1 4 #5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Kellogg's 190/10 308 Running
2 17 #99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 170/0 308 Running
3 26 #16 Greg Biffle Ford Subway/National Guard 170/5 308 Running
4 13 #6 Mark Martin Ford AAA 160/0 308 Running
5 14 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 155/0 308 Running
6 12 #11 Denny Hamlin * Chevrolet FedEx Express 155/5 308 Running
7 2 #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 151/5 308 Running
8 11 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW/AskDrZ.com 142/0 308 Running
9 6 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 138/0 308 Running
10 42 #10 Scott Riggs Dodge Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper - Valvoline 134/0 308 Running
11 22 #40 David Stremme * Dodge Coors Light 130/0 308 Running
12 20 #18 J.J. Yeley * Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 127/0 308 Running
13 28 #22 Dave Blaney Dodge Caterpillar 124/0 308 Running
14 24 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 121/0 308 Running
15 7 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 123/5 308 Running
16 23 #14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management 115/0 308 Running
17 3 #25 Brian Vickers Chevrolet GMAC 117/5 308 Running
18 8 #1 Martin Truex Jr. * Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops/Tracker 109/0 308 Running
19 34 #7 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Menards/MAPEI 106/0 308 Running
20 36 #4 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet AERO Exhaust 103/0 308 Running
21 29 #42 Casey Mears Dodge Texaco/Havoline 100/0 308 Running
22 15 #96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 97/0 308 Running
23 27 #43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios/Betty Crocker 94/0 308 Running
24 9 #41 Reed Sorenson * Dodge Target 96/5 308 Running
25 18 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 93/5 307 Running
26 35 #66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Haas Automation/Best Buy 85/0 307 Running
27 31 #07 Clint Bowyer * Chevrolet Sylvania 87/5 307 Running
28 41 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Petty Enterprises 79/0 306 Running
29 37 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW/AskDrZ.com 76/0 306 Running
30 38 #49 Kevin Lepage Dodge State Water Heaters/LoansDepot.com 73/0 306 Running
31 32 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 70/0 306 Running
32 43 #100 Bill Elliott Chevrolet Burger King 67/0 305 Running
33 33 #26 Jamie McMurray Ford LENOX Industrial Tools 64/0 303 Running
34 21 #21 Ken Schrader Ford Sunbelt Snacks 61/0 303 Running
35 30 #32 Travis Kvapil Chevrolet Tide-Downy 58/0 302 Out of Race
36 39 #55 Michael Waltrip Dodge NAPA Auto Parts 55/0 300 Out of Race
37 5 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 57/5 285 Running
38 10 #2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 49/0 285 Running
39 1 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 51/5 279 Running
40 40 #95 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet Quality Metric 43/0 200 Out of Race
41 16 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 40/0 199 Out of Race
42 19 #178 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 37/0 184 Out of Race
43 25 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 34/0 135 Out of Race
-----Overview-----
Lap 308 -- CHECKERED FLAG: Kyle Busch wins the Lenox Industrial Tools 300.
Lap 307 -- Denny Hamlin is out of fuel.
Lap 307 -- Tony Raines gets sideways but is OK.
Lap 306 -- Elliott Sadler is out of fuel.
Lap 306 -- GREEN FLAG: Kyle Busch has gone 94 laps since pitting and leads the field single-file for the green-white-checkered finish.
1. Kyle Busch
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Carl Edwards
4. Elliott Sadler
5. Greg Biffle
Lap 304 -- Elliott Sadler is cutting the car off and coasting down the straightaway trying to save fuel.
Lap 303 -- Michael Waltrip is sitting on the track with major front-end damage and smoke coming from the motor. He rear-ended Robby Gordon during the caution laps on accident.
Lap 300 -- Reed Sorenson gives up third place to pit for gas. He was dry when he stopped on pit road. He will restart 24th.
Lap 298 -- YELLOW FLAG: Clint Bowyer is turned around in front of Brian Vickers and hits the wall. Travis Kvapil also spins. Bowyer came off of Turn 2 and pinched Vickers into the wall. Kvapil spun while slowing down.
Lap 296 -- Jeremy Mayfield is out of fuel and on pit road.
Lap 295 -- With Kyle Busch leading and Denny Hamlin and Reed Sorenson running second and third, the top three drivers have all been in the Cup Series less than two years.
Lap 290 -- Kyle Busch has a lead of 2.670 seconds over Denny Hamlin. The car Busch is driving has never finished lower than eighth.
Lap 283 -- Denny Hamlin and Reed Sorenson move around Elliott Sadler for second and third.
Lap 271 -- GREEN FLAG: Kyle Busch gets the race going again.
1. Kyle Busch
2. Elliott Sadler
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Greg Biffle
5. Reed Sorenson
Lap 268 -- Jeff Gordon pits because he thinks a tire is going down after contact with Robby Gordon. However, the tire is not flat, so Jeff Gordon's team thinks they may have a different problem.
