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TonyB
Guest
Jimmie Johnson - started 14th; finished 1st
"Back to back. Thanks, guys! That was so cool. That race car was incredible. It wasn't the best all the time, but awfully good. Chad (Knaus) made great decisions and we had to work our way through and pass a lot of cars. So it wasn't a cakewalk by any means. But I'm just so lucky to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. Thanks for the opportunity boss. We're definitely bringing this trophy home in memory of Papa Joe. I don't know what to say. I just have to thank the whole organization and everybody involved. Days like today everybody it special. It takes the whole team to do it and I'm very happy to be here."
Mark Martin - started 21st; finished 2nd
"That's nearly as good as a win. I tell you what, this Viagra team had this Taurus working today. I just couldn't run with the 48, but, boy, we had a time with the rest of them. I had a great powerplant with Ford under the hood. It was an awesome car. Pat Tryson and these guys are just incredible. I just want to thank everybody that supports us."
Kasey Kahne - started 20th; finished 3rd
“We had a really good car there at the end. We worked with it all day long and made it better. I’m worn out right now. It was a hard-fought day by everybody. Kurt Busch and I ran into each other early on. Then we got together with Stewart. I thought Kurt Busch did it, and I got screwed up there, too. I’m surprised it took off like that. We had the fenders and part of the nose was still really good. I’m worn out. I don’t know if anybody else is, but I’m worn out."
Greg Biffle - started 19th; finished 4th
"These guys worked really hard in the pits and Doug made some really good calls. I'm just happy to get the National Guard Ford up here in the top five. We've run here all season long and qualified in the top 10 a bunch, but we just haven't finished here. Today, we didn't do anything different than we normally did, we just didn't have any missteps in the pits and didn't have to come back. We didn't get caught for speeding and there were no flat tires, so it was really a normal day for us and it got us in the top five."
Jeff Gordon - started 13th; finished 5th
"It was a great run for the DuPont Chevrolet. It was a great fight is probably the best way to put it because we had to fight a lot of things and overcome a lot of hurdles. It was a fast car in the beginning and then a chain break on the left rear and we couldn't get the left side up on the pit stops and kept losing positions. Every time I went further back in the field I'd just get so tight I couldn't get back up to the front. So a top five and a great save. I thought I lost it over there in the tunnel. I don't know where that came from. The thing just got sideways on me going in there. We'll count our blessings and be thankful for a top five and go to Indy."
Terry Labonte - started 29th; finished 6th
"We had a good car most of the day and did exactly what we need to do for these next six races .... be steady every week, put together some more top 10s and see where we are after Richmond (Sept. 11). Our car stayed a little tight all afternoon, especially coming off the Tunnel Turn; we never got it completely freed up like we needed it to be. But the guys in the pits did an awesome job on our last stop; we came in ninth and went back out fifth, and that helped position us for the good finish. Jeff (Gordon) got by us there at the end or it would have been a top five. Pocono's never really been one of my favorite tracks, but both races were very good for us this season."
Robby Gordon - started 22nd; finished 7th
"It was a pretty good day for us. Any time you finish inside the top 10 it's a good day. We just need to get some results and this will help us a little bit. We've got to get at least inside the top 20 and work our way into the top 15 and hope some guys have some bad luck and we can get inside the top 10. But Chris Andrews and all the guys did a great job - especially for not having any practice from working off the notes from last time. We had a good race car."
Matt Kenseth - started 15th; finished 8th
"We ran terrible all day, but through adjusting the car and doing all the work on it we got back up in the top 10. But we didn't have a very good car all day. We made some major changes and had to throw everything at it."
Jeremy Mayfield - started 9th; finished 9th
“We weren’t having a very good day, either. We struggled all day, but we kept fighting and came home with a top 10. That’s pretty cool. That shows you what kind of team this is. They worked their guts out in the pits, and I gave it all I could driving."
Elliott Sadler - started 5th; finished 10th
"We had a good, strong car early on and we kept making adjustments. The crew did a great job and got me some track position, but we also had some miscues after halfway. It was up and down at the end there and we just dug too deep of a hole to get out. It's a shame because this M&M's team really has tons of talent but we just seem to have crazy stuff happening to us lately. We just had an awesome car and worked hard all day, but the pit mistakes cost us big-time. I'm sure we will regroup and get them at Indy."
