[media-credit name=”poconoraceway.com” align=”alignright” width=”207″]
[/media-credit]Sunday, June 10, 2012
Dodge PR
Pocono 400
Pocono Raceway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Post-Race Quotes
http://twitter.com/teamdodge, www.media.chrysler.com, www.drivesrt.com
Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 18th “My team did a great job through all the adversity today with the pit road stuff that went on with the timing lines. We got (caught) twice on that; not sure what was going on there, so we’ll try and figure that out. Then we had some problems with the ignition and we had to work on that. I don’t think we got it fixed but we got it drivable. And at the very end, we lost brakes (smiles). It was just one fight after another. I could have done a better job. I think our car was actually really solid, maybe not a race-winning car but certainly a top 10-, top-five car but just didn’t get to show it with the Miller Lite Dodge. I feel really good that we’ll be able to come back here and do very good.”
WAS THE ISSUE WITH THE TIMING LINES IN A CERTAIN SECTION? “There was one section where the majority was getting caught. It was obvious that the section had some kind of issue because I know both times I got busted; I was under the limit with my tools that I have available. I was consistent down pit road, so if I was speeding in that sector, I would have been speeding in the others but it didn’t show that. I think there’s plenty of evidence to show that there is something wrong with the section timing with whether they’re looking at who got busted or what I just said there. I’m sure that NASCAR will come back and look at it. Hopefully, we’ll have it fixed when we come back here in the fall.”
HOW WAS THE TRACK AFTER THE REPAVE AND THE ARCA RACE? “It was just different, unpredictable. I think we saw wrecks and things because of that. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. That creates some adversity and adversity makes the cream rise to the top. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
WITH ALL THE PROBLEMS THAT YOU HAD TODAY, ARE YOU GLAD THE RACE WAS 100 MILES SHORTER? “No, no I’m not. I think if this race was a hundred miles longer, we’d have had a shot at getting a better finish.”
YOU PICKED UP SIX POSITIONS ON THAT LAST RUN OF THE RACE. “The guys did a good job working on it. I think we had a decent car all day long. We just didn’t showcase it until the end.”
Paul Wolfe (Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) “It’s a bummer. I feel like we were capable of more than what we got today but it seems like, obviously, the issues on pit road and then we had some sort of an issue with some sensor with the throttle and we had to pit again. It was like nothing wanted to go our way and we just found ourselves battling. Nobody gave up. All the guys did a great job on pit road and we were able to salvage a finish out of it.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK MIGHT HAVE CAUSED ALL THE SPEEDING PENALITIES TODAY? “I’m not really sure. There were a lot of cars caught in that last segment. Not sure if the timing lines aren’t marked correctly. The drivers weren’t exactly sure where they could accelerate from but it’s just unfortunate. It’s part of it and it’s the same for everybody.”
A.J. Allmendinger (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 31st “I’m just a little sore, had the wind knocked out of me. It’s kind of one of those, it seems like it took forever to get there. That was pretty hard, that might be one of the hardest hits I’ve had. Everybody at NASCAR, everybody at Penske, they do a good job with safety so I’m okay. I’ll be a little sore tomorrow but I’ll be fine.
“I’m not sure what happened. I think we blew a right-front. After we got in that accident at the start of the race, I think we had something knocked off just a little bit in the right-front. The toe was out just a little bit and the car was really tight. Unfortunately, it’s one of those I said ‘we need to pit soon, I think the right-front is going away’ and it went away.”
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE FIRST PART OF THE RACE WITH THE ACCIDENTS AND THE SPEEDING PENALITIES? “It’s slick out there. It’s slicker than its been for five days here. You could see that the track is really dirty and guys on the start being a little crazy. It’s hard to pass. You get aero-tight behind guys and you start getting desperate. If you get a late-race yellow, it’ll be fun to watch.”
IS THERE ANY WAY TO EXPLAIN WHAT YOUR LAST FEW RUNS HAVE BEEN LIKE IN TERMS OF YOUR BAD RUN OF LUCK? “No, there are no words to explain it. In my worst nightmare, I didn’t think the season would go this bad. You’ve got two options: you quit or you keep working harder. I’ve been six years in this. I’ve experienced bad stuff before in NASCAR, so I ain’t going to quit. We’ll just keep working harder. We’ve got to figure out how to turn it around. It’s tough. I definitely don’t want to be in this position, nobody does. Everybody does better on this race team but nobody is a quitter, so we’ll just keep working hard.”
