Winning Words Story and photos by Dwight Drum
© 2007 Dwight Drum Web work by Larsen & Drum
Winning Words
Probably the happiest words in motorsports are the words spoken right after a win. The thrill and feeling of victory lane is what every racer seeks, but the charm of win often wears off fast as the next race looms around the corner. Another victory lane is empty and coming into view.
Sometimes in the words of a winner lie answers to winning. Whether the sharing of select triumphant comments one after another might reveal a secret or two is debatable. But one thing is for sure, winning is what everybody works for in motorsports. Words describing achievement supports the high cost of effort.
Winning words have their own speed.
2007 Season Wins
Dover International Speedway, Sep. 23
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion)
“We unloaded on Friday, the Office Depot Ford Fusion was fast. I wish we could’ve started the race right then, it was so good. I’m just really proud of Bob and the guys and all the work they’ve been doing back at the shop and making these cars go quick, and when we unload, because everyone knows how tough it is to drive around here with a car that’s not fast. So, just had a good time – the only trouble we had during the day was the throttle pedal was hanging up early but we came in and fixed that, I think on lap 190 or somewhere in there, and from then on the car was just great. We just fought back and had a great battle with Matt. Hated to see him lose an engine. He easily would’ve been first or second today, and then there at the end battling with Mark. Those restarts were a real stresser, but kind of just decided to have fun with it. And Greg was pretty fast at the end, had tires; I did not need another restart, I was pretty excited that it went green.”
Dover International Speedway, Sep. 22
Denny Hamlin (No.20 NBS Joe Gibbs Chevrolet)
Battling an ill bug of some sort Hamlin raced on to win anyway
"I need a nap, I hated to stay in it and maybe risk tomorrow (in Sunday's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race), but I don't think I did. When the car handles that well, you're able to find something down in you that maybe you can't normally find."
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Sep. 22
Travis Kvapil (No. 6 K&N Filters Ford F-150)
"Man, what an awesome finish. Our weekend in general, this is the truck we won a couple of races with earlier in the year. So, we knew it was fast at this type of race track. This was my first time here in this configuration. We were good in practice, just kept working on it. Everybody on the team just did a wonderful job staying with it. Qualified on the pole. In the race we were off a little bit. We were just a little too tight in the first half of the race. I was trying to run the bottom of the race track in one and two. My truck was just not set-up good enough to get through the bumps through one and two like I needed. So, I had to search around a little bit and it took me a little while to figure out how to carry speed through in turns one and two. I found just running the outside lane, going around the bumps, worked for me. I think it took me a little while and some of the guys to get the groove kind of worked in up there.
"I knew I had to try something different, so I started testing the waters on the outside of three and four and quickly realized that I was going to be able to make up some ground out there. I just drove it in out there and had clean air outside these guys. It stuck good for me; running on the outside you've got a lot of momentum and I was able to complete the passes."
New Hampshire International Speedway, Sep. 16
Clint Bowyer ( No. 07 Jack Daniel's Impala SS)
YOU WALKED TO VICTORY LANE. WHERE IS YOUR RACE CAR?
"Well, it must have been the burnout. I think I blew it up. That's what it's all about."
WHAT A GREAT RACE CAR. YOU HAD 300 GOOD LAPS. TALK ABOUT THAT.
"Absolutely. And it all starts back at the shop and with everybody back at RCR. I wish they were all here with me. This says a lot about our race team and the Jack Daniels Chevrolet."
IT TOOK 64 RACES TO GET HERE. HOW DOES IT FEEL?
"This is unbelievable. I can't believe it happened here. This has always been a good track us. We just could never get the finish. I'm just so excited to celebrate with all these guys. They deserve it."
New Hampshire International Speedway, Sep. 15
Ron Hornaday (NCTS No. 33 Camping World Silverado)
Hornaday Extends Point Standings Lead
"I can't say that I have ever had a truck that was as good as what I had today. I can't thank Camping World, Chevrolet, Rick Ren, Kevin and DeLana Harvick, you name it, we have to thank everybody who has anything to do with this team and this effort. What an awesome crew, Danny and all them guys do an awesome job on this truck and team. We can't forget Wally Rogers, he is the one who started this deal. It is just so awesome for this truck to do what it has done today. Same truck we have finished in the top-three with three time4s and we finally won with it. This is our lucky charm little truck right here. Wow, 33 wins, that is unbelievable, that is cool.
"When the brakes settled in and they pulled off the tape off the right front, I was good. It was unbelievable. There are a lot of guys out there that would give anything to drive a truck like this. I put it in positions it shouldn't have been in and it came out of every one of them. I could just put the power down in this Chevrolet and go. I have to thank Richard Childress Racing engines for awesome horsepower. It is a pleasure to drive this stuff.
"Kevin and DeLana have built an organization where no one ever says die, that is what makes us run hard. We went to the front and would have broke today and finished last, it doesn't matter because we had the truck to beat today. That is what your work for and build on. They keep putting awesome trucks underneath me week in and week out. It is just unbelievable to be able to race this hard and finish like this."
