The best thing I've done when Tony was doing his interviews, I gave him a hug and put the watch up to his face. He's a good sport. He's a guy that's going to get one of these one day. Tony can get mad sometimes, so I gave him a little bit [of ribbing] and walked off. |
The car got loose getting into three, and I just got up in the marbles. |
The fact that they got caught earlier in the week (with a modified rear window) took every doubt out of my mind that they would actually do anything to possibly cheat in this race. |
This is my fourth year in Cup. I was settling in with a team that has typically run a little bit better than we have over the last few years. |
This season hasn't gone the way we hoped, ... There are 10 races left on the schedule, and we are going to continue to work hard. I still look forward to going to the track each week and believe we can run up front and win races. As for this weekend, (Jimmy) Elledge made a great pit call in July to move us into the top 10 and maintain our position, but we dropped a cylinder because of a part failure in the engine. So we know we can go and be competitive. |
This track has not been kind to the Target Team, |
This year we're a lot better prepared for it. We had a special paint scheme this year on my helmet and we're going to auction that off. That's going to go to the foundation, and my suits and all that stuff. |
We got some quick changes during the night that the other guys couldn't do. We spent the least time in the pits and that's what won us the race. |
We need to get on the stick pretty hard. Texas is definitely a good track for us to get back on track. Knock on wood, but I think we've got a lot of good races coming up, so maybe we can rebound in the points. |
We still know there's room for improvement. The Dodge teams have done a good job of finding ways to make the Charger work. |
We've got everything in our power right now to be in that Chase and to be in the top 10, so we've just got to put all the pieces of the puzzle in the right place, keep our heads up and keep digging and I think we can make it. |
You can ask Jimmie that, I'm just happy I finished second. |
You know, what a good day for us. I don't even know what to say. |
[Heading home...] I always look forward to going to California, ... My grandparents and family come out to the race, and it adds a little extra incentive for me to do well. I'm also going to learn how to surf on Thursday, so that should be fun. |
[On Michigan...] We had a great run going in June, ... I think we had the fastest car out there most of the race. Jimmy (Elledge) and this team have these 1.5 to 2.0-mile tracks figured out. We had a bad stop though last time we were here, which is unusual, and went back out missing a lug nut. We had to come back in and went a lap down. We rode around a lap down the rest of the day. We probably had the best car out there. It's a shame because I think we could have won the race. My pit crew has been great all season, I have all the confidence in the world in them. |