Dodge/Save Mart 350 - Dodge Post-Race Quotes

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Snap-On/Miller Lite Dodge Charger) - Finished fourth, moved to sixth in series standings.

“I had a shot at the 97, but I didn’t want to sacrifice a position and run out of gas. I had been hammering the throttle so hard I didn’t want to take the chance of running out of fuel. I really didn’t know if we could make it on fuel. I had to baby it all the way. They finally told me we were good to go and I could hammer it and I felt good then. I figured I’d saved six or eight laps of fuel. We needed Johnson and Biffle to have bad days and we had a great day and moved up a couple of spots in the standings. I feel really good about that after 16 races. If we can hang on for 10 more, who knows what we’ll be able to do in those last 10 races?

“We hit pit road for the last time today knowing we were going to be five laps short on fuel. I just get milky it, pushing the clutch in and coasting all I could. It still had good fuel pressure when we hit the checkered flag, so it must have had about a gallon left in it. I ran the warm up lap and it was still running. Last year I was running fourth and ran out of gas. This year I finished fourth with another gas issue. I’m about gassed out. I’m going to have to get my Visa card out and gas this unit up.

“I don’t have any thoughts at all (about last race at Infineon). The next time I’m back here I’ll either be helping my teammates or probably two years or so Stephen will be out here running and Patty and I will be out here rooting him on. It was a good one. The people here treated me good and inducted us into the wall of fame. We had a great send off at the start/finish line. Snap-On did a great deal. Of all the tracks I’ve been to, this one probably did the biggest send off for Mark and I. It was really neat.

“I think we moved to fifth or sixth. I’m leaving here happy. I left here not understanding much last year. This year I’m feeling real good. I knew I was on old tires and had full fuel. I was slipping and sliding. I knew those cats were behind me with sticker tires. I thought I was going to get the 97 car there at the end. He was really struggling at the end. I didn’t want to come up half a corner short, so I was content with fourth.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) – Finished 9th, remained seventh in standings

“We had an OK day. We ran better than that, but the cautions messed us up. Everybody being able to make it on fuel was unfortunate for us. We were happy with the car. The Alltel Dodge was good all day. We had good pit stops and everybody did their jobs today and did them right. We got a top 10 and we deserved better than that. I’m ready for Daytona and I’m looking forward to Watkins Glen, too.”

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline “Shine On” Dodge Charger) – Finished 13th, moved to 10th in standings

“It was a solid run for us today. Unfortunately, we fell victim to pit strategy and weren't able to go as far as the other teams on fuel. Overall it was a great effort for the Texaco/ Havoline team. We moved in to the top 10 in points, which is really important to us as we get closer to the Chase.”

JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) – Finished seventh, moved to 11th in standings (21 points out of 10th)

NOTE: Mayfield’s seventh-place finish tied his best record here, set in 1999

“That was like a victory for us today. We needed that. To come from where we did all the way in the back, that was a pretty good day. I didn't qualify very well, but the car was good and we had good pit strategy. The engine guys really helped us today on the fuel mileage. Being able to save on fuel allowed us to make some great calls right there at the end. Slugger (crew chief Labbe) and I really worked well together today. He was telling me to short-shift and save all the fuel I could. That kind of coaching really helps. We were able to make the right calls and be there at the end. I was out there trying to pass the 38 and 88 and felt like we had the car to do it. But we probably didn't have the fuel to do it. That's where Slugger had to let me know that I shouldn't worry about them and just finish the race. We would have lost more positions trying to race them. We needed this. It gives us lots of momentum going into Daytona. It's what we needed for points. We haven't really gained a lot in the past few weeks, so that right there will help us out.”

SLUGGER LABBE (Crew chief No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

“We started 32nd and that’s a long way to come. We got a little behind in qualifying. We started working on a race strategy plan and we had a good plan in place. Luckily the caution came out when we hoped it would and it worked out in our favor. We passed a lot of cars on pit road. We should have been out of fuel, but we figured we have to get in The Chase. We were 13th in points. The 24 and 48 had broken transmissions and the 16 had pitted out of sequence. We had to take the chance and it ended up working out OK. We didn’t have much gas left after the race. Every lap I wore Jeremy out to save gas. We asked him when we pitted with 45 to go to sign up for this, and he said he’d do all he could to save fuel. It’s nice to get a top 10 finish and move up in the standings.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

“We just lost the brake pedal getting into turn seven. I don't know what happened -- whether the line got cut or what. It took us out of the race. That was too bad. The guys did a good job on the Dodge Charger, and we had a good enough car to run in the top 15. I'm sorry that we got Brian Vickers when the brakes went. I didn't want to take him out and feel badly for them. I just spun sideways just a little bit and tried to steer it through the infield. I tried to miss everybody, but sometimes you can't miss them all.”