HammerDownUSA.com
Carl Edwards Wins NEXTEL Prelude to
the Dream presented by Old Spice at Eldora Speedway
Selected Quotes from Participating
Drivers
ROSSBURG,
Ohio (June 6, 2007) – Carl Edwards won the NEXTEL Prelude to the Dream
presented by Old Spice dirt late model race June 6 at Eldora Speedway in
Rossburg, Ohio.
Edwards won
the 30-lap race on the half-mile oval by .305 of a second over Kyle Busch. Jeff
Gordon finished third.
“That’s
just unreal,” Edwards said. “To win this race in front of so many folks is unreal.
Everyone I know is watching it at home on HBO Pay-Per-View. They have people
who bought it and they are all going over to their house. I’m sure everyone
enjoyed it. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be able to support the
Victory Junction Gang Camp and doing something this fun. It’s awesome.”
Edwards led
all but two laps en route to victory, but had to contend with Gordon and Busch
throughout much of the event. Gordon, who made his first appearance at Eldora
since 1991, led lap 11 and challenged Edwards throughout most of the event.
“I’ve
sweated out a lot of finishes in a dirt car when you can’t see behind you,”
Edwards said. “The guy from Barry Wright race cars was giving me hand signals
down there and he finally quit giving me signals. I knew they were right there
on my tail.”
There were
three cautions during the event, although the laps conducted under caution did
not count. The only major accident occurred on lap 17 when Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte and Kasey Kahne crashed in turn two. Labonte
and Stewart, who finished 21st and 22nd, respectively,
were done for the night. Kahne was able to continue
and finished sixth.
The race
was broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View with the proceeds from the
groundbreaking telecast going to support the Victory Junction Gang Camp and the
Tony Stewart Foundation.
***
Photographs
of today’s “NEXTEL Prelude to the Dream Presented by Old Spice” will be
available to the media on-line through Getty Images at the conclusion of the
event. Media will not be charged an editorial usage fee for images from
the event. To view and download materials, please register at www.image.net
and select “SPORTS” in the “Subjects You Cover” section.
***
Carl
Edwards, Winner:
Talk
about the race with Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch
“That’s
just unreal. I’ve sweated out a lot of finishes in a dirt car when you can’t
see behind you. The guy from Barry Wright race cars was giving me hand signals
down there and he finally quit giving me signals. I knew they were right there
on my tail. To win this race in from of so many folks is unreal. Everyone I
know is watching it at home on HBO. They have people who bought it and they are
all going over to their house. I’m sure everyone enjoyed it. I can’t tell you
how much it means to me to be able to support the Victory Junction Gang Camp
and doing something this fun. It’s awesome. When Jeff (Gordon) got by me the
first time I thought, dang, this isn’t good. And then he slipped up a little
bit and I got back by him and I thought this is fun. When it happened again and
again I just couldn’t believe it. That’s really cool to get to race Jeff Gordon
on dry, slick dirt track like this. It was definitely amazed at Kyle Busch and
Jeff Gordon. It’s unreal to see how talented these guys are on dirt. It’s neat
to come out here and do something where everyone is on an even playing field
and see how it turns out.”
On the crowd reaction from his backflip.
“When we
took the trucks around the track before the race, if there was 17,000 people up
there then 10,000 of them were screaming for the backflip
before the race even started. That’s really cool to be able to do that and have
people excited about it.”
Kyle Busch, finished second (Running):
On his
second-place finish and racing Jeff Gordon
“It was fun
I had a blast. Racing with Jeff (Gordon) down the straightaway to get by him
and finally I got outside of him so he couldn’t slide up too much. I thought I
had enough to get back to Carl (Edwards) but I just couldn’t get the top to
work and I started pushing the car too high and I was just too long of a way
around. I had a great run on Jeff (Gordon) a bunch of times going down the
front straightaway and I just had to stop because he was still spinning his
tires. Carl (Edwards) had a couple of good runs on him there but on the bottom
you could just carry your momentum through there. But
my run from the start of the corner off just couldn’t quite match their speed
through the center.”
