Kyle Busch
#5 Kellogg's Chevrolet
Winner
I just want to apologize to all the fans for not doing my normal smokey burn-outs but NASCAR wanted me to come directly to victory lane. I don't know if we were behind on time or what, but I'm sure the fans would have liked to see that.
This is number 2 (win). It should have been more than that. But I want to thank all my guys. They do an awesome job for me.
I just want to say that I'm behind my brother (Kurt Busch) 100 percent. I can't even think right now. I just want to apologize to all of the sponsors for taking a true champion out of the race today.
WHEN YOU WENT A LAP DOWN EARLY IN THE RACE, DID YOU THINK YOU HAD ENOUGH TIME TO GET BACK UP FRONT?
I knew we did. When I was messing with Biffle there a lap down I saw where he was beating me and what I needed to work on to make it better. I didn't think I was going to be able to beat Biffle. When he got to me, I knew how hard he was driving his car. I knew if I could just pressure him a few more laps I could probably heat up his right rear a little bit more and we could get by him. My stuff was pretty much worn out at the end and so was his. Again, it was awesome racing with him.
PRESS CONFERENCE
We're pretty excited. It's definitely a great opportunity for myself to be involved with such a great team and Hendrick Motorsports and Kellogg's and Carquest and Delphi and everybody that's helped us out this year. It's been a great opportunity for me to be able to carry on the tradition a little bit. You know, it's kind of funny because the first time I ever came to a NEXTEL Cup race, Winston Cup, was here at Phoenix and it was the year that Terry Labonte won. If that makes some weird circumstances, I don't know what does. But, it's pretty cool for me to be able to come here to Phoenix and win my second start out and be able to carry on from the Busch family's name here for both races this year.
RE: EMOTIONS ALONG WITH EVERYTHING HAPPENING TODAY
They're pretty high, obviously, being able to win the race and the only thing I'm going to say is that I'm behind my brother 100% and usually things in the media are false and that's just what it comes down to sometimes and the deal was today was to go out and win with our Kellogg's Chevrolet and we did that, so I'm happy to be here. It's fortunate with my situation and I'm ecstatic getting ready to go to go to Homestead to give it one more try.
RE: EMOTIONS FOR YOURSELF THIS MORNING, HOW DO YOU AS A RACE CAR DRIVER, BLOCK THAT OUT AND GO AND DO YOUR JOB?
You just do. You just try to put all that stuff aside and deal with it another time. This isn't the area for all that stuff. It shouldn't be at the race track. For myself, just being able to go out there and perform at my best, that's what I'm here to do week in and week out. There shouldn't be any distractions that happen, whether or not you're on the rocks with your girlfriend or you're doing whatever else outside, you come in here and you get in your race car and you're focused and you're down to one duty and that's obviously to win the race.
RE: AFTER 2004'S BUSCH RACE YOU WERE PRETTY LOW THAT YOU WEREN'T GOING TO WIN THE BUSCH CHAMPIONSHIP. COMPARE AND CONTRAST THAT TO NOW, WINNING A RACE IN PHOENIX.
Well, I think that the experience level that I have now is definitely a little bit more than what I had here this time here last year in the Busch Series race. And, I had a great battle over there with Jamie McMurray and just wasn't able to beat him. And today I had a great battle with Greg Biffle and we were both driving the wheels off our cars, maybe him just a little bit more so than mine, and I had a little bit more rear tire left after the race and it was great for me to be able to prevail over him today and I had a great time racing with him today-he's a great competitor out there and I just want to thank him for being able to race me that way and we've always been able to race that way. Everybody can have their run-ins, which I'm sure everybody will every once in a while, but Greg's a pretty great guy to race with.
RE: WHAT WAS SAID IN THE MEDIA ABOUT YOUR BROTHER THAT WAS FALSE?
To respond to the last question, there is a lot of speculation in the media. The only things that are there for us to comment on are whatever Kurt Busch releases at a later time. If you have any other race-related questions, I'm happy to answer.
WHEN YOU WERE A LAP DOWN FOLLOWING GREG BIFFLE, YOU SAID YOU LEARNED SOMETHING. WHAT WAS THAT?
