JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET IMPALA – Sidelined with engine failure:
THE CAR WAS A ROCKET IN THE BEGINNING, WHAT HAPPENED?
“It’s the track. When the track was green we had a really good balance. Yesterday in practice when it was green, we had a good balance. When it rubbered up, not as good. We were working on it. I don’t know why we always, when we’re competitive we’re in the pit and we run with everybody we seem to get caught speeding when we’re running nose to tail with everybody. It kind of sucks when that happens, but it made the race a little more interesting and everyone on this Target keeps doing an amazing job. We’ve got good race cars. Things like that will happen. It’s racing.”
TELL US ABOUT THE TRACK CONDITIONS OUT THERE TODAY
“It’s hard. It’s hard because it seems to be laying a lot of rubber, the tires. It makes it a handful.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY INDICATION OF ENGINE PROBLEMS?
“Oh, when it blew, yeah. Before? No. No it was running fine. Something happened. It’s a shame. We build such good motors. And to have one let go, it sucks. But, it’s part of racing.”
DID YOU HAVE A TOP 10 CAR TODAY?
“Oh, easily, yeah. Before this we were running 5th or 6th with a car that wouldn’t turn. So the problem is once you get so far behind it’s hard to start making ground. We were working on it. For our goal, we were doing fine.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GIVING BACK THE POINTS YOU WON AT DAYTONA?
“Well, put it the other way around. I could have wrecked in Daytona and finished 10th here. It is what it is. It’s racing.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION IMPALA, sidelined with engine failure:
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?
“We just lost an engine. Had a really horrible restart. We had a really good car with the Haas Automation Chevrolet. Just grenaded basically. I couldn’t tell you what but it was big and there was smoke and that was the end of our day.
“Something let go in the bottom of the motor. I spun my tires on the restart, but didn’t over rev it or anything. Horrible restart on my part. But either way, it grenaded and that was the end of our day.”
HOW WAS THE RACING FROM YOUR SEAT?
“It was good. It was fun running against the wall. I don’t do that a whole lot here. I thought the racing was pretty good. We were mixing it up and that is the most competitive I have been here in a long time. We’ll just keep on going. We had a really good car. I felt like I let the team down in qualifying, we ended up 18th after being 2nd in practice. The car was good all day long. We weren’t the best in the pits, we have some work to do there, but it was really good and we were working forward every run the entire race.
“Showed what we are capable of out there on a couple of those long runs. They are still racing and we aren’t.
“I think we have made some big improvements as a team. This is a good test of it because it is an intermediate race track and it is a lot the race tracks we go to most, like Kansas, Michigan, places that we struggled at last year. We feel like we made some big gains as a team. This is not how I wanted to end the race.”
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY IMPALA, FINISHED 4TH:
TALK ABOUT YOUR AFTERNOON HERE:
“It was a great run. Alan (Gustafson) and everybody on the GoDaddy.com Chevy did awesome. They gave me a great race car. It was fun, man. What a great race track to race on, man. There was a lot of racing going on out there and a lot of passing and side-by-side and fighting. I had a blast today.”
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR IMPALA, FINISHED 3RD:
DESCRIBE YOUR DAY TODAY:
“This place is a lot of fun. We ran well all day. We definitely got better as the race went on. I got caught speedin’ on pit road and had to start back in the back and rolled up through there really fast. That is when we knew our car was really good. There at the end, got a little loose. I didn’t ask for the right thing under that caution. Kind of how we got beat at Homestead too. So we will get a little better about that, but good day for us.”
GREAT DAY FOR YOUR TEAM. DID YOU GET A LITTLE BIT TOO FREE THERE ON THAT LAST RUN?
“We were pretty free most of the day and I was terrified to tighten it up because everywhere we get tight we just can’t go so I’ve got to be better about that because I like to be loose and when you get those short runs at the end it kind of hurts us. But a good day for the Cat Chevrolet Impala and I am real proud of all the guys and I am real happy for all of our partners like Cat, and just everybody that works on this car…….the sponsors are just so committed and just real proud to represent everybody.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE IMPALA – Finished 9th:
NICE TOP 10 FINISH, BUT YOU REALLY WORKED HARD ON THE CAR ALL DAY
“We made gains on it but we didn’t quite get exactly where we wanted to be but we got better as the day went on, we just missed it on taking off on that last run. We just got too free to take off with. So, we got a top 10 out of it, but that was about it. So, we’ll take it and go on to Vegas. It is what it is.”
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY IMPALA – Finished 32nd
“Looking at the guys around the top 10, we should have been right around that No. 16 car I think. It was a tough day.”
YOU STARTED NEXT TO JEFF GORDON AND HE WENT RIGHT TO THE FRONT AND YOU STAYED BACK. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
“We’re two totally different teams.”
ARE YOU GUYS NOT SHARING INFORMATION?
“Of course we are. I can’t build the cars. What do you want me to do? I just drive them.”
WHAT ABOUT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY AND ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING DAY HERE
“Well, what can you do? You just go on home.”
WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR CAR?
“We tore up an axel or a drive plate, one of the two happened first. Down in the center of (Turns) 1 and 2 I just got back to the gas and the car felt like it had a flat tire. I don’t know. Something’s going on there where we’re chewing that stuff up and tearing it up. We’ve got to figure out why that’s happening they think it’s a material issue, so we’ll just have to see.”
CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS/HAMBURGER HELPER IMPALA – Finished 8th:
ON THE DAY’
That’s some crummy luck there. But it just wasn’t our day you know? We got up there and there was just so much trash blowing around unfortunately. This wind was blowing it right into that front straightaway wall and the catchfence and it just kind of spins and twirls right there. But it’s just a frustrating day. I’m happy for Kevin (Harvick) and Jeff (Burton) to get second and third. Our cars are very strong. It’s been a long time since we’ve come out here to California and been that strong. So, I’m proud of everybody.”
DOES IT HELP A LITTLE BIT TO KNOW IT COULD HAVE BEEN A BAD DAY GONE WORSE?
“Oh, absolutely. Last year that bad day turned into 25th (place finish).
REGAN SMITH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH
“It was a solid run for the Furniture Row team, but it could’ve been better. We were running legitimately in the top 10 until I messed up on pit road on the last stop (over shot pit box). That really hurt us—it’s on me. Once you lose track position in dirty air it’s tough to make up ground. Running in the top-10 in the last part of the race showed the potential of this team. We’re working on a lot of stuff right now and pumped about what we have for the future. “It was a huge confidence builder when you see the 48 car and running with him (Jimmie Johnson). It makes you feel you belong there, and the team believes what they’re doing is right. I am really proud of this team. Ryan (Coniam, crew chief) did an awesome job on the pit box. We needed a respectable run after getting collected in an accident in Daytona. And we got it. Overall, not a bad day for the 78 team.”
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