Scott Wimmer - started 28th; finished 11th
"It was pretty exciting. At the beginning of the race we were pretty good and drove our way up into the top-20 and thought we were going to be real good for the race. We cut down a tire and spun out and thought we stayed on the lead lap. I don't know how the rule reads but Jimmie Johnson passed me under caution but we thought we were still on the lead lap there and we ended up getting held a lap. It was a little bit of our own mistake. We should have been thinking a little bit more. The guys did great changes on the pit stops all day long and made the car better and better. We were struggling right at the end but it's so hard when you get back in traffic to pass. We were fortunate. I had some good stops and that got us up there. A top-10 would have been nice but we just need a few more laps or a little more car."
Ricky Rudd - started 33rd; finished 12th
"We started off and we just couldn't get a hold of the race track, but the guys kept making adjustments. As the day went on, we got farther away at one time but they made some more adjustments and we got better. Right there at the end the car just got real tight. We put on two tires and I still think that helped us with the track position, but we gave up a little bit on the chassis because the car got real tight with those two tires. So it wasn't a great day, but a lot better than we've been doing."
Ryan Newman - started 30th; finished 13th
“I think we missed it on the gear today and everything else. We had the car off at the beginning to go with it, and that made us look really, really bad. Once we got the car right, I think we had a top 15 car and just needed some track position. We never got it because we were two laps down. There at the end it was just a matter of getting timing and taking advantage of fresh tires when everybody else had older tires on."
Brian Vickers - started 6th; finished 14th
"It was pretty exciting. At the beginning of the race we were pretty good and drove our way up into the top-20 and thought we were going to be real good for the race. We cut down a tire and spun out and thought we stayed on the lead lap. I don't know how the rule reads but Jimmie Johnson passed me under caution but we thought we were still on the lead lap there and we ended up getting held a lap. It was a little bit of our own mistake. We should have been thinking a little bit more. The guys did great changes on the pit stops all day long and made the car better and better. We were struggling right at the end but it's so hard when you get back in traffic to pass. We were fortunate. I had some good stops and that got us up there. A top-10 would have been nice but we just need a few more laps or a little more car."
Sterling Marlin - started 4th; finished 15th
"The car was sliding on turn 3. The guys worked really hard and made several adjustments, including changing the shocks and were able to keep me on the lead lap. We were able to get a top 15 finish but the car could have been a lot better."
Joe Nemechek - started 2nd; finished 16th
"We gave up a lot of points today because we had an awesome car until the tranny broke. I was cruising and enjoying my ride in the early going and really felt like this was going to be a good day for the Army team. Not sure why this happened again, but it is sure frustrating. With only third gear all I could do was nurse the crippled car and save the motor from blowing. Considering what happened and what could've happened I guess a 16th place finish was pretty decent under the circumstances. It's too bad we couldn't finish on a better note because we had a great car as soon as it was unloaded on Friday."
Rusty Wallace - started 12th; finished 17th
“We broke a fourth gear in the transmission. I’ve never had a transmission do that. The car was flying. I was just making my lap times, running a little faster than the leader. We still have some problems on our pit stops, but we were running in the top 10 most of the race. We were headed for a real good finish.”
Casey Mears - started 1st; finished 18th
"It was an up and down day. It says a lot about the Target team that we were able to capture the pole and lead several laps. It’s disappointing to run how we did through the middle of the race and finish 18th. We ended up chasing the track conditions all day and just didn’t adjust enough in the end.”
Kyle Petty - started 25th; finished 19th
“It was a good run for us. We just hung in there all day. We made the right calls and the car wasn't bad. I needed the whole track to get around some of those guys. Track position meant a lot today. It was tough to pass, but we did a good job all around.”
Ken Scharder - started 39th; finished 21st
“We were up there with those guys all day. We kept plugging away and had a pretty good run. We wanted a little more, but we’ll take this and go to Indy. This Schwan’s Home Service Dodge team kept digging and we came out of here with a good day.”
