2011 Red Bull Racing Teammates Brian Vickers & Kasey Kahne - Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

DOVER, Del. — Take away the final stint of Sunday’s AAA 400, and Red Bull Racing Team had a strong afternoon going for it. But it was the final 35 laps that defined the Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway.

The 10th and final caution flag waved on lap 362, and nearly the entire field pitted for fuel and tires. That included Kasey Kahne’s No. 4 and Brian Vickers’ No. 83 — each of which took two right-side tires. Kahne restarted third, and Vickers picked up eight positions in the pits to seventh.

But the cars were never the same on right-side rubber only, and while Kahne maintained to finish fourth, Vickers slid back to end up 14th.

“We had a strong Red Bull Toyota throughout the race and at times we were the best car, but at the end I got a little bit tight,” Kahne said. “Then I had a great restart and I thought we were going to get to second and Jimmie (Johnson) just was coming down getting into (turn) one, so I let him go rather than wreck him. That was kind of our race, but we ran well.”

The same went for Vickers. “The car just went to crap the last two runs compared to how it was the two or three runs before,” Vickers said. “Not sure what happened. We had a really good car for a while there, just over-adjusted at the end of the race.” He was referring to rounds of wedge in the right rear and air pressure adjustments that robbed the car of what Vickers wanted compared to earlier in the race — when he said, “We are close on the car, just need track position.”

Kahne’s finish backed up Vickers’ fifth-place run earlier this season in May. It was his best finish in 16 starts at Dover, fourth top five of 2011 and ninth top 10. For Vickers, 14th was his fourth top 15 in the past five races.

UP NEXT: Hollywood Casino 400, Sunday, Oct. 9, Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.

- Red Bull Racing Team, Press Release

2011 NSCS Andy Lally - Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

Mooresville, N.C. (10/3/11) -

While the team did not come up with the finish it had hoped for heading into the night, it not only increased the margin that secures it in the top-35, but gained ground on the 34th position. The No. 71 team is now only eleven points out of the 34th position. The team is on the verge of finishing the season in the top-35 of NASCAR’s Owner’s Point Standings for the second straight year.

Lally was a driver on the move Sunday. Lally ran a handful of laps up front and performed fifty five green flag passes; nineteen more than race winner Kurt Busch.

“We didn’t have the best day in the world, but we have a few good things to take with us into next week. Most importantly, we outperformed everyone we are close to in the point standings. We increased our lead over 36th and shortened the gap between us and 34th. There was a lot of congestion on track. We didn’t qualify as well as we wanted and it was tough to make up ground. We worked on our car all day and even spent a handful of laps racing up front during a pit cycle. It may not be the best run we’ve had all year, but we are certainly not going to hang our heads over this one.”

Team owner Kevin Buckler is pleased with his team’s progress in the points standings.

“First and foremost, we did what we came here to do. We leave here better positioned to finish in the top-35 than we entered. That is our biggest goal right now and we accomplished it. I feel like we got lost in the shuffle today. We didn’t qualify as well as we had hoped and struggled to make up track position on the tight and crowded racetrack. We will take the things we did right and work to build on that as we head into Kansas next week.”

Coverage of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

# # #

TRG is a full-service motorsports company offering a total driver ladder approach. This approach starts with track days, goes to club events, up into street stock series and culminates in the ultimate goal of professional motorsports. With sports car focused facilities in Petaluma, California (Infineon Raceway) and Mooresville, North Carolina, the team can offer turn-key support as well as arrive-and-drive programs.

The company’s NASCAR operations are headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina. The team fields a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry and has the capacity to run ARCA, Nationwide and the Camping World Truck Series.

The Racer’s Group was founded in 1993 and has been competing at the top level of motor racing. The team boasts Rolex Series GT championships in 2005 and 2006 and holds the record for the most wins in Grand-Am with 32. The team’s resume is highlighted by five championships, four Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona victories and a Le Mans 24 Hour win.

Detailed team info can be viewed at www.trgmotorsports.com and www.theracersgroup.com.

- TRG Motorsports, Press Release

Kurt Busch celebrates in Sunoco Victory Lane on Sunday at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. after winning the third Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the 2011 season.- Photo Credit: Tom Whitmore/Getty Images for NASCAR

Busch, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, drove away from Johnson on two late restarts, both of which featured slip-ups by Johnson that left him kicking himself after the race. Edwards led 116 of the first 176 laps, but suffered a self-inflicted wound when he was whistled for speeding on pit road on lap 261. He fell all the way back to 25th and was able to drive back to third, but ran out of time.