Would
you rather run 400 laps at
“I’d much
rather run 30 laps here because it’s fun. I had a great experience because I
had a great car and we had a bunch of guys helping out. It was a good race and
I had a blast with it. I definitely had a lot of fun. I just want to thank all
the guys on this team that prepared this car. I got into the wall a couple of
times trying to squeeze to the outside of guys and it bend the tow a little bit
but it didn’t hurt it too much so I could still salvage on.”
What
makes this event so much fun for you guys?
“It’s a
weekday race but it’s a lot like Saturday night racing where there is a 30 or
40 lap feature. I love being able to come out here and do this kind of stuff
when I can. I felt like tonight I think I proved something to some of the
people that didn’t think I was a dirt racer. I know everyone wasn’t scared that
I knew how to hang it out there but that’s on pavement but now it’s on dirt.”
Jeff Gordon, finished third (Running):
On his
first appearance in the event
“It’s great
to be back at Eldora Speedway. We’ve done some midget races and some silver
crown races in the past and I’ve run a winged sprint car here too. It was a
good race car and I was just playing catch-up all night long. I was just trying
to learn this type of a car but in the feature I was having a blast. It was
just so cool to be a part of it. I think I only got past Carl (Edwards) once
but it was just such an honor to come out here with these guys and to compete
in this event for a great charity. It was about that and having fun.”
On
racing with Kyle Busch
“Kyle did a
great job. Anyone who doesn’t think that guy’s talented needed to be here
tonight. I’ve always known how talented he was and he was very convincing
tonight. He’s had a few run-ins with the wall here lately, but I’ve always
known how talented that kid is. To see him come out here and do this well does
not surprise me one bit. He did a great job, he blew
by me on the outside and showed me a couple of things. I was trying to get back
by him and get a little more.”
On
racing for the lead with Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch
“I got the
lead and I was good once I got it. I was just so shocked when I got it. I was
running the middle and Carl got back by me on the bottom. It was a great race
and that’s the most important part. I just lost a little bit of momentum there
and I wasn’t able to get it back.
Juan
Pablo Montoya, finished 15th (Running):
You ran
pretty well considering you knocked the front end out.
“I don’t
know what happened. Somebody just tangled up with me in one of the heats
I just got pushed to the back. It didn’t matter. We ran pretty good. Passed a few cars and got comfortable. I
got that car pretty sideways. You know, 10-lap races, I though, ‘Whew,
they’re pretty long.’ And all of a sudden with 30 laps, I started getting
in the groove and I started enjoying it a little bit and then it was, ‘Oh, it’s over.’ So when I saw the white flag, I said,
‘No!’”
When you
think, 40-50 years ago, all the Champ car drivers used to race dirt – it was
how guys made a living. You might’ve had fun in that era.
“You know
better than anybody how much I like having the car sideways, and actually to be
sideways and in control is pretty cool.”
What did
you learn tonight?
“I picked
up a lot of respect for the guys that run on dirt. It’s very hard to
appreciate how tough it is. It takes a lot, a lot, a lot. I’ve got to
thank Tony (Stewart) and everybody that put on this event and raised all this
money because it’s just big.”
You said
you didn’t know anything about this but you ran really well.
“I didn’t
do anything. I ran, what, seven laps of practice, qualifying and the
races. That was all I’ve done in the dirt. I was getting the hang
of it at the end. I felt pretty comfortable.”
Tony
Stewart, finished 22nd (Accident):
This was
one heck of a night. Fans were trying to order the pay-per-view right up
until the last minute. Drivers were psyched. You have to feel
pretty good about it.
“I’m so
honored that these guys came. It makes that five-and-a-half hours that I
spent on the tractor seem like nothing now. These guys – it showcases
their talent and shows how they got to the Nextel Cup level and just really
appreciative of all these drivers and HBO and Nextel and Old Spice for putting
all of this together and making it such a big event. It’s not me.