Lap 267 -- Jeff Green gets the free pass.
Lap 266 -- YELLOW FLAG: Tony Raines gets into Ken Schrader and spins the No. 21 Ford into the wall as the two go through the corner.
Lap 239 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kyle Busch hangs on around Turn 4 to take the lead.
Lap 238 -- GREEN FLAG: Elliott Sadler leads the field to green.
1. Elliott Sadler
2. Kyle Busch
3. Jeremy Mayfield
4. Greg Biffle
5. Denny Hamlin
Lap 234 -- Clint Bowyer gives the lead to Elliott Sadler to make a pit stop.
• Several others are in, including Scott Riggs and Jeff Gordon
• Matt Kenseth has a long stop to check for leaks in the brakes
Lap 234 -- Jeff Green gets the free pass.
Lap 233 -- YELLOW FLAG: Kurt Busch slams into the wall with major damage on the right-rear of his car. He was tagged by David Stremme in the corner.
Lap 222 -- Scott Riggs is battling his teammate hard for third position. Riggs started 42nd, while Mayfield started 37th.
Lap 213 -- GREEN FLAG: Clint Bowyer leads the field to green. Kyle Busch was the first off pit road and restarts seventh.
1. Clint Bowyer
2. Jeremy Mayfield
3. Elliott Sadler
4. Scott Riggs
5. Jeff Gordon
Lap 211 -- Clint Bowyer and six other cars stay out.
Joe Nemechek was tapped by Brian Vickers and backed into the wall. Credit: Autostock
Lap 210 -- Nearly everyone hits pit road for possibly a final stop.
• Kyle Busch takes fuel only in 4.7 seconds and says he can make it all the way
• Greg Biffle takes fuel only in 5.9 seconds
• Almost everyone else takes either two or four tires and fuel
• Reed Sorenson takes four tires in 17.8 seconds
Lap 209 -- YELLOW FLAG: Jeff Green gets into the wall after squeezing Martin Truex Jr. on the straightaway.
Lap 205 -- All three Ganassi cars are running inside the top 10: Reed Sorenson (second), David Stremme (eighth) and Casey Mears (ninth).
Lap 204 -- GREEN FLAG: Kyle Busch leads the field to green.
1. Kyle Busch
2. Greg Biffle
3. Reed Sorenson
4. Carl Edwards
5. Kevin Harvick
Lap 200 -- Sterling Marlin gets the free pass. Joe Nemechek and Kenny Wallace are out of the race.
Lap 199 -- YELLOW FLAG: Joe Nemechek spins and has rear-end damage. Brian Vickers gets caught up in the mess with front damage. Vickers touched Nemechek, sending him spinning into the wall.
Lap 194 -- GREEN FLAG: Kyle Busch gets the race going again in the middle of the pack with a dozen cars fighting to stay on the lead lap.
1. Kyle Busch
2. Greg Biffle
3. Reed Sorenson
4. Carl Edwards
5. Kevin Harvick
Lap 187 -- Brian Vickers heads to pit road with the few cars that needed to make a stop.
• Ken Schrader gets the free pass
• Brian Vickers gets four tires and no changes to come out first
• Denny Hamlin is out second
• Jimmie Johnson makes his stop and comes out third.
Pit road was a busy place all day with different strategies everywhere. Credit: Autostock
Lap 186 -- YELLOW FLAG: Kenny Wallace slams the wall in Turn 3 and comes to a stop. He says his car has no brakes.
Lap 183 -- LEAD CHANGE: Greg Biffle gives up the lead to make his stop. Carl Edwards also stops, leaving Brian Vickers in command.
Lap 182 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kyle Busch gives up the lead to Greg Biffle to make his pit stop. Busch gets four tires and gas on the quick stop.
Lap 181 -- Kurt Busch is in for several changes. He's complaining of how hard it is to drive, with both loose and tight issues in the corners.
Lap 180 -- Jeff Gordon is in for a stop and wants the car tightened up. Jeff Burton is in as well and has four tires in 14.9 seconds.
Lap 178 -- Reed Sorenson starts green-flag pit stops with a 14.6-second stop. Martin Truex Jr. is in, as is Kevin Harvick.
Lap 173 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kyle Busch goes under Greg Biffle for the lead.
Lap 167 -- After being involved in Ryan Newman's accident on Lap 95, Jeff Gordon has worked his way back to 11th.
Lap 151 -- LEAD CHANGE: Greg Biffle catches Reed Sorenson and passes him for the lead. The two made a deal for Biffle to lead a lap, but Sorenson can't stay with Biffle.
Lap 135 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on pit road with the hood up. A puff of smoke came from his car and it hasn't been able to restart since on pit road. The team pushes it to the garage.
Lap 124 -- Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart are both back on the track. Stewart is running 42nd, while Newman is 43rd.
Lap 119 -- LEAD CHANGE: Reed Sorenson slides his way around Kyle Busch to take command.
Lap 119 -- GREEN FLAG: Kyle Busch gets the racing started again.