Scott Riggs - started 26th; finished 22nd
"What an awesome race. We obviously didn't like the outcome, but to be able to run upfront and really race is such a good feeling for this Valvoline team. It broke my heart to have to radio to the guys just before that final restart and tell them the volt meter was low. They'd done such a good job in the pits all day. But when that final green flag flew, we just couldn't turn over 7,000 RPMs and we fell back to 22nd. It was still a pretty good day for us, all things considered. I'm just glad we were able to show what we're capable of. This is the kind of second half of the season that we're looking for."
Jimmy Spencer - started 36th; finished 23rd
"We had a good car today. Whatever broke with the gears cost us a top-10 finish. The car had a motor in it. It was a rocketship going through the tunnel turns. We had a lot of things happen to us, but we were able to fight back and run good all day. I know this car was capable of finishing the race in the top-10."
Dale Jarrett - started 24th; finished 24th
"Yeah, I guess it could have but this was one of the places that we knew was a place for us to make up some ground. I've said all along that we can't have any mistakes and we had a part failure. The transmission didn't work right from the very get-go. I guess maybe if we could have practiced yesterday it may have helped us to figure that part out, but it was unfortunate. We just have to keep digging and see what we can do."
Dale Earnhardt Jr - started 16th; finished 25th
"I felt fine. The bumps hurt a little bit but my foot was going to sleep. I haven't been using it a lot -- I haven't been standing on it much and it just goes to sleep and cramps up real easy. I'm just really disappointed that things are going like they're going. I wish that this thing would heal up a little faster, but it just takes time, I guess."
Kurt Busch - started 3rd; finished 26th
"The transmission went and it was weird. I've never broken a gear to know what goes first or what happened, so it was just some bad luck."
Dave Blaney - started 31st; finished 27th
“A 27th place finish was really not the results we wanted out of our return trip to Pocono. We were a bit off in practice on Friday, then we picked it up during qualifying, but the early qualifying draw hurt us. Early in the race I missed a shift, which I was hoping wouldn’t end up damaging the transmission, but it did. The AOL team really worked hard to replace the transmission once it broke and got me back out there pretty quick to pick up a few more positions."
Brendan Gaughan - started 10th; finished 28th
"We had a very strong Dodge this week. We got down from a pit road penalty, and we got our lap back twice. We made a mistake and got it back with the Lucky Dog deal. Then we got back down a lap and made it back. The Kodak team is coming. I’m starting to get excited. It’s a bummer. It’s the second time we’ve run this car. It made it about 30 feet in the Nextel Open. Now we know it’s a heck of a racecar. We’re going to put it back together and bring it back."
Bobby Labonte - started 17th; finished 29th
I was maintaining my own. You're just not as fast as the guys around you unless you've got a really good race car. I was just kind of maintaining my own. I was a little bit tight off of Turn 3 and the No. 25 car made a run on me down into Turn 1 and he was going to go to the outside and maybe I could beat him back off Turn 1 but I never had a chance to do that."
Ward Burton - started 27th; finished 31st
"We were trying to make a go of it but it locked up coming out of Turn 1 and we spun around. Luckily I didn't hit anything. But the NETZERO team did a good job for me today and I'm really excited about getting ahead. They're really working hard and I think we'll get this NETZERO up front before the season's over with. I really feel good about it."
Kevin Harvick - started 18th; finished 32nd
"For some reason the water temp just went all the way up to 270 and it just started slowing down. And then we came in to try to cool it off to save it. But that's probably the best we've run here at Pocono with this GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. We'll just go to the next one."
Jeff Green - started 32nd; finished 33rd
“We just need to keep working and getting things better. We had a good test at Indy so hopefully we can turn things around there.”
Jeff Burton - started 23rd; finished 34th
"It's just unfortunate for us. We really struggled today and didn't run near as well as I thought we would. The guys worked really hard to build a special car, but with no practice we didn't have a chance to figure out what it needed. So it's a real disappointing day with how we ran and, of course, how we finished."
Tony Stewart - started 8th; finished 35th
"I was running real close to Kasey (Kahne) and somebody else was running inside of us that we just passed. It's hard. It's just racing out there. It was fun racing with guys like that today. Everybody was being pretty courteous to each other and racing each other hard. So it was good fun racing today."
Michael Waltrip - started 11th; finished 36th
“The car started running puny and began smoking. The NAPA Chevy suffered a rare mechanical failure when something let go in the engine. We ran solidly in the top-10 and the car was performing well when this happened, so it was tough to park such a good race car.”
