Pepsi 400 - Dodge Post-Race Quotes

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) – Finished 4th, moved to 5th in standings

“That was a pretty good run. We had a 10th place in the 500 and a fourth place in the 400. That was a good run for my last Cup run here at Daytona, so I’m proud of that. I was running good, and I wanted to get the race over because we finally got the car handling good. I’m glad it’s over. It’s time for a cold Miller Lite right now. Tony was strong. I just needed to get up there close. McMurray was in front of the 8 car and they about wrecked in the front straightaway with the 48. The 48 made a move that was pretty aggressive, and I knew he wasn’t going to make that one. We made a lot of changes to get the car better – track bar, air pressure.

“I’m happy with that. I had a loose racecar all day long, and my team worked hard to get it tightened up. We did tons of work to it. We pulled a spring rubber out of the right rear and she finally woke up. I had a good head of steam going and got a fourth place. I’d like to thank Dale Jarrett for drafting with me. It was a lot of fun with him. I’m glad he got a top five.

“We’ve been strong, and I’m real proud of everybody on the team. We’re real focused. We gained a lot of points again today, and I was real happy for my very last Daytona Cup run. I’ll be back for the 24 Hours of Daytona, but that’s not the big track. I’m proud of my last run at Daytona and I’d like to thank the fans for pulling for me. It was a sweet night.

“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be tonight, but I think more this year will come, I really do. I sure like the looks of those point standings right now. We’re going to make that Chase and then we’re going to give it everything we’ve got those last 10 races and see where we stack up after Homestead.”

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) - Finished 12th, 11th in standings, one point out of 10th

“When the green flag dropped, the car had a vibration. It started out in the turns and progressively got worse. We had to make an unscheduled pit stop and lost a lap, but managed to make it up. We finally got things going pretty good and then had an incident on pit road. We had made a two-tire stop and came out fourth, but had to come back in for repairs. We restarted 31st, but worked our way back up through the field and finished 12th. It wasn't an easy night by any means. We finished, that's the important thing.

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) – Finished 14th, moved up to 6th in standings

“We were contending for the lead, and we thought we had a chance to win this thing. We showed the improvement we’ve made in our restrictor-plate program, but obviously we didn’t see the accident on pit road coming. That kind of hurt our chances. We had to make an extra pit stop to get rid of the tire rub and when we got back out there there just wasn’t enough time to make up that much ground. We had to settle for a top 15, and we’ll take that and try to get it back next week in Chicago.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) – Finished 16th

“We had a good car, a real good car. It got bashed up pretty good. We got hit from every angle. I just need more experience drafting and not make mistakes taking the wrong line. The right front got damaged in the wreck just before the half-way mark and we lost a lap making the repairs. The crew did a great job making the repairs. Before the night was over, there was a lot more sheet metal damage, but we were running at the finish. We didn't have to make a lot of adjustments on the car. We had a good car.”

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Home 123/Havoline Dodge Charger) – Finished 2nd, moved up 3 spots to 7th in standings

“We’ve raced well here. We just seem to always get caught up in a wreck. We didn’t tonight partly because we were up front most of the night. We had a good handling car. We actually never made an adjustment the whole race. I told them if I don’t spin out we’ll race well. I knew something was wrong (with the tires on one run). If it’s real bad they tell me, but if it’s just a little bit they tell me it’s fine. The car got real tight and then it’d get real loose. I wanted to pit when the 38 pitted. This is really big for us because the speedway races are the ones we thought we’d struggle at. We’ve got two top fives now at speedway events. That’s awesome. At Bristol and Martinsville where we run in the top five usually we got 30th and just got it back here.

“I was lagging back at the end. He (Stewart) was just pulling away. He had a very fast car and it handled well, too. I thought when he got back in the back he’d get tight, but his car was super dominant tonight.

“I didn’t really know I was the guilty victim of the deal. I waved when I was going down the backstretch that I was going to pit. We were on a different pit sequence than a lot of the cars were. I saw the 24 was coming in and I told them I was coming in with Jeff. My car was still loose on old tires. I had to have both hands on the wheel going through the corners. Typically you wave all around the corner, but I had both hands on the steering wheel and I couldn’t even look in my mirror. I was focused on getting around there and not running into Jeff and staying as close as I could to him. I didn’t really know there was an issue there. We were really low on the racetrack. Honestly I didn’t know there was anyone behind me.

“I’m the one who pushed him (Stewart) on the four-way pass. You see a car that’s led the majority of the race and you have a few to choose from and you choose him. I knew Tony was really fast, and I like to run up high. I hate it when you have to run right on the bottom of the racetrack. I like it when you can run in the middle and get a good run up off the corner. I saw Tony pull out there, and he had a good car, so I gave him a shove.

“When you run well it makes you feel better. When we get back to the mile and a half tracks I think you’ll see the Roush and Hendrick cars run really well again. This is a completely different type of racing than the Roush and Hendrick cars have been dominant at all year. Obviously Chicago has been a really good track for me and we feel like we learn every week on the aero side trying to catch up to those cars. We’ve cut the whole front end off again, and we’re going to try something completely different that they feel will be better. I like going to Chicago and any time we run well it seems to make the next week better for you.

“I thought it was great (impound rule at Daytona). The teams work so hard. They have to change hubs and brakes and so much stuff. It’s pointless because the same cars are going to qualify well and most of the time it doesn’t matter. I think this is the most important place to do it because it saves a lot of time and work.”