Each week, we’ll go through media reports, interviews, PR and all our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Sprint 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 LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway:
“Thanks to all the fans. I had a lot of fun today. I want to say Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there. I’m thankful for everyone at Hendrick believing in me, all my teammates and co-crew chiefs. All of these guys put so much into this to help us. I just have to thank everybody, I just had a real good car.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr., race winner
“We had a real loose racecar, sideways all day, especially in entry and middle exit. The final run was the best that our Budweiser Dodge was all day, but it was still a 10th to 12th-place car. We had enough [fuel] to finish if it stayed green. It was just a great finish for our Budweiser Dodge for what we had all day.” – Kasey Kahne, finished second
“Our car was pretty decent all day. It felt like we were a little off, but our speed was really good all day. I thought it was a real fun race. But I thought we just kind of got beat on the pit deal again. We had an official in front of our car when we did two tires and that cost us two spots leaving the pits, and really hurt us.” – Matt Kenseth, finished third
“I’m real proud of Red Bull and Toyota. We had a great car all day. I felt like we had the car to win there at the end. We kind of got it taken away from us. We passed the No. 8 (Mark Martin) car about two laps before the caution came out and for some reason NASCAR wanted to put them back in front of us. I’d love an explanation. I’m not sure exactly how that works. It’s still a solid day for Red Bull.” – Brian Vickers, finished fourth
“I’m happy we got a top five for everyone in Columbus, Ind., and that we can do something to help our community out. Those people have been on my mind all week and when it’s your own community and your own neighbors, it’s good to generate a good amount of winnings for our community. That’s what this top five is for. It feels like a win.” – Tony Stewart, finished fifth
“I was just disappointed with the finish because the car handled better than that all day long. I am happy for my teammate and it’s great for those guys to win and get Hendrick Motorsports another victory this year. All-in-all, a great day and I am very proud of this Lowe’s Impala SS team… and we’re getting better.” – Jimmie Johnson, finished sixth
“We played it safe, and I think that’s our sixth top 10 in a row – or something like that. It’s an all right job. But, congrats to Dale Jr. It’s been a long time since he’s won a race so it’s good to see somebody succeed. I was trying to get Dad a trophy, but it’s really neat to have him here at the races. It’s really special for me to have him here and I’m glad he came.” – Carl Edwards, finished seventh
“I’m not really sure what happened there at the end. Some guys were able to make it a lot further than we were on fuel. I don’t know if we didn’t get the car full on that next-to-last stop or what. Thought we were gonna get out of here with a good, solid top five; but, we’ll move on and try to get it back next week.” – Kyle Busch, finished 13th
“Everybody at the shop, everybody at Red Bull Racing is doing an awesome job. We sucked [butt] yesterday pretty much as bad as we could in happy hour. I really wasn’t looking forward to the race. We started off and the thing was great. The car was great – pit strategy sucks. We need to learn how to do pit strategy.” – AJ Allmendinger, finished 19th
“It’s a tough way to end the race. We made a decision to take on two tires during our last pit because we were so loose the last 20 laps. It’s unfortunate. The guys on the Mobil 1 team have been working hard to get our car better on race day, and I’m real happy with the progress that they’re making. We just need to keep the driver calm and get a little bit of luck on our side.” – Sam Hornish Jr., finished 22nd
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