“It was a great race today for us” Busch said. “We almost had a perfect weekend. We missed the pole position by three thousandths of a second. We had our debriefings after practice and we knew we just had to perfect a few things. To just miss out on the pole was kind of a bummer, but to take the lead early on and lead laps – we’ve been in that position before, but as the race progresses, we lose a little bit of a handle, but today we were good.”

Busch took the lead on lap 3 and held it for 39 laps, but the car started to get worse as the race went on. He fell back to fifth in the middle of the race, complaining of an ill-handling car, even almost losing it when he went sideways on lap 173 before recovering. But the team was able to recover as the race went on.

“He was giving great feedback, and we were just trying to figure out how to get our car going,” said crew chief Steve Addington. “It was probably halfway through the race when we got a hold of what direction we needed, and we got the breaks we needed to make those adjustments.”

By lap 288, Busch was starting to head back up through the field. By lap 324, he was running second to Johnson. Then on lap 352, the caution came out when Mike Bliss hit the wall coming out of Turn 2. When the green flag flew on lap 359, Busch took the outside lane and passed Johnson to take the lead. Then when Greg Biffle spun on lap 363, Busch beat Johnson on the restart again at lap 366.

“With two restarts to go, I was on the outside of the 48 car, and I got to his high side and took the lead,” Busch said. “On the second one, we switched to two tires, beat Johnson out of the pits and had the inside lane on the restart.”

Afterwards, Johnson was lamenting the missed opportunity.

“I did a really good job up [on restarts] until those last two,” Johnson said. “I have to say, when you’re the leader you have a small advantage because you go when you want. But I blew it by spinning the tires, Kurt got a good launch and we were door to door going into Turn 1. Then the next one I was going to do the same thing back to him, and I didn’t time it right. I had too big of a gap and fell in behind him going into Turn 1. So I put that on me.”

Even after beating Johnson to the line on the restart from the outside the first time around, Busch chose the inside on the second one.

“The way that today went, I felt like the bottom lane was the preferred lane, and you really had to hit it perfect on that top side,” he said. “I was just going with the percentages. It was great that we were able to jump him on both restarts and pull away.”

As for Edwards, his day was a blazing success considering what it could have been without a car as good as his was. He led 116 laps, more than any other driver. It was something he’d predicted on Saturday, when he led 174 of 200 laps while winning the “OneMain Financial 200” NASCAR Nationwide Series race. So although the pit road mistake cost him, it only cost him two positions – the only drawback to that was that both drivers ahead of him were also in the Chase.

“It was a great day other than that feeling I had when I ruined it there on pit road,” Edwards said. “That’s about as small as you can feel in a race car. That last section [of pit road, crew chief Bob Osborne] and I actually discussed, it’s 25 feet 8 inches long, and we talked about that one and how I was not going to speed through it, and I just blasted through it. The other thing that was important was my guys sticking behind me, because they had every right to be really, really upset with me.

“We avoided a major disaster today. Fortunately we made it back up to the front, but I feel like I let everybody down there. I was having a bad time in the car. I was really frustrated with myself. Hopefully that lesson will pay off later.”

The effect of the day on the points standings was enormous. Edwards went from fourth in the Chase to a tie for the lead with Kevin Harvick, who is ahead by virtue of tiebreaker. Tony Stewart, who finished 25th, fell back to a tie for third, nine points back, after leading by seven points going into the race. And Busch and Johnson made huge leaps, erasing 15 and 16 points, respectively, off their deficits going into the race – Busch left tied with Stewart, while Johnson is now just 13 points back. In all, 15 points separates first and eighth place.

“Obviously we circled this one as a place to come to overcome some things, and the guys did a good job today,” Harvick said. “This isn’t a super strong racetrack for us, but we felt like we’ve been solid over the last couple of years, solid enough to get decent finishes and get out of here.”

It’s been said that everyone has a hiccup at one point or another in the Chase, and if that’s the case, today it was Stewart who had his. He was never a factor in the race.

“We just struggled with the whole package,” Stewart said. “Even when we got the balance halfway decent, we didn’t have speed. So we just missed it.”

A promising start to the day for Martin Truex, Jr. also went by the wayside. Truex, whose only career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win came here at Dover, was on the pole for the race. But after leading the first two laps, he went straight backwards. He ended up finishing 30th, four laps down.