Basically I was following Biffle -- trying to get my lap back -- where he was beating me was through the center of the corner. My car had just gotten too tight at that time in the race and I was just trying to work on the things I needed to do in order to make that part of the race better for me and make my car adapt to it more. I was basically trying to loosen it up a bit without trying to get too loose up off the corner. There was a little bit of compromise there, and seeing what he was doing would be able to help me out if I was able to get back up to the front, which I was able to do.
WHEN YOU GOT A LAP DOWN, YOU HAD TO COME IN BECAUSE YOU FELT A VIBRATION IN THE CAR AND IT WAS RIGHT BEFORE A CAUTION SO YOU MADE THE LAP UP. LATE IN THE RACE WHEN BIFFLE PASSED YOU, DID YOU THINK YOU COULDN'T GET BY AGAIN?
To answer your first question, I felt the right front tire was going down. In the Truck race, I had completely worn out the right front tire. It was sliding up the race track and not turning for me anymore. Today, I started having that same characteristic with the Kellogg's Chevrolet and I wanted to make sure we weren't going to blow a tire. There were a couple of tire problems and I wanted to make sure we weren't one of those. When I came down pit road, we ended up changing our tires and got a couple of laps down -- same thing that happened in the Truck race. We were able to get them both back and come back through the field and prevail.
The second part of your question, when everybody thought Biffle was going to pass me and check out and be gone, I just wanted to make sure I kept enough pressure on him (Biffle) to where he was still going to keep overdriving his race car. I wanted to keep my distance from him and not get into him being a Chase competitor that he is. I tried to race him as clean as I possibly could. We never put a tire mark on each other. I thought it was great racing. I hope it was as good on TV for the fans as it was in the driver's seat.
TALK ABOUT THE RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AND WHAT THAT WOULD MEAN TO YOU TO WIN IT?
It's a great honor to be able to receive that award. It just means you're the top freshman in the class. You come into a new series and you're able to prevail. We were able to win a couple of races this year and had a couple of top fives and top 10's and we've also had our down times. But it means a lot being able to get that award. Heading into next week I'm looking forward to it. I don't know if it's going to be handed to me next week or a couple of weeks after or what. But being as though we've pretty much wrapped it up, it's an honor to put my name on that list of drivers who have won it and to be the youngest one is also an honor to me.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO OUTRACE A GUY LIKE GREG BIFFLE AT YOUR LEVEL AS A ROOKIE?
It means a lot just to be able to be out there and race with Greg is pretty neat. For as how dominant as he was, for me to prevail over him just shows that we never gave up. We were able to work from a lap down and get out lap back and come back through the field again and then be able to have a three-way battle for the lead was great. But to be able to outrace those guys at the end -- I'm not sure if I kept my tires on a little better than him, but that's all I can really think is why I beat him today.
WHAT MAKES THE BUSCH BROTHERS SUCH GREAT DRIVERS AND WERE YOU THE PESKY LITTLE BROTHER WHILE HE WAS GETTING ON WITH HIS CAREER?
I'm not sure what makes us good or whether or not we're good at any track. We were both able to win here at PIR this year, which is a great accomplishment. I don't know if that's the first time brothers have won at the same track in a year, but I think it's pretty cool.
Of course I was a pesky little brother. Any little brother usually is. I always wanted to outdo him as much as I could and try to beat him at any sport. We've always had a fierce rivalry but it's always friendly.
AS A HENDRICK ORGANIZATION, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN HELP JIMMIE JOHNSON WIN AT HOMESTEAD NEXT WEEKEND?
Without being disrespectful and wrecking Stewart or something like that, all we can really do is help with car set and things like that. We worked as much as we could at Talladega helping Jimmie to get to the front. He and Jeff were running well but it didn't really matter there because they got caught up in a wreck. But next week, I'm just hoping he can have a smooth race along with all the other competitors really. But maybe he could go out there an lead all the laps and win the race.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN AT PIR IN YOUR SECOND ATTEMPT?