It’s not any one person. There are so many people that have been working
on this – not for weeks, but for months to get this all put together and get
the logistics of it. Then when I got the time in my schedule I got the
time to put my hands in it yesterday when I had a free day. There’s so
much stuff that happened to get ready for this that I have no concept of and I
have no idea how hard and how much time it took to do. It just turned out
to be a perfect night.”
What
were the highlights of the evening?
“I think
from the time that we got in hot laps to the time they dropped the checkered
flag, we got as much drama as I ever want to have in one of these Preludes with
Bill (Elliott) and Ryan (Newman) tangling on the frontstraightaway.
The support divisions were great and had great races. The heat races
weren’t the greatest races, but it let guys get more time. The
semi-feature with Denny (Hamlin) on the top and I can’t even remember who was
on the bottom. In the main event, we weren’t very good, but I got to watch
a really good race in front of me. And then when I got in the crash, I
got to watch a good finish from the infield. I was smiling and I wasn’t
even in the race anymore. It was really fun to watch everybody have a
good time and to see these guys come up and say thanks for inviting us.
That makes my day to see these guys come up and have fun.”
This
event has grown so much in the past three years, what are you going to beat
this night?
“Drink a
lot of beer tonight and then talk about it in the morning. I don’t care
tonight. After tonight, we’ll obviously start now to get ready for next
year. It makes me appreciate so much the Eddie Gossages
(president, Texas Motor Speedway), the Ed Clarks (president of Atlanta Motor
Speedway) and the Humpy Wheelers (president, Charlotte Motor Speedway) that
have to put on two events a year and deal with the 10 times the amount of
people that we’ve dealt with and all the logistics. I’m just thankful
that we had a group of people like Old Spice and Nextel that wanted to do this
because we wanted to do it. Not because they had to. Not because it
was the greatest idea in the world. But they just wanted to be a part of
it with us. And I’m so appreciative of that. And it was the same
with the drivers. They wanted to do it because I wanted to do it and I
just can’t thank those guys enough for coming and spending the time to do
this.”
Are you
surprised at how well some of the non-dirt drivers did tonight?
“Not, really. The first year when we had Matt Kenseth
here was the second time he had ran on dirt and he was
awesome. I think it shows all those people in the stands and the people
who watched it on TV tonight why those guys got their opportunity in (Nextel)
Cup cars, because they have natural driving ability. It makes for a good
race out here when you see these guys. And it’s fun for me. I had
to take Juan (Montoya) down and just show him how to make the car go and how to
get it in gear. And then to watch him out here on the track, he didn’t look
like a rookie out there at all. It took him about four laps to start
figuring it out. And somebody like Jeff (Gordon), I told him weeks ago, I
said, ‘It’s going to be like an old pair of shoes that you put on. You’re
not going to forget what it feels like. You’re going to go, ‘Oh yeah, I
remember now.’ And he almost wins the race. It was exciting to see
all that and see how much fun they all had.”
Aric Almirola, finished 11th
(Running):
Regarding his first Prelude event.
“It was awesome
man; it was a lot of fun. I just want to thank the team for bringing this car
out tonight. It was an awesome car and I’ll definitely be back. This was just a
really neat deal and I’m already looking forward to coming back next year.”
Describing
his first time at Eldora Speedway:
“This was
my second time on dirt and it was quite an experience. I really need to
practice more before we come back. Eldora Speedway is just awesome, it’s
probably one of the nicest dirt facilities I’ve ever been to and I’ve been to
quite a few growing up watching my grandfather race on dirt tracks. Tony’s done
a hell of a job with this racetrack, it’s an awesome facility. I can’t wait
until next year.”
David
Reutimann,
finished ninth (Running):
Regarding his first Prelude event.
“It was
great. The guys brought me a fabulous car. They worked their butts on it all
day long, changing stuff because the driver didn’t know how to drive it right.
I don’t know what we ended up finishing but we didn’t tear the guy’s car up
which is big for me because they’ve got a big race coming up here in a couple
of days and they don’t need to be fixing stuff that I tore up.
