Each week, we’ll go through media reports, interviews, PR and all of 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 car owners themselves. This week, here’s a peek at what the drivers were thinking following the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway:
“What are you going to say? It certainly wasn’t the prettiest win, but somebody has to win these things. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) made a great call and told me to stay out. I have to thank Aaron’s, Lowe’s Foods, Sprint and most of the fans for hanging out here all day long. They’ve been troopers here. When you envision yourself winning your first Sprint Cup race, you envision it a little different. It’s so hard to win these deals that we’ll just take them any way we can get them.” – David Reutimann
“It was just unfortunate; Mother Nature just didn’t cooperate. They obviously tried to dry it (the racetrack) time and time again. I didn’t think it would get called this early. I’ll take third; lucky for us but unfortunate for the fans who obviously paid good money to come and watch a good race. I think NASCAR did a good job trying to get the track back green again.” – Robby Gordon
“I’m disappointed. I would have liked to have finished the race because I know we had a car capable of winning. It would mean so much to get a win at Lowe’s. We get closer and closer to winning each time we come here. We’ll just have to wait a few months longer for another chance. NASCAR did a good job trying to get this thing in for the fans – the weather just didn’t cooperate.” – Brian Vickers, finished fifth
“We had a fast M&M’s Camry. Our car was pretty good on short runs and we were making gains on it for the long runs too. Weather, you can’t do anything about it really. We knew it was coming, but we weren’t going to be able to ride around under caution for more than five laps. That was all the fuel we had left. It only hurt us two spots, so we finished sixth.” – Kyle Busch
“A top 10 is hard to be mad about. Could have been a blessing in disguise, could have been better, could have been worse. I couldn’t have done anything about it so I really can’t be mad about it. It’s still ninth-place. I’m figuring things out every time I get out there which keeps adding to our success right now.” – Joey Logano, Raybestos Rookie of the Race, finished ninth
“I told them it sure was nice of them to throw in a few ‘old man cautions’ in there with those red flags to let me get out and rest a few minutes. If we would have run all day, I feel like we would have been good. We might not have won the race, but we’re competitive. [The car] doesn’t start out very good, but I’m telling you, once we get about 25 laps on the tires, that thing comes on.” – Bill Elliott, finished 15th in his 800th career start
“That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen or been a part of.” – Tony Stewart on his radio after NASCAR stopped the field on the frontstretch for a moment of silence on Monday
