Race Weekend Central

Running Their Mouth: 2007 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

Each week, we’ll go through media reports, interviews, PR and all our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Nextel Cup race, capturing the story of how the weekend unfolded. It’s the most original commentary you’ll ever find: the truth, coming straight out of the mouths of the drivers, crew members and the car owners themselves. This week, here’s a sneak peek at what a select few were thinking following the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway:

“This is just an incredible day for the DuPont Chevrolet. I’ve got to thank all these guys. They just never gave up. We had an awesome racecar. Even on that last one, on the restart, the tires spun so bad that Clint Bowyer could have gone right by me, but he gave me a big shot in the rear bumper and kind of got me going again. So it was just a great day. This is what we’ve been looking for is getting us a win at Charlotte. What a great comeback.” – Jeff Gordon

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Bowles-Eye View: Jeff Gordon vs. Matt Kenseth the Razor-Thin Line Between Chase Success and Lack Thereof

“He [Gordon] slipped and I was gaining on him too fast and got into the back of him instead of going underneath of him. Gil and all the guys brought me a good hot rod. We ain’t out of it. We’re going to keep going and we’re going to get Jack Daniel’s a championship. It was a great finish for us as far as the Chase points.” – Clint Bowyer, finished second

“That’s great for us. We did not have a fifth-place car, so we’re very fortunate to be fifth. That’s good for us. We were barely a top-15 car, so I’ve just got to thank my crew – everybody on this Office Depot team. I definitely had a good time tonight at the end. That’s cool. We should have five-lap sprints like that all the time. It was a blast.” – Carl Edwards, finished fifth

“I’m real proud of my team for the effort. The team really deserved a top 10 tonight, which is a great way to top off what has probably been the biggest week in the small history of this race team.” – Michael Waltrip, finishing 10th, tying his best finish this season

“It’s good, but it’s bad. We ran out of gas when we got the green flag. They said we were good on fuel, but we weren’t good on fuel, so that’s really frustrating. We were seventh and we would have at least been seventh or moved to fifth.” – Ricky Rudd, finished 11th in his first race back after separating his shoulder at California Speedway September 2nd

“I came down pit road because I thought I had a flat. I guess there was a lot of oil on the racetrack, and they didn’t want to throw a caution for that one. So, I thought I had a flat. We ran through it about three times I guess, and by the time I saw it I was on pit road and the caution came out. That put us all the way back at the back, and we put tires on it. Then the No. 12 wrecked, we had a green/white/checkered and finished 12th.” – Bobby Labonte

“We had a great racecar. We didn’t have a clean night tonight. I made a mistake. We had mistakes through the night that kept hurting us on track position. We deserved to finish in the top five tonight. We’re trying to get every point we can. It was wasn’t what we expected or wanted. So we’re leaving here disappointed. But we had a good performance so there is some light at the end of the tunnel. But it’s just a bummer of a night.” – Jimmie Johnson, finished 14th

“The blame is… I don’t think either one of them [Tony Stewart or Paul Menard] have any respect for each other. Getting into the No. 15, I don’t know. I just know his crew was clapping when we were working on our car. That’s kind of uncalled for and unprofessional.” – Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for Tony Stewart, finished seventh

“I don’t know where to start. We had a pretty fast car tonight. I have absolutely no excuse. I really feel like an idiot out here tonight. I wrecked twice and it seems like we’ve wrecked for a month straight, so I really want to apologize to my fans. It’s kind of hard to stress how these guys work on this car. I really feel bad for these guys. I really let them down.” – Matt Kenseth, finished 34th

“We blew a left rear tire out. I couldn’t tell if it felt a little spongy before, but obviously the car was plenty fast. It was a great Alltel Dodge today, just unfortunate. We were running away from them after Gordon’s little slip up there on the restart. It was a great coincidence for me, but unfortunately the left-rear tire blew out after that. I doubt he missed his shift. It was a good situation for us that turned bad about two laps later.” – Ryan Newman, finished 28th

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