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News and Results | Point Standings | 2007 Schedule | 2007 Teams | 2006 Schedule and Results | 2005 Schedule and Results Subway 500 - Dodge Post-Race Quotes
“It was a good run for the alltel Dodge Avenger. We weren’t a very good car yesterday in practice at any point. We made some changes that worked and the guys did a good job. In hindsight, I still wish we had the last lap on the outside of the 48. It was a good run for us. We had a little bump and run there with the 24. That is something that has happened to me in the past so I didn’t feel that bad giving it to him. In the end it was a good finish for us.” WHAT DO YOU SEE OUT OF THE HENDRICK CARS THAT MAKE THEM SO TOUGH AND THE TWO TIRE STRATEGY CALL? “The two tires [pit strategy] was definitely a great call; strategy wise to get us track position. It was tough. Those guys are tough. At one point I think they were all in the top three. You look at that and you think, ‘man, I just have to run fourth today at best.’ It’s nice to be able to bounce back and do a little hard racing, come in second and have a shot at the win on the last lap.” ON THE LATE RACE CAUTIONS. “Well for me it was a good thing because we were better on the restarts. We had two tires versus four tires and were at a little bit of a disadvantage there. The restarts kind of equalized our situation. From a fan standpoint it might have been a little boring. In the end I think they saw a competitive race with two cars running side by side for a good finish.” WOULD YOU LIKED TO HAVE SEEN THE RACE EXTENDED BY A COUPLE EXTRA LAPS AFTER THE LAST CAUTION? “Not according the rules. Yeah I would have like to have had that opportunity but not according to the rules. There is one attempt at a green/white/checkered. That was the end of the race as long as you can make it back to the checkered.” IS THERE ANY MORE CONCERN THAN USUAL WHEN YOUR RACING TWO GUYS THAT ARE RUNNING FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP? “That doesn’t matter to me. In my opinion I’m a Championship driver and just because I had some bad luck this year doesn’t mean I should change the way I race for guys that are going for the Cup.” DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAD A SECOND OR THIRD PLACE CAR THE ENTIRE RACE? “Not really. At one point there, we were the ninth place car. To be a second place car just means that we were good on restarts. Restarts didn’t really hurt us and we had a good car in the alltel Dodge. ON TRACK POSITION? “Well it really seemed like the desired line was the bottom line. You could work the outside just a little bit but it seemed like the distance around was kinda out of the way. That is why we saw so much bunched up racing on restarts. The lap down cars had the desired line on the inside. The guys on the outside had to work really hard to get around those lap down cars. I wouldn’t say the racing was great but it was pretty much the same as the first race.” DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE HAD A SHOT AT THE 48 HAD IT STAYED GREEN? “I know I would have had a shot at him. I had my nose at his left rear tire at the start/finish line getting the white flag. It’s over. I would have liked to said that ‘yeah, I could of pass him on the inside.’ He went into turn three and drifted up and over braked and got loose and drifted up and gave me an opportunity. I didn’t think that was going to happen. He was really strong. I think he struggled a little more on restarts. I thought mine was really good on restarts. But it just never happened.”
“We started off the race strong after we had that tire go down it was too hard to make up ground after that.”
“It was just a long day from the get go. We were OK at the start of the race then we got back in traffic and got messed up a little bit. We had the tire go down and got a lap down, bent the suspension. We were able to get the lucky dog and get back on the lead lap; twice. There at the end we got hit on the restart and busted our transmission. I guess that is just the nature of the beast right now. Nothing seems to be going our way.”
“We had a good day. We worked on the car all day and couldn’t get where we wanted to be, but I think in general it was a great day. A top 10 here, it’s a big thing.” IS THIS ONE OF THE BEST RACES THAT YOU HAVE DRIVEN ALL YEAR? “Probably Indy. This was pretty good for a short track. We did the ultimate: qualify bad and race good and that is pretty good.”
“The car was good on long runs. With 20 cautions, there weren’t that many long runs. We managed to keep the car pretty clean through the first 400 laps, but that wasn’t the case the rest of the way. That didn’t help us as we had to make a couple of extra pit stops. At one point just past the halfway mark, our Dodge Avenger was turning the same lap time in traffic as the leader was in the open. We’re gaining with the car of tomorrow. We should have had a top 10 here today.”
“It was a good race for the No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge. We avoided the wrecks and stayed on the lead lap. The car was too tight at the start but the track got slicker as the race went on. Rodney (Team Director Rodney Childers) adjusted on the car every stop and by the end of the race we had it pretty well dialed in.” “I really want to apologize to my teammate Elliott (Sadler). It certainly was not intentional that I got into him. I was trying to avoid the 07 car and I started wheel hopping entering turn one and made contact with him. It’s hard to enjoy this finish when you know your teammate’s day was ruined.”
ON MAKING HIS 810TH START TODAY MOVING HIM INTO FIFTH PLACE ALL-TIME ”It’s pretty cool to think you’ve run 800 some races and my father [Richard Petty] has run over 1,000. I look at guys like Ricky [Rudd] and I stand in awe. You look at the races he has run and the wrecks he has been in. I’m humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. When we started that’s how it was; drivers expected to run into their late 40’s. It means I’ve been here a long time.”
“We’re getting better. Our guys are doing a good job. We just have to keep hammering away. We keep running well but our finishes aren’t vindictive of what we’ve been running.”
“We had a pretty rough day today. We got a lap down but the car was a little loose on the long run. It’s too tough to pass out there. At the end of the day everybody will walk away, they’ll be a little bit mad. It’s just a product of the racing around here. Everyone has the same car.”
“We had a good car today, I think a top 15 at least. Unfortunately, that opportunity was taken away from us before we had completed 100 laps. After my crew made all the repairs and we came back out, the car still handled well in the corners and that’s the key to success here at Martinsville. The rest of the race, we worked on different things, trying to find anything that could help us at Phoenix. We certainly didn’t get the kind of finish our car was capable of today.”
“The motor went out. It is always the drivers fault. We just had some problems getting into second gear. The car was good and everybody did a real good job getting this car ready. It was actually pretty good the last 20 laps. The pit crew did a good job. The guys are getting really good at getting these cars better so it’s a shame.”
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