Post race quotes - Daytona 500.

With 12 caution periods and a total race time of nearly four hours, there weren't many of the 43 starters who crossed the finishing line with all four fenders intact at the conclusion of Sunday's Daytona 500.

JEFF GORDON - FINISHED 1ST
"I was trying to pass so many people. I thought Tony Stewart was going to be the guy. And he held us off for so long. I had three shots at him and he drove a great race. It was fun racing him. Dale Jr. came out of nowhere. He was just hanging back there all day until it really counted. And I was worried. He pushed me a couple of times. I thought there was no way I was going to be able to keep him behind me.

"When he got the lead, I thought it was all over. I've got to thank Jimmie Johnson. He gave me a couple of great pushes. We were just trying to get up there. I was shocked when I got to the quarter panel of the #8 car when I did. It just carried my momentum and I got in front of him. I couldn't believe it.

"And then the caution came out and I thought, 'Oh man, please, I don't want a green white-chequered.' This win is really dedicated to those families who were part of that tragic loss last year. It's something we'll never forget. Days like today allow us to honour them that much more and we're thankful that we're in victory lane and can talk about them and honour them."

KURT BUSCH - FINISHED 2ND
"Unbelievable day. Just a ton of team effort, just to be able to work on this car to get it capable enough to finish in the top five. To finish second, I wanted to take Gordon on the outside going into three, but nobody would've went with us, we didn't have the momentum to carry it through so I had to follow in and there's only so much you can do if you don't have anybody behind you. Congratulations to Jeff Gordon. Today we finished second but it's a great way to start off our year defending our title."

DALE EARNHARDT JR. - FINISHED 3RD
"The car wasn't that good in the race. We made some adjustments and then I could drive it right up in there. I got the lead there with a couple of laps to go. I had enough room to pull up in front of Gordon in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 and hold him back there, but I didn't know if I had him cleared or not and he came on back by me on the straightaway. We had a good car. I don't know if it was a third place car, but it was good. I want to thank my guys for staying with it all day."

SCOTT RIGGS - FINISHED 4TH WHAT WAS YOUR STRATEGY AT THE END OF THE RACE?
"I was trying to figure out who to work with and who not to. Man, it was chaos. We had a run and I was just going to try to hit who was in front of me. I was hoping if it was open I could go. I'm just proud of all the guys on the Valvoline Chevrolet. They gave me a good car and I hope this is a sign of a lot of things to come this year."
JIMMIE JOHNSON - FINISHED 5THWHAT HAPPENED WITH YOU AND TONY STEWART THERE AT THE END?
"I don't know. We were all trying to block and do what we can. Evidently he was upset with me blocking him like you're supposed to and kept running me in the outside wall down in Turn 1. I just tried saving my car and we bounced off each other a few times. There is no retaliation. We were wheel to wheel and it almost spun me out and I ran back into him. It was one of those deals. I'm sure he's upset. He led a lot today and didn't win the race. But congratulations to Hendrick Motorsports and Jeff Gordon for doing it."

MARK MARTIN - FINISHED 6TH
"It was pretty wild. We had an awesome car there. I shouldn't have let Gordon get up on the inside of me there on that one restart. I was sitting there thinking we might have a shot to contend for this thing, and we did right down to the end. But I just didn't have myself in the right position at the right time."

YOU WERE STRONG ALL DAY, FROM LAP ONE TO LAP 200.MM
"Pretty strong. Credit the Viagra team here, this Taurus' big engines, great effort. This guys have big hearts, and all of 'em."

THE DECISION TO FIX THE CAR WAS THE CORRECT ONE, WASN'T IT?MM
"Oh, it was the right one, all right. And they did it right, too."

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN YOU AND RUSTY WALLACE WERE RUNNING TOGETHER.MM
"Rusty and I had a pact. We've been racing 30 years. We had a little problem at Talladega a year ago where he said he was going to go with me and didn't, and I didn't think that was going to happen today. Rusty and I knew this was our last shot and I would've helped at the end and he would help me. I figured that was probably the most loyal friend I had on the race track at the end of the race."
TONY STEWART - FINISHED 7TH
"It's hard leading sometimes like that. We had a great car. To lead all those laps that we led. I'm so stoked about the way these guys brought this car here. It was an awesome racecar. I just got caught up there on the restarts at the end.

