BACK-TO-BACK WINS IN THE BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT, TALK ABOUT THE PASS COMING DOWN THE BACK STRAIGHTAWAY:
“I knew I needed to go, but I thought I could get by at least one of the guys on old tires there and try to get myself in position. I was happy Greg (Biffle) chose the outside because he set the pace to start. We were able to get the best restart we had all night and push him out there and were able to just carry that momentum in to turn one. Kinda drug the brake a little bit to let the No. 9 get right up behind us to stay side-by-side with the No. 16 so that we didn’t get any three wide or anybody else involved in the mix. We were able to get a good push down the back. I don’t know what happened after that.
“When you go through a year like we did at RCR last year, just everybody hanging in there…Shell-Pennzoil, Chevrolet, all the fans, everybody from Sprint, just everybody that makes this sport great.
“I have to thank my team, they did a great job. Wrecked a car in practice, I was sick on Thursday, didn’t even get to sit a lap in this thing. Man that thing was a rocket. The best thing about it was it handled really well. I have to thank everybody. Coca Cola, SKF, Jimmy Johns Champion, Sherwin Williams, Reeses, RealTree, everybody that helps this thing go around.”
HOW ABOUT THE CALL TO COME DOWN PIT ROAD TO TAKE TIRES WITH ONLY A COUPLE LAPS TO GO?
“I told him (Gil Martin, crew chief), you are the man, you tell me what to do. He said to just watch the mirror, then said heck with it, we are just going to come in. I knew most of them would come. In Cup racing, it is a lot about ties here at Daytona. We came in and got a couple, the guys had a good pit stop and everything worked out.”
YOU WERE ABLE TO RUN WHERE YOU WANTED TO ON THE TRACK TO MAKE PASSES, THE HANDLING MUST HAVE BEEN GREAT:
“I will tell you, all these guys from the engine shop have done a great job with our engines. We haven’t talked about engines in a couple of years because they are a non-factor any more. I would say both of those ECR engines (Jamie McMurray) were doing their jobs. The guys did a great job on making this thing handle and that is what it came down to at the end.”
GIL MARTIN, CREW CHIEF NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL IMPALA, RACE WINNER:
THAT WAS A VERY STRONG PERFORMANCE:
“It was. I am just glad we led a lot of laps for the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet because I didn’t want to back in to it with something at the end. The car was awfully strong. These guys deserve to win. It is just a great way to start the season. It is just great to win here at Daytona. I was telling everybody that this is my 21st season coming here and I have been looking forward to a win here, it couldn’t be better.”
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