From the Great Bridge section of Chesapeake, Virginia, R. Mark Stiles, the owner, news director & editor in chief of Catchfence,™ has been dedicated to auto racing news media coverage, journalism and reporting for over 14-years.
Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 12 Wurth Dodge Challenger) Finished 5th
Street and Racing Technology (SRT) Motorsports Logo
YOU HAD A GOOD DODGE CHALLENGER ALL NIGHT BUT THERE WAS AN ISSUE EARLY IN THE RACE. “We started having some brake vibration about lap two or three and we did everything I could do from inside the car to be able to battle that. As the night went on it continued to get a little bit better but not ever to the point where it was all the way out of it and as the tires continued to get hotter and hotter the car wouldn’t turn because that vibration just extenuates any kind of push that you had the car.
“But the big thing that saved us tonight was the guys on the Wurth Dodge did a good job in the pits and gave us good pit stops. We picked up two or three spots every time we came in and just really happy for what those guys were able to do for us and just really glad to be out here and be part of the Nationwide Series.”
HOW BIG IS IT TO SCORE A TOP FIVE HERE TONIGHT? “It was really good but the biggest thing I take out of tonight is we had an awesome night in the pits. The guys did a great job and got us positions every time. I’d rather be a little bit off with our car and be great in the pits than be really good with our car and be off in the pits because they can gain you so much, especially at these short tracks. Those guys were really up on it today. All in all, our Wurth Dodge was pretty good. We were good the first 10 laps and we were good after about 60 laps, it’s just that little section in the middle there where we couldn’t go like we needed to be able to maintain. The 6 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) and the 2 (Elliott Sadler) could go really hard and then I’d catch ‘em so we just needed to work on our car a little bit there. We had a nagging brake problem that started at about lap three so we’re not really sure what the cause of that is but we’ll figure it out and try to figure out how to make ourselves better. I’m really happy with the overall effort of the guys on the team tonight.”
YOU SEEM TO RUN WELL HERE AT RICHMOND IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES. “I won two IndyCar races here and in 2009 we finished in the top eight for both Cup races, we finished sixth and eighth in both of those and not starting any better than 36th in those two races. We wanted them to be 500 lappers those years ‘cause we just kept coming all night long. I feel like Richmond is a place that it’s really all about compromise. You’re not going to make the car perfect on both ends so how do you make it really good on one end and give up the least amount that you can on the other. I feel like any track that we do racing like that, that’s where I excel at and I think that’s why Pocono is one of my favorite places because you’ve got three ends to try to figure out.”
Chad Walter (Crew Chief, No. 12 Wurth Dodge Challenger R/T)
“First and foremost the Wurth Challenger was excellent right off the truck and that’s a testament to everybody that builds these cars, everybody that sets ‘em up, everybody that works on ‘em here at the track. I felt like this was the best we’ve unloaded and most consistent car that we’ve had and that’s something we’ve been working towards ‘cause we haven’t really had that just yet. It’s another shot in the arm of confidence for Sam. We ran alright at Texas, ran a good Cup race last week at Kansas and now we come back and back it up at Richmond in the Nationwide race where the points matter for us. Little by little we’re going to chip away and start giving these guys a run for their money on a weekly basis.”
WAS THIS THE BEST JOB ALL YEAR BY YOUR PIT CREW? “That pit crew, I told ‘em right after the race, hands down the class of the field. I don’t know what our slowest stop was but it was plenty quick and that makes it easier to manage and not abuse your equipment and race too hard and that’s what it’s all about. It’s a total clean effort.”
Brad Keselowski (No. 22 Discount Tire/SKF Dodge Challenger R/T) Finished 16th
“We just missed it tonight with the Discount Tire Dodge. Not really sure where but that’s why there’s 30-some of these races so you can keep plugging away and get ones where you got it right and win. I think we had a really good car at Texas and Vegas and a shot at winning there and just didn’t finish out the day and had some issues. And then we come here and we don’t have a very good car. We didn’t have any issues; we just weren’t good (smiles). That’s just the way that racing works sometimes and we’ll get it right.”
Source: Darnell Communications for SRT Motorsports (Dodge) Press Release
