Dover Quote Notes
DOVER, D.E. (May 31, 2002) -
BACE Motorsports mashed the "Monster Mile" on Friday, going three for three
during the NASCAR Busch Series and Winston Cup Series qualifying sessions. The
field for Sunday's MBNA Platinum 400 at Dover International Speedway will play
host to both BACE Motorsports drivers marking Tony Raines debut and
Chad Little's return to the
NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Raines and Little will start 17th and 36th
in the No. 73 and 74 Chevrolet entries respectively for BACE, as the three-time
NASCAR Busch Series Championship team is set to make their debut in the Winston
Cup Series. Raines will also drive the No. 33 BACE Motorsports Chevrolet,
starting from the 19th position, in the NASCAR Busch Series on
Saturday.
Tony Raines, driver of the
No. 73 BACE Motorsports Chevrolet, dishes about his debut, double duty and how a
Winston Cup team came together in only four days:
On his reaction to making
his first NASCAR Winston Cup start ..
"Obviously, I'm ecstatic
about the outcome of qualifying today. It's a pretty big day. I still just can't
believe that we're in it. We put this deal together in just four days from the
car to the team, everything, but not without a lot of help. Michael Waltrip was
kind enough to loan us his Busch Series team for the weekend to work on No. 73
Winston Cup car. Bobby Kennedy and all of his guys have been great. Their
knowledge and resources have been invaluable. Once we made the decision last
weekend to enter a second car into this race, we took
Chad's back-up Winston Cup
car and in a couple of days the No. 33 [BACE Motorsports Busch Series Team] had
it ready to bring up here. Honestly, I can't explain how much it means to me.
Today is a big, big day and it has been a long time coming not only for myself
but for BACE Motorsports as well."
On the sudden decision to
enter a second BACE Motorsports Winston Cup entry at
Dover..
"We had three Winston Cup
cars at the shop and initially we heard that there were not enough cars here at
Dover to fill the
field. While we were in Charlotte last weekend, I said to Bill [Baumgardner,
team owner], why don't you let me run that back-up car. Basically, I had to talk
him into it."
"Bill and Brian
[Baumgardner, No. 33 Busch Series team owner] also saw this as an opportunity to
gather further knowledge and resources for our Winston Cup program. With two
cars, two teams and two drivers here this weekend we were looking to try and
flatten the learning curve that stands before any new team in the Winston Cup
Series. With the more experience you obtain, hopefully it translates to more
success on the track."
"This is the Series that
everyone wants to be in. We have a great with the Busch Series. We have great
fans and competitors and races over there but the Winston Cup Series is the top
level so it's natural to want to progress and run at that top level."
On having more than 43
entries for the Winston Cup race ..
"On Wednesday, we found out
there were more cars than we had originally expected and I can honestly say that
we might have started having some reservations about if we should have done
this. A lot of people had the same thought we did and there were several
entries that came in at the last moment but we stuck to our game plan, knowing
we had to qualify on time and thankfully we were able to do that."
On running double duty in
the Busch and Winston Cup Series .
"Dover
has been a good track for me. I don't know that I would have qualified this
well somewhere else in a Cup car without really having any experience behind the
wheel. My Busch car felt a lot better than 19th quick today so we're
going to work on that car during Happy Hour today. Our goals have not changed
in the Busch Series. We still believe that we can win races and hopefully the
first will come on Saturday."
"I'm definitely going to be
tired Sunday night because this will be the longest race that I have ever run
but I would feel successful if we went out there and ran as many laps as
possible, stay out of trouble and really learn as much as we can as a team.
This weekend is a big jump for the No. 33 Team as well and they'll learn a lot
out there on Sunday just as I will. I can't say enough about the work that the
team has put into this. They got two cars ready to go this weekend and I hope
that this is just as rewarding for them."
No. 73 and No. 74 Team Owner, Bill Baumgardner
On the move to Winston Cup .
"This season seems that it
has had more downs than ups so far so this is a wonderful change of direction
for us. The decision to go Winston Cup racing is one that a lot of people
questioned when we announced in March our plans for
Chad
Little and the No. 74 Team. This is very satisfying as a team owner to have two
cars in the field for our Winston Cup debut."
"The entire organization has
done a tremendous job to come in and in less than three months make a strategic
change from the NASCAR Busch Series to the Winston Cup Series. Even more
amazing was the effort this week to put the second car together for Tony in just
a few days and have him come out and qualify in the top 20. It was a team
effort from top to bottom within the BACE Motorsports organization as well as
the assistance we've received from Michael Waltrip and Bill Amick."
Driver of the No. 74
StaffAmerica Chevrolet,
Chad
Little
On his return to the Winston
Cup Series ..
"It's a good feeling to be
in but it wasn't very pretty. We've known since we've started this program at
BACE that we didn't have any points and we'd have to make it in on time. Now we
can start to gain some points for the No. 74 Team and put some laps underneath
us. Getting the first start behind us is important because now we know that we
are able to go out there and qualify in the top 36. Now on Sunday, we can go
out, able to put qualifying behind us, and improve our whole program by getting
time on the track.'
"I think my goal is the same
as Tony's on Sunday. I want to run strong all day long but the truth is we just
want to run all day. It goes without saying that we would like to run in the
top 15 or top 20 but the most important thing is to go out and get some
experience as a team, stay out of trouble, and see what we can work on to
improve for the following race."
"Most important the start on
Sunday means a lot to us as a team, more so than to me as a driver. It's a huge
accomplishment for them because these guys have spent so many weeks at the shop
working on the cars that they were ready to get back to the track and race.
This puts a lot of momentum behind the team."
|