There were 24 lead changes among 13 drivers over the day, and the race was slowed by 10 cautions for 44 laps. The average speed of the race was 119.413 mph, and it took 3 1/2 hours to run.

- Dover International Speedway, Press Release

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart (right), driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, talks over strategy with crew chief Darian Grubb (left) - Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images

Date: Oct. 2, 2011
Event: AAA 400 (Round 29 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (1-mile, concrete oval)
Start/Finish: 28^th/25^th (Running, completed 398 of 400 laps)
Winner: Kurt Busch of Penske Racing (Dodge)

Tony Stewart struggled with an ill-handling racecar and finished a disappointing 25^th in Sunday’s AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), reported early on that his car was tight in the center of the corner and it seemed that no matter what crew chief Darian Grubb threw at the problem, a solution could not be obtained. After starting 25^th, Stewart was never able to crack the top-20 and finished two laps behind the leaders when the checkered flag fell after 400 laps around the 1-mile, concrete oval.

“When you run 25^th and you’re two laps down, I don’t think you assess it as very good,” Stewart said. “We were terrible. It was just the whole package. Even when we got the balance halfway decent we didn’t have speed. We just missed it.”

With Stewart struggling with an ill-handling car, early leader Carl Edwards set a blistering pace, and with a caution-free segment of the race taking place during laps 46-138, the Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet went a lap down following a round of green-flag pit stops on lap 110.

From there, Stewart and Grubb tried valiantly to get the lap back, but with the car uncooperative and another extended green-flag run during laps 185-257, they continued to fall backward and ended up two laps off the pace.

“The biggest thing is just that we don’t have the concrete tracks figured out,” Grubb said. “It’s obvious. At Bristol (Tenn.) and Dover, we’ve just struggled for three years now with Tony there. We just need to figure out what we need to do. It’s not because of a lack of effort. We’re going to keep trying to find a few things and keep fighting.”

Stewart’s SHR teammate, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army ROTC Chevrolet Impala, finished 23^rd as he also struggled with the handling of his racecar.

Kurt Busch won the AAA 400 to score his 24^th career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his first at Dover.

Jimmie Johnson finished .908 of a second behind Kurt Busch in the runner-up spot, while Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five. Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Marcos Ambrose and Kevin Harvick comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 44 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish.

Stewart and Newman are both in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup and came into Dover first and 11^th, respectively, in the point standings. Stewart was seven points ahead of second-place Harvick, while Newman was 34 points out of the top spot. Stewart leaves Dover third in points, nine markers behind new Chase leader Harvick. Newman remained 11^th in the standings, but is now 41 points arrears Harvick.

Harvick and Edwards each have 2,122 points, but because Harvick has four wins compared to Edwards’ one, Harvick was awarded the top spot. Stewart and Kurt Busch each have 2,113 points as well as two wins this season, but Stewart’s two runner-up results compared to Busch’s lone second-place finish allowed Stewart possession of third place.

With seven races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

1. Kevin Harvick (2,122 points)

2. Carl Edwards (2,122 points, -0)

3. Tony Stewart (2,113 points, -9)

4. Kurt Busch (2,113 points, -9)

5. Jimmie Johnson (2,109 points, -13)

6. Brad Keselowski (2,108 points, -14)

7. Matt Kenseth (2,108 points, -14)

8. Kyle Busch (2,107 points, -15)

9. Jeff Gordon (2,103 points, -19)

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2,080 points, -34)

11. Ryan Newman (2,081 points, -41)

12. Denny Hamlin (2,054 points, -68)

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the fourth race of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup – is the Oct. 9 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 1 p.m.

- True Speed Communication for Stewart-Haas Racing, Press Release

2011 NSCS No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet Impala (driven by Regan Smith) - Photo Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR

DOVER, Del. (Oct. 2, 2011) –

The result for the Furniture Row Racing driver was his fourth straight top-20 finish, the first time he and the single car, Denver, Colo.-based team have strung together four top 20s. The top-20 streak started in Richmond (18th) and was followed in Chicago (17th) and last week in New Hampshire (10th).

“It’s nice to have consistency because this is what we stressed going into the final 10 races,” said Smith. “But we obviously want better and eventually string together top 15s and top 10s. We’re on the right path, but still need to improve. It’s been a fun season because we keep on seeing these improvements and that gives the entire Furniture Row Racing team a morale boost.”

Maneuvering around Dover’s all-concrete Monster Mile is no easy task, but Smith stayed out of trouble as he drove patiently to finish on the lead lap in his No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet.

