Sony HD 500 - Ford Post-Race Quotes

PAT TRYSON, Crew Chief - No. 6 Viagra Taurus (Mark Martin finished 11th) - "We had a good car all night, but the decision was to take two or four and we took four, and it just didn't work out. We lost a bunch of spots, but that's the way it goes. It was my decision and I guess it was the wrong one. We should have done two. It seemed like track position was more important, but we didn't need that last caution there either. We would have probably gotten back to pretty close to where we were."

GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 National Guard/Subway Taurus (Finished 2nd) - "We're just all thinking about everybody in the gulf coast right now and all the National Guard soldiers that are down there helping everybody and supporting the efforts of rebuilding that place and getting everything out of there. We've got an e-bay auction through the Greg Biffle Foundation for rebuilding the animal shelters and all kinds of things, so we're thinking about those people. It's been a tough week for us here and we're excited to go home and we have a home to go to." YOU'VE WORKED HARD WITH TWO STRAIGHT TOP FIVES. "That means a lot. A sixth at Michigan, that was a win for us. We went there and ran really well and led a lot of laps and finished sixth, but then third at Bristol and second here tonight. We can't be happier right now. The whole team is just excited."

CARL EDWARDS - No. 99 Office Depot Taurus (Finished 4th) - "We got back up to fourth and that's pretty exciting. I had a really good time. My guys did a great job. The pit stops were perfect." HOW HARD WAS IT TO STAY CALM AFTER THE SPIN? "That's just racing. You're gonna have that stuff. It just gave me an opportunity to go do a little bit more racing in traffic, which is a lot of fun. That's gonna happen. I'm just really fortunate we didn't hit the wall. That would have really messed us up and my guys did a great job. I just had a blast. It was a fun race." YOU SOLIDIFIED YOUR CHASE SPOT. "Yeah, it was a great day for our chase hopes. I don't know what it looks like in the points, but we needed to lead laps and finish in the top five and we did that. I would have loved to have had a win. I wanted to sweep the weekend, but to see Kyle Busch get a win is pretty awesome, so we'll take it." WHAT ABOUT THOSE LAST COUPLE OF LAPS? "I went around Matt on the outside. That was pretty hairy. I held him up a little bit earlier and that was a bad deal. I was pretty happy that he gave me room there. I just went around him and Tony on the outside. I like the outside, but you just can't go there more than two or three laps with the way the tires are."

RICKY RUDD - No. 21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Taurus (Finished 9th) - "It was a good solid run. We didn't get any practice so the car wasn't set up quite the way I like it right at the very beginning. But it was a good solid run. I wish we could have adjusted on it just a little bit more, but it was a good car. I have to thank Jon Wood, Fatback and the whole Wood Brothers team for everything they did the past two days. I really appreciated it and it gave us the finish we got tonight."

POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

MATT KENSETH - No. 17 DeWalt Taurus (Finished 7th) - DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION SIX RACES AGO? "No, not probably since the last Pocono. I didn't think we had a chance to, but we've run much better and you know the guys that have been around us in points have had some trouble and maybe haven't run as well the second half of the year and had some things happen to them, too. No, not really. I didn't really expect it. We're not in it yet. We still have another week to go." GOOD PIT STOPS PUT YOU IN FRONT. "Yeah, we had great pit stops and kept us in front all night, but you knew all of those guys were gonna get two at the end and I was just real scared to put two tires on it for some reason. My car wasn't very fast for the first five laps of a run. It would be real loose and we just put four tires on it and got in the middle of the bees nest and got passed by a bunch of cars at the end. I don't know what to tell you. I took a second-place car and finished seventh with it, so it's a little disappointing." WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN YOUR TEAM FROM THE START OF THE YEAR TO NOW? MARK SAYS YOU'RE THE FAVORITE TO WIN? "I don't know about that. The team is the same. They did a good job at the beginning of the year and they're doing a good job now. We had a lot of things happen to us at the beginning of the year - a lot of flat tires, some broken parts and I wrecked some stuff. We had a lot of things happen and we didn't perform well, which wasn't really necessarily a team thing. We just weren't building our cars right and doing the right thing. They were doing what they were supposed to do, but we just weren't telling them to do the right stuff. I'd say it's about the same. They do a great job on pit road. They're probably better than any other team up and down pit road and they're doing a great job right now. I'm still having a hard time getting over finishing seventh, but they do a great job. They did a good job all night and they deserved to run second or third - third at the worst tonight, I thought." WERE YOU SURPRISED THE GUYS WITH TWO HELD ON LIKE THEY DID? "No, I wasn't surprised. There were only seven laps to go. Every car in front of me took two. Almost every car behind me, except for Tony took two. It's just the way it was. If it would have gone green to the end, I was making some progress and I probably would have finished third. I don't think I would have gotten Greg or the 5, but I was getting ready to try to pass the 25, but my car just wasn't very good on restarts. It would just be really loose on restarts and I couldn't do the things that Carl and Tony and the 5 and those guys could do. They could just run around there and fly around the corner. I just couldn't do that without wrecking. I just got cars all around me and they got the air off of me and lost those spots. Hindsight is always 20/20, but we never, ever, ever gamble and take two and we should have took two. We would have come out of the pits first or second and I think we would have finished there."

MORE GREG BIFFLE - HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO RUN WELL. "Well, it's really important. We wanted to win here tonight, but Kyle got a great restart there. Congratulations to Kyle Busch and that whole Hendrick team. Those guys have been coming on a win for a long time and it's exciting for your first win. It was just a great job by the guys in the pits. We put spring rubbers in and adjusted the heck out of that race car tonight - from tight to loose to just can't drive it. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody in the gulf coast and all the National Guard folks down there helping everybody. I know there were a lot of soldiers called to duty to go down there and we're just thinking about all of them."