Martinsville II: Dodge teams race quotes

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) -- 7th NOTE: Kahne has finished second, first and seventh in his last three starts and ranks eighth in the series standings, 99 points out of the lead. He's gained 174 points on the leader in...



"We had a pretty decent car, but we had to keep loosening it up to go fast. I couldn't get off the corners as good as the other guys. I'd slide the nose in the center, and it was loose off. The team did a good job and it ended up being a pretty good day. We did everything right. We just didn't have the car we needed to run in the top five, but we had a good finish and gained some points, so that's about all you can ask for I guess. Things happen and that's the way it goes (when asked about Jeff Burton's problems). I've had plenty of problems and so has everybody else in The Chase.

"We probably could have run fourth or fifth if it had gone green the last 50 laps. It was just hard to pass. We missed it a little bit and had to free it up so much to get through the corner that I was too loose off and just had no forward drive. A top 10 was a good finish. A lot of guys are back in it now. It's going to be pretty exciting to the end. We've got four to go and we're just going to try to keep making up points every weekend and try to go win Atlanta next week."


CASEY MEARS (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger) -- 6th

COMMENT ON THE 12 "I got into him a little bit. He was holding everybody up. I got into him a little bit and then he came back and just drilled me and spun me out. He's already wrecked me three times and he spun me here again. It took us out of track position and put us a lap down. It ruined his race and mine for a long time. Fortunately we were able to make a good call and get back up to the front. It was just a stupid move. It hurt him and me."

COMMENT ON SPIN NEAR THE END OF THE RACE "The 38 just spun me out. He was a million laps down. I don't know why he was even lining up on the inside. He's a good kid and I think he's got a lot of talent, but he's got a lot to learn. At the end of the day it was a good day for us. I guess I experienced all of Martinsville. I got mad. I got happy, the whole deal. We had a car that could have finished in the top three for sure. Losing track position at the end really didn't help us."


KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Wells Fargo Dodge Charger) -- 10th

"The last time two Petty cars finished in the top 10 we might have been in Dodge Chargers. It's been a long, long, long time. Bobby and them caught every break you could catch today. They got the Lucky Dog, they got to pit out of sequence which meant they didn't have to pit there at the end. That put Bobby and those guys up front. That was great for Bobby and those guys. They're running good and they caught a lot of breaks today. That's really good for them.

"When we dropped out of the top 35 I thought it was the end of the world. Now I think it's the greatest thing that's happened to us. It kind of wakes you up. You don't take this stuff for granted. You've got to show up and perform every week. That's what this business is all about anyhow. It hasn't been bad for us. I can't complain.

"We had a real good car today. I spun myself on lap six or seven and went back to about 26th or 27th and passed a bunch of cars to get back up to the top 10. Then we two-tired, made a couple of good calls in the pits and had some really good pit stops. Everything just went good for us. There at the end I had to pass a couple of guys to get in the top 10 because we were 14th or 15th. We caught a couple of breaks when somebody wrecked the 07. I felt bad for the 8 car. He had the line and he didn't think he had the line so to keep from wrecking somebody else he ended up wrecking himself. That shows a lot of class to try to stay off somebody and not just take them out. He could have got down there and wrecked somebody. He saved somebody and then wrecked himself."


ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) -- 38th

"We've been snake bit the last four races. We're working hard and will get things sorted out. Josh (Browne, team director) did a good job with pit strategy today and the pit crew had some great stops. The pit strategy had us running in the top five when the car lost power. It's disappointing, but it's a lot easier to take when you are running up front. We'll try to get things sorted out and get back on track at Atlanta."


SCOTT RIGGS (No. 10 Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge Charger) -- 30th

"It was a tough race. We were too tight from the get go. When you have to start in the back like we did today after the engine change, you are already at a disadvantage because you are half a lap down to the leaders. By the time we got the handling turned around in the first half of the race we had already dropped two laps down. We tried to get our laps back, but the after the No. 55 got us into the wall the toe was knocked out and there wasn't an opportunity to fix it without loosing a lot of laps."

-credit: dodge motorsports

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