Regarding
Domino’s as a sponsor for the event.
“It was
great to have Domino’s back on board again and I think we got them a little
more exposure tonight. We raised a lot of money for a couple of great charities
tonight and I had the time of my life. It’s a win-win all the way across.”
His thoughts on Eldora Speedway.
“It’s a
great racetrack; the place has so much history. The fact that Tony was able to
make this deal what it is, my hat’s off to him because
it’s a lot of legwork for him and his entire organization to make this happen.
This is not a small deal by any means; it’s the biggest dirt race I’ve ever
been associated with. It’s not really a race, so to speak, but it’s great that
we get to do this and that we get to race against a lot of guys that are out of
their element as well. It was just a lot of fun.”
Ray Evernham, finished 23rd (Spin, turn two):
Regarding his first visit to Eldora.
“It’s like
going to
About having Erin Crocker as a driving coach for the
evening.
“It was
great to have someone who has raced here trying to help me out. She tried to
help me all night, but I think she was getting a little frustrated with me. I’d
mash the gas pedal too hard and spin the wheels. Just having my photo taken
with the drivers that were competing was well worth it.”
Denny
Hamlin, finished 16th (Running):
About
how his second time around at Eldora Speedway ended up.
“It was a
lot of fun; I was starting to get the hang of it at there at the end. I didn’t
really have what it took to run with those boys up front. Those guys were
really good and regardless of that it was really cool to be here because it was
all for charity.
“The track
was great. It was really smooth and it was amazing how good of condition the
surface ended up in at the end of the night. Some guys were running high, some
were running low, and it was really racy.
Kasey Kahne, finished sixth (Running):
Regarding the incident with Tony Stewart.
“Labonte and Kyle Busch got together and Bobby ended up
almost stopping so I hit him and then Tony hit us. Everyone slowed down once
they got together and that’s what started it. I hit the wall in three and four
and peeled my spoiler back, or Tony did it when we hit. But we had a blast, I’m
so happy I came and I hope I can come back next year.”
How
impressive was the crowd in attendance at Eldora Speedway tonight.
“I don’t
know if I’ve ever seen that many people here. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of people
at King’s Royal events, there was a great crowd here for that event last year.
But this is a pretty big crowd. I think we raised a lot of money for the
Victory Junction Gang camp tonight.
Ryan
Newman, finished 18th (Running):
On the outcome of his second late model event at Eldora
Speedway.
“I had a
blast. I wish I could’ve had a better race but I still had some stuff that was
bent on the car when we got it back out there. I was in the wrong place at the
wrong time in the heat race; it was spectacular but I just think too many
things were messed up for the feature and I didn’t have anywhere to go. I plan
on racing the Jasper car a few more times again this year so we’ll get another
shot at it.”
About
the number of fans the Prelude to the Dream event draws into Eldora Speedway.
“I can’t say
I remember ever seeing this many people here, not even for this event last
year. My Dad has told me stories when they used to line cars up around here and
now they had twice as many cars deep. It was neat to see.”
Kenny
Wallace, finished 13th (Running):
Regarding
how much fun he had as a competitor in the Nextel Prelude to the Dream.
“I enjoyed
myself, but as a competitor, I would have liked to run as well as we did here
the first year. We were first here a few years ago and this is the worst we’ve run.
This has turned into a pretty big competition and I had a real good time
running the car. Tony put on a hell of a show here; the races were great
throughout the night and for the lead. I had the time of my life.”
On how
serious the competitors are about winning the event.
“The thing
about this deal is that everyone comes here like, ha-ha, whatever, but it isn’t
really that way. It is all about having fun but you want to run good. I wish we
would’ve have run better tonight but this is my one and only late model and if
I want to run better I need to buy more stuff.
Regarding
next year’s strategy.
“I’m going
to come back next year with another car and have my stuff together and win the
damn thing. I know what I need to do; I’ve just got to spend a little more
money.”