Sonoma: Dodge teams race quotes

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 alltel Dodge Avenger)
“It was unfortunate. We got beat by fuel mileage. We did what we had to do to get to the end and that was it. Those other guys got the fuel mileage. Our strategy just didn’t win the race. We got a 20th place finish with a top-seven race car. That’s disappointing.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Avenger)

“It was a good day. It was tough. You don’t know how fast you are. I was patient. We made some changes on the car and that made a difference it was good. We had good restarts and it was hard when we were behind traffic because in turns 7 and 11 you have to get on the gas and it was really hard. It was easy to spin the wheels. I knew I was running third with 10 to go and I didn’t want to finish third. I picked up the pace a little bit and at the same time I was trying to roll the car as much as I could. I was just being very patient.

“I’ll tell you the truth. I was very surprised by the level of the drivers here. In Mexico I had a very good car and the drivers were very strong, but here, man the top 20 were — you had to work for your money. At the end we were right behind Kevin and I was saving the tires. I just tried to keep up with him for 15-20 laps and when I started pushing it I everything fell into place. That was huge. I think this will be a big boost for everybody working in the shop.”

DAVID STREMME (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Avenger)

“It looked like we were going to have a decent finish, but it didn’t turn out that way.”

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REED SORENSON (No. 41 Target Dodge Avenger)

“We ran up front for awhile, and that felt good. Now we’ve got to figure out how to stay up front.”

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KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Avenger)

“Some guys could make it on two stops. Some guys could make it on three. We were on a two-stop strategy and it ended up being three. It wasn’t good for us. We could have made the car a little better. We’ll come back at The Glen with a stronger Dodge Avenger. We got tagged in turn 11 by Montoya, a Formula One winner and a NASCAR winner. That doesn’t happen every day.”

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

“We had a pretty good car but just didn’t get our fuel strategy to work the way we wanted. I’m feeling better about road course racing and I think the guys have a handle on the Dodge Avenger for road courses. We qualified well and ran pretty well most of the race. Sometimes the cautions don’t fall your way. If they had, we could have had a much better day.”

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

“It looked like we were headed for a top-five finish, and then we ran out of fuel and finished 33rd. Big difference.”

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Wells Fargo Dodge Avenger)

“We had a good car today and I think we had a good strategy, but we came up a little bit short.”