Race Weekend Central

Running Their Mouth: 2008 Best Buy 400 at Dover

Each week, we’ll go through media reports, interviews, PR and all our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Sprint Cup race, capturing 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 the car owners themselves. This week, here’s a sneak peek at what a select few were thinking following the Best Buy 400 at Dover International Speedway:

“We didn’t have the car to beat today. Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle were better than us, but we made it on the long run as good as they did and we knew if we could get track position and get in front of them that we would be a little bit better. The guys on pit road had a phenomenal day. They got us out front and kept us out front, and that’s what won it for us here today.” – Kyle Busch, race winner

“That darned No. 18 car got us again. I felt like we were at least as strong as anyone and probably the best car for a lot of the race. I feel like I passed a lot of damn cars today – a lot. So, it’s very frustrating to finish second with that good of a racecar, but we battled all day and that’s what we ended up with.” – Carl Edwards

“We were pretty good. I don’t know what happened, but the engine started missing there early in the race and the battery was going dead, so we switched batteries and it came back on line. We just had a really tough time with these cars. You get about 20 car lengths behind a car and you can’t pass them, even though you’re faster than them. It was a real tough day for us.” – Greg Biffle, finished third

“It was a great run for us. We’re definitely making progress. We’re moving the right way here lately and have been getting some good runs put together, so it feels good to have the DeWalt car at least up in the top five.” – Matt Kenseth, finished fourth

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“Well, we finished fifth. You got to be happy about that. I knew it was going to be a big points day. Unfortunately, some guys had some big trouble. We’ve got an awesome pit crew and team. They are doing their job right here on pit road and with communication. It was a solid day for us. We were about a fifth-place car, and that’s what we got.” – Jeff Gordon

“The car was steady all day and real good in the long runs, so we never got real far behind. We just kind of held our own and inched forward a little bit. We’ve made a huge improvement here in the last month. It just feels good to finally get some good finishes… we’ve got good enough people and good enough equipment to do this. We just need to put it all together.” – Dave Blaney, finished ninth

“I’m pretty happy with it. I’m just proud of my team. Obviously, we’ve got an unsponsored car here. We were running up front all day, and I’m just really proud to be driving this Ford.” – Travis Kvapil, finished 11th

“It’s a long day, for sure. We should have been a lot better than where we ended up there. I screwed up and sped out of pit lane and that kind of hurt us, for sure. I think we would have had a top-15 car, so maybe it hurt us like three spots… maybe a little bit more. Just real happy with how everything went [though].” – Raybestos Rookie of the Race Sam Hornish Jr., finished 18th

“There was a big wreck and we got in it. I couldn’t tell what happened, but Elliott [Sadler] told me the [No.] 38 got in the back of him. It was just a miserable day at Dover and long. We stayed third in points, [and] there ain’t much you can do except keep going.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 35th

“I take 100% responsibility – it’s my fault for being even anywhere close to Elliott [Sadler]. If I’m within a half a lap of him, I expect that to happen. It’s my fault – I’m the one that hit him. When I hit him, it caused all the guys behind us to wreck. So, it’s my fault.” – Tony Stewart, finished 41st

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