"I think we ran about as good as a race as we possibility could of run. At least we had a car that was good enough to lead laps. You don't lead laps like that if you don't have a good racecar. I'm just happy these guys did a great job over the winter getting this thing ready for the 500. We got a good start to the season. I'm ready to go."
WHAT WAS CHAD KNAUS UPSET ABOUT?TS
"I think he was upset about me running into his driver after the race. I think his driver did enough running into us before we got to the chequered flag. Chad's just upset. I don't know what Chad is upset about. That's just Chad I guess. If he wants to talk about it, I'm easily accessible."
STERLING MARLIN - FINISHED 8TH
"The car drove really good today. It got tight a few times on me, but we were able to make the necessary adjustments. I made some mistakes speeding down pit road and pitting when it was closed. That ending was pretty wild. Everybody was bumping and banging. It was some of the wildest driving I'd ever seen.

"With four to go I was worried a little bit about my finish. I knew we were going to be OK on those last few laps. I wish we could have got up there and mixed it up a little bit, but that was a good run for the first time out with the new Charger.

"I wish we could have won the first race with it, but we finished eighth and we were best in class, so we'll go to California and try it again next week. Congratulations to Jeff Gordon. He ran a great race. It looked like Tony had it going his way today, but you never know what's going to happen in these plate races."

RUSTY WALLACE - FINISHED 10TH
"I wanted to win this race, but that's OK. It really isn't OK, but I told everybody if I didn't win it wouldn't be the end of the world. I put on a good performance out there all day and my car ran strong all day. I was in the lead pack, top five and top 10 most of the day. I really thought I was going to finish a lot better than 10th.

"I'm done with it. I've had a lot of fun, and I enjoy it. I was hoping it wasn't going to come down to the green-white-chequered. With 18 laps to go we had plenty of fuel and we were running great. We had a good dancing partner hooked up and it didn't happen. We'll just go to California now. I'm looking forward to that one. I told everyone I want to go out on top. I can get the job done. I'm not worried about that. I want to go out way on top. I wanted to win the Daytona 500 today. I had a car good enough to win, but we'll just go win California or Mexico or Vegas now.

"I really get along with Mark Martin good. He's a neat guy. We had a good time out there. He had a left-rear quarter panel beat up. I'm glad I was able to help Jeremy out because nobody was going to tell him he had a flat right front tyre. They were going to let that guy start with a flat right front and barrel off into the corner. I pulled up beside him and told him he had a flat right front. I thought some of his peers should have been as courteous as I was and save him a hell of a wreck.

"Our car ran great today. It was a good handling car. We got a good top 10 finish and that was cool. That's a good way to start the season. Now we'll just have to keep improving every week and make sure we get in The Chase."

ELLIOTT SADLER - FINISHED 11TH
"We struggled with the handling a little bit and then coming from the rear dodging wrecks. It was a good day. We really wanted a top 10, but we'll take 11th. I'm happy with my guys. They did a great job."

HOW WAS IT AT THE END OF THE RACE?ES
"It was pretty hectic at the end because the cars were sliding around so much. It was cool. The guys were being real aggressive, especially there at the end. The car is unscathed. We might have to fix the bumper a little bit, but we can do that."

CARL EDWARDS - FINISHED 12TH
"With all the run-ins we had with different people, it was awesome to end up 12th. I mean, I thought we'd end up on the two truck, so that was pretty neat."

WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE WRECK?CE
"Mark Martin was waving his hand and I thought, 'He wants me to slow down,' so I slowed down a little bit and he just stopped. I ran into him and somebody ran into me and I almost hit the flag stand. The car actually ran faster with the front end narrowed up, so I think that helped us a little bit. I think maybe without that we would have been close to the top 5, but even with it I expected we could have been in the top 5 if the cards would have fallen a little differently."

JOE NEMECHEK - FINISHED 13TH
"We never had the rhythm today. We had a couple of great runs and then I messed up by sliding through the pit box twice. We were all over the map but seemed that we were always battling back from the rear of the field. There at the end, I thought I was going to salvage this race with a top-10 or even a top-five finish, but I couldn't pick the right lane and got passed by too many cars.

"I really feel I let my U.S. Army team down by messing up in the pits. But considering how erratic we were today a 13th-place finish is okay, and I mean just okay. We're a much better superspeedway team than what we showed today."

