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 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway:
“That was just unbelievable. Bob and I were really arguing. I’m trying to make a little light of it, but we thought we’d made the wrong call – I just can’t thank my guys enough and everybody for hanging tough. Everybody at Office Depot, we’ve had an unbelievable run with Office Depot. Ford Motor Company, they make the best cars out there. I’m proud to drive them. This is good.” – Carl Edwards, race winner
“My car was really loose there all day, but there at the end we got the car pretty decent. I can’t complain, it came to us finally and we got it to run – it stayed with us all day. I’m just really proud of all these guys – they did a great job. They stayed with it all day, and all these Home Depot guys did a great job. We haven’t had very many days like this one this year. I ran out of fuel before we got to turn 3 there – it was nice to make it to the end.
“Considering what our luck has been this year, this is as good as a win. At least I can leave a race feeling good for once.” – Tony Stewart, finished second
“We pitted a lap later than the leaders did and thought we were going to be just fine, and I was pushing hard to get to the No. 20 and just couldn’t get there. Those guys were really strong all day. Had a real tough time getting by the No. 66, and used up some more gas there. All in all, a great day for this Lowe’s Impala. We did a great job on the track. Good, solid performance.” – Jimmie Johnson, finished third
“We had a good car, we just got mired in traffic there at the beginning of the race… and there at the end when it started raining, we pitted and we had good pit strategy. Just proud of Todd [Berrier, crew chief] and all my Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet guys for everything that they’ve done. It was the same car that we raced at Indy last week. They turned it around and fixed half the body and brought it here. Big improvement for us. We don’t give up, I can promise you that.” – Kevin Harvick, finished fourth
“When you can just come out and concentrate on a good-handling racecar, that makes our job a lot easier when we don’t have to worry about things falling off of it. It was just a nice, solid day – a good points day. The guys we’re racing in the points were right in front of us and behind us, so it’s exciting. We’ve got some good tracks coming up. I’m just happy to be here and have a shot.” – David Ragan, finished fifth
“It was kind of weird. Just track position with this car is everything. We had a flat right there at the beginning, I didn’t qualify very good and that didn’t help anything. We have to work on our qualifying program. Still have to work on our big track program. [But] you have to take these good finishes when you can. Obviously, I hated to give up that [late race position] to Harvick.” – Clint Bowyer, finished sixth
“I’m not sure how good Carl [Edwards] was at the end, but our Budweiser Dodge Charger was definitely a second- or third-place car. Carl had the best car today, but we weren’t far off of him. With a little more luck with the cautions, we probably had the car to beat. We still got a top 10 and had one of the best cars out there today. There’s still a lot of racing left, but today was a good day for Gillett Evernham and all the guys that work on our team.” – Kasey Kahne, finished seventh
“That was an awesome car. I hate it for these guys but I told them to be proud of what we did do. Don’t be disappointed about what we didn’t do. We did some great things today, I am proud. I appreciate them letting me drive the car. I just want to thank everybody at DEI and this whole No. 8 team for letting me drive their car. That is what life is all about right there.” – Mark Martin, finished eighth
“That’s probably the most confused I have been in a racecar on what to ask for out of it. We were so loose the whole time. Thank you to all of my guys just for fighting because I was [complaining] a lot, but I didn’t really know what to tell them. It was really confusing, and the car was way loose.” – AJ Allmendinger, finished 19th
“We had a top-five car. Unfortunately, we had a tire violation on our last pit stop and had to serve a pass-through penalty. The AT&T pit crew has had great stops all year, so we’ll learn from this and move on. The AT&T Team USA Impala SS was loose all day, but we learned a lot and leaving Pocono with a 21st-place finish isn’t bad considering what happened.” – Jeff Burton, finished 21st
“Thank God we have a road course coming up next week so we can get some momentum back with this race team.” – Robby Gordon, finished 37th
New This Week: Fan Quote
Each week, I’ll feature one quote picked by a fan either about the race that week or about NASCAR in general. This week’s quote comes from my husband Rick.
“Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports… all others are games.” – Ernest Hemingway
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