(Finishing 11th) is very important to us, but our No. 1 goal, and it's going to start Sunday, is to get some wins, |
[Elliott Sadler grabbed his tenth top-three start of the year with third.] My lap was great, my guys did a great job, ... That is the same car we had in Charlotte that we were so fast with. My guys put it back together and that is a great place for us to start. |
[This week: Sadler is the defending champion of the Labor Day weekend race at California, and he said another victory is a definite possibility.] We're taking our best car in the shop, the one I had at Indy, ... The ball is in our court to make the Chase. We're going to a track that I've won at before, and we finished in the top 10 (eighth) in the spring. And we've finished in the top 10 (seventh) at Richmond in the spring. |
All in all, I'm happy with the new Fusion in the draft. It doesn't get the aero tightness that we've had in the past. Ford has done a tremendous job in really giving us a great tool to work with. I can't wait to get in some racing conditions So far, so good; I give it an A. |
almost counting our chickens before they were hatched around June, July. |
Any time you come to Charlotte, you've got to beat (Johnson). We've got one up on 'em right now. |
At the start of the race, I noticed a lot of guys were not slamming into each other. Clint [Bowyer] was pushing Dale; and I was pushing Jeff [Burton]. Everybody was just nudging a little until we got to those 'no zones.' Nobody wanted to take a chance. |
Busch racing is so fun to me because there's no points involved and I can go race and try to win, take chances. We might make it on gas, we might not. |
Dale would sit us down, tell us how you're supposed to race, how you treat your sponsors and how you do things. We don't have that stature figure anymore for young kids to look up to. It'd be neat to have another Dale Earnhardt step up and be the voice of all the drivers in the garage, but right now we don't have that. |
Definitely when you think tires will be an issue, but even otherwise. It's good just to have the track time, but the crew also gets to see some things that might translate to Sunday. |
Every sponsor wants to be a part of it, every driver, every team, but there are only so many pieces of the pie. If I don't make the chase, will I feel like I failed my sponsor? Yes, I will, because I've been in the top 10 all year long until the last month. We were almost counting our chickens before they were hatched around June, July, so it's going to be hard for me to look my sponsors in the face if we don't make it. |
Everybody knows the story. I came here to watch races as a kid. I just want to go to victory lane here one time. |
Everything went smoothly. I just mashed the pedal and took off for a very fast ride. It's nice to be on top of the speed charts, but I'd rather be at the top in another month. |
From a mental standpoint, not from a nut-and-bolts thing with the race car, but from a mental standpoint I think this team is more focused and more ready to go. I feel like I'm the quarterback of this race team. It's time for me to act like it. |
Guys are going to have to race their guts out to pass. |