California - Dodge teams race quotes

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Kodak Dodge Charger)

 

BEING OUT OF THE CHASE WHERE DOES THAT PUT YOU MENTALLY? "Really the same place as I was before. I still try as hard as I can each and every lap, no matter what. Couldn't expect to make up as much as we did, it would have been a miraculous effort in these last two races. Nevertheless we'll just keep trying. We have 11 more races to go to get the Alltel/Mobil/Kodak Dodge in victory lane."

 

 

 

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

"The night was really interesting. I felt like our car as the race grew longer we just kept getting looser. I'm not sure what added to that, but maybe we were disguised by our good run at Michigan, but it was 60 degrees out at Michigan and it was 160 (degrees) today. We were just on the loose side of things. The car started off okay, just every lap we made we kept getting worse and worse. We changed everything under the sun to make the Miller Lite Dodge better, but all in all we'll take this finish in the top 10. That's what consistency is all about."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHERE YOU'RE AT GOING INTO THE LAST RACE BEFORE THE CHASE? "I feel pretty solid. You know there's a guy behind us now to give us a little bit of cushion. We're only 20 points out of the next spot and 40 points out of ninth, so it's going to be an interesting race in Richmond, but for us we feel like our short track program is where it needs to be. We finished fifth there in the spring and so we're looking forward to a good race."

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE THE GUY TO BEAT? "I don't feel like we're the guy to beat. There's plenty of good competition. It's just, week in and week out you have to be strong. Ninth place finishes will do it in the long run but you've got to pick up those wins along the way."

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JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 42 Wrigley's Big Red Dodge Charger)

"We had a good car today. I had passed maybe 10 or 15 cars already and after the contact, (with Edwards on pit road) that was the end of the day. I think everyone could tell how bad it was running after that."

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BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Cheerios/Totino's Pizza Rolls Dodge Charger)

"It was good run for us. We just got a little bit too tight behind Kasey there. We struggled a lot during the day and this car has never been to the wind tunnel with this nose on it. We need to figure out what that is. Doug made some good calls on air pressure and spring rubbers. We changed a lot of stuff during the day and then when we got into the night it really came to life. I was a lot more comfortable driving it there towards the end."

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DOUG RANDOLPH (Crew Chief, No. 43 Cheerios/Totino's Pizza Rolls Dodge Charger)

"It's definitely a great team here. Bobby has been doing a heck of a job. And we're trying to put it all together. We have been making great calls and good decisions. There's so many decision that go on during the weekend. We're really trying to concentrate on each one and make the right ones. Today at the start of the race we were as bad as any car here. At the end of happy hour we knew we where in trouble so we made some big swings at it. Those changes that we made allowed us to be good at the end of the race. It took us to the start of the race to gain on it. We got lucky with all the cautions at the start .The whole team is doing a good job. Bobby is up on the wheel doing it. This week we battled and that's what it is all about, getting the most you can.

"We led twice and it was probably fuel sequence each time but at Bristol last week we had the opportunity to take the lead on the track and that's a big plus. Anytime your car is up front it's just a huge boost to everybody."

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

"We will take it. There was a point in the race where I was really having a problem getting the car off the corner. I just couldn't carry any momentum and that's when we dropped back and eventually lost a lap. We got the break we needed with the lucky dog, but Kenny (Francis, team director) had made some key adjustments just before that which improved the grip in the corners. All of a sudden, we were in the top 10. The crew really gave me quick service during the last pit stop with about 40 laps to go. After all the cars had made the green-flag pit stop, we were 10th. We had a good run last week and then we come back this week with a top-10 finish. That's the first time this year we've put together back-to-back finishes in the top 10."

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KENNY FRANCIS (Crew Chief, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

"We had a decent car tonight. From where we started to where we ended, we didn't make a lot of changes. Most of the adjustments came during the transition from day to night. The crew gave us a good job on pit road. Kasey did a good job driving. We're not there yet, but we're making progress."

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

"We just couldn't get the back of the car hooked up with the track, so we dropped back early. The car didn't respond the same in the corner on two consecutive laps. The back broke loose which caused the spin. We managed to overcome that situation, but a flat tire forced an unscheduled pit stop a few laps later and we ended up a couple of laps down. We managed to get one of them back and were in position to get the second before I lost all control the last 100 laps. We just can't seem to get the car hooked up with the track and maintain that grip. That was the problem tonight."

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DAVID STREMME (No. 40 Target Dodge Charger)

"We had a tough night. Before the incident we were running 15th. We had one of the crew guys screw up. We were running 15th and had to go back to 21st. We were coming back up through there and got caught up in the wreck. We got run over, there wasn't much I could do."

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REED SORENSON (No. 41 Target/Memorex Dodge Charger)

"The Target Dodge was loose up high and tight down low pretty much the entire night. We were just all over the place. The car just didn't seem to respond to anything we did to it. I just want to put this night behind us and look ahead to Richmond."