ON THE RESTARTS:
“The restarts were really tough because it’s such a long straightaway and the draft is so important that the guy who is in the second row really controls who ends up with the lead going into Turn 1. You almost have to get a battery start to allow the guy behind you to hit your bumper and push you along. So I was doing it wrong and finally on that last restart I got it right and we had such a good car that I felt like if somebody did pass me I could get back by him in a couple of laps. So with the green-white-checkered at the end I had to get it right and luckily I did.”
IT WAS COOL AND CLOUDY TO START, AND THEN GOT WARMER AND SUNNY TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF THE RACE. DID YOU HAVE TO CHANGE A LOT ON YOUR CAR TODAY?
“We did change and work on the car some but I think it came to us. I think that made the track slick and the lines I was running and the balance we had with the car really helped us. So it really came our direction.”
IT’S BEEN A BIG WEEK FOR YOU. HOW DO YOU SUM IT UP?
“Oh, man, I could feel all those fans going nuts on my burnouts and stuff. Thank you all for your support, I appreciate it.”
ON TAKING OVER THE POINT LEAD
“Awesome. There are still six more to go though, so it’s great and makes life right, right now, but there are still six more (races) to go.”
DID THE ISSUES ON PIT ROAD WORRY YOU EARLY ON?
“It is such a long race and so much takes place. I knew on pit road that you win some and lose some. Just a solid day all along. I’m so proud of this Lowe’s team. I’m so thankful to Lowe’s for allowing me to put the foundation on the side of the car and we had store 2712 riding with us today so it’s nice to do that for them. Man what an awesome car and what an awesome day. Those cautions at the end really had me nervous. I just didn’t know what to do on the restarts. The No. 24 would get me on some of them. The No. 42 was racing.
“I knew once we had three or four laps I was in good shape but there at the end I really didn’t have many laps. I’m glad I got a good start and got going.”
YOU ARE THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?
“That’s awesome. That’s what we wanted. Keep chipping away at it but obviously there’s a lot of racing left. We’re in good shape. My home state, foundation on the side of the car, fans are going crazy, I can’t thank them enough. I’m just really, really happy.”
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