1. Kyle Busch
2. Reed Sorenson
3. Greg Biffle
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Clint Bowyer
Lap 115 -- Brian Vickers gives up the lead to pit but just a few of the leaders follow him.
• Kyle Busch stays out to take the lead
• Denny Hamlin wins the race off pit road but will restart 23rd
• Brian Vickers is out right behind him and will start 24th
Lap 114 -- YELLOW FLAG: Debris is on the track.
Lap 108 -- LEAD CHANGE: The leaders swap back, as Brian Vickers goes back around Kyle Busch. Jimmie Johnson has a tire rub on the left-front after contact with David Stremme and is deciding whether to pit.
Lap 106 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kyle Busch gets around Brian Vickers to take the lead.
Lap 105 -- GREEN FLAG: Brian Vickers heads the field to the flag, while Jeff Gordon starts in 31st and Kasey Kahne restarts 26th.
1. Brian Vickers
2. Kyle Busch
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Reed Sorenson
5. Kevin Harvick
Lap 101 -- YELLOW FLAG: Bobby Labonte spins with some driver-side damage.
Greg Biffle led 25 laps and finished third. Credit: Autostock
Lap 100 -- GREEN FLAG: Brian Vickers gets things under way again.
1. Brian Vickers
2. Kyle Busch
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Reed Sorenson
5. Kevin Harvick
Lap 97 -- Bobby Labonte gets the free pass.
Lap 96 -- Ryan Newman has radiator damage and is leaking fluid. Kasey Kahne is in to check front cosmetic damage, as is Jeff Gordon.
Lap 95 -- YELLOW FLAG: Ryan Newman spins around on the restart in front of half the field. Michael Waltrip touched Newman on the start. Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne stop to avoid hitting him.
Lap 95 -- GREEN FLAG: Brian Vickers leads the field to green.
1. Brian Vickers
2. Kyle Busch
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Kasey Kahne
5. Jeff Gordon
Lap 92 -- Brian Vickers leads the field down pit road.
• Tony Stewart is behind the wall with radiator problems
• Brian Vickers gets four tires and comes out with the lead
• Kyle Busch keeps second place with a quick stop
• Denny Hamlin moves into third place with a good stop
Lap 91 -- YELLOW FLAG: Race leader Tony Stewart spins in Turn 4 as he and Ryan Newman are racing side-by-side. Newman had the lower line and slid into Stewart. Stewart's car is smoking with damage on the left-front.
Lap 87 -- Brian Vickers, who pitted during the first caution and restarted 15th, is back up to second place, 1.380 seconds behind Tony Stewart.
Lap 83 -- Jeff Burton makes his pass-through penalty and comes out in 40th position, one lap down.
Lap 82 -- Ryan Newman makes his stop, as does Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. All make minor adjustments.
Lap 81 -- Jeff Burton is penalized for speeding onto pit road. He will make a pass-through penalty.
Lap 79 -- Jeff Burton gives up fourth place to make his pit stop. His crew makes adjustments to loosen the racecar and adjust the air pressure.
Lap 77 -- Kurt Busch is the first to hit pit road among drivers who didn't stop. Michael Waltrip and Dave Blaney join him.
Lap 74 -- Ryan Newman has fallen back to 28th and continues to drop.
Lap 62 -- LEAD CHANGE: Tony Stewart passes Jeff Burton to take the lead.
Lap 60 -- Matt Kenseth is complaining of a hot-running racecar that doesn't handle. He is in 27th place.
Lap 57 -- Ryan Newman, who did not pit in the first round of stops, has fallen back to 10th.
Lap 47 -- Mark Martin is the highest-running Ford in 13th position, as the top 10 is dominated by eight Chevrolets and two Dodges.
Lap 37 -- Tony Stewart is in second place, 2.029 seconds behind the lead, while Kurt Busch gets around teammate Ryan Newman for third.
Lap 26 -- LEAD CHANGE: Jeff Burton goes hard into Turn 1 beside of Ryan Newman and takes the lead.
Lap 24 -- GREEN FLAG: Ryan Newman leads the field to green, as the top seven cars all stayed out.
1. Ryan Newman
2. Jeff Burton
3. Kurt Busch
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton led the pack at the start of the race. Credit: Autostock
Lap 21 -- Brian Vickers gives up the lead for pit road, and from fourth place on back most drivers join him.
• Ryan Newman stays out to take the lead
• Tony Stewart takes two tires
• Brian Vickers gets four tires and adjustments
• Denny Hamlin takes four tires to stay with his team's plan
Lap 20 -- YELLOW FLAG: Travis Kvapil spins in Turn 3 and backs his Chevy hard into the wall with left-rear damage.
Lap 12 -- LEAD CHANGE: Brian Vickers gets past Ryan Newman easily heading into Turn 3.
Lap 8 -- Tony Stewart started sixth and got up to third quickly, but Brian Vickers gets back around him for the spot.
