Notes from TNT NASCAR Summer Series – Toyota SaveMart 350 from Sonoma
Sunday, June 24, 2012
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Clint Bowyer wins Toyota SaveMart 350
Countdown to Green Adam Alexander (host), Larry McReynolds (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst)
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on his win last week at Michigan: “The win itself was great and fun. I wish I could’ve won a lot more races in the last four years so this win wasn’t such a big deal. It is fun to walk around…and see all those people get excited over something your group did.”
Earnhardt, Jr. on whether he ever doubted his ability: “My biggest problem was in the past I would get nervous about a problem and not having a solution for it. I would lose my cool or get shaken up in practice and that would set the tone for the weekend.”
Petty on road racing at Sonoma: “These guys are more aggressive, [they] have to be aggressive.”
Dallenbach on road racing at Sonoma: “You have to run this race track very aggressive. You have to run this track hard.”
Petty on whether or not a road course should be part of the Chase: “I would like to see one in the Chase. The road course races are such a wild card. They could really screw things up. I’m not so sure in the overall picture of the Chase that it is the proper thing.”
McReynolds on whether or not a road course should be part of the Chase: “I like the fact that they [road races] can make a huge difference and maybe impact on who gets into the Chase. I like the fact that our Chase is made up of the majority of race tracks that we run race 1-26.”
NASCAR driver Kyle Busch on what he needs to do to win: “Right now we want to be consistent. We have to settle in and start winning races.”
NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon on his feelings about Sonoma: “I love this race track. We’ve been really fast. We’ve got to execute. We know our car is fast in the short run.”
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart on racing at Sonoma: “It can be feast or famine. On restarts it’s really, really hairy here.”
From this week’s “NASCAR Generations” discussion on apologizing:
Kyle Petty on how drivers apologized during the earlier days of NASCAR: “I look at the King [Richard Petty] and Bobby [Allison] and Cale [Yarborough] and Donnie [Allison] and all them racing, I never remember them apologizing for anything. Why should I apologize to you? My job is to beat you. My job is to go out there and win this race. It was just a different deal.”
Jimmie Johnson on today’s protocol for apologizing: “My era, I believe, spends more time apologizing and doing that kind of thing. There are times when you make mistakes and I’ll say I’m sorry. But if you’re going to go up there and take something from the guy [knock him out of a race], you should be man enough to go up and talk to him about it afterwards for whatever it is.”
Petty on his grandfather Lee Petty: “He could stand there and chew you out one minute and walk off, but it was over with. For him – no grudges at all – it was over with. And he moved on to the next thing.”
**** **** **** **** TNT NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing: Toyota SaveMart 350 Adam Alexander (host), Wally Dallenbach (analyst), Kyle Petty (analyst), pit reporters Chris Neville, Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider, Matt Yocum
NASCAR driver #56 Martin Truex, Jr. on Inside Trax at the beginning of the race: “The biggest thing is to try and go fast and not get run into.”
McReynolds on #56 Martin Truex, Jr.’s strategy: “Martin Truex, Jr. looks like he’s committed to the three-stop strategy.”
McReynolds on #56 Martin Truex, Jr.’s strategy after 50 laps into the race: “I’m not convinced it’s a race-winning move.”
McReynolds on #51 Kurt Busch: “This is a great new beginning for Kurt Busch if he can seal the deal with a second place finish today.”
Dallenbach on Clint Bowyer’s restart in the last three laps of the race after the caution: “To Bowyer, he’s got to get the best restart of the year.”
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TNT NASCAR Summer Series – Post-race remarks
TNT’s Ralph Sheheen interviewed the winner of the Toyota SaveMart 350 – Clint Bowyer
Bowyer: “To be here in victory lane with this group so early in the season is just a dream come true.”
Kurt Busch on his third place finish: “I’m just glad we brought it home third.”
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on his race today: “We struggled all weekend.”
Brian Vickers on his fourth place finish today: “I actually had a phenomenal car all day long.”
