Quotes from the Dodge drivers.

Quotes from the Dodge drivers.

Quotes from Dodge drivers Bill Elliott, Sterling Marlin, Kyle Petty and car owner Ray Evernham.

Bill Elliott (No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T):
"The second set of tyres we put on got loose and then we chased tight the rest of the day. It was just one of them days when you couldn't get it all at one time. I was doing everything I could there at the end to get to the 48. I just ran out of time. The track was good, better than I expected. It wasn't all that slick. It was a good race. Several cars took off and went on and the rest of them looked like they kind of struggled a little bit. We didn't have a good finish here last year.

"I think we've found everything we need in the race team. I feel real comfortable with all the guys that put this race car together week in and week out. They do a heck of a job. All the guys are doing a good job back at the motor shop. They're putting a good effort behind it.

"I think it's team performance. We've come a long way in the last couple of weeks. We've learned a lot. We're getting along great as a race team. Everybody has seemed to gel. I think we're coming into our own right now. Rudd ran good today, and several other guys, but at the end of the day to come out of here and run in the top five and top 10 most of the day, compared to what we did here a year ago, it's quite an accomplishment for us.

"I felt like you had no choice (except to pit under last caution). You couldn't win the race the way you were. You had a chance. We just about pulled it off. The 48 could gamble either way, and he gambled and won. We gambled and came up a little bit short. We were going to finish third or fourth or wherever because you had to race the guys behind you that got tyres. We had no choice but to come and put four tyres on.

"We had a decent day. Track position and lapped cars are everything. I caught him but just ran out of time. The guys did a heck of a job. I wish I could have caught him. I did everything I could there at the end and got close. I just couldn't get there. We stayed tight. We were a little loose the second set of tyres, and we tightened it up and chased it the rest of the afternoon."

Ray Evernham (Car Owner Evernham Motorsports Dodge Intrepid R/Ts):
"Bill's on a roll. I just love the guy. If it wasn't for him, some days I'd have to slit my wrist. I love him. I wish I had hooked up with him years ago. Chad and Jimmie Johnson didn't take any tyres, and they had the best car all day. I felt like we had the second best car today, and we finished second. I'm really proud of Mike Ford. They've got a good plan, and they're trying to get Bill back up on the stage. That's one of their goals, and they're doing a good job of it. I'm really proud of them.

"Casey (Atwood) and Tony (Furr) are clicking. You'd better watch out. I'm telling you, that 7 car, we've got a little more work to do there, but when they get going they're going to be good. They're clicking. It's all about people, and we've got 'em clicking. We've got to get Jeremy clicking a little bit and we'll be really happy."

Sterling Marlin (No. 40 Coors Original Dodge Intrepid R/T):NOTE: After Marlin's 13th place finish, he leads second place Jimmie Johnson by 136 points in the series standings.
"We had a good car the first 200 laps. It's been like that the past few weeks. We just can't do nothing the last half of the race. Any adjustments you make, it goes the opposite way. We made a minor adjustment and it just goes nuts. We had a top four or top six car early and we didn't have nothing at the end. It was real good on long runs early, but we didn't have nothing at the end. We gained a lot of points on second place (49 points), but we want to win. We want to win and get some top fives.

Casey Atwood (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T):
"We had an awesome car all day, a top five car time wise all day. We finally got up to the top five. That second to the last pit stop, we just got a bad set of tyres and couldn't hang on to it. The Sirius Dodge got real loose and dropped back to 18th. Luckily we had that last caution and came in and got some better tyres and it was good again there at the end. We came back up to 14th, and I'm happy for everybody on the team. We've had a top five car three weeks in a row."

Kyle Petty (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T):
"I got caught once in the pits. I blistered a right front tyre and had to pit. That got me two laps down and we were two laps down the rest of the day. We had an easy top 10 car and the way it shook out possibly a top five car. You just never know. It was good. To take a top five car and finish 20th, that's what we need to do as a team. If bad things happen, you're still able to salvage something out of it. That's our zone, 10th-20th. We were going to end up on the good side of it or the back side"