KEVIN HARVICK:

“Our race car was really good. It would take off really good for the first 50 or 60 laps then it would fall off a little bit. As we got in to the day, we got better and better. We kept loosening the car up and the car would last longer and longer, we made great adjustments. We didn’t make any huge adjustments, just small ones here and there. The biggest thing we had to do is to deal with the brake temperatures from no fans and stuff up front.” “He (Jimmie Johnson) was racing as hard as he could. All we can do is win races at this point, we knew he had to finish behind us. So we did what we had to do.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON:

Certainly a great run, and there at the end I was really pushing for a win. We had such a great car and such a great weekend. I didn’t want to, you know, not put up a strong effort for the win. Had a good run on Kevin but down the back straightaway was in a position where maybe my four or five years in the Cup level experience came into play and I just knew that in order to get the win, I was really going to have to force the issue. I had a little bit of position inside of him, but he was shutting the door going into the dogleg and knew I had to be smart from that point. Great day, we did what we needed to do. If we can just go to Homestead and do it one more time, we’ll be very happy.

MATT KENSETH:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DAY? “Not very good. We ran about like we’ve been running all weekend. We’ve been running about 25th-30th place all weekend and that’s how we ran all day.” CAN YOU BE OPTIMISTIC AT HOMESTEAD KNOWING THE CAR YOU HAVE HAS HAD SOME SUCCESS? “No, not really. None of our cars have run. This car, we ran third with it in the spring, so, for some reason, none of our stuff is running and I don’t know why. I don’t know what we’re doing wrong, but we’re doing something wrong. I’m not too optimistic about it. Obviously, anything can happen. We’re still within striking distance if they have a mechanical problem or some type of problem like that, but, certainly, I don’t think we can beat them on performance.”

DENNY HAMLIN:

We were steady all day. We were not we weren’t where the 48 was at, we were off at times and some runs in the later part we were a little better. We’re struggling to find speed on short runs. I really can’t figure it out exactly what I’ve got to do but hopefully that comes with age and experience and all that stuff. But, you know, we battled back and even though we had Short runs at the end, Mike freed up the car enough where we could just pick one off and a caution would come out and pick one off and a caution would come out. It worked out good for us, had a good car, we just didn’t have a winning car.

MARK MARTIN:

YOU TOOK TWO TIRES THERE AND TOOK A CHANCE. “Yeah, we had a pretty good car. It was awesome on long runs and we didn’t get none of that in the second half, but in the first half we were mowing ‘em down. It wasn’t real good on restarts with new tires and stuff, so we made the most of it. I’m really proud of this team and proud of our run. We could hold our own against those guys once everything settled in and we might have even done a little better with more green flag, but it was a great team effort by a great team.”

KYLE BUSCH:

“We were just back there minding our own business, we aren’t really very good today on the beginning of a run for some reason. That is kind of our own making there. What wasn’t of our own making was Tony Stewart running in to the back of the No.26 for no reason whatsoever, just going down the front straight away, you can’t see much anyway. McMurray looked like he was going to change lanes and get on the outside of a lapped car and Stewart kept his nose in there instead being his normal give-and-take self. Didn’t give him any room there, McMurray bounced off outside wall back across the race track. You can’t see much down the front straight away because of the sun anyway, but not much room for the Kellogg’s Chevrolet to get through there. Tough end to this year, we are ready for next year.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR:

“We would have been lucky to have a top-25 finish if we would have run like we did at the start of the race, but my guys really worked hard and did a good job of improving the car throughout the race. But, we really struggled worse and worse those final 50 laps because of all of those yellow flags. Our car would get tighter and tighter after the tires would cool off. I just couldn’t turn in the middle of the corner to pass anyone for the first few laps on a restart - and then the red flag at the end really hurt us because the tires were really cold and we lost a few spots. I’m still proud of my guys - we still managed a top-10 finish despite all of that.”

JEFF BURTON:

“We never ran quite as good as we needed to by any means. We just kept fighting and fighting and got a top 10 out of it. But it was never quite as good as we needed to be. But we kept working and fighting and got what we could get.” ON BEING MATHEMATICALLY ELIMINATED FROM THE CHAMPIONSHIP HUNT, YOU JUST SEEMED TO HIT A RUN OF THINGS THAT JUST DIDN’T QUITE WORK OUT: “We have to find a way to be good enough to overcome when things just don’t go well. We’re going to keep fighting and try to come out next year better than we were this year. I think we did a great job this year. I’m real proud of everybody. We made some huge strides this year. How we’ve just got to take the next step.”

JEFF GORDON:

“To come home with a top five, it’s a really solid day and finish for us. We have to be happy with that. I really thought we had third there at the end, but I just couldn’t stay ahead of Denny (Hamlin) and me and Carl (Edwards) kind of got into each other a little bit too. It was exciting. It was Phoenix. We’re just glad to come home with a top five.”

KASEY KAHNE:

“The front wouldn’t turn and the back was loose in order to try to make it turn. It wasn’t a fun car to drive, but it was decent. It was a top 10 car and we had a better race than we expected. I couldn’t see anything. The sun is straight in your eyes all the way until you have to brake. You just guess and make sure you don’t hit the guy in front of you on restarts. He gasses first and then you go. That’s just the way it is. I think they should start the race an hour earlier. That causes wrecks.”

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