Oh, it means a lot. It's really cool to come to a place like this and win. The first race I ever saw was Terry Labonte winning here. Jeff has been coming here for a bunch of years but still has not won at Phoenix. For me, just to get any wins, means a lot -- especially in my rookie season. I'm looking forward to trying to get a couple more next year.
DID KURT BUSCH GIVE YOU ANY ADVICE THAT HELPED YOU WIN TODAY?
No, I never really talked to him about this place. There were some things that I was able to learn in the Truck race that helped.
YOU COMPLIMENTED GREG BIFFLE ON A CLEAN RACE. YOU MIGHT BE IN THE MINORITY ABOUT THAT:
"I don't know. I'm happy we raced that way. It was cool. With him being a Chase competitor and us racing that hard was kind of a surprise to me. I figured he would lay off and finish second and take his points. But he raced me as hard as he could like he wasn't in the Chase and that was pretty cool.
Alan Gustafson
Crew Chief
#5 Kellogg's Chevrolet
PRESS CONFERENCE
It was a real hard-fought race. We thought we had a tire problem there midway through the race and had to come in there for a green-flag stop. So, it got us behind a little bit, got a lap down and we were tailing the lead lap and the team and Kyle did an awesome job in battling back and had some good pit stops and got us some track position and got out front there. An awesome job and got the Kellogg's Chevrolet into victory lane.
EXPLAIN STRATEGY TO GET UP TO THE FRONT
We were going more for the win. We don't have much to lose right now-we're not in the Chase and when we get an opportunity like that, with the way we had that tire problem it gave us an opportunity to be out of sequence with the leaders and thought it would be a good time to take advantage of it and go for the win.
RE: FINAL STOP
I think the biggest thing was coming in first there. They all came down and Jeff came in, I think about fourth or fifth or sixth and he took two to get his track position and coming down first gave us an opportunity get four and be in front of the guys with four. So, we were the first car with four tires and I think that was the key. Executing that pit stop is a big deal, because without that, we wouldn't have had a shot, so obviously they did a good job there.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS WIN FOR 2006?
It's a big deal. We have had real good cars the last couple of weeks and haven't been able to finish the races out. At Texas we had a real good car and then we had a car that was leading. That got us down a little bit so going into the offseason we wanted to get back up and get the momentum going, get a win, or at least some good top fives so everybody is on the upbeat on the offseason and we were able to do that today.
TALK ABOUT WHERE YOU TEAM IS AT FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP RUN
I think we really have to work on our consistency. I think our highs are high and we're in contention to win races and lead laps and run real well. We don't really have any tracks that we specifically struggle at except the speedways-we've really got to work on that program. We've really got to be able to work ourselves out of the 30th and 40th place finish and turn those days into 20th place finishes or teens, so that's the biggest thing is working on the consistency, and I think we can be there.
Jeff Gordon
#24 DuPont Chevrolet
3rd position
We came out of here third and I'm extremely happy. I thought Steve Letarte made some great calls. All of Hendrick Motorsports to get the cars up there. We had two tires there at the end. I needed to get clear of those guys ahead of me and I just couldn't do it. Once those guys on four (tires) got to me, I knew I was done. But I was surprised we were able to hold onto third. I thought Stewart and those guys behind us were going to run us down. I'm real happy with this effort and I'm looking forward to Homestead.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Like at a lot of tracks, track position is really important and pit strategy is really important. I think we had about a fifth or sixth place car for most of the day and then we made it better. We just needed the track position. When we got it and we were out front, the car was spectacular and running great. Obviously the No. 16 was extremely strong. He had a little bit better tires than us. So we were pretty content hanging in there in second at one time. We came in because we knew we could make it on fuel and so we decided to go ahead and come in and hoped that the other guys who didn't come in would pit after that and give us our track position, which it did. And then we took two tires. Unfortunately those guys who were on four tires were able to get to us a little bit faster than what we hoped. And then we got into third and I was pretty happy to be settled in there. I thought somebody would be running us down. I looked in my mirror and we were holding my own, so I was real happy with that.
YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH A CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE OF YOUR OWN. DO YOU SEE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY TONY STEWART IS ACTING AND REACTING TO THE PRESSURE THIS YEAR?
