Race Weekend Central

Running Their Mouth: 2009 Shelby 427 at Las Vegas

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 car owners themselves. This week, here’s a sneak peek at what a select few were thinking following the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

“It’s awesome – this is just the feeling of a lifetime. Coming to the checkered flag, there were knots in my stomach. This is probably as big as the Daytona 500. I want to thank M&M’s, Interstate Batteries, the fans, Marquee Jets, Toyota, TRD, NoS Energy Drink, Pedigree, Combos – everybody on this team. They’re phenomenal.” – Kyle Busch

“You know, it was a wild day. I’m really proud of all the guys on the Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet. Absolutely, second is OK. Give credit where credit is due. Shane Wilson (crew chief), that is where he shines. We went a lap down, got that back. Got run in to on a restart, got that repaired and got back up there. Shane got us a good call and a good finish.” – Clint Bowyer

“I don’t know why we’re always better on old tires. We took off there and led the race for a long time and came in and put on four and then went back to sixth or seventh, and that’s been a struggle. Hell of a rebound today to come back from where we ran last week, and everybody just kept their head up and kept digging. I’m real proud of them for that. It’s real easy to quit and give up when things are going badly. Our guys never do that.” – Jeff Burton, finished third

“I’m absolutely thrilled. People say, ‘Well, it’s a fluke,’ or ‘They’ve lucked out.’ But we started about last and we came up through there up into the top 10 and had an oil leak and went back to about 25th or so – and drove up through there and ended up getting a top-five finish. At the end of the day, I’m proud of my guys, they did a great job and it doesn’t get any better than that.” – David Reutimann, finished fourth

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“We had a really good car in clean air. Almost had a fourth-place but still, all in all, it was a really good day. I’m really excited about it. These guys have done a great job. We’ve got so many great people working for us, and I just feel like we’ve got all this confidence on our side right now. I’m excited we got us a top five, and we’re looking forward to each and every weekend. It’s going to be a builder for me.” – Bobby Labonte, finished fifth

“It was an eventful day, that’s for sure. My hats off to this DuPont Chevrolet crew. They deserved a win with the effort they put out there. We kind of got fortunate in the one sense that the caution came out. And I think the fans saw a heck of a race. I tell you what, to come here to Las Vegas and see that kind of crowd and see a Las Vegas kid win this thing, they got their money’s worth, and I appreciate them all coming out.” – Jeff Gordon, finished sixth

“I’m so proud of this team. The car was good. It started out really loose, but we had a really good car most of the day fighting track position. I’m just really proud of the effort from the guys. I think we had a car that could win, but to have all of those problems and get a top 10… that’s how you win championships.” – Brian Vickers, finished eighth

“I’m really happy with our finish. We had a better car than that, and it got a little bit loose. We didn’t really make much of an adjustment, and it got way too tight at the end. We tried to free it up a little bit, and we just never really got the balance back as good as it was.” – Jamie McMurray, finished ninth

“We had a great car. The National Guard Chevrolet was running really good. The sun went down and the temperature changed 20 degrees. The track was in the shade and we got real tight. We didn’t have enough to really go after it in the end. But we gained on it. We ran good all day.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 10th

“That was really good. We just kept our nose clean the whole day. We were good the first run and seemed like we went one way and back the other way. Everyone did a great job. The whole team did great all day, and you can’t ask for anything better than that.” – Joey Logano, Raybestos Rookie of the Race, finished 13th

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