"Back to back. Thanks, guys! That was so cool. That race car was incredible. It wasn't the best all the time, but awfully good. Chad (Knaus) made great decisions and we had to work our way through and pass a lot of cars. So it wasn't a cakewalk by any means. But I'm just so lucky to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. Thanks for the opportunity boss. We're definitely bringing this trophy home in memory of Papa Joe. I don't know what to say. I just have to thank the whole organization and everybody involved. Days like today everybody it special. It takes the whole team to do it and I'm very happy to be here."
Mark Martin - started 21st; finished 2nd
"That's nearly as good as a win. I tell you what, this Viagra team had this Taurus working today. I just couldn't run with the 48, but, boy, we had a time with the rest of them. I had a great powerplant with Ford under the hood. It was an awesome car. Pat Tryson and these guys are just incredible. I just want to thank everybody that supports us."
Kasey Kahne - started 20th; finished 3rd
“We had a really good car there at the end. We worked with it all day long and made it better. I’m worn out right now. It was a hard-fought day by everybody. Kurt Busch and I ran into each other early on. Then we got together with Stewart. I thought Kurt Busch did it, and I got screwed up there, too. I’m surprised it took off like that. We had the fenders and part of the nose was still really good. I’m worn out. I don’t know if anybody else is, but I’m worn out."
Greg Biffle - started 19th; finished 4th
"These guys worked really hard in the pits and Doug made some really good calls. I'm just happy to get the National Guard Ford up here in the top five. We've run here all season long and qualified in the top 10 a bunch, but we just haven't finished here. Today, we didn't do anything different than we normally did, we just didn't have any missteps in the pits and didn't have to come back. We didn't get caught for speeding and there were no flat tires, so it was really a normal day for us and it got us in the top five."
Jeff Gordon - started 13th; finished 5th
"It was a great run for the DuPont Chevrolet. It was a great fight is probably the best way to put it because we had to fight a lot of things and overcome a lot of hurdles. It was a fast car in the beginning and then a chain break on the left rear and we couldn't get the left side up on the pit stops and kept losing positions. Every time I went further back in the field I'd just get so tight I couldn't get back up to the front. So a top five and a great save. I thought I lost it over there in the tunnel. I don't know where that came from. The thing just got sideways on me going in there. We'll count our blessings and be thankful for a top five and go to Indy."
Terry Labonte - started 29th; finished 6th
"We had a good car most of the day and did exactly what we need to do for these next six races .... be steady every week, put together some more top 10s and see where we are after Richmond (Sept. 11). Our car stayed a little tight all afternoon, especially coming off the Tunnel Turn; we never got it completely freed up like we needed it to be. But the guys in the pits did an awesome job on our last stop; we came in ninth and went back out fifth, and that helped position us for the good finish. Jeff (Gordon) got by us there at the end or it would have been a top five. Pocono's never really been one of my favorite tracks, but both races were very good for us this season."
Robby Gordon - started 22nd; finished 7th
"It was a pretty good day for us. Any time you finish inside the top 10 it's a good day. We just need to get some results and this will help us a little bit. We've got to get at least inside the top 20 and work our way into the top 15 and hope some guys have some bad luck and we can get inside the top 10. But Chris Andrews and all the guys did a great job - especially for not having any practice from working off the notes from last time. We had a good race car."
Matt Kenseth - started 15th; finished 8th
"We ran terrible all day, but through adjusting the car and doing all the work on it we got back up in the top 10. But we didn't have a very good car all day. We made some major changes and had to throw everything at it."
Jeremy Mayfield - started 9th; finished 9th
“We weren’t having a very good day, either. We struggled all day, but we kept fighting and came home with a top 10. That’s pretty cool. That shows you what kind of team this is. They worked their guts out in the pits, and I gave it all I could driving."
Elliott Sadler - started 5th; finished 10th
"We had a good, strong car early on and we kept making adjustments. The crew did a great job and got me some track position, but we also had some miscues after halfway. It was up and down at the end there and we just dug too deep of a hole to get out. It's a shame because this M&M's team really has tons of talent but we just seem to have crazy stuff happening to us lately. We just had an awesome car and worked hard all day, but the pit mistakes cost us big-time. I'm sure we will regroup and get them at Indy."
