Sonoma: Post-race Quotes

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)
Race Winner
"It's crazy. We qualified really well here the last couple of years and it feels good to qualify well here, run out front, and to hold off Tony Stewart, that's awesome. That guy (Stewart) is as good as it gets on any type of race track and we were able to go hard with our Budweiser Dodge Charger. Kenny (Francis, crew chief) and the guys did an awesome job. It's unbelievable to win here. To win any race and to win at a road course for me is crazy. It feels really good.

"Since Darlington we've had a top-10 car ever single weekend. Whether we finished inside the top-10 or not, we've had a great car for a while and today on a road course. I look forward to New Hampshire next weekend."

ON DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS: "It goes back to my crew chief Kenny Francis again. I was thinking the inside lane, he said, 'I don't know, the outside looks pretty good.' He told me not to do what he wanted, but what I wanted and it worked out. I started to think about the outside lane some more and it paid off."

ON THE FIVE RESTARTS AT THE END OF THE RACE: "My biggest thing was don't spin the tires, work on getting into Turn 1 there and just being beside him at the top of the hill and hopefully hold him off there. A few of the times we were able to jump the start and beat him into 1 no problem. So that was it was tough.

"That new restart deal is tough. For the last three weeks I've been...I think every weekend I've had some good ones and some bad ones as far as the restarts go. Today we were able to pick where we wanted to be, and it worked out really good for us, and we were able to hold him off. But yeah, two to go, another restart, I was like, 'I can't believe this.'"

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KENNY FRANCIS (Crew Chief, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)
"There was a lot going on there. With this new tire Goodyear brought it was a lot different complexion of racing than it's been in the past, and you kind of had to decide what to do with your tires and whether to come get tires or stay out there a couple times during the middle of the race.

"The fuel strategy is always an issue here with can you pit early and make it all the way, or do you risk the cautions or do you come in when you get your window. But we played it. There was a stretch there in the middle of the race where we were in the about the middle of the pack and the fuel thing hadn't cycled out yet so we elected to come get tires, and I think that was probably the key move for us for the race. We drove up through the field on the tires and got up near the front, then when the pit stop stuff cycled out we were right there in the front.

"So it all worked out. We didn't know what was going to happen. We were sitting on the box and had no idea how it was going to work out. We said, we'll try to stick to our plans, hit our window that we're wanting to hit and hopefully it works out, and it did luckily."

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RICHARD PETTY (Co-owner, Richard Petty Motorsports)
"It has been a long time, but when we joined with the Gillett crowd in the fall, I guess, or spring this year, wintertime, we knew they had a good team. So we just brought in three or four different people and trying to look at things different. But there's not a whole lot of changes. We've got the same cars and the same crews. You change a few people, but they've got a good organization.

"It was a winning organization, and I happened to get involved in it, and hopefully we can make it a little bit better from time to time. You know, after watching today and watching the guys run and having two other cars in the Top 10, this just really made us feel good because we've run good enough to win a couple or three races, but circumstances just haven't been on our side. Today it really looked bad to begin with because we got two of our cars, one of them had trouble and they had to come in the garage area, and the other two got a lap down, not no fault of their own, but it just happened. They was able to catch it back up and run 7th and 10th. So from Richard Petty Motorsports it was really a good day. I think going in on Monday morning, I think all of us will be welcomed home a little bit more than what we have been for the last few weeks."

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AJ ALLMENDINGER (No. 44 Best Buy Dodge Charger)
Finished 7th
"A tough day early for us early in the race. I was just clicking off laps when the car just locked up and sent me into the gravel. We ended up cutting down a left-front tire and had to come in under green to pit. After being the fastest car in happy hour yesterday, we knew that our Best Buy Dodge was going to be fast today. Just a weird deal with the car (brakes) locking up like that. But, we fought back hard and earned a seventh-place finish which is awesome. We'll take it."

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ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Stanley Dodge Charger)
Finished 10th
"A great come back for our Stanley Dodge today. We ran as high as sixth the first 25 or 30 laps, but then we got tapped from behind, spun and caused some damage to the rear of the car. Once we got back on the track, we were able to stay only a lap down, get the Lucky Dog and raced our way inside the top 20 with 10 laps to go. I've got to give credit to my crew guys for hanging in there and getting me back on the track as fast as they did. It was an awesome job. You just have to keep digging on these road courses because track position and fuel mileage is always a factor. A great day for Richard Petty Motorsports. Congratulations to Kasey and the entire Budweiser Dodge guys. They had a great car and were the team to beat today."

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REED SORENSON (No. 43 Valvoline Dodge Charger)
Finished 40th
"We had a top-10 car right around the lap 30 with our Valvoline Dodge Charger when we had a mechanical problem with our rear trackbar that sent us to the garage and put us down a bunch of laps and ended our day."


Credit: Dodge Motorsports