Food City 500 - Rookie Post-Race Quotes

KASEY KAHNE, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE:

WHAT HAPPENED? "Jamie McMurray, I don't know what his deal was. I was passing a lap car and he wanted to pass me but you can't go three wide here. I mean, we're 60 laps into the race. It was a stupid move on his part. I don't know what he was thinking." HOW WAS YOUR CAR BEFORE THAT ACCIDENT? 'We had an awesome race car. Part of Bristol is everybody running into each other but it's too early in the race to be crashing. Maybe move somebody, but you don't need to crash them."

SCOTT RIGGS, #10 VALVOLINE CHEVROLET:

"That's just Cup racing, I guess. You have to be on the money when the drop the green flag or you'll get a lap down and we did. We came in and made some adjustments and it seemed to really help the car. The car still on the long run would start getting a little free with me in and off and a little tight in the middle. We made some adjustments and we were pretty good and when we came in under that green flag stop I knew that just as soon as we came in they'd have a caution and sure enough they did. Luckily they did because the set of tires we put on, for some reason, was really tight and we couldn't get going so we came in and got tires. The same sort of role reversal from last week: one car checks up and another car can't get checked up quick enough and get turned around. Last week I got into Ricky and it cost both of us. This week the 45 got into me. That's just Bristol: things happen quick."

SCOTT WIMMER IN THE #22 CATERPILLAR DODGE WAS THE RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE RACE AT BRISTOL. Notes: Wimmer finished 13th and took top Raybestos Rookie honors for the second time this season. He was also the top rookie in the season opening Daytona 500 where he finished third. Three Raybestos® Rookies finished all 500 laps: Wimmer, Johnny Sauter (15th), and Brendan Gaughan (20th). Wimmer unofficially closed with within 19 points (82-63) of Kasey Kahne in the Raybestos Rookie standings.

"The 32 car, Craven, got loose and I checked up and got into the back of Craven. I guess Tony didn't look over his hood or whatever but he run right into the back of me. I guess it upset him that he ran into the back of me but it's all right. It was a good day for the Caterpillar Dodge. We had to overcome a lot, getting that penalty. We came back, got on the lead lap, and had a shot at the top-10, just didn't have the car at the end." WAS THE PENALTY FAIR? "I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't spin anybody out. I was getting run into by Tony. I didn't go back and spin him out or anything like that. I didn't really understand the penalty but NASCAR makes calls. I'm sure it was a good reason and we'll get it straightened out." DESPITE THE PENALTY YOU WERE ABLE TO BOUNCE BACK AND HAVE A GOOD DAY. "We had a good car. It wasn't great. We could hang in there. That's all you ask. If we would have went some other ways on our adjustments I think we could have been a little better but it didn't go that way and we ended up 13th."

FRANK STODDARD, CREW CHIEF, #22 CATERPILLAR DODGE:

"We didn't have the trouble. It seems those guys in the towers are so far away up there they can't see what's going on. We've got a lot of TV cameras in this sport nowadays. I can't imagine they can't look at a replay and use some sense before they make a decision like that. We work awful hard all week long, these guys work awful hard all week long, Caterpillar puts a lot of money into this deal and to have ludicrous calls gets tiring. That's the bottom line: it gets tiring. The 32 got sideways off the corner. We punted the back of the 32 because we're in the gas. The 32 comes and says 'I'm sorry about that' and apologized to us. The 20 jacks us up in the back because he's in the gas and then the caution comes out. The 20 comes up and runs into the back of us two or three times and then comes up to the outside of us, runs into the side of us. Clearly they've known that Tony Stewart has got a hot temper. We're setting there behind the car; he comes to the outside of us. What is the penalty on the 22? I'd like to know what the penalty is on that deal. They couldn't see if from there anyway. I guess they just decided it, I don't know."

JOHNNY SAUTER, #30 AMERICA ONLINE CHEVROLET. Note: This is the first time in 2004 that Sauter has finished on the lead lap. He and Brendan Gaughan are the only Raybestos Rookies that have been running at the finish of all six NEXTEL Cup races this season.

