HAMLIN: “We battled back. We got a lot of track position on that first run and had a real strong car on long runs. We just didn’t get any of those long runs that we needed at the end. The guys that kept crashing, they weren’t working with us by any means [smiles]. But it was still a great run for the FedEx Ground Chevrolet. I’m proud of this whole team. We’re going to go to Homestead and celebrate a great season.” COMMENT ON THE LAST FEW RESTARTS BECAUSE YOU GAINED A FEW POSITIONS. “We just kept picking guys off one by one and we had a really good car. Mike [Ford, crew chief] freed it up there on the last stop and it seemed to make the car a lot better. We really struggled all year on the short go and we’re always fast on the long run. He helped me there with the adjustments to help me go on the short run. It started getting dicey with the 48 and 29. You never know, we might have won it. It was still a great run for us.” YOU RAN GREAT BUT THE ONE GUY WHO NEEDED TO HAVE TROUBLE DIDN’T HAVE PROBLEMS. “It seems like that’s the way it goes but those guys were on it. I mean, they are championship material right now and we’re a step behind. But we’re going to go to Homestead and try to celebrate a great year regardless of how it ends up. It’s still been great.” YOU’VE SAID YOU JUST WANT A CHANCE AT HOMESTEAD. DO YOU HAVE THAT CHANCE? “We’ve got a chance. It’s an outside chance, but it’s one of those things where we’re going to have to go there and go through all the motions. We can’t go out there and try to Hail Mary it and see what happens. The 48 is going to have to have trouble for us to really have a chance. But still, we’re in contention for second or third in the points and it’s still a great year for us.” YOU RAN WELL TODAY UNLIKE RECENT WEEKS. “It’s great to run well. To be competitive really means a lot for our team. It’s good to end the year on a strong note and hopefully we can do that at Homestead.” YOU HAD A STRONG FINISH TODAY. “A top-three is great for us. And that’s what we needed. We needed this kind of a day to get back in the championship hunt. Unfortunately, the 48 didn’t slip at all. But you never know. In this game anything can happen. He can go there and cut a tire and put us right back in it. We’re doing all the right things right now.” ARE YOU PLANNING A BIG CELEBRATION NEXT WEEK IN MIAMI? “Absolutely. We’re going to celebrate a great season no matter what. If we ended this deal fifth or sixth in the points, then so be it. I’ve all the entire support of Richmond and Chesterfield behind me and I’m happy about that.”

MIKE FORD, CREW CHIEF, No. 11 FEDEX GROUND CHEVROLET: “To come home third, I think that’s about what we were. We made some gains on it there at the end and would like to have been able to line up with the front two and see what we could do with them. I think we could run with them closer than what we could earlier. That’s the way it goes. We didn’t qualify like we wanted to with the draw that we had and played catch-up most of the day. We were really good on the long runs and the way the race came down, it came down to short runs. We were decent on short runs but not as good as long runs.” DO YOU HAVE ANY STRATEGY FOR HOMESTEAD? “The only strategy that you can ever have racing is come in and try to win and that’s what we’re trying to do. We got close today and we’re taking a good car next week and we’re just going to do the best we can. We had a good test down there a month or so ago and we’re looking to build on that. I think we’ve got a good shot. I think we can secure a top-five in points to win the thing. It’s a little bit out of our control but we’ll control what we can and try to make the most of it.” YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING RASH, CAN YOU? YOU STILL HAVE TO RACE YOUR RACE. “You wouldn’t get to this point if you did things rashly. You have to have a thought process and you have to stick with it to move through time. Nine weeks ago we’d run completely different race cars that what we run right now as far as setups and things. You learn over time and you take each day and make the most of it. Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t think you can change a game plan. I know a lot of people talk about it, but I think it’s just a story and not reality.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET: “That was a good finish, a good comeback. We started off just okay and then we made a few adjustments on the first stop and it was horrible, so it took us a while to get it back. The guys did a good job fighting back and getting me out off pit road in a good position to get the Lucky Dog and a good job by Bono [Kevin Manion, crew chief] of making the car right because it was horrible and at the end we had a fighting chance so it was a good day. It was too tight at the beginning and then we loosed it up and it was both too tight and way too loose. It was burning the right-rear tire off but it was still pushing. So we were out to lunch. Whew, it was horrible, but we didn’t give up. Bono did a really good job of making adjustments and we made a good day out of it so it was cool.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 07 JACK DANIEL’S CHEVROLET: “I couldn’t see nothing and the next thing I know everybody stopped in front of me. That’s about it. The Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet was good, a top-10 car all day. With the sun the way it is down there in 1 and 2 you can’t see anything, then they all checked-up. It’s really, really frustrating.”

GIL MARTIN, CREW CHIEF, No. 07 JACK DANIEL’S CHEVROLET: “We were good all day long. We took our time, paced ourselves and got there to the top-10. Man, the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet was good again today. This 10-laps to go thing and something happening to us, I don’t even know how to describe it anymore. It’s almost to the point now where we just pull over with 10 to go and put it on jack stands. We’re taking our car that we had at Texas back to Homestead and we’ll go there and try to win there because I know we’re capable of winning. These situations, it’ll end, I know it will.” HOW MUCH DAMAGE DID YOU HAVE? “It actually broke a fitting going to the oil filter and it knocked all the oil out of it. We could probably have gone out and gained two spots, maybe. It’s just according to how long it took us to clean it up because they won’t let you work on it until after the red flag is over and there was only five to go. There’s no sense in going out and trashing a motor like that because it ran without oil right there so there’s no sense in tearing it up. It’s too good of an engine. We’ll take out lumps and head on to Homestead.”

J.J. YELEY, No. 18 BONIVA/GSK CHEVROLET: “It was probably a little bit better than average. We just started out the first run way, way too tight. We lost a lap and it seemed like it took half the day to battle back. We got back on the lead lap, passed some cars and got ourselves in pretty good position. I guess about two cautions from the end, one car in front of me pitted, I didn’t and then everyone behind me did. At that point all you can hope for is a lot of yellow flag laps and on the restart a couple guys picked me off. I felt like we were going to be a sitting duck. A caution come out again with about 22 laps to go and decided to pit and lo and behold we have like four laps of green-flag running. It definitely didn’t work into our favor. We needed to run that entire 20-lap run on fresh tires to be able to pick up enough positions. My car wasn’t 100 percent right off the get-go on tires. Tony took the chance and he picked up some positions but I think he got back to where he was before he pitted. I guess when you’re back there you might as well take the gamble versus settling for what you’ve got.”

DAVID STREMME, No. 40 DISCOUNT TIRE COMPANY DODGE: “We fought the handling of the car all day. The 40 crew tried to dial the car in but it was a battle. I think track position also hurt us today. We went out early in qualifying and did not start where we should have. We had a better car than that.”