NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Virginia is for Lovers 200: Ford Driver Quotes
6 September 1997
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Post-Race Quotes
Virginia Is For Lovers 200
Richmond International Raceway
September 4, 1997
RICHMOND, VA - The following provided by Ford Motorsports Public Affairs:
MIKE BLISS (#2 Team ASE Ford) - Started 2nd, finished 7th - "The first half
we were just really loose. We planned on the track being a little tighter
than it was, and it wasn't tight at all, and it got loose. We were real bad.
When we cane in at half time I whined and cried and griped and they tightened
it up. We still weren't tight enough the second half. I mean we were tighter,
but we were in the back there. We just got caught in the back there and
couldn't get going. We were good so when we went by them we were all right,
but there just weren't any yellows to help."
RICK CRAWFORD (#14 Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford) - Started 31st, finished
34th - "We must have broken a rod or something like that. That's the first
motor related problem we've had all year. I just hate it because the guys
worked so hard to get ready for tonight, and to be here in front of all the
Winston Cup people. The Circle Bar Ford will be back at Martinsville."
ERNIE IRVAN (#28 Federated Auto Parts Ford) - Started 18th, finished 36th -
"Something happened to the clutch. It started slipping. It slipped right from
the beginning. But that's just part of it."
ARE YOU GOING TO RUN ANY OTHER TRUCK EVENTS? - "Yeah, I'm going to run
Martinsville and Fontana."
BRYAN REFFNER (#66 Carlin Burners & Controls Ford) - Started 11th, finished
15th - "I can describe this in just a few words. I'm happy. We finished in
one piece. We were hoping for a little better. As we get to finish better we
learn more about we can happen. I wanted a top ten, and we hung around the
top ten, and just kind of fell back at the end. But it's a live and learn
deal, so I'm happy with it. We learned another thing, and we don't have to
build another truck. We don't know about Martinsville because we didn't test
there, and we don't have the set up. We'll see if we can get some help from
some other drivers and crew chiefs, and I think we'll be okay."
JOE RUTTMAN (#80 LCI International Ford) - "I don't know what happened. The
engine started souring on us, like a fuel problem, so we're eyeballing it
right now to make sure it gets wide open and the jets aren't plugged up or
something. It was good the first half. We just missed the chassis. We
adjusted it during the half time to where I'm sure it would have been better.
Then when we fired off, and it was like the carburetor was plugged up, and it
just wouldn't run so I babied her so we could finish. I guess that was the
most exciting part -- that we were able to finish."
KENNY IRWIN, JR. (#98 Raybestos/Ford Credit Ford) - Started 3rd, finished 5th
- "That was a fun race. It was really a fun race. The truck run good. We just
didn't quite have what they had. We weren't lacking that much. We just kind
of wore out the right rear tire way too much in the first half, and we tried
to go easier on it in the second half. We were easier on it. I think that
showed toward the end of the race that we were a little better than them. We
were all right. I'm happy with it. For the kind of luck we've had lately I
just feel good about it and that we ended up in the top-five."
WHEN DID YOU HIT THE WALL? - "The last yellow. I kind of stayed in the gas. I
thought I could get around the 24 (Jack Sprague) truck. I knew it was coming
too. I got out of the gas and kind of hit the brake, but we hit it pretty
good."
WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE WEEKEND AND YOUR FIRST RACE IN WINSTON CUP? -
"Hopefully this is a good sign for the rest of the weekend. I'm so excited
about his. It's the biggest thing that has ever happened in my career. I just
want it to go decent. It doesn't have to go great. I just want to make the
race and run some laps."
CHUCK BOWN (#99 Exide Batteries Ford) - Started 19th, finished 8th - "Well,
we started 19th and finished eighth. It was somewhat uneventful other than
that. I had a pretty good truck. It's just that there were a lot of them out
there. We made a little adjustment at halfway to tighten it up, and we almost
got it a little too tight. But I was a little loose in the first half. It was
just kind of a guess to try to make it better, trying to get up there to be a
contender to win. We just kind of leveled off at eighth, and that's all the
better we could do tonight."
###
