Running Their Mouth: 2008 3M Performance 400 at Michigan

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 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo at Michigan International Speedway:

“Bob [Osborne] just did a great job. Everyone, the crew, did an unbelievable job, and the greatest part is that we didn’t give up more bonus points to Kyle [Busch]. He’s just so strong – every time I win and he finishes second, that’s really a 20-point spread for us. Four years ago today I ran my first Cup race for Jack Roush and he took a giant gamble on me. All five of his cars were in the top 10 today, and to be a part of that again – for Ford Motor Company, for Roush and for all the guys, it’s an honor.” – Carl Edwards, race winner

“It was a decent run for us. I felt like it was way better and far better than what it was here in the Spring. You know, we just were running up front today, so that was nice to see. But we just, you know, didn’t have enough for the [No.] 99 [Carl Edwards] there at the end. The No. 99 [Edwards] always is strong. I’m not sure if he sandbags halfway through or what. We fought all we could as hard as we could there.” – Kyle Busch, finished second

“We had a good AAA Ford. It was good on the long runs. You know, the race just worked out in our favor. The [No.] 99 [Carl Edwards] and [No.] 18 [Kyle Busch] were probably the fastest of the field, but we made an adjustment, it seemed, every stop, and kept getting a little better. If it would’ve been a 500-mile race I would’ve had something for ’em.” – David Ragan, finished third

“It wasn’t a bad run. Actually, it probably should’ve been a little better than that. We had a tough time getting the balance right ever since we showed up here. We’re working really hard at it. Carl was just a little better than we were, and David right there at the end on old tires was a little faster than us – so we’ll just work on it and get a little better.” – Greg Biffle, finished fourth

“It was a struggle, to say the least. We were way off. We were really good here in the spring and probably had a car fast enough to win the race, but we were just really off today. Track position is real important. If we would’ve been 15th or 16th on the last restart, we probably would’ve finished somewhere back in there.” – Matt Kenseth, finished fifth

“We felt like we had a car capable of winning. We chased the track a little bit. I think everybody did. We didn’t chase it quite fast enough. The last two stops, we decided to go with two tires and go for it. We overadjusted for the two tires and it was just too tight at the end to really do anything. Now, we’re disappointed – or at least I am.” – Brian Vickers, finished seventh

“It was a great all-around weekend for us. We qualified third and ran ninth. We were in the top 10 all day. I’m proud of my Stanley Tools guys today. I’m disappointed that we couldn’t make the $1 million donation to charity – the Children’s Miracle Network. I let Stanley Tools down with that. It was a great day for everybody and I’m looking forward in moving on to Bristol next week.” – Elliott Sadler, finished ninth

“It wasn’t bad. It was alright. We had kind of a pretty good car at times and fought being really, really loose for probably a pretty major portion of the race. In the shorter runs, we were too tight to really move up like we needed to. It was an OK day, though. We fought back and forth and had it really good and just a little bit too tight to run fast there at the end.” – David Reutimann, finished 14th

“I don’t know what to say. We were terrible at first, lost a lot of track position then had to work our way back from there. It’s a struggle. Just didn’t make the right adjustments from Happy Hour yesterday to the beginning of the race. We’ll keep working at it. The Mobil 1 Dodge ran well. We probably had a top-15 car but didn’t get a top-15 finish.” – Sam Hornish Jr., Raybestos Rookie of the Race, finished 22nd

“I can drive ‘em man, they’re just hard to drive like that all day. I ran fifth all day and maybe better than that at some parts of the race and I’m a good enough driver. I should have finished somewhere around there with that car. It’s been the same old story. We show up fast but we can’t put a whole race together. So, we’ve got to do some homework.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 23rd