Dan Pardus Offical Website-2/17/00

February 17, 2000

Race Report
125-Mile Qualifying Race
Daytona 500

"It takes the Complete Package!" Ask any Winston Cup Team Owner or Driver how to make the Daytona 500, and the answer will probably be "It takes the Total Package...Car, Driver, Team, Handling, Horsepower, Testing and Time."

The Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Car Number 65 finished 27th in the second Twin 125 mile qualifying race. The car owned by D & M Motorsports and Jim & Judie Motorsports qualified 54th during Bud Pole Qualifying. As a new team, with no provisional to fall back on, needed to finish in the top fourteen inThursday's Second Twin 125 race to make the field for the Daytona 500.

"We were disappointed with our first qualifying effort on Saturday in Bud Pole Qualifying," Dan noted. "After the qualifying run we gained some experience in later practices with the new shock and spring set-ups. We thought we could improve our time in second round qualifying. On the first lap of second round qualifying our time showed impovement in turns one and two, however we lost the engine before completing the first lap. This relegated us to starting at the back of the field for Thursday's race. We continued to show improvement during the week in pre-race practices. Our set up was good and we were able to draft with the leaders. An Andy Petree engine was installed on Wednesday, and with a little help drafting or a mid race caution, we felt we could race our way into the Top 15. Soon after the start, the race became a parage of twenty-eight cars, in four groups, chasing the leader, Ricky Rudd. The race was caution free and provided little opportunity for us to use the draft or work our way to the front."

"I am really proud of the team's effort. We are a new team formed in December that began with the purchase of a Hendrick's Motorsports car. The car is Wally Dallenbach's 1999 Talladega entry that ran in the top ten during the Winston 500 in October. We had a satisfactory first test here at Daytona in January, but our Talladega test dates were cancelled because of snow and rain. We came up short on time and testing to bring the car to race and qualifying performance levels. A little more time, and a little more testing would have helped us make the show."

"We gained valuable experience these past two weeks at Daytona. We're looking forward to our next Winston Cup race date at Talladega in April. I can't say enough about how hard our guys worked this past week to get us in the race. I'm disappointed we didn't make it, but I'm definitely satisfied with my teams' effort!"

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