Sirius at the Glen - Ford Post-Race Quotes

MARK MARTIN - No. 6 Viagra Taurus (finished 3rd) - "I just got to thank the whole Viagra team for having this Taurus hooked up this good. I wish we would've started a little better, or had a little bit better fuel mileage, but we overcame all those fuel-mileage guys there at the end, and it worked out real well for us. Pat Tryson is a genius. I just want to thank Pennzoil and Kraft Foods and get a nice, cool drink of Gatorade." HOW MUCH STRATEGY DID YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT PRIOR TO THE GREEN FLAG DROPPING TODAY? "A lot." ANOTHER GOOD CAR FROM PAT TRYSON AND THE TEAM. "This is sweet because the car got better as the race went on and we have been a little short in these races, these road races, with this car, and we were just bound and determined to make the car be good on the long run today, and those guys did it. Wally Brown and Pat and the whole team, great pit stops and a great effort today." HOW GOOD WAS THIS CAR? "The car was good, but it was not quite as god as the 24, maybe not quite as good as the 20, maybe. You just don't know, you can't get up there. Once you get up there you can run so much faster, and there at the end we were peeling 'em off pretty good, ripping off some good laps and getting around there pretty fast."

JEFF BURTON - No. 99 Roush Racing Taurus (finished 12th) - "It was a pretty good day. We got back because of track position and just because of the way we had to pit and some of those guys could go a long way on fuel - we just couldn't go that far. Still, though, we went all the way back to like 34th or something and drove back up to 12th. I'm real proud of my guys. We fought real hard and never gave up. Gave all we had. Ran out of fuel on the last lap. Ran out of fuel, actually on the last three laps, going up the esses, and ran just completely out and wouldn't run again until it got on the back straightaway, and when it got on the back straightaway it took off, and Bobby Labonte got by me. Good day, all in all. It's a decent way to leave the team." IS IT A BITTERSWEET DAY FOR YOU? "Oh, definitely. This has been home for a long time."

MATT KENSETH - No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Taurus (finished 9th) - "We ran okay. The way we pitted actually worked out okay. We were a 10th-place car, and some guys beat us on fuel mileage and stayed out, and the rest of the guys beat us on performance. About where we finished is about the best we were, so I'm happy with that for a finish."

KURT BUSCH - No. 97 IRWIN Industrial Tools Taurus (finished 10th) - "We didn't do too bad today. It seemed like the same thing bit us as it has in years past, being conservative on the fuel so that we can make it to the end and points race, and that allows other guys to short pit, stretch their fuel and end up with a top-10. We were 12th last year, and I think I was 15th the year before that because of the same circumstances. Maybe one year we'll have a big enough cushion going into the Chase for the Cup and go for the win at Watkins Glen." YOU WERE ABLE TO LEAD A LAP AND PICK UP FIVE BONUS POINTS. "Another race down and we were able to gain points on a couple of cars, but there's still a couple of guys chompin' at the bit to get in. So, it's an exciting time. We've just got five to go and these are good tracks for us."

ELLIOTT SADLER - No. 38 M&M's Taurus (finished 15th) - "As far as I see it, this race was a wild-card race for us. I had a great car yesterday in the first practice, and the second one we weren't as good. So, we changed things back to the way we had them for the race. The M&M's Ford was a fast, fast race car, but it was just a little tight. We adjusted, then the car started losing grip the longer we ran. I feel like we could've run better, but I think we dodged a bullet today. I'm looking forward to Michigan next week where we will be able to show where we are strong."

RICKY RUDD - No. 21 Keep It Genuine Taurus (finished 8th) - "I'd say we had, probably, an eighth-place car, but strategy really got us back in this thing. We had a flat tire early in the race. We wanted to see if verything was going fine, our fuel strategy deal was going to work good for us, and had a flat tire, had to come in, and went to dead last. And then after that, we had a caution, I think there was eight of us that tried to stretch it with fuel, and we came in and topped off. About the first 20 laps of that I just had to go real easy on gas, had to short-shift the transmission, had to do a lot of things to save fuel, and had that last caution and then we could race. We barely made it to the end, we ran out of gas at the finish line, and coasted down to turn one, so we didn't have another corner left on it. It couldn't have turned out any better, really." FINALLY, A TOP 10. "It helps. It was a just a good, solid run, and strategy was really smart today, really on top of the game. Ben did a good job."

LEN WOOD - co-owner, No. 21 Keep It Genuine Taurus - ON THE TEAM'S FIRST TOP-10 OF THE SEASON. "Long overdue. It was a gamble on fuel mileage. I felt we needed five cautions, we got three, so Ricky made up the difference. He ran out (of fuel) after he went by the start/finish line. It's been a long time coming. It shouldn't have been this big of a struggle, but it has been."

BEN LESLIE - crew chief, No. 21 Keep It Genuine Taurus -- "I didn't think our car was very good. We probably had a 15th- to 20th-place car. We just worked real hard on our fuel mileage and everything and was able to do some things on pit road that other people weren't, got us some track position and was able to hang on to it at the end."

MARK MARTIN Press Conference

Mark Martin - No. 6 Viagra Taurus (finished 3rd) - WAS THERE ANY SENSE OF URGENCY FOR YOU TODAY AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK? "No, I couldn't help it that we had a flat tire (last week). We were in fourth place at Indy at 401 miles, and we didn't make it back around, so that's how it goes. It was a great effort last week by a tremendous team, and it's just an honor for me to drive such great race cars. Believe me, I've raced in the middle of the pack, and I know how much of a team effort this deal is, and I just can't tank my team enough for putting me in race cars that give me a chance to get up there and contend." ON TODAY'S THIRD-PLACE FINISH. "It was awfully tough back there where I started, the guys were pretty wild and bouncing off of each other, and it took a while for us to start overtaking for many of them. Then we got in reasonable shape, then the gas-mileage thing got in. We couldn't do what some of those guys could do. So, we had to go back into the middle of the pack and fight our way back. Getting that long green at the end was a really good thing. We had a car that would run really strong on the long run. We were fast. We were the fastest all day at the end, the last 20 laps, and that's where we made hay." OTHER TEAMS EXPERIENCED TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS? DID YOUR TEAM TRY ANYTHING DIFFERENT TODAY? "No, we've run the same stuff for a long time. Whenever we find a weakness in it we try to beef it up. But, it was the same stuff we've been running for a long time." ON CLOSING GROUND ON 10TH PLACE, NOW JUST 72 POINTS BACK. "We should be so far up in there that we shouldn't even be talking about it, so I don't have much to say about it. Last week was devastating, but so was Chicago and so was Pocono and so was Michigan. The thing that I am happy about is when I bolt down in my Viagra Taurus on Sundays that thing can go. And, it's an honor and a privilege to be driving that stuff, and I'm so grateful for that. Beyond that, I can't help it. I can't keep the air in the tires, and can't keep the parts from breaking, so maybe all that stuff's behind us and we go out here and win some races. I'm not worried about the points. We already lost a whole lot of 'em." STARTING NEXT WEEK YOU WILL NO LONGER HAVE JEFF BURTON AS A TEAMMATE. DO YOU SEE THAT AFFECTING YOUR FINAL 14 RACES IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM? "I thought I was partners with Jeff Burton in careers. Now that this has happened, I realize that I was friends with Jeff Burton, it didn't have anything to do with careers. That won't change. We have a lot of momentum right now, and it would surprise me if something broke our momentum right now. I think that our team is really strong right now, and we're relying on a lot on ourselves, Wally Brown and Pat Tryson. We're on a roll, and we've got some momentum, and I don't think that that would break very easily."