NASCAR Goody's Dash Series Discount Auto Parts 200 Practice Notes
8 February 1999
NASCAR GOODY'S DASH SERIES DISCOUNT AUTO PARTS 200 PRACTICE NOTES AND QUOTES from Daytona International Speedway RANDY HUMPHREY (No. 93 Randy Humphrey Racing Pontiac) -- (Humphrey, a 38-year-old former Legends and Late Model competitor from Topeka, Kan. recorded the fastest speed of the afternoon practice, at more than 162 mph. This is his first trip to Daytona International Speedway) It's a thrill; I can't explain how good it feels.The crew's worked so hard over the last couple of months, getting the car ready for me. It's amazing. We're fortunate to be here. It's an awesome place. I'm just ecstatic, to be honest with you. There are a few goat trails around Topeka, Kansas, but nothing like this. Homestead was the biggest track, previous to this. All the credit for the car goes to Mark Blessing, the crew chief. He did a tremendous job and I'm fortunate that he's let me get in and drive it. (About changing your driving style/approach on a superspeedway like Daytona) You've got to be real careful and real cognizant of what's around you. You've got to be real careful and used to all that air moving around. When you get around other cars, it moves around, all by itself. I'm not used to all those kinds of things. We're running a six cylinder; everything's set up for that. That's the way NASCAR is going and we think that's the way to go. The motor life's a little longer; the torque's much better with a six-cylinder. You gain 100 pounds but overall, it's the way to go. There are some four-cylinder cars running well but I think six-cylinder, long haul, is the way to go financially, economically and race-wise. (On possibly winning the Bud Pole on Tuesday) Oh, I'm the rookie, I'm the long-shot. There are a lot of guys who've been here a long time and I'm just glad, this year, to be with them. All those guys have a lot more experience than me -- David Hutto, Robert Huffman, Scott Weaver -- all of them. I'm probably the dark horse. SCOTT KREHLING (Germain Auto Dealers/Stuart Lumber Pontiac) -- (Krehling, like Humphrey, is a rookie-of-the-year candidate. This is the Naples, Fla. driver's first trip to Daytona International Speedway) We came down for the test session and were pretty surprised, ourselves at how well we did. It just seemed to have carried over. We feel pretty good out there. The car's very comfortable. My crew's doing an awesome job. I've got to hand it to Don Hogan and Billy Bigley; it's really coming together for us. They've got 20 years apiece experience. Hopefully, we've have a good show here and get us some good sponsorship for the year so we can run all the races. (On the Bud Pole) We'll just do our best to get in the race, race clean and get a lot of experience. Every time I got out there, I'm learning more. Billy's talking to me on the radio and giving me a lot of tips. We were drafting with that other rookie (Randy Humphrey) and it went pretty well for us, so we're pretty happy. NASCAR BUSCH SERIES NAPA 300 PRACTICE NOTES AND QUOTES ANDY SANTERRE (No. 47 Monro Muffler Chevrolet) -- This Monro Muffler and Brake Chevy is really running! We've got a great Joe Varde Racing engine. He's a little bit of an underdog, but right now we're fifth and hopefully we can stay there. Gene DeHart built us a great body, and Joe built us a great engine. We're down here with no crew chief, but we're having a lot of fun and learning a lot. DAVE BLANEY (No. 93 Amoco Pontiac) -- We're really pleased with the way we're running. We did a lot of work since testing, got a real good engine to come down here with, and we're sure we've got a real good car. We were confident we could be in the top 10. I hope when qualifying's over, that's where we end up. Based on today's practice, I think we've got a shot at the pole, but it's hard to tell. Guys could come up with some stuff. We think we've got a little bit left, and who knows? From this point last year until now, I'm 1,000-percent better, as far as knowing what I'm doing, feeling comfortable, knowing who I'm racing with, and them knowing me a little bit. So I'm feeling good. KEVIN LEPAGE (No. 99 Red Man Chevrolet) -- We got a little help on our fast lap, but our first lap was pretty clean, and we were happy with that. Based on what these cars pick up on the second lap in qualifying, I think we can run around a 47.95. I think that's pretty decent. We still don't have all our cards on the table. We've still got some work ahead of us. But there's over 60 cars here, everybody's trying to get on the race track and get a clean lap, and it's real tough. This is demanding on any team. I'm real happy with the Red Man team, and that Jack Roush gave me the opportunity to come back and run limited Busch Series races. LANCE HOOPER (No. 23 Jackson Racing Pontiac) -- We're trying. We're here, looking for a sponsor, looking to get a sponsor for the season so we're giving it our best effort. We're here. Pontiac has helped us; Goodyear has helped us. Richard Jackson has a great team. He's got a lot of faith in me as a driver and I've got a lot of faith in him as a car owner. Hopefully, together, we can get a sponsor and go out and win races. I just want to make the race and try to run good. If we can make it first round qualifying, we'll all be tickled to death.