Lap 1 -- Ryan Newman, despite going wide into Turn 1, hangs on to lead the first lap.
2:31 p.m. -- GREEN FLAG: Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton lead the field to the green flag.
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Clear!Blue Communications For Dodge Motorsports, Press Release
RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger)
COMMENT ON INCIDENT WITH TONY STEWART
“We were on fresh tires. I don’t know if Tony knew that or not, but regardless, he didn’t live up to what he preaches and that’s move over and let a faster car go – especially a car on fresh tires trying to get a lap back. He came down on us a little bit. I came up on him a little bit and we hit. He got the raw end of the deal. It didn’t do us any favors, but he sure didn’t live up to what he preaches. I was way faster than Tony was. We went three wide down the back straightaway and he didn’t give any getting into the corner. He came down on me just a little bit like I said and it hurt both of us. Eight tires are better than four. He just forgot that.”
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE SECOND INCIDENT?
“We just got punted by the 55. I don’t know if he needed the caution worse than we did or what, but we just got hit from behind by the 55. He’s usually like that here. We didn’t get wrecked hard enough to get out and throw a helmet at him like usually happens here.”
DID YOUR CAR GIVE UP A LITTLE AS THE RACE WENT ALONG?
“The car gave up a little bit. We were not good on long runs. We were decent on short runs. It was just loss of track position and once that deal happened we never got it back. We flushed some oil in the radiator and that ended our day.”
“We had to fight all day. Our Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger was all right, but it was barely a top 10 car. We ran into Newman and bent up the front a little bit. It hurt it from there. I’m happy with the team, happy with the fuel mileage, the engine ran great. It was a good points day. We needed that. I think Kenny (team director Francis) was nervous (about running out of fuel). I wasn’t nervous. I was hot. We were just trying to get a good finish, and we got two cars on that last restart, so I was pretty happy.
“I don’t remember it being this hot here before. We’re going to work on our cars and try to get ‘em cooled down a little more. They’re pretty hot, but the days this year have been pretty hot, too. We needed a good run like this to stay up in the points. We’ve been losing too many in the last three races. Scott Riggs ran well all day. I was racing with him at the end, and he definitely had a better car until that last restart. We got by him and he got trapped on the bottom trying to get by a car. Jeremy had a good run today, too, and then he ran out of gas near the end. So all-in-all, it was a pretty good day.”
JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)
“The finish doesn't reflect the kind of day we had. We ran in the top 10 late in the race and had a good shot at a top-10 finish. We played it a little close on fuel mileage and ran out with four to go (lap 296). Track position was critical. We elected to stay out for track position and came up a little short. It was good running up front again. This was a positive step for the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger.”
SCOTT RIGGS (No. 10 Auto Value Bumper-to-Bumper Dodge Charger)
NOTE: Riggs finished 10th Sunday at NHIS, scoring his fifth top-10 finish of the season and moving up two spots to 21st in the series standings.
“Track position was everything. We didn’t have any in the beginning. We kept working on the car. It was tight all day. The guys made good calls in the pits and kept working on it and getting it better. My car would not go on restarts. Every time the tires would cool off it would take us a good three or four laps to get going. On that last caution, the tires cooled off a lot and I wasn’t very good at the beginning. I lost two positions at the end, and that wasn’t very good. Kasey did a good job and got a top 10, and we were able to hang in there and get a top 10, too. It was good for us, but we want to get better. We want to start up there next time and get better instead of starting in the rear.”
DAVID STREMME (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Charger)
NOTE: Stremme’s 11th-place finish was his career best in 22 career starts.
“It’s a brand new car, and it was pretty good yesterday in practice. I said it was probably the best car I’ve ever had, and that’s the way it ended up today. Reed had a good car, too, and had some bad luck, but he ran up front and led some laps. Things are looking up. I’m looking forward to going back to some of these tracks for a second time in Cup and see if we can’t get some good results in the second half of the season.”
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ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S MONTE CARLO SS:
"Good Lord, I've never seen so many cautions at the end of a race in my life, but I'm glad we could hang onto it. These Kellogg's guys have worked their tails off. Kyle (Busch) has done a great job. That's a mean machine right there. That car has won two races and gotten six top fives and an eighth place, so we're looking forward to bringing that one back in the Chase."
TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 37th and drops to 11th in the point standings:
ON THE ACCIDENT WITH RYAN NEWMAN, WHAT HAPPENED?
"I got wrecked by Ryan Newman. Everybody races each other different. And there's guys are really good at give and take and there are guys that aren't. Ryan is one of those guys who is not good at the giving part. He's really good at taking, but he's not very good at giving. We're racing everybody the way they race us and most of the guys get it, but there are a couple of them who don't.
HOW FRUSTRATING IS THAT AS FAR AS POINTS GO?
"I think that's pretty obvious."
YOU'VE HAD A COUPLE OF TOUGH RACES RECENTLY, HAVE YOU STARTED LOOKING AT THE POINTS NOW?