DALE JARRETT - FINISHED 15TH
"We pulled the wrong gear. They were running over me. Junior knocked me off the racetrack early in the race because it wouldn't run at the end of the straightaway. We finally got it to where I could drive, but it was just so frustrating because it wouldn't go. On restarts and stuff they would just run over me.

"They worked their tails off to get us where we got to and we came out with a reasonable finish. It could have been a lot worse. We could have been in the middle of those wrecks."

JEFF GREEN - FINISHED 16TH
"We just couldn't ever get it free enough. I couldn't run in that big pack when we were running fast. I could run all right by myself, but it started pushing in traffic. It's crazy out there. I'd probably find something else to do it I had to do this every week."

KYLE PETTY - FINISHED 17TH
"It went good for us today. Our car was loose to begin with and the 43 Cheerios Dodge was a little tight. They loosened theirs up and we tightened ours up, and we ran together all day long. We were together on that last restart. Jeff keyed the mike and asked me what I thought we should do. I said I tried high last time and you tried low. I said you go high and I'll go low and we still ended up in the same place.

"You just couldn't go anywhere. Our engines were great. I've got to thank Ray and everybody at Dodge for keeping us in the loop on that deal. The engine department at Evernham is great. They're doing a fabulous job for us.

"We came out of here with two cars and a top 20. I'm tickled to death to come out of here with a top 20. If we had come out with top 15s we would have been ecstatic. I told them if we finished somewhere between fifth and 10th I'd vote for running this race again next week. For me this is right on target for where we need to be."

MIKE BLISS - FINISHED 18TH
"There are a lot of elements that make up the running of the Daytona 500, and we learned a lot throughout our time here that will help us both at Talladega as well as when we come back to Daytona in July. The NetZero Best Buy Racing Chevrolet was a little sluggish for some reason on restarts, which obviously hurt us a bit, but once it got going, our Hendrick Engine was impressive.

"The guys did a good job on pit road making repairs and also making sure we didn't get ourselves caught a lap down while we were doing it. Bootie called a good race and made good adjustments to the car, so all in all, we're pretty happy with our first race of the season together. We look forward to getting to California and seeing what we have there as well."

TRAVIS KVAPIL - FINISHED 19TH
"What was working for me was we had a race car that I didn't have to lift. It took us half the race, probably, to get it to that point. But, the crew made some great adjustments all through the day. When it was time to go, in the last 50-60 laps, my car could make up some ground. I was running around there wide-open, putting it where I wanted, and I could hear the other guys lifting. We were just making time because the car was working that good.

"I was happy as heck (with the car). In the first part of the race, we just kind of rode it out, and the guys made some great adjustments. We went a little bit past our adjustment, but came back to it. In the last, probably, 50-60 laps in the race I think we had one of the cars that could contend, and it's just unfortunate that we got torn up a little bit."

RYAN NEWMAN - FINISHED 20TH,/B>
"When it counted, ol' Lynyrd Skynyrd got me in the butt. That was pretty much it. I missed the big crash. I was on the bottom of it, but I got in the crash on the front stretch. We had a great ALLTEL Dodge Charger. It was the fastest car on the racetrack. We kept getting blocked in the pits and everything else. I guarantee you we passed the most cars today without a doubt. The car handled great. Handling wasn't an issue. We just had bad luck. We got the short straw every time."

BRIAN VICKERS - FINISHED 21ST
"It wasn't exactly the kind of finish I was looking for. You know, the GMAC Chevy team worked hard and the guys worked hard. It was an up and down day. There were times that we were running really well and there were times when we weren't. We were a lap down and we made it up.

"We were running back to the top 15 and we got caught in that wreck. I'm not really sure what happened, who caused the wreck or if it was just a racing deal. But, it was frustrating.

"I'll be honest with you, this is one of my favourite race tracks. I love Daytona, I love speedway racing, I love Talladega. But, it can be just as frustrating at the same time because it can be so easy to get caught up in something that's not your fault."

KASEY KAHNE - FINISHED 22ND
"It was definitely a roller coaster ride. It was just up and down. We had the best Dodge here. Our engine package is 10 times better than what it was last year. They've done an awesome job on the cars.