Richmond,Va., Sep. 8
Jimmie Johnson (NNCS No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet)
"We're happy to be hitting our stride at this point in the season. As everybody knows it was a little bit of a tough summer for us. But everything is working right now. I feel like our intermediate program, our current car program, between the COT and the current car, we're strong on all fronts and I'm happy that we're able to put that together and win back-to-back weeks like this.
"The race was starting off good for us and we ran in the Top-5 all day. At the end the car started to come to life and made some great adjustments. Adjustments were spot on and got me in good track position. The last hundred laps the car was as good as it's been.
Fontana, Calif., Sep 2
Jimmie Johnson (NNCS No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet)
"Really it was just a solid effort through the whole night. I think in the middle part of the race we were real quick on short runs, probably one of the better cars but in the long run would burn the right rear tire off of it. As the track changed, we made some small changes and we got that better and better.
"I tried the top side a little bit. Kyle (Busch) was having a lot of luck there and making up a lot of ground up there. I tried it and couldn't really make it work for long, and/or just get any speed out of the car doing it. So, went back to the bottom and focused on the bottom. We adjusted the car to run at the bottom and it paid off at the end."
Fontana, Calif., Sep 1
Jeff Burton (NBS No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Holiday Inn Chevrolet)
"Kyle Busch is hard to get around," Burton said. "I knew we had a lot better tires. Driving a brand new chassis and that made my job easier, but by no means did I consider it a 'gimme,'"
Gateway, Ill., Aug. 31
Johnny Benson (NNCT Driver No. 23 Toyota Truck)
"I really did believe the day was done," Benson said, "but the truck was really good and I was able to pass. I wasn't patient. I had a lot of work to do. "I had to pass him on the outside, he was running the bottom. I passed a lot of guys on the outside there. I had to time it right. It started to stick and he didn't squeeze me."
Bristol Tenn., Aug. 25
Carl Edwards (NNCS No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion)
VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW
“Man, this is the biggest win of my career. I can’t thank Bob Osborne enough and all my guys. My pit crew was awesome and I want to thank my fans for sticking behind us. It means a lot. Office Depot for sure. Dwight Laxton, Howard Hall, Mike Mittler – all those who helped me coming up. To win here at Bristol, I think, is everybody’s dream. I’m gonna be in Columbia tomorrow for Sam Russell, my good buddy who is injured. We’re gonna have a bicycle ride. I don’t know if this is gonna sink in. This is the night race at Bristol – 500 laps and we won it.”
YOU’RE LOCKED IN THE CHASE?
“Unbelievable. I am living the dream thanks to Jack Roush, Roush Fenway, Office Depot. Anybody out there who has a dream just follow it. I don’t know what to think. It was emotional to win this race. Like I said, I’ve watched this a lot. I think every short track racer out there dreams about this. My little brother is racing tonight and I know he’s watching. Mom, dad, Kenny, I love you guys and to win this race is cool. We’re back.”
Bristol Tenn., Aug. 24
Kasey Kahne (NNCS, NBS driver No. 9 Dodge)
"It was an awesome battle with Ryan Newman and Jason Leffler," Kahne said. "It feels great. This is always one of the tracks you want to win on. It was a battle. The track is so crazy with how many lines there are and how much racing room there is. (I)just squeezed through. We were scraping Newman on one side, scraping the wall on the other side."Watkins Glen, N.Y., Aug. 12
Greg Zipadelli (NNCS Crew Chief No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet)
"You know, we just for some reason were fortunate enough to love this place and run good here and we unloaded yesterday the same car we had at Sonoma, and it really was good on Friday. It was excellent yesterday. Keeping track position was obviously going to be the key, and obviously we gave that up when we spun. Everybody kept their heads up and stayed focused knowing there was enough time to put ourselves back in position to hopefully win this race and you know, good Lord willing, it worked out today."
Tony Stewart (NNCS Driver No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet)
"I'll be honest, I think our car was just a tick better than Jeff's. But, you know, it was a situation that whoever was leading, it was going to be extremely hard for the other guy to get by. If we're leading, it's going to be hard for Jeff to get by, and if Jeff doesn't make that mistake, we run second to him. You know, I could run, there were parts of the track where I could gain time on him; there were parts of the practice where he would gain time on us.
"We could gain a little ground, but you were going to have to be a bunch faster to get by him. He was really good in braking and I think eventually that's what got him was we just finally, you know, pressured him so much in the braking zones that hopefully, you know, we got his brake temps up to where either the fronts gave up a little bit to where it made the backs grab harder or whatever the case is, but whatever the case was, the end result worked out for us. Whenever was leading with ten to go was probably going to win the race most likely."
Bristol, Tenn., Aug. 22
Johnny Benson (NNCT Driver No. 23 Toyota Truck)
"I was confident we could get to the front because we had 40-lap fresher tires," Benson said about his crew chief Trip Bruce's call to pit in the middle of the race. "I knew we had a great truck even before we pitted. We just knew that on the new surface the tires would give up just a little bit.
"I think when Travis and Kyle got together it was just hard racing," Benson said. "If they hit door to door, they would have just slid up the track and we would have gone on past and they finish second and third. But they ended up spinning. When that happened, it just made it a little easier."
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