RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 alltel Dodge Charger) – Quickie Quotes

“We had the best case scenario if we had gone back. Outside of that it was just wait and see. How long do you go and where do you draw the line? We’ve just got to keep putting ourselves in position to win. We were half a lap away from winning today. We had a really good car. It was a lot faster than Gordon’s at that point. We’ve won this way and we’ve lost this way. I won my first race this way, so I can’t complain about any part of it. The lap before the caution I got the rain on the back straightaway, so I knew it was going to be raining harder yet. Jeff didn’t get it so he checked up and I got a good run at him. The guys in the chassis shop and engine shop and fab shop and everybody else is doing a good job. If one little thing is off can mess everything up, so I’ve got to thank those guys.”

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

“We were working our way up through. At times we were as fast as the leader. At other time we weren’t quite as quick. Track position is important and we kept getting a little bit at a time. We ended up 15th. We were a little tight in the tunnel turn. I think that’s what hurt some of our momentum; otherwise we’re maintaining our pace. I wish it was just before halfway so we’d have all day tomorrow. A lot of people are looking at it the opposite way. We needed more laps to get the car just right.

CHAD McCUMBEE (Goody’s Cool Orange Dodge Charger)

“It was a strange race, but I think we did all right. Winning the ARCA race on Saturday gave me a lot of confidence, and I think we did what we set out to do today in our first Cup race.”

BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Charger)

“We did a lot better than I thought we would. We were too tight early on and now we’re all right, but it seems like we’re running the same speed as everyone around us. We can’t pass anybody and we get passed a little bit. I think everybody is a little bit better.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 alltel Dodge Charger)

NOTE: Newman won his third straight pole on Friday and scored his second straight runner-up finish on Sunday. He’s scored top-10 finishes in five of the last six races and moved from 26th to 13th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Standings – 22 points out of 12th.

“We came in the pits fourth, came out second, passed Denny Hamlin and from that point on it was pretty smooth sailing. In one segment there when so many cars stayed out, it just took us some time to get through there. Unfortunately, the rain came on the wrong lap. I’m not mad by any means. I won my first race because it rained out and got too dark. I guess it’s only right I lose one that way at some point.

“It rained on me the lap before that and when we came back around it rained even harder. It was pouring at that point. It’s all in safety. There’s no wrong part of that just like Martin said. They were in position track position wise to stay out and get some clean air. They did what they could. They did what they had to do. Their car was still fast enough to stay out front even when they were off sequence. It’s just the way it worked out. Obviously we were four feet short, but there is no controversy about it. In future reference, there was no way to get the race started back again. They would have had to make a controversial call at that point to shorten the race to a certain lap number with certain teams off sequence. We felt like we had it all figured out until they called it.

“There were six or seven and a half rain drops on my right-side windshield the lap before that. It was a joke. When I saw that I knew rain was coming. I saw rain in the distance. The 96 was holding the 24 up pretty good for both of us. Jeff cleared him in turn one and I had a run on both of them coming off. It just wasn’t quite enough by the time I got to turn two. Jeff saw the rain for the first time the lap the caution came out. He checked up because he didn’t know how hard it was raining. I just kept the pedal to the medal and came up four feet short or whatever. I told Jeff after it was over if I had seen the caution light I was fixing to use eight tires instead of four.

“It was strategy based on their part. It was obvious to both of us when the crowds weren’t coming in that it was probably going to rain again. It was just a matter of when and where and what lap. It worked out six laps to their good. It was unfortunate for us, but looking back at this come Chase time you can’t kick about one spot, maybe two spots I hope when it comes to making The Chase.

We weren’t in that position. I’m pretty sure Martin took two tires on that same stop. That was definitely a better card to play than the 11 did, taking on four and losing track position. I thought we did the best job we could do given our track position and situation.

“I think both of us can answer it the same way. We never thought it (COT) would work as well as it did at Darlington and Dover. It’s riding and driving better than it did at places like Bristol when we first started. The team has done a good job adapting. I don’t see any big problems. The bigger question will be Talladega this year when we go back and what the car is going to draft like and how the race is going to be in reference to that versus coming to a place like this.”

SCOTT RIGGS (No. 10 Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge Charger)

"Our car was tight at the start but really good on the long run. We didn't have to make many adjustments. The over the wall crew was awesome all day. This helps us move closer to the top 35 in points so all in all it was a good race.”

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

“We’re still having a problem getting the car to turn in the corners. The car was tight from the start. It handled better if I was 40 car lengths away from other cars than if I was 20 car lengths away. I think we could have improved our finish if the race had gone the full distance because we had made adjustments that had helped the handling. We’ve made improvements with the handling, but we’re not totally there yet. We qualified well and had some good laps in practice. The weather was a major factor today from start to finish. We expected a better finish.”

ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

Our Dodge Charger was much better than in practice, but we still have an issue with the handling. The car was tight in the middle of the corner and on one occasion, it was tight in the middle of all three corners. We tried a bit of strategy and stayed out during the third caution. We restarted fourth, but after about 20 green-flag laps, we lost front grip in the corners. The next couple of races are very important for this 19 team. We need to get rolling with some good finishes. Michigan has been a good track for us.”