"We got in that deal on pit road, and that kind of set us back. But, the guys kept fixing it better and better. We were back in the top-10 with a torn up racecar. We were definitely satisfied with the car on the track. The car was good. The guys did a good job. We had a much better car than where we finished. It's just circumstances."

JEREMY MAYFIELD - FINISHED 23RD
"We just never had a chance today. Our Dodge Charger was good, but every time we got up there, something bad happened. We got caught up in one of the wrecks, but the damage wasn't that bad. We could have gotten a good finish anyway if that tyre hadn't gone down before the final green flag. Having to come in for right side tyres killed us.

"But the biggest problem was speeding on pit road. That electronic system does work, that's for sure. We'll just have to get used to it. Slugger (crew chief Labbe) was great today. He made great calls, and the guys did a great job getting me out of the pits. This Charger can race, and I think it will be good this season. We'll just go home and get focused on California."

RICKY RUDD - FINISHED 24TH
"We didn't even get a chance to get going. I don't know. We cut a tyre, blew a tyre, a tyre came apart and I'm not really sure what happened to it, but it happened all of a sudden. It just went and when it went I did a 360 in front of everybody. I think we were about 15th when it happened, so it could have been a lot worse."

WHAT ABOUT THE LAST PART OF THE RACE?RR
"It was amazing. We were in the thirties for a long, long time just trying to survive and get some points out of it. At one time we were three laps down and the way the lucky dog thing worked out, we ended up being one lap down. I never would have believed we could have come out of it with the finish we did.

"It's a shame. We had a really good car here, but what are you gonna do? You're down here for nearly two weeks and you've got all the testing that goes into it massaging the car, but I've been in these deals where I got swept up in somebody else's wreck. Unfortunately, we were the guy that wrecked today and took some guys out. We didn't have much to do with it. The tire came apart, but, still I was looking forward to a good finish like everybody here and it just didn't work out."

GREG BIFFLE - FINISHED 25TH
"It was an alright day. We got the car running pretty good, which is positive. It was gonna be a good day and we were probably gonna get a top 5 or top 6 maybe, but we got wrecked. I don't know what happened. I'm really, honestly gonna have to watch the tape because I don't even know what started it or what ended it. I've got no idea.

"Sometimes when you're scuffling for a position like that, but my spotter thinks somebody got me in the left-rear quarter panel or got me in the back, so I'm not real sure."

CASEY MEARS - FINISHED 26TH
"First of all, I thought we had a pretty good Dodge. We really had a good chance to run up front. There was kind of a miscommunication. We were having some trouble with our radios all day long. Coming into the pits we had some miscommunication and ended getting up a lap down.

"After that we missed the pits, we came back in and, you know, the pit road speed reading that I got behind the pace car must have been nowhere close to what it was supposed to be because I was really conservative going down the pits and I got a pit road speed violation. I don't know how. That put us a lap down.

"Then after that we got our lap back and I felt really good. I thought, 'Okay, we're going to get in a position here to come back.' I was just on the bottom and they wrecked in front of us, and I did all I could to just stay low and not get involved, but they came down and hit us. It broke the tyre out on the right front.

"Yeah, this place will bite you. Sometimes you don't have control over what happens. But, I'm really looking forward to this year. The guys did a great job in the pits, and I'm really looking forward to this season."

BORIS SAID - FINISHED 27TH
"I love this kind of racing...these guys sure change their personalities in race mode. They're like Doberman Pinchers with a hand grenade in their mouths. I love it, but the bad side is that we just never had a chance to show our stuff today.

"We got clipped early in the race by the #38 and from that point we were playing catch-up. And when we got our lap back, we had a problem with the axle and couldn't take advantage of the situation. That was really disappointing because our car was flying...I mean it got so good that I really feel that we would have had a great finish had we not had the axle problem.

"The way the CENTRIX Financial Chevrolet performed at the end -- it was the best since we started to test in January. I really had a blast the past two weeks and I should be walking out of here feeling good. But I really wish we could have raced this car because of how good it was today. The good news is that we kept it in one piece and we'll bring it back here for the summer race."

KEVIN HARVICK - FINISHED 28TH
"We had a fast car once we got the grill fixed. It was really starting to come alive, but it turned into a wreck fest at the end. I thought we had the crash missed, but the 16 got our right rear."

"It was a disappointing Speedweeks but we just have to roll with it and try again at California next week."