"No, you've still just got to take it a week at a time. You can't dictate who is going to wreck us and stuff like that. It's clear that he's not going to make the Chase, so he doesn't care about the guys who are worrying about it and trying to make it themselves. I like Ryan. Ryan's a great guy and he's a good friend, but I just wish he would learn a bit more on the give and take side of things."
IS THIS CONSISTENT WITH THE WAY HE'S BEEN THROUGHOUT THE YEAR?
"It's been that way since he's started. He's not the only one who's had problems with that. We've had problems with both Busch brothers. We've had problems with Greg Biffle. But as time goes on, they learn and they get it. Ryan is one of those guys that just doesn't get it yet.
There are about four or five guys out there that only car about one person and that's themselves. They don't care about the other 42 guys that they have to share the race track with and race with each week."
WITH THAT ATTITUDE, DID YOU THINK ABOUT LETTING HIM GO?
"Well, normally you would. But at some point you finally get tired of giving to everybody or to particular individuals and all they do is take, take, take and they don't give back. So when you catch them 30 laps into it and you have to race your guts out to get by him, it doesn't make you really want to pull over and just let the same guy go later on in the race."
RICK HENDRICK, OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
ON KYLE BUSCH WINNING THE RACE:
"Man, I am too old for this, I had a birthday last week! What a great car. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) told me last night to come up here because we were going to win this race. We were going to be awfully close on fuel.
"It is hard to believe he is as young as he is and has as much talent as he does. I think he is up to fourth in points, which is awesome.
"Just a great day for the Kellogg's Chevrolet team."
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S MONTE CARLO SS - Race Winner
ON BEING WORRIED ABOUT FUEL:
"I ask Alan when we came in on that last stop and was wondering if we had enough fuel to get to the end if there was overtime and he said I was fine, then he told me to save gas. So I didn't know what to think.
"But man, I just want to thank all these guys. They didn't have to sweat as much today as they did the last two days preparing this thing. They did an awesome job for me. We just kept trying to make it turn better in the center. They did an awesome job for me with this Kellogg's Chevrolet to bring it here to victory lane."
ON GETTING SHUFFLED BACK IN THE PACK ON RESTARTS
"I was a little bit concerned, especially when there were a few accidents in front of us. I hate it for the 20 car. I feel bad for Tony (Stewart). I wish we could have battled it out there at the end because I know he was ver, very strong. He had a very fast race car and so did the No. 31 (Jeff Burton).
"I think it was the No.12 car (Ryan Newman) that got spun out there and we barely made it past those guys. But it wasn't that big of a deal in order to bypass those guys. We had a good enough car that if we just bided our own time, we could just clear them all and go on."
ON NOW BEING FOURTH IN CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS CHASE
"The biggest thing with that is yes, it is great, it is cool and all that but the difference between fourth and 10th, I mean it is just so darn close that this week we went from eighth to fourth and next week we could go from fourth to 12th. We need to just keep rolling like we are here, the past three weeks we have had a third, second and a first. I guess I have to win to get a TV interview so hey, if that is what it takes, that is what I will do. We will be here next weekend. I think we can do it." (more to follow)
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 9th
ON THE RACE:
"That was the beating of the day, We got caught in the pits when the caution came out. I got in the wall twice on my own. Had to deal with coming in to get the car fixed. It was a lot of hard racing. That is probably the hardest racing I have ever done on a flat track there with Carl Edwards, Mark Martin, the No. 31 (Jeff Burton) there at the end at least for a few laps. It was a lot of fun.
"It was a tough day, we got cycled out there early. We fought back, got up near the front and picked off a few spots. We just need to stay up near the front all day and not have to rally back at the end of the day."
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 7th
"I just feel really dumb for getting caught speeding down pit road again. I don't know what that's all about. I'm not saying it's anything else. It's my fault. This is the second time this year I have done it. I think that's about the fourth time in my career I've gotten caught speeding. We bumped our pit road speed to be more competitive on pit road; we just have to back it down some. It was a great car. That's just hurt us and we played catch-up all day after that. We were three laps down and came back and finished seventh. I can't complain about that.
I don't think we had anything for the No. 5 car (Kyle Busch) and I think Tony (Stewart) was better but it was a good day. Other than them, we were really good. We just kept fighting and I'm real proud of my guys. We were leading early in the race, we just have to figure out a way to lead at the end of the race."
"But the real problem I have got is that we were just not that good yesterday in practice, these guys got their heads together last night and spent a lot of time and found a way to make our car a lot better. We just have to keep fighting. This is what this team is about. We aren't always going to be the best but we are going to fight to get something out of it. With some track position, we would have had a chance to win.
IS THAT WHAT IT'S GOING TO TAKE TO MAKE THIS CHASE?
"You have to overcome bad days and we did that today. By no means are we in the Chase. But those are the kinds of races that you've got to have because not every day is going to be a good day. And you've just got to find a way to it and that's what we did today.
