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 Toyota / SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
“It feels great. With myself, I’ve had issues here in the past with finishing anywhere on this course. You know, I think that was really cool to see Richard [Petty] in victory lane with us and it’s a big deal. Richard Petty Motorsports is a great company and we keep building and trying to make it better and stronger.” – Kasey Kahne
“We had a great day with our Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy. I’m happy with it compared to where we were yesterday in both the race practices. We basically tore everything apart and we changed about six major things between [Saturday] and [Sunday] (June 21). The restarts were awesome. They were fun. The fans had to enjoy that, and it was a good race.” – Tony Stewart, finished second
“I was hot, I was mad, I was happy and I was sad all together. I’m just proud of my JTG Daugherty Racing team. They trusted me to drive their car and took a chance on putting me in the car. I just have to thank all of them. [My team] just rallied around me and gave me the support I needed and the confidence to go out there to just get aggressive and not skip a beat.” – Marcos Ambrose, finished third
“It was a good finish. We were speeding on pit road earlier and I had to come back from that. Unfortunately I got together with the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) getting into the esses and got him into the wall, so I had to find him and apologize. It was just a racing deal, nothing more. This has been a tough, tough track for us, so we are getting better and making things better.” – Jimmie Johnson, finished fourth
“The Target Chevy was really good at the beginning of the race. We finished sixth. It was another good points day. I don’t care where I am (in points) right now. I’ll care when I’m in Richmond where we are. I could have probably got a third- or fourth- [place finish] but the guys were going too aggressive and I needed to finish.” – Juan Pablo Montoya
“A tough day for us early in the race. I was just clicking off laps when the car just locked up and sent me into the gravel. After being the fastest car in Happy Hour (Saturday), we knew that our Best Buy Dodge was going to be fast today. Just a weird deal with the car (brakes) locking up like that. But we fought back hard and earned a seventh-place finish which is awesome. We’ll take it.” – AJ Allmendinger
“It was great, I truly enjoyed it. It was amazing we were able to get Michael [Waltrip] some points and had a good show with NAPA. We ran it clean all day, and [the car] was very fast. I’m really happy.” – Patrick Carpentier, finished 11th
“We had such a great day today, and I’m so happy for GEICO and the guys on this Germain Racing team because we’re all like a family. A top 15! That’s great for us and we’ll work hard to keep building on it.” – Max Papis, finished 12th
“I got into the No. 6 (David Ragan) and that’s the bad thing. I was racing really hard with him, but we didn’t expect to run that well. We were really slow in practice. I didn’t think they (double-file restarts) were good. I think single file would have been better here, but that’s what we had.” – Carl Edwards, finished 13th
“I initially was thinking that it was a pretty tough day out there when you’re running fourth and a three-time champion dumps you. He (Jimmie Johnson) came over and apologized right after the race. It was just two champion drivers going after the same spot. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it should have been much better.” – Kurt Busch, finished 15th
“Those double-file restarts were really fun, but I got spun out once and that was just part of the show. It was intense. It was just chaos.” – Boris Said, finished 24th
“Just a tough deal for our Mobil 1 Dodge today. We had a strong car, ran as high as sixth and just got punted and taken out coming through turn 12. We ran well at times today; it was just an unfortunate day.” – Sam Hornish Jr., finished 38th
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