ARCA RE/MAX Series: Drivers Post-Race Quotes
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May 17, 2008
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Ryan Dalziel (No. 2 SAMAX BMW Riley): “It was pretty emotional the last few laps, when I got a good jump on the restart and saw I had the legs on them. I’m a little bit angry at myself. I made a mistake on a restart and got a tire off. But there was absolutely no way I was going to give up a victory for myself, for Henri and for the team. It was going to end up in the tires or end up in victory lane.
“I’ve always have mixed emotions coming back to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. I lost the Atlantic championship here in 2004, and since then I’ve had an up-and-down battle here. It’s doubly special for me to come here and win for SAMAX. Everything went well today in practice and in the race. The car was phenomenal, and I don’t think we’ve lost a position in the pits all year.”
Henri Zogaib (No. 2 SAMAX BMW Riley): “I never set foot on this track until yesterday. We missed the whole first session due to a fuel cell replacement. So I was under a lot of pressure to learn this track and find some speed. Ryan was pure magic. I’m very proud of him. There’s a lot more to come from SAMAX. I’m a happy man.”
Jim Matthews (No. 91 Riley Matthews Pontiac Riley): “It’s always great to be on the podium. You always want to win, so it’s a little bit of a disappointment when you finish second. My biggest moment came early in the race, when a hole opened up going into Turn 1 and I picked up a few positions. We more or less maintained position and Mark (Goossens) did an awesome job when he took over.”
Marc Goossens (No. 91 Riley Matthews Pontiac Riley): ”That’s what we’re here for, the close racing, and it worked out pretty well. We were both running real hard, trying to get the win, and that’s what this series is all about. We just have to try and be on the podium every single race.”
Scott Pruett (No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley): “We just ran our race. We knew what we wanted, strategy-wise. You never know how it’s going to turn out. There were actually less cautions at the start of the race than we had expected, and probably more cautions at the end of the race than we had expected. It had to be great for the fans because we kept jamming it up and we would be in line – all the top Daytona Prototypes cars – and all hell broke loose for a couple of laps until we stretched it out.”
“Our goal is to finish on the podium every race. That’s what our goal is for the whole season. So far we have been doing what we needed to do. We didn’t have the fastest car today, but we made the most of it and everybody did a great job.”
Kelly Collins (No. 07 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.): “The Banner Racing Car was fantastic. The car was working good. I gave it to Paul after an hour and 20 minutes. Paul did a fantastic job of bringing it home. We were stuck in third place, and I’m sorry to Sylvain (Tremblay), and a couple of other cars, but we’ll take what we can get.”
Paul Edwards (No. 07 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.): “The last lap was probably the easiest lap. Once Sylvain hit the marbles up there, I mean, we were both pushing really hard. We both thought, we’ll give it everything we’ve got, and we did pretty good even though our tires were pretty much shot by then and our fuel was getting down as well. It was a great job by Sylvain and it was a great race. Today we were patient. I thought Sylvain had it in the bag, but our patience paid off and we got lucky. Still it was pretty equal. I don’t know that I could have gotten by Sylvain because he did really well. But we’ll take it. Lime Rock coming up – which we know is pretty bumpy – is a great track for us. It suits our car as it handles the bumps pretty good. We’re happy to have the points today and we’re looking forward to Lime Rock.”
Nick Ham (No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed/Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8): “We’re driving a good consistent race, finishing up third after being in a bit of a slump for the past few races. It was a good team effort. I feel bad for the guys in the No. 40 car, because basically I threw away a top-10 finish for them. I was trying to be a nice guy and let Scott Pruett by at Turn 9. I got a little bit in the marbles – which I shouldn’t have done since that was the same car that hit me in Turn 3 earlier in the race for no reason at all – but anyway, it was a good finish for Mazda and Castrol. I’m very happy.”
Sylvain Tremblay (No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed/Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8): “The last lap was interesting. We got into the Corkscrew and it was so much gravel and so much dirt. The car is fast. It’s still not the fastest, but we’ve got some work to do. And now we’re getting ready for Lime Rock which is a really big challenge. Today was disappointing, but I’m still happy.”