The first time around is always tough. I think everybody will agree that Tony has matured and I don't know whether the therapy is finally working or what (laughs), who knows, but I think he's come a long way. And that makes him a real threat for this championship this year and for future ones. That first one is always tough. You feel an extreme amount of pressure from the competition -- from the media and every direction -- and it's hard to handle that. The second time around is always sweeter. He's doing a fantastic job of it. I'm still pulling for Jimmie (Johnson). I think anything can happen down in Homestead, which is what you guys (the media) are going to be writing this week to keep it interesting. But Jimmie has to perform. The pressure is on. They are capable of doing that. The guys are so close and he's going to get him one (title) one of these times. We hope it's this year. We'll go down there and see what we can do to help him do that.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING THROUGH KYLE BUSCH'S HEAD RIGHT NOW WITH HIS BROTHER KURT?
I'm not sure what he's thinking. I know he's happy about winning the race. I thought he did an awesome job. I couldn't believe he won the race today, to be honest. I didn't think anybody had anything for the No. 16 car. I was shocked. He just drove a great race. When you're out there, you're not thinking about anything else but driving the race car and trying to get the position to get the win.
WHAT'S GOING ON IN YOUR MIND ABOUT YOUR SEASON RIGHT NOW?
We didn't have the performances and we had some bad luck, which happens, and we didn't make the Chase. As soon as we missed the Chase, we did a bunch of restructuring and changed how we were setting up race cars. We did drastic things that you can't do when you're in the middle of the season trying to make the Chase or in the Chase. It's so easy to do it when you basically have nothing to lose. We just made a decision after we missed the Chase that these last 10 races we were just going to start trying things out and experimenting and putting different people in places and getting ourselves ready for 2006. The neat thing is that philosophy has been working for us and that gives us some momentum to end the season and that's what we really need so when we go into the off season, the guys in the shop are pumped up and excited about building cars and all the hard work that's going to come getting ready for Daytona and the rest of the season.
DO YOU THINK 2006 IS AN IMPORTANT YEAR FOR YOU AND FOR YOUR TEAM?
Maybe. I think every year is an important year. We go into every one trying to win the championship and thinking we can. At one time this year, I thought we were a real contender. So you just have to approach it that way. I think we have a little bit of new life in the team, which happens sometimes. Sometimes you need to get a spark going and get some excitement. Sometimes it takes changes. We've got that right now. I like working with Steve Letarte. He's exceeded my expectations. He's been making some great calls. I'm looking forward to next season. We don't like finishing outside the top 10 in points. We want to make sure next year we're battling for the championship.
WHAT IS IT LIKE BEING A DRIVER CONTENDING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP WHEN A GUY IS PULLING AWAY FROM YOU? HOW DO YOU KEEP FROM GETTING DOWN ABOUT THAT GOING INTO THE NEXT WEEK?
Yeah, it's hard. It doesn't matter if Jimmie had won the race this week or not. Come Monday, or maybe Thursday, you've got to put the win behind you and go into the next race thinking all about that race. When you don't have a good race or you get down a little bit because the guy you're racing in the championship gets by you -- and that takes wind out of your sails. There's no doubt about it. I've been saying for the past couple of weeks, you don't need to finish 15 positions ahead, you just need to stay ahead of him or stay a couple of positions ahead of him to put that pressure on him. Tony has kind of been doing the opposite. I saw a little bit of that life in them last week when Jimmie finished ahead of Tony. I hoped they could pull that off again this week. It definitely took some wind out of the sail when that happened. A little bit of frustration probably kicked in. But they have to put that behind them and focus on next week. Like Tony said, he's going to do everything he knows to do no matter where they are in points. And that's what Jimmie needs to do too.
CAN HE MAKE UP 52 POINTS?
Usually when you make up 52 points it's easy. It's not difficult. It's because something happens. You don't make it up because a guy ran bad and you went out there and led every lap and won the race. It's usually that they have a blown motor or a cut tire or a wrecked race car. The championship is going to come down to the team that deserves it. None of those guys who are still in contention are going to give up until the checkered flag waves next weekend.
IS IT HARDER TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP NOW THAN IT WAS BEFORE THE CHASE?
