Dale Jr. Quotes for Dover
“I can’t help thinking about winning that race at Dover right after 9/11 – it was just an unbelievable time for everyone in the country and the world. For us to be lucky enough to be the team that won that race was pretty special. I don’t think it mattered what team won that day, just running that race was the important thing. It made me feel good that our sport could provide such a positive experience for America. It was a huge feeling of relief and pride and excitement. I think it was a day that taught me a lot about how critical it is to so many people that they can sit down every Sunday at the track or on their couch and be entertained by what we do.”
“Dover has been a mixed bag for us. We either seem to be really, really awesome, or really, really awful. We’ve led a lot of laps but we’ve also stunk up the joint a few times. Sometimes we’ve even done both in the same afternoon, and that can be really embarrassing or humiliating – whatever you want to call it. The set-up you need there is so tricky – the car can go from fast to slow in a matter of a few laps. We dropped to last place in the first few laps of this race last year, but once we worked on the car, we were unstoppable – I think we got as high as fifth place. But, then we dropped back just as fast as we had moved forward. It was awful, then great, then awful. I am encouraged for this weekend because we have shown that we are much more consistent as a team this year than in the past. We’ve been making the right choices throughout the race to be able to run near the front all afternoon, so I don’t expect to do the yo-yo up and down the scoreboard.”
“We lost some points to Matt (Kenseth, Winston Cup points leader) at the 600, but we are not going to hang our heads and cry about it. We’re still thinking everyday about the bigger picture of winning the championship at the end of 36 races. We’re only a third of the way there, so we know we can’t let up for a second.”
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Dover
Previous Winston Cup Starts: 6
Best Start: 3rd (Sept., 2002 and June, 2001)
Best Finish: 1st (Sept., 2001)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 30 FIN: 30
--- The most memorable moment at Dover for the No. 8 Budweiser team was their emotional victory in September, 2001. It was the first Winston Cup race following the 9/11 attacks, and photographs of Dale Jr’s reverse victory lap while carrying a huge American flag were seen around the world. --- In six career starts at Dover, Dale Jr. has led 315 laps at Dover.
What:
MBNA 400
400 laps / 400 miles / Race #13 of 36-race Winston Cup Series
Where:
Dover Downs Speedway
1-mile concrete oval
When:
Sunday, June 1 / 1:00 p.m.
Watch:
Fox-TV (pre-race: 12:30 pm)
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Bud Pole qualifying can be seen live Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. on Speed Channel. You can also hear qualifying and race action on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio station or computer near you. The radio programming is also heard on the 24-hour NASCAR channel on XM Radio. (All Times: Eastern)
"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my ax." -- Abraham Lincoln
Thanks to Jade Gurss for this Budweiser Race Preview!
www.Budweiser.com |