ON FUEL MILEAGE:
"We were really nervous today as everybody was. NASCAR kept going and going and going. I'm like, red flag it or something. I just couldn't believe they kept going. But at the end of the day it worked out for us and our fuel mileage was good and I'm proud of our guys for being able to get that mileage. We've jus got to keep fighting and I'm proud of my guys because we weren't that good yesterday. They made this car a top five car."
ON BEING THIRD IN THE POINTS:
"I know we're third in points, but what we're worried about is discontinuing our trend. Obviously we want to be in the top 10 in points. And the better we do, the better chance we have of doing that. That's our goal is to race hard and go get all we can. That's what we did today. We raced hard and we're going to continue to do that. We're not good enough to lay back. Nobody is. We're just going to keep digging and try to make some good things happen for us.
DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT'S GIVEN YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A COMFORT LEVEL?
"I don't feel any more comfortable today than I did yesterday. Talk to me at Richmond if we're in the Chase. But I'm smart enough to know. I've seen stuff go wrong quickly. I've been around enough to know that can happen. Your competition is so tough. These guys just don't make mistakes. Just look at the No. 99 car. He's teetering back and forth to being able to be in and he finishes 2nd or 3rd today. You just can't count anybody out. When your competition is good, you've got to be better."
WASN'T THIS KIND OF A STRANGE RACE?
"Well, this race has a tendency to be strange with pit stops and everything else and different sequences. It was a normal, strange race today."
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 5th
"We came out on the right side of the fuel thing there at the end and (crew chief) Todd (Berrier) and all the guys did a great job today. I thought we were on the wrong side of things but he kept telling me it was going to be fine and to just keep going and everything worked out really good."
HOW MUCH FUEL DID YOU HAVE THERE AT THE END?
Man, I don't know. It was just one of those deals where they kept telling me, 'Keep saving gas. Keep saving gas.' There was a lot of hard work back at the shop to make sure this thing gets all the gas it can in it. I just can't thank Todd (Berrier) and all those guys enough on this GM Goodwrench Chevy. They did a great job. I said to Todd, 'We should have pitted,' and he said," Awe, you'll be alright. See what you can get.' I got back up there and everything worked out really good.
DENNY HAMLIN RAN OUT OF FUEL AT THE FINISH. COULD YOU TELL YOU PASSED HIM AT THE LINE?
My spotter said I got him but I couldn't tell. All in all it was a good day and we just had to keep going until the end.
TALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM.
We've always run really good here, but we always seemed to come up a little but short. It was a good day for us today.
ON A GOOD SOLID TOP FIVE FINISH WITH THE CHASE GETTING CLOSER:
"Yeah, that's what we've got to do. Obviously we want to win, but we've got to have solid days to make everything keep going around for this Chase."
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 15th
A 15TH PLACE FINISH DOESN'T SOUND TOO GOOD, BUT IT WAS NOT TOO SHABBY CONSIDERING THE DAY:
"Yeah, it certainly was a pretty decent finish for the day we went through. I'm just really proud of this race team and how hard they are fighting right now and every weekend. They're just putting out an awesome effort. We didn't have the best car today. We had track position and that was maintaining a decent run there early in the race. And then we missed a couple of wrecks and had to come in and make a few adjustments and lost track position. We surprisingly fought our way back up to the top 10 there at one time. But we just didn't have it for them to keep going forward there at the end."
YOU'RE 11TH POINTS OVER 11TH IN THE STANDINGS..NOT MUCH BREATHING ROOM THERE
"No, that's why with the day we had to finish 15th and to gain a spot in the points. You've got to be happy with that. We'll go to Pocono and hope for better results than we had there last time."
WAS THIS A STRANGE RACE WITH MOST OF THE FAVORITES BEING KNOCKED OUT BY WRECKS?
"It was very difficult with conditions today. The track was very hot with this weather. The tires weren't holding up very well at all. Cars were slipping and sliding around. It was just very difficult to pass on this track. Any time you have those types of conditions, you're going to see a lot of guys losing control and you're going to see them getting into one another."
DALE EARNHARDT JR, NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO SS - Sidelined with engine failure
FIRST, YOU ARE LIMPING, ARE YOU OK?
"In these cars, sometimes the way you mash the gas pedal, it is a little uncomfortable. I didn't know it until I got out, but it is fine, everything is fine.
"The car just broke a motor I think. It is a shame, man. We haven't had any engine failures for a long time. I am real proud of my engine department. I don't think these guys can't fix this thing. Hopefully we will just keep at it man. We have got a Chase to make so everybody will just stay focused and we will get right through this and go on."
IS IT HOT OUT THERE?
"Oh, I'm telling you. If you're out there running, it's fine. But if you have to cruise right there, you don't really realize how hot you are and how tired you are. But I didn't get any warning from the motor. It just snapped. I don't understand. That's only the second or third motor I've ever blown with DEI. I can't say anything about any of the guys. They've done a great job all year. It was some kind of freak deal, man. There ain't no way these things are breaking. These guys build pretty durable stuff."
