too much grip right now. There's
so much grip that you're running too fast on the bottom side
and it's next to impossible to run faster on the high side
right now."
ELLIOTT SADLER --21-- Motorcraft Taurus (Finished 17th) -- "I
think that cost us a top 10 (tire problem). If we could have
just gone one more lap without that tire shredding, we would
have had a good top 10. We just got too far behind at the
start of the race. The car was way too tight. We got the car
good at the end of the race. The last half I could run with
just about everybody, but being a lap down like that is no
good. It was a tough day."
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