Indianapolis: Dodge teams race quotes

RYAN NEWMAN, (Driver of the No. 12 alltel Dodge Charger)

What happened? "I just got hit in the left rear quarter panel. Stremme tried sticking it underneath me when he shouldn't have and spun us around. It's unfortunate. We took a pretty good lick to the wall and ended our day."

Were tires an issue? "Not at that point."

How frustrated are you based on the points situation and for it to happen at this track? "It was definitely a devastating blow in more than one way, but we can come back. It's just a matter of how far we can come back now."

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KASEY KAHNE, (Driver of the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

What happened? "I was just getting passed and just spun around. Before I even got to the corner the back was already gone. I don't know if he was really close to my right rear corner or what. I was really tight the whole time and that is why we were dropping back so I was surprised when it just took off like that."

Was that just wrong place, wrong time for you? "I think so we were just kind of going backwards. We didn't have a very good car. I'm really surprised. Yesterday it was a completely different car in practice. As we were going back he was coming by me on the outside and we both ended up wrecking so that is the way it goes I guess."

How long is it going to take you to get back out there? "I don't know if we will get back out. It actually hit pretty good so it's pretty beat up. Whether we get out or not, we have Pocono next week and we just need to keep working on it, keep making it better."

What do you think was the difference in the car? "Today it wouldn't turn and yesterday I was loose. Yesterday it turned really, really good and the back was loose and today it wouldn't turn at all. It wouldn't sit down and get into the corner like you need them to and I don't know why that is. I can't figure it out."

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Kyle Petty (No. 45 Marathon American Sprint Motor Oil Dodge Charger)

What happened? "I couldn't see what happened on that wreck, just a lot of smoke. We got caught up in the wreck and the damage pushed the radiator into the oil cooler and caused a leak. We're pretty good, we just need to get back out there and run some more laps with this car."

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Reed Sorenson, (Driver, No. 41 Target Dodge Charger), Finished 5th

Talk about your run today: "It's not disappointing at all. Any time you can get a top five or top 10 it's great. We're really happy. We got the pole at the Brickyard and then finished top five, so we're pretty happy right now."

What do you take away from this weekend? "Each race is the same as far as points and all that, but coming here to this place and being able to run good in front of all these people. This place is historic and to run good here is awesome."

Is this a high point in your career? "It's definitely one of the highlights of my career. The last two weeks have been good. I won the Busch race last weekend. The guys had a great car for me this weekend to get a pole and get a top five."

It looked like Dodge dominated qualifying but Chevy dominated the race? "Yeah, they seem to at a lot of these races. I think that just shows that a lot of the good teams are in Chevrolets, but myself and Juan had two Dodges in the top five so we did pretty good."

How did you navigate all the early wrecks in the race? "We were pretty good, but fell back a couple of times. We kind of picked our way through under that green flag run and got back up to fifth."

How dominant were the 20 and 8 today? "Him and Jr. definitely had the two fastest cars today. Obviously Jr. blew up but the 20 car was just awesome."

What does this mean for Chip Ganassi Racing? "It's pretty big. A good run for Juan with a second and we come home fifth and we get the pole. Other than a win, that's about all you can ask for.

Did Chip Ganassi give you any pointers on this racetrack? "We talk about every racetrack. This track you've got to handle the long runs. You can't beat yourself here. If you get behind, it's really hard to come back. We just had to make sure we didn't make any major mistakes that put us in the back of the field

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Juan Pablo Montoya (Driver, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger), Finished 2nd

Talk about your run today: "We played it smart and we had a good race at the end. A second here in the Brickyard is a big accomplishment.

Is this team getting closer? "We're getting closer. We've just got to get through the weekend and we've just got to be a car to beat. We're there already but we've just got to be a powerful car like Tony was today."

Describe your finish today: "It was good. Getting a second place here at the Brickyard is a big deal. It was amazing. They all did an amazing job. The car was competitive. On the oval today it worked great."

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Pat Tryson, (Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger), Finished 11

How was the car today? "It was kind of a struggle all day. We were a little bit off at the start of the race, then we got a penalty which put us in the back. Then we got into an accident on pit road and that put us in the back again. So then we had to come back in and work on it a little bit. We got it going pretty good there in the end. We almost got a top 10 out of it, but we got a good points day out of it. These guys worked really hard today on the Miller Lite Dodge. We overcame a lot of stuff today and that is what good teams do is make the most out of a bad day. That's what we did today -- make the most out of a bad day. We almost got a top 10 out of it so that is a pretty good day."

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Elliott Sadler (Driver, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger), Finished 28

Talk about your strategy today? We knew early in the race we needed adjustments to get the car hooked up with the track, but we were prepared to take advantage of every opportunity to make those adjustments under caution and then focus on track position the second half of the race. We used the first few cautions to try those adjustments with some progress. Unfortunately, that strategy ended when we got caught up in the accident. The adjustments we were making were helping, but after the accident we had to make repairs just to keep the car on the track. It's disappointing. We had a good practice session on Friday, one of the best we've had all years. We qualified reasonably well and though we could be competitive. I just wasn't able to stay out of the accident.

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Paul Andrews, (Crew Chief, No. 43 Cheerios/Tortinos Pizza Rolls Dodge Charger), Finished 30

How did you feel about your performance today? "Well we feel pretty good about our performance, though we don't feel good about the end result. We did not do any tires at the end there and we hurt ourselves by several positions. We could have finished 16th or 17th but nothing really to hang our hat on, but definitely better than where we have been lately. We've made some progress, but we could make some more. We brought it home today and we were pretty happy with it overall and that is a good thing."

How was the body style change today? "I think it was a big step forward. It's such a change from what we've had all year. We have to re-learn it and try to understand what we need to do to make it work and make it better. I think we made a big step forward here today."

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Ray Evernham, (Owner, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/AUW Dodge Charger)

Message to the team: "It's been a long day. Everybody worked hard. I appreciate the good job everybody did this week. We're learning every week. Elliott, we will keep working on this car and make it better. It's unfortunate we were caught up in the accident. Until then, we were closer to the leader than we were at Chicago. That's a step in the right direction."

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Scott Riggs, (Driver, No. 10 Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge Charger), Finished 29th

What happened to your car today? "All of a sudden the car just got loose and continued to get loose. We kept making adjustments and lowering the track bar but the track bar wasn't moving. We thought we were getting it tighter but we never did get it tighter, never did go anywhere. It kept staying really loose. We just couldn't get a handle on it all day. Something came loose on the car and we thought that was making it even looser 'cause it was flapping in the wind. We had to stop and fix that and get our track position back up. We kept trying to make adjustments on it all day but obviously it wasn't doing anything because the track bar adjustment was broke. Things like that are disheartening. It's a lot better racecar than we've had all year. It's a shame that we came to this race to show it and all three Evernham cars had trouble or ended up in crashes or had some things happened that kept us from showing it today."

Did today seem as long as the 600? "It seemed really long. Guys just kept getting into each other. The top of the racetrack was really free for us. If we kept it on the bottom we were a lot tighter, so we were just trying to drive a happy medium through there. All of a sudden the track started getting really free. We couldn't ever catch our adjustments to get back. It seems like the guys who ran up front could really use the whole racetrack to really make a lot of speed through the corners. Congratulations to Tony and those guys. They had a great racecar. He started right in front of me and when the green flag dropped he went right to the front and stayed there all day. Good for those guys."