The Frontstretch: Running Their Mouth : Citizens Bank 400 by Beth Lunkenheimer -- Monday June 18, 2007

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Running Their Mouth : Citizens Bank 400

Beth Lunkenheimer · Monday June 18, 2007

 

Editor's Note : Each week, we'll go through all the media reports, interviews, PR, and our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Nextel Cup race that capture the story of how the weekend unfolded. It’s the most original commentary you’ll ever find; the truth, coming straight out of the mouths of the drivers, crew members, and car owners themselves. This week, here's a sneak peek at what some select few were thinking after the Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

“It feels unbelievable. Yesterday, we had a great Office Depot Fusion in practice, (and) I felt really good about it coming into today. And then we sped on pit road one time and got put in the back, and our car was good enough that it made it back up front. And then at the end there, Martin Truex was just, I mean, he was amazingly fast, and Martin's been on a roll lately so it was great to be able to beat him in, really, a head-to-head race. That meant a lot - especially for Ford here." Carl Edwards

“I've got great friends. Tom grew up down the street from me and some of the older kids in the neighborhood would come by and beat up on you a little bit, wouldn't play football when you wanted to and stuff, but Tom was a good guy to me. He's been driving the motorhome for a couple of years now, and we're best friends. I just hated to see him like that for so long. It's unreal. It means a lot for him to do it. I think he's got some memoirs from this whole experience. Bearded Like Me or something is going to be the title. It's changed his life a little bit. People grab their children in Wal-Mart and pull them aside, lock their doors when he walks by on the street. Nobody will recognize him next week.” Carl Edwards on Tom Giacchi, who didn’t shave for a year-and-a-half during Edwards’ 52-race winless streak

“It was a great day for us. Got to thank all these guys on this Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. We had an awesome car all day. We got shuffled to the back of the pack there and it took us a long time to get to the front. I am just really proud of my guys, they are giving me great cars and it is showing. We’re doing all the right things. We’re not having any bad luck. We got the monkey off our back and we’re having good runs.” Martin Truex, Jr.

“We had a good, solid day. We just stayed out of trouble on that backstretch there when they had that crash, fortunately dodged that. We had a top-three, four, five car right there pretty much the whole race. I’m happy. Obviously we want to win races, but considering where we’re at in the points, it was a great day for us. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports has been doing a great job.” Casey Mears

“I tried to figure out what I need here (with this team), and I think I've got a good idea now, if we can just get it. We need to do a little bit more work, and get the car turning better and keep it hooked up off (the corner); that's where we seem to be losing our time." Bill Elliott, who finished a season-high 11th with the Wood Brothers Ford on Sunday

“That’s the only thing making me smile right now. Two things, (actually); it’s Father’s Day and I finished ninth…because that was not a lot of fun out there.” Jeff Gordon

“I am really proud of our Home Depot guys. We were all here until 4:30 yesterday working on our front fender, those guys never complained about it, even being a little behind because of the place the No. 38 car put us in yesterday. It will be interesting to see when we get back to the shop if this thing is 100%, but getting it back up to third place, I thought it was a pretty good day for this Home Depot team.” Tony Stewart

“We had a good enough car to run better than fifth, but I’m happy as heck for where we finished. I got real, real loose in the middle part of the race and my guys worked on that and fixed it. I’m real proud of my team. We were as good as anybody at the end, just got too far behind. I want to congratulate Martin. He had a great run. This is a good weekend for DEI, great points day for both teams, and the rest of the season looks pretty good for both of us.” Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“Yeah, definitely. I mean nothing against the guys but for as bad as it drove, it wasn’t a sixth place car. We just worked all day on it and kind of shortpitted there at the end. I didn’t even mean to, I thought (Alan) said one more and it was three more so it was my mistake on that, but we had to save fuel all the way there until the end, and luckily we were able to do it.” Kyle Busch

"My right front tire went flat and I just hit the hell out of the wall. The car was very loose. I'd got in the wall a couple of laps before. I didn't think it was anything major. My spotter said it looked good. It was wrinkled, but it looks good, and five or six laps later the tire went flat and it went straight into the wall." Juan Pablo Montoya

"We had a real good car, but we didn't have a car that could have beat Carl Edwards today. We just caught a piece of debris or something and it popped that tire. It wrapped itself around the caliper and rotor and stuff and it cost us three laps. (Then) Jeff Green ran out of talent there off turn two and caused a big crash. The race track is capable of going three and four wide. We saw it all day, but he couldn't do it." Ryan Newman

"It's really great for our team to have run that well all day today and my guys did a great job on pit road. I messed up there at the end; otherwise I think we could have picked up a few more spots. I just got real tight there at the end and I was trying to pass (Kevin) Harvick and got up into the wall. My guys are a little rusty, but you would have never known it. Today was a hot day and I haven't gotten to race this much in awhile, but I felt just as good at the end as I did in the beginning. But once the checkers fell – then I started feeling bad – hot, tired, and glad it was over." Michael Waltrip

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