JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48
LOWE’S IMPALA SS – Finished
2nd:
“On that last restart, I
should have given him (Kyle
Busch) the inside. When I
heard the spotter, I knew I
was in trouble. For a
two-lap shootout, the
outside always wins. I
didn’t make the best
decision there on the
restart. I apologized to my
guys and to Lowe’s and to
everyone. On the bright
side, we had a great race
car and great stops and we
showed that we can beat that
No. 18 tonight. Before that,
we were running away and
gone with it. I just made a
mistake there on that
restart.
"He (Kyle Busch) got to
the outside of me there (on
the last restart) and got a
good run on me. I guess deep
down inside I knew better
than to give him the outside
but he had a run coming on
me on the inside. I just
thought that was the best. I
should know better, I've
passed guys on the last lap
on the outside. I should
have given him the bottom
and been a little smarter
with that. But very proud of
this race team and what
these guys have done on this
race car, but pretty mad at
myself for letting it slip
away.
"The racing here at
Chicagoland at night was
good. If it were during the
day, the track would have
been quicker. We would have
had more guys up by the
fence although the groove
was pretty wide. But all in
all, I thought it was a
well-lit race track, a track
that I really enjoy racing
at. We put on a heck of a
show tonight."
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29
SHELL-PENNZOIL IMPALA SS –
Finished 3rd:
Our Shell-Pennzoil
Chevrolet Impala SS was good
all night and we thought we
were in pretty good position
there in the end but just
couldn’t keep up with the
forty-eight and the eighteen
got around him there on the
outside there and kept him
pinned down and kept his
momentum up. Good night and
just proud of everybody I
just want to thank Richard
and everybody back there at
the fab shop who hang bodies
on our plate and all the
engine guys at ECR because
we have made a lot of gains
this month and I hope we
have put ourselves in
position with these new cars
and new engines and to get
some momentum and this is
what we needed tonight is to
get a good, solid finish.
WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS
IN WATCHING KYLE BUSCH MAKE
THAT MOVE?
"Well I really thought
the No. 48 had the dominant
car and the eighteen kinda
bonsai-ed in there to the
outside and it stuck and
just kind of pinched the
forty-eight there off the
corner and killed his
momentum and was just able
to keep going. I thought I
might be in the right spot
there coming into the last
corner there but just came
up a little short.
"We had a great car
tonight. We kept our
Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet in
position all night, just
came up a little short. I am
so proud of all the guys
back at the fab shop
building new cars. The last
month the cars have been
running really well we just
haven't been able to
capitalize on them with
screwing up on the track or
having things happen. It is
good to have a whole night
come together."
STEVE LETARTE, CREW
CHIEF, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA
SS – Finished 11th:
“Oh gosh, where to we
start? It’s disappointing
where we finished. I think
we had a better car than
that. We lost our track
position there at the end.
But you know, the guys
fought hard. It was a better
car than we’ve had at a
1.5-mile track. We had one
bad pit stop and went to the
back. And in the last few
races, that would have been
it. But we recovered and
passed those guys back and
got back in the top ten and
just got too tight there at
the end. We need to make
sure we are free enough with
these cars and when the
speeds pick up at the end of
the race we just get real,
real tight. We need to do a
better job of adjusting and
we’re excited to go to
Indy.”
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 AT&T
IMPALA SS – Finished 19th
“We were really loose all
night long. I couldn't run
with the other cars at the
end but I have to hand it to
my team. We overcame two
separate incidents where we
got damage on the right
front of the AT&T Chevy and
got our lap back after going
a lap down. I just wish we
more for the guys up front.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO.
88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD
IMPALA SS – Finished 16th:
"It was a long night. We
started off not handling
good. We worked really hard
and really didn't make much
out of the day. We will look
pretty bad on paper, we run
about 28th all day so I was
pretty happy to get top-15.
We just missed the setup
pretty bad."
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 1
BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS
IMPALA SS – Finished 9th:
"We had a top-five car.
It was my mistake. Bono
(Kevin Manion, crew chief)
wanted me to stay out and I
came down pit road. We took
on two tires, then I got
caught for speeding on the
exit so we had to come back
down and put on lefts. That
cost us the track position
and we just struggled
getting that position back
the rest of the night. The
car was a top-five car. We
really needed it, our finish
was great, but it would have
been even better if we could
have made it a third or a
fourth because we were
easily that good."
