Server: Netscape-Enterprise/2.0a Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 01:45:24 GMT Accept-ranges: bytes Last-modified: Mon, 12 May 1997 15:32:57 GMT Content-length: 5300 Content-type: text/html Hot News

 

THIRD PLACE FINISH FOR #18 DANA DODGE SUPERTRUCK

MAY 12, 1997, Toledo, OH – Michael Dokken fended off a late race charge by Joe Ruttman to finish third in the NAPACARD 200 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington on Saturday. The #18 Dana Dodge, which started 12th, was strong all day as Dokken battled to put the Dana Dodge in front at the finish. The team’s third place finish was the highest 1997 finish to date for the Dana Racing team and Dodge.

"We’ve had some bad breaks in the first few races this year, but it definitely pays off today," said driver Michael Dokken. "We were hoping to do better than a 12th place qualifying position, but I was a little nervous. The team slept on it, thought about it, and made some changes before the race. Patience was the key today, and conserving tires. It’s hard to watch the leaders pull away and not put the pedal down. I had turned my radio off during my interview at the half time break, and forgot to turn it back on again when we went back out, so on the restart I lost a couple of positions and got stuck on the outside. Then I remembered the radio, and we came back up. The truck started smoking with about 40 laps to go, and all that smoke made it hard for me to see, but it cleared up a little later and we were fine."

"I really have to thank Joe Ruttman - he drove me clean those last three laps after the final caution. The Dana Racing team also did a super job on getting the right setup. We had a great truck today, and we’re just going to keep digging and take it to Odessa in a couple of weeks for another good run."

"We’re not out here to cruise and collect points, we’re out here to win," said team owner Kurt Roehrig. "We have to get the top-5 finishes before we can win. Michael and the rest of the team did a really good job today. This racetrack takes maturity, patience and is usually dominated by veterans. Young lions like us weren’t supposed to be there, but we were. We had some reliability problems in the first few races, but the team never got down. That’s confirmation that if you keep digging, you get results."

"The team did a super job," said Armedee Nadeau, Dana Corporation motorsports manager. "They had the rhythm, a good setup, and the team kept focused. We’ve got to finish in the top 5 before we get our first win for Dana Corporation and for Dodge, and now that we have that top-5 finish out of the way, we can get that win."

Dokken posted his first career top-5 finish with this third place finish at Evergreen Speedway, and posted the highest 1997 finish for sponsor Dana Corporation.

Dana Corporation is a global leader in the engineering, manufacture and distribution of products and systems for the vehicular, industrial and off-highway markets. Its core businesses are axles, driveshafts, structural components (frames), sealing products, filtration products, engine products, industrial products and leasing. Its leasing services operation was a recipient of the 1996 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Founded in 1904 and based in Toledo, Ohio, Dana operates facilities in 30 countries with more than 48,000 people. Its 1996 sales were $7.7 billion. It has more than 40 product research and development centers worldwide. The Internet address for Dana’s home page is: http://www.dana.com.

IMMEDIATE Contact: Armedee Nadeau

(860) 749-9447

 

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