NASCAR-WCS: Long Pond II: Chevy race notes

NASCAR-WCS: Long Pond II: Chevy race notes

Post by pr.. » Tue, 30 Jul 2002 16:47:06

Kevin Harvick top Chevy finisher in Pocono.

Kevin Harvick started 29th in his No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevy Monte Carlo
in what should have been a 200-lap race but was shortened to 175 because
of darkness as a result of two red-flag situations (for guardrail repair
and rain), and worked his way consistently to the front.  He finished
sixth, as the highest-placing Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

The course was under red-flag conditions for a total of three hours and
seven minutes.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the No. 8 Budweiser Chevy Monte Carlo, who started
11th, crashed on the first lap with his teammate Steve Park, in the No. 1
Pennzoil Chevy Monte Carlo (see previous notes).  Earnhardt continued
after repairs to finish 37th, 31 laps down.  Park did not complete a lap.

Terry Labonte, in the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevy Monte Carlo, scored the best
result of the Hendrick Motorsports cars, placing ninth, while Raybestos
Rookie of the Year contender Jimmie Johnson, in the No. 48 Lowe's Chevy
Monte Carlo, ended up 15th; Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 DuPont Chevy, came
in 12th, and Joe Nemechek (No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevy) was 24th.

Chevy lap leaders included Nemechek (nine), Robby Gordon (one), and
Johnson (two).

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH CHEVY MONTE CARLO (sixth, top Chevy
finisher):  "We had a good car all day; we just needed to get good track
position.  We got it, and got up there at the end and that's all we
needed, was another solid top-10."

ROBBY GORDON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS CHEVY MONTE CARLO (25th, driving
with sprained ankles):  "The biggest thing is I couldn't let my guys
down.  We play together, we get hurt together.  If I'm well enough to
drive this car then I need to be driving it.  Richard was cool enough to
let me do that.  I understand I'm in the wrong there for getting hurt,
but you got to have a little bit of fun in your life too.  Just
unfortunate timing."  

TESTING TOMORROW?  "I can't road-course test.  I
can't use my left foot.  We'll get it X-rayed tomorrow and get back after
it.  Decent run for us; scored some points."  

WAS THIS THE TOUGHEST RACE
DUE TO YOUR PHYSICAL CONDITION?  "This is the first time I had to play
hurt.  The guys were great.  They babied me all weekend.  It was an
unfortunate situation, but we scored some points.  It could've been a lot
worse.  We'll get out of here and learn from this experience and be
better off next time."  

WAS IT UNCOMFORTABLE RACING?  "The first stop,
I'm glad we had that caution, because I was able to stick an aluminum
plate underneath my sole of my shoe, so it didn't let the left foot bend,
which allowed me to use the brakes a little bit."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVY MONTE CARLO (15TH):  "Long day, but
big picture.  Looking at our goals at the launch of the season, we wanted
to finish in the top 15.  We did that today.  A little dumbfounded as to
why we weren't more of a threat all day long.  We had some cautions not
work out in our direction on pit strategy, and some different stuff
there.  Still, we were a lot faster here six weeks ago; we're all a
little dumbfounded why we weren't like that today."  

HOW MENTALLY HARD
WAS IT HERE?  "It's a real hard track mentally.  And then you get really
frustrated in traffic, you get aero tight.  Track position is important
and all that.  You only really have one opportunity to pass around the
track and that's on turn 1.  It was like that in the spring, but we just
had a better car and we could pass people and (we were) just a little
slower today."  

DID THE RACE TRACK CHANGE OVER THE COURSE OF THE SIX
HOURS?  "It really didn't change until the sun went down here in the last
50 laps.  It got real tight for us."  NOT A CHEVY TRACK?  "In the spring
we were a threat, but we missed something today, and I think when you're
on, you're on."

TERRY LABONTE, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVY MONTE CARLO (ninth):  SECOND
CHEVROLET: "We had a good car and we had a good finish there in the top
10.  We were close; we just didn't quite have enough; but it was a good
run for us."  

VERY CONSISTENT, FIRST HENDRICK CAR:  "We were, about all
day, really.  We ran pretty good.  The guys did a good job on the car and
this is probably our favorite car.  I think we're going to go home and
clean it up, tune on it a little bit and take it to Indianapolis.  It's
not the car we tested in Indy, but I think we're going to go back with
it, because we have some confidence with this one."  

WAS THIS MORE
DIFFICULT TO RACE BECAUSE IT WAS SO LONG?  "It was long.  A long, drawn
out deal, and especially when you have be back at the airport at 6 in the
morning to go somewhere tomorrow.  It makes it a short night.  That's
part of it.  I'm glad we got it in today.  I'm glad Steve Park was OK;
that was a terrible looking wreck he had."

-chevy-

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