Phoenix Post-Race Quotes

AJ ALLMENDINGER - No. 43 Valvoline Ford Fusion
Finished 15th

"It was a tough day. We have to keep working on our race cars. It was pretty cool to be on the pole and get out there and lead some laps, but it is a tough race track with the way the conditions change out there. We fell behind a little bit, but the guys did a good job."

TALK ABOUT THE WAY YOU FINISHED STRONG? "Well, at the end of the race we got it back. We were the best we had been, but it is NASCAR, so eventually you know you are going to get a green-white-checkered. We were damned if we do and damned if we don't on tires. We take four and we are behind everybody, we take two and we are in front of everyone that took four. You aren't going to hold Jimmie Johnson back on a restart with two tires. He split me and that put us in the middle, and then we got down in the corner where Marcos Ambrose hit me and sent me for a ride. We were lucky we didn't get into a wreck."

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PAUL MENARD - No. 98 Moen/Menards Ford Fusion
Finished 29th

“Obviously we were hoping for a lot more than that tonight. We were just off a little bit all the way around and if you want to run up front, there’s no room for that. That said, I think the true test of how good a team is, is how they react to adversity and tonight was our first taste of that. This is a great group of guys and I know we’ll take this race, learn from it and put it behind us. We’ve run well and we’re not going to let one disappointing performance get us down. We’ll be an even stronger team in Texas.”

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ELLIOTT SADLER - No. 19 Stanley Ford Fusion
Finished 31st

“It wasn’t our best night. The track changed throughout the race and we could never really keep up with it. We missed it a bit heading into the race and then we just couldn’t make our Stanley Ford any better. The guys worked hard though and I’m always proud of the work they do. We’ll go at it again next week and see if we can’t get things turned around for us.”

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KASEY KAHNE - No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion
Finished 39th

WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOU AND KURT BUSCH OUT THERE? "I didn't see it. I didn't see it, but from where I was I thought I gave him lots of room and I'm pretty sure he just got loose and came up. Basically he hit me as he was spinning sideways. It is disappointing that's for sure."
WAS THE TRACK PRETTY SLICK? "Yeah, it is slick but it always is."


Credit: Ford Racing