Scott Wimmer - started 28th; finished 11th
"It was pretty exciting. At the beginning of the race we were pretty good and drove our way up into the top-20 and thought we were going to be real good for the race. We cut down a tire and spun out and thought we stayed on the lead lap. I don't know how the rule reads but Jimmie Johnson passed me under caution but we thought we were still on the lead lap there and we ended up getting held a lap. It was a little bit of our own mistake. We should have been thinking a little bit more. The guys did great changes on the pit stops all day long and made the car better and better. We were struggling right at the end but it's so hard when you get back in traffic to pass. We were fortunate. I had some good stops and that got us up there. A top-10 would have been nice but we just need a few more laps or a little more car."
Ricky Rudd - started 33rd; finished 12th
"We started off and we just couldn't get a hold of the race track, but the guys kept making adjustments. As the day went on, we got farther away at one time but they made some more adjustments and we got better. Right there at the end the car just got real tight. We put on two tires and I still think that helped us with the track position, but we gave up a little bit on the chassis because the car got real tight with those two tires. So it wasn't a great day, but a lot better than we've been doing."
Ryan Newman - started 30th; finished 13th
“I think we missed it on the gear today and everything else. We had the car off at the beginning to go with it, and that made us look really, really bad. Once we got the car right, I think we had a top 15 car and just needed some track position. We never got it because we were two laps down. There at the end it was just a matter of getting timing and taking advantage of fresh tires when everybody else had older tires on."
Brian Vickers - started 6th; finished 14th
"It was pretty exciting. At the beginning of the race we were pretty good and drove our way up into the top-20 and thought we were going to be real good for the race. We cut down a tire and spun out and thought we stayed on the lead lap. I don't know how the rule reads but Jimmie Johnson passed me under caution but we thought we were still on the lead lap there and we ended up getting held a lap. It was a little bit of our own mistake. We should have been thinking a little bit more. The guys did great changes on the pit stops all day long and made the car better and better. We were struggling right at the end but it's so hard when you get back in traffic to pass. We were fortunate. I had some good stops and that got us up there. A top-10 would have been nice but we just need a few more laps or a little more car."
Sterling Marlin - started 4th; finished 15th
"The car was sliding on turn 3. The guys worked really hard and made several adjustments, including changing the shocks and were able to keep me on the lead lap. We were able to get a top 15 finish but the car could have been a lot better."
Joe Nemechek - started 2nd; finished 16th
"We gave up a lot of points today because we had an awesome car until the tranny broke. I was cruising and enjoying my ride in the early going and really felt like this was going to be a good day for the Army team. Not sure why this happened again, but it is sure frustrating. With only third gear all I could do was nurse the crippled car and save the motor from blowing. Considering what happened and what could've happened I guess a 16th place finish was pretty decent under the circumstances. It's too bad we couldn't finish on a better note because we had a great car as soon as it was unloaded on Friday."
Rusty Wallace - started 12th; finished 17th
“We broke a fourth gear in the transmission. I’ve never had a transmission do that. The car was flying. I was just making my lap times, running a little faster than the leader. We still have some problems on our pit stops, but we were running in the top 10 most of the race. We were headed for a real good finish.”
Casey Mears - started 1st; finished 18th
"It was an up and down day. It says a lot about the Target team that we were able to capture the pole and lead several laps. It’s disappointing to run how we did through the middle of the race and finish 18th. We ended up chasing the track conditions all day and just didn’t adjust enough in the end.”
Kyle Petty - started 25th; finished 19th
“It was a good run for us. We just hung in there all day. We made the right calls and the car wasn't bad. I needed the whole track to get around some of those guys. Track position meant a lot today. It was tough to pass, but we did a good job all around.”
Ken Scharder - started 39th; finished 21st
“We were up there with those guys all day. We kept plugging away and had a pretty good run. We wanted a little more, but we’ll take this and go to Indy. This Schwan’s Home Service Dodge team kept digging and we came out of here with a good day.”
Scott Riggs - started 26th; finished 22nd
"What an awesome race. We obviously didn't like the outcome, but to be able to run upfront and really race is such a good feeling for this Valvoline team. It broke my heart to have to radio to the guys just before that final restart and tell them the volt meter was low. They'd done such a good job in the pits all day. But when that final green flag flew, we just couldn't turn over 7,000 RPMs and we fell back to 22nd. It was still a pretty good day for us, all things considered. I'm just glad we were able to show what we're capable of. This is the kind of second half of the season that we're looking for."