WHEN YOU LOOK UP UNDER THE HOOD OF THE BUDWEISER CHEVROLET, YOU SEE A LOT OF MARBLES, RUBBER OFF THE TIRES - WHAT'S THE CONDITION LIKE ON THE TRACK AS FAR AS HANDLING GOES?
"It's great. The track's great. It's just a little warm. That's the only thing you've got to complain about. It's a little hot out there. Hopefully I drank enough water last night."
JOE NEMECHEK, NO. 01 U.S. ARMY MONTE CARLO SS - Involved in a crash with No. 25, Brian Vickers:
"Man, you know it's just really frustrating. I'm so proud of my guys -- this whole U.S. Army team has worked hard. We tested at Indy last Monday and we only got one day of testing in but we've just missed a lot of our set-ups this year and we've had bad luck and whatever else can happen to us. We learned a lot at Indy. It all transferred over here. My U.S. Army car was strong. We were fast. I think we were running in sixth place right there. It just jammed up with the lapped cars. Brian Vickers, he just was trying to go. I know everybody stacked up and he just got into the back of me a little bit. I guess it was just one of those racing deals."
THIS TEAM HAS HAD SUCH MOMENTUM LATELY. DOES THIS HURT YOUR MOMENTUM OR DO YOU JUST MOVE ON AND GET GOING?
"Well, you've just got to move on. We feel good that we ran good. I think everybody knew we were here today. We definitely ran in the top 10 all day and that's a good thing for the way we've run this year. We've struggled. We've had to step it up. We've been trying to figure out these set-ups. We run on coil-bound springs and in the last six months, everything's changed."
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“This pretty much puts in a nutshell how our season has been. We just can’t catch the right breaks or catch the right cautions. Tommy [Baldwin, Jr., crew chief] made a great call. I was trying to do my job of not racing guys and trying to save my gas, save my gas. And all they had to do was run one more lap – one more lap – and we wouldn’t have had a green-white-checkered. But, it’s just the way our season has gone. I’m proud of my guys. They executed a good plan, and we were going to get us a top-five. What do you do? We’ve tried everything you could possibly do this year to get top-10, top-five finishes and it just doesn’t work out. I’m just frustrated – not how we ran today, we ran great, I just wish we could have a few breaks go our way a few weeks in row. It’s been tough, but I’m proud my guys. They did good pit stops, great plan, just the wrong caution at the wrong time.”
BEFORE LAP 300, WAS THERE EVER ANY DOUBT THAT YOU WOULD STAY OUT UNTIL THE END?
“We were going to stay out and try it. Like Tommy said, we’ve got nothing to lose. We’re trying to get a win or get top-fives and build some momentum. When I got in clean air, my car was a lot better, with all the air on the front nose working, and Tommy made some great adjustments. That was the best my car had been the whole day, there, the last 100 laps. So, there was no way we were coming back in – even when Clint Boyer pitted, we were staying out no matter what. We had it until lap 300, we just didn’t work on the extra eight laps, and then they had caution and we were going back green and they had to throw another yellow because somebody else wrecked on the backstretch. All the bad things that could happen to us happened.”
WHAT WOULD A TOP-FIVE HAVE MEANT FOR THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW?
“I just think it would’ve given us some momentum and give us a good pat on the back with each other. My guys work so hard and don’t have anything to show for it. That’s sad from a driver’s standpoint. I want my guys to have something to celebrate, too, when they go home each and every Sunday night. This would’ve been a good shot in the arm for us. It just wasn’t meat to be.”
MARK MARTIN – No. 6 AAA Fusion (finished 4th) –
“We had a really good-handling car, it wasn’t the fastest out there but it was good enough that we could skip tires. Sometimes you can’t have it all, but if you can just have the handling – we took gas only the last two times in, you know, so we were disadvantaged on tires, but in the end that didn’t hurt because the car would work on them, we were able to hold our track position, good strategy and good run.”
HOW WAS THE TRACK?
“The track was the best it’s ever been. I’m not saying it’s great but it’s the best I’ve ever seen it.”
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 National Guard/Subway Fusion (finished 3rd) –
“I burned my right-front tire off and hurt my brake pads trying to pass Denny Hamlin. We got three-wide on the re-start, you know, lapped cars play a factor here, I got trapped, he trapped me down there and I had to go to the bottom. It’s unfortunate, I had a really good race car and I kind of burned my right front tire up messing with him, then fell back some. Anyway, we came back at the end. I just took care of the throttle and fuel mileage came around for us.”
GREG BIFFLE and CARL EDWARDS press conference
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 National Guard/Subway Fusion –
“It was a pretty decent day for us. Obviously, starting in 26th it took us a long time to work our way to the front, about the first 100 laps or so. Through the middle part of the race, pretty uneventful, raced the 41 for the lead and got five bonus points. There at the end it was unfortunate. I lost a position to Denny because I felt like I might be able to catch the 5, I was pretty decent, but Denny got by us three-wide around a lapped car on the top and I burned my right-front up and got the brakes too hot trying to race him back, and then fell back some. That’s part of racing. This track, it’s so hard to pass. When you get two cars so equal, it makes it really difficult to pass here.”