Yes. I do. I think when you're battling nine or more guys, it's going to make it tougher. In the past, with 10 to go, you were still in a tough battle, but it was between two or three guys. It's still winding down to the final race among a couple of guys, so that's working itself out in that same way. But I still think there is more pressure. Right now there's more media exposure and a lot of different types of pressures that make it tougher to win today. I'd be extremely proud to win in this points system and feel like it was an unbelievable accomplishment because it's not just about consistency.
IS FINISHING 11TH ON YOUR MIND AT ALL?
No. I'd like to get it, but I just don't think it's our focus right now. If we do what we're supposed to do on the race track, it will work itself out.
Tony Stewart
#20 The Home Depot Chevrolet
4th position
Our car just had a good balance. It still needed to be faster. If you tried to make it cut through the center, it was probably going to make it freer up off, and if you tried to give it more forward bite off, it was probably going to make it tighter in the center. So it's kind of tough for a crew chief and a driver at that point to know exactly what to do to it to make it better. We kept working with it. And obviously as the sun went down and the temperature started going down, we started getting tighter and had to work on it. But I had a really solid run. It was so good on long runs. It was really really good. But the No. 16 and the No. 5 were the class of the field today. We did what we had to do with this point deal and gained some points.
ON THE FINAL RACE AT HOMESTEAD
Well, I think I'll just take the weekend off (laughs). I think it's pretty obvious. It's a big weekend for us next weekend. I'm glad I have a lot of stuff to keep me busy. I've got Home Depot commercials to shoot tomorrow and Tuesday and I think the whole team -- we're all going fishing on Wednesday. That's something we're all looking forward to doing together as a team and that'll get us straight into the weekend.
PRESS CONFERENCE
It was solid day for us. The Home Depot team had a good day, obviously. Any time you can run in the top five, it's a good day. We got ourselves up to second there at one point and the pit strategy hurt us a little bit. You know, the #24 and #48 pitted early and it got us a little bit behind. There were a couple of other cars that pitted early about us. So, we definitely had to race our way up to the front which I was proud about. Whereas you get lucky on track position or something, we definitely had to earn what we got today. I'm proud of the guys.
YOU ADDED TO THE LEAD AND YOU ACCOMPLISHED THAT TODAY, SO IT HAS TO BE A GOOD DAY FOR YOU
Yeah. Well thought there, Bruce. I don't know how to elaborate. That's exactly what the plan was there today. I don't think anybody here in the Home Depot team didn't want to pull away in the points. It was kind of a given that that was the goal for the day.
RE: BEING CAREFUL, BACK IN TRAFFIC THERE
I'll be honest. I ran the race like I would any other race. It's kind of the mindset I made myself stay in. I made a move, three-wide in the center of it, cut underneath a guy coming off of two in between, I don't know who it was-somebody and Ricky Rudd. I probably could have been a little bit more patient there, but I was racing just like I would have raced the second or third race of the year. So, I don't know. I guess we've just kind of done the same things we've always done. I hate to keep saying the same thing for three weeks but that's really what we were going to do and that's what we did. We just went out and raced and tried to get to the front and got to second and that was as high as we got before the pit stop caught us up and we got to the back. But, like I said, we raced our way back.
RE: THREE WIDE AND THE #99 WAS ON THE BOTTOM WITH KYLE PETTY
Carl drove down on the apron trying to get underneath Kyle Petty who was already on the bottom and about wrecked three of us. So, I think he was just caught on the bottom and he was trying to... he just needed to wait a little bit longer, or pick a different spot. But, it was real close to being a bigger wreck there.
WERE YOU ASKING OR WAS ZIPPY TELLING YOU WHERE JIMMIE WAS DURING THE RACE?
No, I never asked and he never offered information. Like I said the other day when we were here for the breakfast deal, we haven't worried about it, we aren't talking about it where those guys are at. We won't talk about it next week, either. We'll go out and realistically go out and try to win the race. If we're in a position where we're not good enough and can let a guy go that's pressuring us, we'll do that if it doesn't put us in jeapordy of losing the point lead, obviously. We will stick to our gameplan the way we have done for 35 races now. It won't be any different. So, next week won't be any different. We try getting out of this mode and that's where we'll get into trouble. So, we'll stick to what we've been doing.
