BRAD KESELOWSKI (NO. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) Finished 13th 
Dodge Motorsports
“We came up just a bit short today, but it wasn’t from lack of effort. It was up and down, but we got a solid 13th out of it. It could have been a lot worse than that. I though at times it was going to be and at other times, I thought we had a shot at a top-10 finish. We dug hard, made improvements on the car and got a decent finish. We had a segment there with about 60 to go where we drove up through the field pretty good. We’ve had our high points and a few low points this year, but we made progress. We’re already looking forward to next year.”
JAY GUY (Crew Chief, No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger)
“It was a long hard-fought day for everybody with this Penske Dodge. The guys had phenomenal pit stops today and kept us going forward even when we had the pit road penalty. We’ve got a lot to build on in 2011. The whole Penske organization and all the folks at Dodge, they keep supporting us every week and we’re slowly making progress. I’m pretty optimistic for next year. We didn’t accomplish everything that we wanted to do, but there are growing pains involved. We had a lot of decent runs, but we also had our share of accidents and things happening that were out of our control. We persevered and kept digging. The guys never got down one time. That’s what it takes to be a team. You’ve got to keep everybody together and keep focusing on the big picture.”
KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Finished 18th
“It was just a tough day for our Miller Lite Dodge team. We really had running the high line around this place figured out in yesterday’s final practice and it showed at the beginning of the race. We started 15th, but blasted up to eight before the 00 (David Reutimann) got out of shape and up into the wall. We had nowhere to go and just plowed into the rear of his car and side swiped the fence. That took our entire aero package away and ended our chances of having another great finish here. Before the run-in, the car was a little bit loose, but as fast as the leaders until we got all bent up. Then we fought a tight condition for the rest of the race. It was just so bent up that all the adjustments did little to help. With about 100 laps to go, we stayed out and took the wave-around to get back on the lead lap. Then under yellow with 80 to go, we were able to put it up on plates and get the tow-in straightened out. That really got the car running better. We made a run back up into the top 15, but the 9 car checked up and the 98 blocked us. We caught a break when the caution came out for Kyle’s (Busch’s) crash and the leaders had pitted, but it was too little too late. We really wanted to have a great run here in our final race in the “Blue Deuce”, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
SAM HORNISH JR, (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) Finished 24th
“I’m proud of everyone on this Mobil 1 Dodge team. I got us behind a bit early in the race. I saw Kurt (Busch) check up and into the wall in front of me and had to slow down a bit. As soon as I did, the back end came out from under me. I couldn’t win for losing on that deal. I tried to do the right thing and make sure that I didn’t get into the wall. With just a little bit of lift, the amount of pitch it gives theses cars getting into the corner makes a big difference on how it handles. It’s unfortunate that we got behind. We got our car decent there for a while, but it just wasn’t enough. I’m proud of all these guys who worked hard every week. Knowing all year long that 2011 looked grim, it means a lot to me how hard they worked all season. I’ve got a lot of friends that work on this car and I hope that I have a chance to work with them again sometime down the road.
- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release
