Checker Auto Parts 500 - Dodge Post-Race Quotes

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Intrepid) - Finished Third, Moved to Fifth in standings.

"We had a good car most of the day. We started out a little loose and kept working with it. The guys did a good job in the pits as well as making strategy calls on the racetrack. We'll take a top five here at Phoenix. It's our first one. It was a little more (like a short track race) than it should have been, but nevertheless we made it out of it. "It was a good run for the ALLTEL Dodge. It was our first top five here at Phoenix in three efforts, but it was a good improvement. I knew our car was pretty quick, but Junior was in the clean air there and he had a good opportunity.

"We started off really loose and watched Jimmie (Johnson) walk away. We kept tuning on the car, and Matt and the guys did an awesome job both on strategy and at the same time tuning the racecar to the racetrack with my feedback. We got out front there and led some laps. We got the car better. We got back to seventh or eighth with our four tire stop at the end and lost some track position. We fought our way back to third, and that's it in a nutshell.

"Testing here is one thing because you can learn certain things. The track is never usually in the same condition when you're here to race. We've learned that through testing the hard way I guess you could say. I've got a lot of laps here in stock cars as well as the open wheel cars. I've always known what the fast line was. It was just a matter of communicating with the team and having everything together to get it right. Fortunately we made some improvements to finish 18th last year and come back and finish third this year. The guys have done an awesome job.

"He (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) did everything but take me out this week. I will say that. He didn't and we were able to finish the race and have a good finish at that, so we'll go on."

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Havoline Dodge Intrepid) - Finished 12th, top Raybestos Rookie of the Year finisher. Moved to 14th in standings.

"My car started out really good, and it seemed like on the long run is where we were the best. This place is notorious for having green-flag pit stops and long runs. It just didn't work out that way today. All the cautions at the end ended up costing us four or five spots. It's so hard to hold people off when they have newer tires than you, so we just kind of hung on at the end. We rode around and tried to stay in front of who we could.

"I can't really tell you one thing that has made a difference. I think just being together for half a season and getting to know each other. I didn't know any of the racecars, and neither did Donnie (crew chief Wingo). We learned what cars I liked and what cars drove well, and that's the cars we've been racing since Chicago. I think we've raced just three cars since Chicago. We just keep wearing them out. Pit stops got better. It is a team sport, and you can't do it without those guys. Those guys have helped me out a lot, and I think I've gotten a little bit better as a driver. It's a little bit frustrating for me to finish 12th. At the beginning of the year I would have been thrilled to finish 12th. After we ran third at Darlington, third at Bristol and ran so well at Indy, I thought we would have won a race by now. The way it's worked out, it seems we've lost two or three positions each week. We're going to my favorite racetrack next week. I love Rockingham, and we should run really well there.

"I think if they come out with all the different spoiler rules and with the different tire, I don't know that some of the stuff we're doing right now is going to work next year. It just seems like the teams that are running well can overcome all that stuff quicker than the teams that aren't well, unless somebody hits on something. I didn't start off this season very well. I would have loved the points to have started at Daytona in July."

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid)

"We kept working on it and ended up with a decent finish. I wish we could have held on to ninth place in the standings, but we're not that far out of it and we're still in the top 10. It'd be nice if we can finish in the top 10, and that's what we're going to try to do in these next two races - that and win."

STERLING MARLIN (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid)

"The guys never gave up and we almost brought it home with a top-10 finish. It looked like Jamie and I were pretty close today in our Ganassi Dodges. We'll go to the house and get ready for next week at Rockingham. We've got two more chances to win one of these things this year, and that's what we're going to try to do."

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)

"I thought we had something for 'em today, but it just didn't work out. I guess our luck hasn't quite turned around yet. We led the most laps in the first race at Rockingham earlier this year, so maybe we can go back next week and do that again and get this monkey off our backs."

JIMMY SPENCER (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid)

"The motor blew up, and when the motor blew up there wasn't anything I could do. I just hung on. It hit real hard, but that's been our luck all year. We haven't had any. It was a lot of fun. We've had good cars all year long. It was fun racing. I love it. I won't give up. We ran out of gas. We didn't pit early for anything else. Something happened to the fuel pick up. That's not right, but that's life.

"The Sirius Dodge was running really strong. We were getting terrible gas mileage and then the motor blew up. It felt like something broke in the bottom end. It put oil on the tires and there was nothing I could do about it. Ward Burton got caught up in it, too. That's too bad for him. We had an awesome racecar today. We just didn't have any luck. We're going to get a sponsor for next year. We hope somebody picks us up and we can continue this thing. We've got a good race team here. We're going to stay together and do the best we can. We look forward to Rockingham next week.

"I thought I had a modified. It was hauling the mail. It was cool. I told Tommy Baldwin yesterday it wouldn't run for five laps, but he had it like he did at New Hampshire. It was brutal. It was awesome, just like my Team ASE Dodge Ram at New Hampshire. It was gripping and hauling....."

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid)

"It looks like we lost something in the motor. Our guys are working real hard trying to find things for next year. We're trying to develop some new stuff. I'm glad we're trying new things. I wish we could have got it all in today. I feel real bad for Tony Stewart. My motor was starting to go sour and he was behind me. I was trying to get out of the way. He thought I was trying to block him or something. He tried to spin me out all the way down the backstretch, but I wasn't trying to do anything there. The motor was starting to go bad, and I was just trying to get out of the way."

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