Saturday, November 17, 2012
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Ford Ecoboost 300
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Post-Race Quotes
Dodge PR
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SAM HORNISH (No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger R/T) Finished 4th TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE TODAY: “We had one of those nights where we had a really good car. We just didn’t have what we needed there at the end. We cut a tire under green that we had pit for and got ourselves out of sequence. We were able to come back and have a top-five run which is good for the moral of the guys who fought so hard tonight. I wish we could have gotten a little bit more out of it. A fourth-place tonight, fourth-place in (driver) points for the year. We wish we could have done better for Dodge, Alliance Truck Parts and Wurth. There’s still tomorrow. I’m looking for a good day in the Cup race.”
YOU GOT OFF SEQUENCE BUT WHEN YOU PUT FOUR TIRES ON, YOUR DODGE LOOKED REALLY FAST. DID YOU HAVE A RACE-WINNING CAR? “Yeah, it was fast. The 5 (Regan Smith) car was really good. There were times that we were better than them, just not at the end of the race. We just didn’t have track position at the end of the race and had to come from 11th to try to run down the leaders. Our Dodge was fast. We just didn’t have time there at the end. The car was really good at times and felt strong. I wish we would have had more at the end.”
ROGER ANNOUNCED THIS WEEKEND THAT YOU’LL BE RUNNING A FULL-TIME NATIONWIDE SERIES SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR. HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO HAVE A STRONG RUN TONIGHT? “Really important. Obviously, I’d like to have brought home a win in my last Nationwide Series race with Dodge. We battled all night and I’m proud of my guys who overcame a cut tire and helped me race to a top-five. I’m really excited to get the opportunity to run a full Nationwide Series schedule next year. I hope that we can build off the success of this year and parlay it into a better season. I’m proud of my team. We worked hard all year and raced as hard as we could in our Alliance Truck Parts Dodge. Very excited for next year.”
Ryan Blaney (No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger) Finished 8th WAS YOUR CAR THE BEST ON THAT LAST RUN THAT IT WAS ALL NIGHT? “We were always stronger for 15-20 laps and then we would really start getting loose. Jeremy (Bullins) and the team made some really good changes there at the end and that helped it. Man, I just couldn’t pick a line where to go in those four-wide situations. We were better for 15 laps. It was hard to pick a lane on that last restart with those four cars ahead of us. We only got one. Definitely not the way we wanted to finish here but we came home eighth and this is probably the strongest field we’ve had. There were more cars in the field with Regan (Smith) and the 21 car (Joey Coulter) and the 33 (Brendan Gaughan). Not too bad of a finish I guess.”
IT SEEMED LIKE WHICH LINE YOU PICKED TO GET THROUGH THE CORNERS WAS CRITICAL TONIGHT. “It was a very, very touchy deal – when to get back on the throttle, how much to used and where you were pointed. It’s such a touchy deal. I was kind of on top of the race track all night, kind of four-wheel sliding everywhere. It was tough to predict what it was going to do but yeah, if you hit it right it looks real good. It’s just hard to find that little bit.”
WAS THIS THE TOUGHEST MILE-AND-A-HALF THAT YOU’VE BEEN TO THIS SEASON? “Definitely. This is a very hard mile-and-a-half. There’s little room for error when you’re running right up next to the wall. There’s little room for error. It’s a very tough race track, pretty tough to pass too. But it makes for fun racing. It’s one of the tougher mile-and-a-halfs.”
ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’RE DOING NEXT SEASON? “We’ve got a small idea (smiles). Keep tuned in.”