"Survival of the fittest. You've got to finish this race. Last year I had McClure's car here and was running 11th with 70 to go. I had a great run going and broke a gear and I knew it was all about attrition. You've just got to finish. After yesterday, I was pretty upset. We finished today. It's not where we need to be but at least it's on the lead lap, our first of the year and that's a good day for us." YOU HAD A GOOD DAY AT ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT TRACKS IN THE SERIES. THAT MUST GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE GOING TO TEXAS. "I always like Bristol. It's always been pretty awesome to me as far as racing on it and stuff but I've never had the finishes that I deserved. I've always ran good but we'll take today." HOW TOUGH IS RACING HERE? "It's tougher than you think it is. I don't know if it's especially tough on me because I ran 250 laps yesterday plus all the happy hours and practices. You spend five or six hours in the car on Friday. It's tough but maybe I'll get a raise."

BRIAN VICKERS, #25 GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES CHEVROLET:

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING TODAY? "We learned as much as we could. We took our time and made some changes on the car and just made a test out of it. It was a tough day. Something happened to the drive shaft; it just broke. We don't really know why right now but we'll find out. It's not normal. There's nothing that we could have done to have caused it. It just broke. We don't really know why." DID YOU HAVE A VIBRATION BEFORE THAT? "No, it just happened out of the blue."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, #77 KODAK/PUNISHER DODGE. Notes: Gaughan finished 20th, which equals his best career NEXTEL Cup Series finish. He also finished 20th at Rockingham.

"We had the best Penske team out there, man. Rusty finished second. Rubberhead should have smacked him [smiles]. I didn't get to see it but he should have moved him, I don't care [smiles]. You know what I loved about this team? Rusty Wallace came on the radio in the middle of that race when I'm running fourth and he's leading. He come on my channel and says 'How ya doing?' Rusty Wallace is the man. On pit road, the Kodak team is without a doubt one of the best teams on pit road. We beat the 2 out every time, we beat the 12 out every time, and those guys were awesome today. We had a fantastic race car, the best one that we've had all year, and the guys deserved it. We had the meanest looking race car out there, had the Punisher. These guys, some days you don't earn respect. I don't know what you have to do. I've been polite to everybody. Maybe I am going to have to take that nickname 'The Punisher' a little bit and start moving a few guys. I understand that I'm a Raybestos Rookie but when it wouldn't my day the last five races I was pretty darn good to all these guys. It was my day today and guys just run the dog-poo out of you. Even a couple of times when I had the bad run, I still was giving that one spot on the high side and digging to keep up. I root and gouge as good as anybody. I'm not going to give up ever but the right thing to do is to give that one little space if it isn't your day. In the end of that thing we're trying to get top-10, we're trying to get the Kodak team where we belong and guys just being jerks. At the end of that race is Hoya time, baby. Coach Thompson and a lot of great men have put a lot of great effort into me to get me to be the way that I am. I don't quit for this team and they don't quit for me."

WIMMER RAYBESTOS ROOKIE PRESS CONFERENCE:

"It's a real tough racetrack. I had some success in my Busch car up here but never ran real well in the NEXTEL Cup car. It was good to come home and finish all 500 laps and get a top-15 out of it." YOU REGAINED YOUR FOCUS AFTER THE INCIDENT WITH STEWART. "I really don't know what Tony was doing. I ran into the back of Craven, I checked up and Tony just blasted me in the back and then he was all mad I guess because I didn't spin Craven out or something like that. He'll get over it and I'll get over it. It was a tough battle from then on. I didn't quite understand the penalty but we overcame a lot and ended up back on the lead lap and finished strong." WHAT WAS THE REASONING BEHIND THE PENALTY? "I have no idea. Nobody spun out, nobody crashed [laughs]. The only one I think that should have gotten a penalty was Tony for smashing me under caution, tearing the right side of my car up and tearing up my right front fender and everything like that. As far as our case, I don't quite understand why we got penalized."

Unofficial Raybestos Rookie standings

Kasey Kahne 82
Scott Wimmer 63
Johnny Sauter 52
Brian Vickers 50
Brendan Gaughan 49
Scott Riggs 44