Running Their Mouth: 2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon

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 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon:

“It was a good weekend for us. Pit strategy worked out perfect. It’s all credit to Pat Tryson; you’ve got to have strategy. You have to have a fast car. Where we are in points, we’ve got our backs up against the wall. So we gambled a little bit and it paid off. I felt like my fire and desire was going to overcome anything today to get into victory lane. This is what you live for, this is what you race for, and that is to go to Victory Lane. ‘I’m happy to bring it home for Miller Lite and Dodge today.” – Kurt Busch, race winner

“We had to start last because of an engine change on Friday. The rain isn’t why I’m sitting here. The reason why I’m sitting here is because we got an opportune caution late in the race and took advantage of race position. I’m going to slip out here with my 170 points, 150 grand, and start putting some patches on a sinking ship, what has felt like a sinking ship, for a year or so.” – Michael Waltrip, finished second

“We needed this finish really, really badly. I’m glad it’s in the books, and we’ll look forward to Daytona. I know if we went green, I was confident we could have held on to third. There were so many guys that just went and got fuel that weren’t worried about someone sneaking in on tires. I really feel that between myself and Mikey [Waltrip], we deserved these finishes. It’s not like we were given it because of the rain. Hopefully, this is just a sign of things to come.” – JJ Yeley, finished third

“This year, we’ll take anything we can get. We’ve been on both sides of this stuff before. Proud to get a good finish for all the guys, they’re working hard. We run really good at times, but we can’t seem to finish the deal. We’re gonna get back to work this week… congratulations to Kurt. It’s a heck of a way to win it, but I’m happy to get a fourth. We’ve run a lot better than this all year and not finished good, so what comes around goes around, I guess.” – Martin Truex Jr.

“To get a top five, it makes up for what happened to us at Sonoma because my team definitely deserved a top five there. We played the pit-strategy game today and if it continues to rain, we’ll look like heroes. I’m proud of my guys; they didn’t give up. We made the car really bad and got a lap down, and then we made some good adjustments, got the Lucky Dog, and were driving back up through the pack. I’m proud of my guys. They worked hard today.” – Elliott Sadler, finished fifth

“We struggled with rear grip all day in our Target Dodge. Once the clouds came in, the car reacted positively and really started to run good. We just didn’t have a good car in the sun. We have to figure out how to make it better. But overall, it was good for us in the point standings and we’ll take a top-10 finish.” – Reed Sorenson, finished sixth

“We didn’t get the job done today. I don’t know the reason. We just didn’t get it done.” – Bobby Labonte, finished 10th

“Forty-three of us start the race each week, and only one guy can win. It’s just been the oddest year I’ve ever seen for this race team. It’s disappointing for all of us on the Home Depot team. I guarantee you there’s a crew chief down there that they’re hiding sharp objects from right now. He [Greg Zipadelli, crew chief] gave me the best car I’ve had since Charlotte. It’s just frustrating. We will just keep plugging away each week. and we’ll get it turned around.” – Tony Stewart, finished 13th

“I got a run on [Juan Pablo Montoya] earlier and I got on the outside and he kind of kept coming up a little bit. Then, we came to that caution flag and he thought he beat me to the caution flag. I was just trying to get around the No. 42 [Juan Pablo Montoya] car, who was in front of us there, and touched him on the door and he just turned left and spun me down the front straightaway. I don’t know what his beef is, but obviously NASCAR should probably fix it.” – Kyle Busch, finished 25th

“On the restart, I got around the outside of him in turn 2 and he just went wide like I wasn’t even there. Then, we touched each other and got beside him to the next corner and he starts banging on me, like he was trying to wreck me. The next thing that I started to see was that he was hitting me. He runs good? Yeah. He has great cars? Yeah. But I thought we had a decent car today, and I don’t appreciate when people race me like that.” – Juan Pablo Montoya, finished 32nd