Race Weekend Central

Running Their Mouth: 2009 AAA 400 at Dover

Each week, we’ll go through media reports, interviews, PR and all of 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 peek at what they all were thinking following the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway:

“It was just an awesome racecar, awesome day. I can’t thank all the Lowe’s employees for all of their support. We had the Race for Relief program on the deck lid and want to point out that Lowe’s is going to donate more money now that we won. The fans were great cheering me in when my engine was broken trying to get here to victory lane. I am just so happy we had a maximum points day today; that is what we needed to do.” – Jimmie Johnson

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“I feel like we were off just a little bit with the car all day. Actually, I think we did good to finish second. What a great team effort by this bunch. I think we were the best we were all race there at the end. The guys did a good job. We had a good-handling car on the long runs, but it was a handful on the restarts.” – Mark Martin

“We didn’t qualify very good, but we were really happy with our car. When the race started, I didn’t think we were quite as good as we were [Saturday], but we were able to have really good pit stops. We got most of our position through pit stops and restarts. So, we had a nice, solid day on pit road, the car was OK, also, and I was able to get a decent finish out of it.” – Matt Kenseth, finished third

“It was a really good run for our Miller Lite Dodge. We put it up front most of the day and put ourselves in position (to win), but at the same time, you’ve got to get a good solid finish. I’m proud of my guys. We had excellent pit stops. It was a nice, solid day for us. I felt like we had a nice rhythm today. All in all, a good run for our Dodge.” – Kurt Busch, finished fifth

“I thought everyone on the [No.] 44 team was awesome today. Hopefully, we can run strong like this in the final eight races to show everyone what kind of team we have. The conditions were tough today. At one point, it felt like the water was seeping up through the racetrack, it was so slick out there. We were just a little bit loose all day. I’m just proud of everybody.” – AJ Allmendinger, finished seventh

“We battled all day and I’m proud of all my guys for their effort today. We struggled a bit with the splitter hitting the ground all day. Kenny (Francis, crew chief) and the guys dug all day trying to get us a top-10 finish and we did. We didn’t pick up as many spots in the Chase like we’d like to, but we performed well and didn’t lose any ground. There’s still plenty of racing left in the Chase and we’re going to give the guys in front of us everything we’ve got.” – Kasey Kahne, finished eighth

“I saw the piece of metal they put on the front, and I don’t know how big the hole is underneath it but they said it was a pretty good size. I’m proud of the effort they made to get it right. I can’t say I’m satisfied (with the finish) because I still lost points. That’s how competitive this Chase is, too. I got a top 10 and I’m not happy with it. I’m proud of the effort from the team. We dodge another bullet.” – Tony Stewart, finished ninth

“We really struggled getting into the corner, which we hadn’t in practice. We made a couple of changes overnight and I think we hurt ourselves with the U.S. Army Chevrolet. Clean air is huge, it’s like every car you passed gave you like another step of heroism or something. It’s like a night and day difference with these cars when you are up front.” – Ryan Newman, finished 10th

“It was a frustrating day. What’s probably most frustrating about the whole thing, and I hate to beat a dead horse, it that the [No.] 42 (Juan Pablo Montoya) and the [No.] 48 (Johnson) and I don’t know who else came up and and tire tested. And when we came back, look at the guys that didn’t tire test – we ran terrible. We’re not going to beat guys that came here and tested.” – Greg Biffle, finished 13th

“The car wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be. We made some wholesale changes [Saturday] night. Some I think helped and some hurt us. We were probably better center off, but worse in. We fought that all day.” – Brian Vickers, finished 18th in his 200th career Sprint Cup Series start

“We were really good for about 10 laps and then we just went away, really. We don’t really know why. If we were able to maintain that pace the whole time we would have had a great day. We were just falling off a lot and we don’t know why.” – Scott Speed, Raybestos Rookie of the Race, finished 25th

“We cut down a tire twice today and each time ended up in the wall. The second time, we hit hard enough that we had to go to the garage and fix it. We’ve got to figure out why it happened to make sure we correct it. It’s disappointing for Interstate Batteries and all these guys.” – Kyle Busch, finished 31st

“It looked like the [No.] 96 (Bobby Labonte), for some reason, checked up and that caused the [No.] 20 (Joey Logano) to check up and that caused Tony [Stewart] to get into him. I went up the track when I saw the [No.] 20 spin. That was a pretty bad wreck there. I’m glad everyone is OK. I’m glad that Joey [Logano] is OK. I don’t know why the (No.) 96 checked up. It’s just one of those chain reactions, as a fast racetrack and that’s what happens.” – Reed Sorenson, finished 35th

“I’m fine. It scared the heck out of me that’s pretty much what the biggest thing was. I’m not sure what happened. I guess I got hit from behind, I’m not really sure. It was like it started rolling and I was in there like please make this thing stop and it just kept going and going. It was the wildest ride I’ve ever been on. You can’t go on a rollercoaster worse than that. I’m just happy to land on my wheels. When I was on my side that was when I was getting worried for a minute. The good Lord was with me on that one.” – Joey Logano, finished 42nd

“I’ve never felt sicker in my life than when we hit Joey [Logano] like that; we hit him a ton. I didn’t see it coming – that was the worst part. He had to check up and when he did, we drilled him in a spot where we were supposed to be wide open on the racetrack. You could tell something made him check up first. You just can’t see through the cars.” – Tony Stewart

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