Graham Rahal, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Honestly, when I went up high I thought we were going to get it (win) finally because the car had so much momentum. The McDonald’s car felt good all night and it’s no doubt we will win one soon. I was just trying to get us an opportunity and we got it. I pulled out of the draft, went up high and it (momentum) just died. Unfortunately we just didn’t have enough speed. When you go up that high the distance your taking there is massive and unfortunately we just didn’t have enough speed. Before this race was the most nervous I’ve ever been. I was watching people darn near hitting each other on the back straight last night in the warm-up so I knew it would be a crazy race. It was action-packed from start to finish. The idea was to get up front and just try to stay there. If we could stay there, we were going to be with guys that know what they’re doing. The McDonald’s guys worked hard tonight. I told them we needed good stops and the second to last stop was what really put us in this position. It was great what we did tonight; the McDonald’s car was top notch. It just shows that we can beat these guys. It’s going to take some effort but for us to be where we are now we’ve got to be pretty happy.”
· FAST FACTS: Was his second race here and his highest finish at this track. He started 14th and ran as high as fifth but mid-race contact in the pits with Buddy Rice and contact with the wall on the final lap —most likely due to a compromised part from the pit contact—led to a 19th place finish…Highest start this season is two poles (St. Pete/street & Kansas/oval) and highest finish is third place at Richmond…Is ranked 8th in series points with 331 (only -22 behind fifth place Patrick, 353).
Oriol Servia, No. 06 Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was the perfect race where you want to move to the front but you want to take your time because it’s crazy out there. Just before the last stop I was fourth – just where you want to be – and I made a mistake coming in the pits. I tried to brake a little too late and went too far on the marks and we wasted a little too much time trying to get to the car with the fuel. It was my fault. They were still able to do it but we lost 10 positions. The car was good and we were able to make it back to seventh so I’m very happy that at least we ended with a decent result. I thought we had a car to fight for the win at the end. I would have liked to be at the front. It makes me feel really good for Motegi. I know that we have a really good car for the ovals and that I haven’t lost my touch. I had a lot of fun tonight and I cannot wait until Motegi.”
· FAST FACTS: Was his second race here and highest finish at this track. Last year he started 12th and finished 17th for KV Racing…In his two previous ovals races with NHR in 2005 as the replacement for the injured Junqueira, he finished on the podium both times (third in Milwaukee, second in Las Vegas)…After only four races this season, he is ranked 24th with 83 points.
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