Jimmy Spencer - started 36th; finished 23rd
"We had a good car today. Whatever broke with the gears cost us a top-10 finish. The car had a motor in it. It was a rocketship going through the tunnel turns. We had a lot of things happen to us, but we were able to fight back and run good all day. I know this car was capable of finishing the race in the top-10."
Dale Jarrett - started 24th; finished 24th
"Yeah, I guess it could have but this was one of the places that we knew was a place for us to make up some ground. I've said all along that we can't have any mistakes and we had a part failure. The transmission didn't work right from the very get-go. I guess maybe if we could have practiced yesterday it may have helped us to figure that part out, but it was unfortunate. We just have to keep digging and see what we can do."
Dale Earnhardt Jr - started 16th; finished 25th
"I felt fine. The bumps hurt a little bit but my foot was going to sleep. I haven't been using it a lot -- I haven't been standing on it much and it just goes to sleep and cramps up real easy. I'm just really disappointed that things are going like they're going. I wish that this thing would heal up a little faster, but it just takes time, I guess."
Kurt Busch - started 3rd; finished 26th
"The transmission went and it was weird. I've never broken a gear to know what goes first or what happened, so it was just some bad luck."
Dave Blaney - started 31st; finished 27th
“A 27th place finish was really not the results we wanted out of our return trip to Pocono. We were a bit off in practice on Friday, then we picked it up during qualifying, but the early qualifying draw hurt us. Early in the race I missed a shift, which I was hoping wouldn’t end up damaging the transmission, but it did. The AOL team really worked hard to replace the transmission once it broke and got me back out there pretty quick to pick up a few more positions."
Brendan Gaughan - started 10th; finished 28th
"We had a very strong Dodge this week. We got down from a pit road penalty, and we got our lap back twice. We made a mistake and got it back with the Lucky Dog deal. Then we got back down a lap and made it back. The Kodak team is coming. I’m starting to get excited. It’s a bummer. It’s the second time we’ve run this car. It made it about 30 feet in the Nextel Open. Now we know it’s a heck of a racecar. We’re going to put it back together and bring it back."
Bobby Labonte - started 17th; finished 29th
I was maintaining my own. You're just not as fast as the guys around you unless you've got a really good race car. I was just kind of maintaining my own. I was a little bit tight off of Turn 3 and the No. 25 car made a run on me down into Turn 1 and he was going to go to the outside and maybe I could beat him back off Turn 1 but I never had a chance to do that."
Ward Burton - started 27th; finished 31st
"We were trying to make a go of it but it locked up coming out of Turn 1 and we spun around. Luckily I didn't hit anything. But the NETZERO team did a good job for me today and I'm really excited about getting ahead. They're really working hard and I think we'll get this NETZERO up front before the season's over with. I really feel good about it."
Kevin Harvick - started 18th; finished 32nd
"For some reason the water temp just went all the way up to 270 and it just started slowing down. And then we came in to try to cool it off to save it. But that's probably the best we've run here at Pocono with this GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. We'll just go to the next one."
Jeff Green - started 32nd; finished 33rd
“We just need to keep working and getting things better. We had a good test at Indy so hopefully we can turn things around there.”
Jeff Burton - started 23rd; finished 34th
"It's just unfortunate for us. We really struggled today and didn't run near as well as I thought we would. The guys worked really hard to build a special car, but with no practice we didn't have a chance to figure out what it needed. So it's a real disappointing day with how we ran and, of course, how we finished."
Tony Stewart - started 8th; finished 35th
"I was running real close to Kasey (Kahne) and somebody else was running inside of us that we just passed. It's hard. It's just racing out there. It was fun racing with guys like that today. Everybody was being pretty courteous to each other and racing each other hard. So it was good fun racing today."
Michael Waltrip - started 11th; finished 36th
“The car started running puny and began smoking. The NAPA Chevy suffered a rare mechanical failure when something let go in the engine. We ran solidly in the top-10 and the car was performing well when this happened, so it was tough to park such a good race car.”