“Oh, man, it was fun, to say the least. Who’d have thought we’d run second in a Cup race at New Hampshire? I haven’t run that well here ever, so I was really excited about it, had a good time. The whole Office Depot team did a good job. If I could’ve just got around Denny at the end, maybe could’ve got to Kyle, but we had a good race, we had a good time. He was shaking his fist at me out the window – I didn’t know he was out of gas, so I was all over the back of him. It was just a fun race.”
CREW CHIEF WALLY BROWN SAID HE SECOND-GUESSED HIMSELF ON THAT PIT STOP. HOW DID THAT PLAY INTO THINGS? WAS THERE A CONVERSATION?
“I decided to just let Wally do whatever he was going to do and he said that’s what we ought to do and it worked out. I don’t know how we could’ve done it differently, exactly, but I was pretty happy with the way it ended up, though. It could’ve ended up worse.”
GREG BIFFLE, continued –
AFTER BAD LUCK THIS SEASON, THINGS SEEMED TO GO YOUR WAY TODAY. PLUS, YOU MOVED INTO THE TOP 10, SO IT HAD TO BE AN ENCOURAGING DAY FOR YOU.
“Yeah, it really was. You know, we’ve run extremely good here and I was super-nervous about the race car because my Busch car was terrible yesterday. I mean my Busch car was horrible and it has been for the last two weeks and not really sure why, and Carl won so it puts a big question mark on what’s wrong, why’s the set-up off or whatever. My Cup car felt way better, a tremendous amount better, but I screwed up qualifying and qualified 26th, so I was nervous about starting that far back and how hard it is to pass here. I was worried about today about getting back up to the front, but I just kept my nose clean, got one position at a time and it worked out for us. It was pretty uneventful – we didn’t get a lap down, we didn’t get a flat tire and everything was kind of normal, just a normal day.”
FOR A NON-RESTRICTOR-PLATE RACE, ISN’T IT UNUSUAL FOR THE CARS THAT WERE AROUND THE FRONT AT THE BEGINNING WEREN’T AROUND THE FRONT AT THE END?
“It’s funny – I don’t know who was fast at the beginning because I was at the back. But a race track that rubbers up and the temperature today, you know, normally what will go fast at the beginning won’t go fast at the end, or it takes some amount of adjustment. But that’s almost common to see whoever’s fast at the beginning is not always the fastest right at the end.”
CARL EDWARDS, continued –
FOR A NON-RESTRICTOR-PLATE RACE, ISN’T IT UNUSUAL FOR THE CARS THAT WERE AROUND THE FRONT AT THE BEGINNING WEREN’T AROUND THE FRONT AT THE END?
“This is the first time I’ve run well here and I learned a lot about how to do that. We weren’t that fast at the beginning, it was just being there at the end and not putting yourself out of position. It’s easy to slip up here and lose so many spots.”
GREG BIFFLE, continued –
ON THE NEXT SEVEN RACES LEADING UP TO THE CHASE.
“NASCAR thought about it when they created this thing, and they probably didn’t anticipate the hype around getting in. It’s pretty widespread. It’s going to be exciting for the next five or seven races up until Richmond getting in. Every week it’s going to be exciting.”
IS IT SCARY FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU’RE ON THE BUBBLE?
“Yeah, it is. There’s no margin for error there. I almost wrecked once today with the help of the 29. I got a little loose coming off the corner, and then after I got loose he got me and then turned me pretty far sideways and we lost a couple of positions, but it was just racing for position, and I got a little bit loose in front of him. Things like that can happen, or others.”
CARL EDWARDS, continued –
CONSIDERING THE CONDITIONS, HOW WERE YOU NOT RUNNING ON FUMES, CONSIDERING THE WORK YOU WERE DOING? AND, DOES IT FEEL GOOD TO BUILD MOMENTUM ON YESTERDAY’S BUSCH WIN?
“Yeah, these two races are great for me. This is a track that literally I’ve struggled at. I’ve run so badly here in the Cup car, it’s embarrassing, so to run to well yesterday and to end up winning and to run second today – honestly, I’m pretty frustrated that we didn’t win. Second is so frustrating because such a small difference in track position makes such a huge difference in result. It helps me. I was worried that the weekend was going to go terribly. I ran Modified at Middletown and didn’t even make the show, and then I crashed that Modified at on Saturday morning, and I thought, ‘Man, this weekend can’t go like this,’ so ended up having a great weekend.”
IS IT TRUE THEY DIDN’T TELL YOU HOW MUCH FUEL YOU HAD LEFT?
“Correct. They just told me to conserve as much as I could, and Wally [Brown, crew chief] was being real quiet, so I didn’t know how close we were.”
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