JEFF BURTON - FINISHED 29TH
"The car drove good again. It did everything I asked it to do. We had a problem with the rear end gear or something. We'll fix that. This is just one race. It's unfortunate to finish that far back with that good of a car. That's racing. You've got to keep all the parts on it."
JOHN ANDRETTI - FINISHED 31ST
"The first time somebody turned down on me. I was in the middle of three and four and turned down and I got spun around. Then I got hit in the side. On this last one, I was trying to keep up because we had a torn-up racecar and I wanted to keep up with the pack for the last few laps.

"Something happened in front of us. They were yelling at me, 'Go low. Go low.' So I kept turning down. I had somebody to the left of me so I couldn't go any lower and Mike (Skinner) rolled down and I hit him head on. It was a pretty hard blow for both of us, but I just want to thank VB and APlus at Sunoco and all the people at Ford. We had a good race. We need to make it the rest of the way."

JAMIE McMURRAY - FINISHED 32ND
"Cars just started going everywhere. You really can't see anything. I saw the #16 car going backwards, so I kind of knew that wasn't good. We had a good Dodge today, but we just don't have any luck here. I think it's the fourth in a row here that I haven't finished. So, it's frustrating. I was just going wherever nobody else was. You've just got to have friends. It was pretty good racing. We had a really good car, but we've just got to finish this deal."

MICHAEL WALTRIP - FINISHED 37TH
"It just blew up. I broke something pretty big under the hood. Fortunately we were able to get out of the way and not cause a wreck. We can take the other car to Talladega. Man I just really wanted to run these last 25 laps. We have a very fast car. We just kept it toward the front. We did everything we needed to do to win the race, except finish it.

"It was all about conditioning throughout the middle of the race. I just followed Tony. You know you just try to make a comrade, because he was going to be a buddy of mine. I just couldn't wait, couldn't wait for those last 25 laps. It was going to be a riot. The people in the stands are going to see a heck of a show. You can make major runs out there. We had a car that was going to make some.

"Man! The NAPA Auto Parts, Domino's Pizza, you know all that stuff...Oh! I just...I'm trying to mask the pain. I'm just upset but understanding. A lot of people put a lot into this effort. There are a lot of parts spinning around and sometimes they break."

KYLE BUSCH - FINISHED 38TH
"I don't know exactly what happened. I obviously haven't seen any tapes yet but I look forward to see what happened. I don't know if it was bump drafting in the middle of the corner again or if a tyre went down. It was just a shame. We were just kind of hanging out there in the beginning, of course nobody working with us. I was just kind of going to ride around and wait until the end or wait until at least the middle of the race to start getting busy but they decided that they needed to wreck earlier."

KENNY WALLACE, - FINISHED 40THTELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY
" I just want to thank Michael Waltrip for a great car. You know there was no warning at all. Something happened in the motor. I avoided the crash. I knew there were a couple of things that could have gone either way this whole week but you know, all I can tell you is that everything was going great. It was a really good day and had looked like everything had finally settled out.

"I don't know what happened to Ricky there but we avoided that. Man, it was running and handling really well. That's what I'm excited about more than all. It sounded like it dropped a valve or something. You know, DEI makes great motors. We put quite a few laps on this motor as it's the one we ran at the 150."

MIKE WALLACE, - FINISHED 41ST
"Someone cut what looked like a left rear tire. I don't know if it was Ricky Rudd. You know, it's hard to tell; I think it was the #21 car that cut a tyre down. You've seen the tyre carcass come off and the car just spun up the racetrack and I was in the middle. There was nowhere to go, unfortunately."

MATT KENSETH - FINISHED 42ND
"We broke something in the engine. We broke a connecting rod or something like that. It's kind of uncommon at a plate race. Unfortunately, it's the second one we've lost this week, so I don't know. Our motor program is awesome, but we just seem to have some bad luck right now. We blew a couple at the end of last year and blew a couple to start off this season, so I'm definitely disappointed. It's the best car I've ever had for the Daytona 500 and I really thought we could have been a contender."

BOBBY LABONTE - FINISHED 43RDDID YOU HAVE ANY INDICATION OF ENGINE TROUBLE?
"No, there was no warning at all. I just blew up. It's just one of those things. There's nothing you can do about it. Obviously, this isn't the way you want to start the season. We'll try to come back at California."