YOU CAN FINISH AS LOW AS 20TH NEXT WEEK AND STILL WIN. DO YOU WANT TO GO FOR THE WIN?
It would be pretty spectacular if we won the race and the championship on the same day, wouldn't it? Go for it.
HOW WILL YOU APPROACH THE RACE ANY DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU DID BACK IN 2002?
We won't. Realistically. You guys think that we're reinventing the wheel here. It is so simple. It is as simple as this, so everybody pay attention one more time, because nobody's paid attention or doesn't understand. We are going to go out next week. We are going to go out and practice like we always do and try to get the car driving good. Then, we're going to go out for qualifying and we're going to get the best starting spot we can qualify. And then when the race starts and they drop the green flag, we're actually going to go out and, as odd as it's going to sound, we're actually going to go out and try to win the race. I know that sounds crazy, but that's really what we're going to do. The last time I checked in my contract, that's what I get paid to do. And that's what we're going to do. And if we don't win the race, we want to make sure ahead of the guys and get enough points to win the championship. If we win the race, we win the championship, right? It's a pretty simple philosophy. We sucked in 2002. That's why it looked so bad is because we sucked all day. Plain and simple. I pray to God that we aren't going to suck that bad this coming up week, but it's too early to tell. You'll know on Saturday where we are with that. Friday's practice will give us a better indication. Really, guys, it's really simple with the philosophy. There's nothing going to be changed for this weekend. Nothing special with motors. The Indy car is the car we're bringing back. I guess it's my favorite car now. And we're going to go out there and try to win the race. If we can't go out there and win, if we can't win, we're going to try to get second. If we can't get second, we're trying for third. If not, we'll take what we can get. That's as simple as it's going to be for the next seven days.
Bobby Labonte
#18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
5th position
It was pretty good. The guys did a great job. When you've got great race cars, it works out good. They had a great race car and all three cars ran great. Tony finishing fourth, Denny winning the pole and us finishing fifth. It was a great weekend and we had a good time and I'm glad we got a top five.
Jimmie Johnson
#48 Lowe's Chevrolet
7th position
CAN YOU PICK UP ENOUGH POINTS TO BEAT STEWART?
We really needed to finish ahead of him today and cut some of the margin down going into Homestead. We weren't able to do it. We tried hard and we put in a lot of work. We just came up a little bit short. It's not over until the last race at Homestead. It's going to be tough. It's been tough.
HOW DISAPPOINTING WAS IT TO WATCH THOSE POSITIONS GO AWAY AT THE END?
It was. It's frustrating when you're going backwards -- especially when I saw the No. 99 coming and the No. 20 going away. We worked so hard all day long just to get the car a little bit better. I tried to do what I could and Chad (Knaus) was being real aggressive on the stops. We were getting it a little bit better at a time, but we just couldn't get it dialed in unfortunately. But I'm real proud of my team. We'll go to Homestead and put in a hard day's work there and see what happens.
Robby Gordon
#7 Harrah's Chevrolet
8th position
YOU HAD A GREAT CAR OUT THERE
We were pretty good there. I think we could have got all the way up to about the #20. I was just being so cautious around the championship guys. I didn't want to cause any problems, you know?
YOU RAN RIGHT WITH THEM
The guys gave me a great race car. We were better than the #48. We passed the #48. Me and Jimmie go a long ways back so I figured I'd help him out if I could.
IS THIS JUST A GOOD TRACK FOR YOU OR DOES THIS MEAN IF YOU GET A GOOD ENGINE YOU CAN GET A GOOD FINISH?
You know, John Menard has been a big supporter of my career all the way along. And I'm going to do everything I can to help him with this program. It shows that we've kind of been a top 10 car all year long. We just haven't made it to the finish line. There's been plenty of races where we've been running top 10 and we blow up or something freaky will happen.
It's been a tough six weeks and to come back with a single-car team and finish up there with all those two- and three-car teams-I'm really proud of the guys we have here. And we're going to do everything that we can to keep them for next year.
Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Chevrolet
13th position
We were a solid top five or top 10 car all day, we just had a bad deal on that lug nut there on that last pit stop and that put us to the back, I think 23rd or so. So, we battled back to 13th-that's the best we could do. It's so hard to pass. I just had a tough time getting around some of those guys. We had a pretty good car and didn't anything up, so I'm happy about that.
WHEN YOU SPUN, DID YOU GET HIT FROM BEHIND?
I got loose underneath the #25 and checked up and Kevin really didn't have anywhere to go. Didn't really have a choice there, so I didn't feel too bad.
Jeff Burton
#31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
15th position
Well, I'm disappointed with our finish but I'm, as usual, excited about our effort. I got on the outside of Robby Gordon and he just didn't know I was there and ran me into the wall. And that got the car all wrecked up and it was a battle from there. We kept fighting and ended up with a decent finish.
Joe Nemechek
#01 U.S. Army Chevrolet
17th position
We weren't that bad and we weren't that good -- it was track position that really hurt us today. The front-end was bouncing and the car was hard to drive. We never really found the right grip for this track as we did back in April. The past couple of weeks have been tough -- we need to find more consistency and hopefully that will happen next week. You want to go into the off season feeling good about next year.
Michael Waltrip
#15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
33rd position
We just had a couple of flat tires. I don't really know how that happened. But we lost two laps and stayed two laps down. I don't really know. We just struggled a little bit. It's kind of sad to struggle like we did after the way we ran in the spring. But, we brought a different car back and it didn't work as good as we thought.
Scott Riggs
#10 Valvoline Chevrolet
38th position
Note: Accident on Lap 205
IT LOOKED LIKE POSSIBLY THE #18 GOT INTO YOU. IS THAT WHAT HAPPENED?
Yeah. I was trying to get down to give him and room and they were two-wide behind us. I was sitting there on old tires, I just shouldn't have stayed out. When the car is that bad, two laps down already and we tried to stay out already and be a hero and make something out of it. It was not a smart call.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
#8 Budweiser Chevrolet
40th position
Note: Accident on Lap 112
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?
We were running along there and the right front tire blew out going into Turn 3.
ANY INDICATION BEFORE IT WENT DOWN?
No, it just blew out. I don't know. It hadn't been on there long. We had just got tires. Looking at the tire (now), it ain't wore out. I don't know where the hole came from, or if we ran over something, or the sidewall or something like that. The tire is in great shape as far as wear wise. It's frustrating.
TALK ABOUT GOING TO HOMESTEAD-MIAMI NEXT WEEK
I'm looking forward to next week. We tested at Homestead. I'm still having fun. I wish the season would keep going a little more. I've just gotten a rhythm where we're going to the track and being fast. We got a little bad luck, but we've got good cars. One of the top two cars, at least.
YOU DRIVE FOR A BEER COMPANY SPONSOR, WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE KURT BUSCH SITUATION? WHAT TYPE OF BEHAVIOR IS EXPECTED FOR SOMEONE LIKE THIS?
Well, the number one thing that I've been told and what I understand is that, in my situation and how I would feel the same if I was the beer company, is that number one, you drink responsibly. You know, alcoholic beverages can be enjoyed and drank and you can have a good time. But you've got to do it responsibly and you've got to know where to draw the line and know how to be able to. Drawing the line is not getting into that area where you make poor decisions, and that's what drinking responsibly is all about. So, unfortunately, Kurt made a mistake. Lots of people make mistakes and he'll hopefully learn from it. I'm sure you could tell a man, you could tell me, you could tell anybody a thousand times over about a mistake that you might have made, but some people just have to live it. And hopefully Kurt learns something through this and I think that, I'm sure that, some way or another, somebody will be able to put a positive spin on it one way or another. If he gets back to full form as a race car driver and, you know, takes care of business and makes better decisions off the race track, he can tell everybody just how close he came to screwing it all up. So, hopefully he can put a positive spin on it and keep a lot of other people out of trouble in the future. But, it's a dangerous game, man, when you get behind the wheel of a car, no matter if you just had a couple of martinis-it don't matter.