“We got behind today, but with sound pit strategy and being calm, we managed to collectively work through the problems and post a respectable finish at a difficult track,” explained Smith. “We need to keep it up, because right now we’re getting ready for 2012.”

The Dover race winner was Kurt Busch. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth.

The next Sprint Cup race is Sunday (Oct. 9) at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

- DMF Communications for Furniture Row Racing, Press Release

Dodge Motorsports

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 1st

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR TEAM IS A CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER? “I feel like that we’re right in the mix. You just have to cover up those bad days. Tony Stewart struggled today. He’s going to be dropping back. You just have to run consistent. I have to thank all my sponsors. The Shell Saver Card, twenty-two cents a gallon off on Wednesday. Thanks to Sprint and all the sponsors at Penske Racing. It’s unbelievable – Coca-Cola, Lennox, Snap-On Tools. I just have to thanks all these guys.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT LAST RESTART? “I just wanted to get out in front of (Jimmie) Johnson. The first restart, I was on the high side. I didn’t know what to choose, low or high. I just wanted to get that jump on him and stretch our lead because I thought that he would reel us back in with about 10 to go. We just had to maintain and bring our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger to victory lane.”

HOW MUCH DID YOU GUYS HAVE TO CHANGE THINGS UP TODAY? “We just had to keep up with the track when it rubbered-in. The thing here at Dover is that the track gets darker and darker. That’s my fear. We made great adjustments during the race and found ourselves in victory lane.”

HOW CONSISTENT WAS YOUR CAR TODAY? “Right around half way, I was scared. I wasn’t sure which way to go. Steve (Addington) just kept making some air pressure adjustments in certain areas and the car just kept coming back to us. The first 100 were perfect. The last 100 were prefect.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WINNING AT DOVER? “It’s such an intense place. It’s hard to get the perfect handle on the race car. A driver really has to compensate a bit here, especially with the race track rubbering-in. To be able to conquer the Monster Mile, to have that Miles’ trophy now on the trophy shelf, I felt like I was missing something over the years. To make my first win here 11 years ago in 2000, it’s been an amazing journey. I didn’t think that it would take this long to get to victory lane, especially when I won my first-ever Truck race here. This is a tough race track and when you’re racing the best of the best, you have to be perfect You have to have a good team and I just have to thank Penske Racing for continuing to provide us the top-quality cars for what it takes.”

HOW MUCH DID YOU RELY ON YOUR DRAG RACING INSTINCTS ON THOSE LAST TWO RESTARTS? “The drag racing is a lot of fun. There’s a lot of technique and what you have to do to get your tires warm and to feel the traction when you’re coming up through the gears. It’s important. I love racing, I don’t care what it is. The way that you can get an advantage on guys on restarts is to feel the rear traction and if it’s slipping, to not be full-throttle and baby that throttle perfectly. I felt that was the difference-maker today. I was able to wrestle the lead away from (Jimmie) Johnson on the outside. On the final restart, when we had the inside lane, I pulled away with a great launch right out of the hole. Pro Stock racing, I have to thank all those guys for having fun and doing that. It’s all a matter of how your setup is for your own car. You have to get that throttle pedal just right on restarts. I’ve always prided myself in trying to get good restarts and not lose spots.”

WHAT WERE THE CRITERIA FOR YOUR DECISION IN DECIDING TO TAKE THE LOW OR HIGH LANE ON THE RESTARTS? “The way that today went, I felt like the bottom lane was the preferred lane and you really had to hit it perfect on that top side. I was just going with the percentages. I felt the bottom lane had the best chance of winning the race down into Turn 1 and clearing coming off of Turn 2. I’m glad I surprised Johnson by getting the lead on the outside. And then, I choose the inside to what I thought was the preferred line. It was great that I was able to jump him on both restarts and pull away. To beat you arch-nemesis, that’s just icing on the cake and that’s pretty sweet.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT MAKING THE RIGHT CHANGES TODAY DURING THE RACE? “For us, we almost had the perfect weekend with a pole position on Saturday, we just missed it by three-thousandths-of-a-second. And the way that we were communicating in our team debrief sessions, we knew that we were close. We knew that we just needed to fine-tune a couple of things. Whether it was qualifying trim or whether it was race trim, our car just had a good feel all weekend long. Last week, it was working out those new car blues that bit us. Today, a solid car.”

STEVE ADDINGTON (Crew Chief, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger)
“The biggest thing was that he was giving great feedback. We were just trying to figure out how to get our car going. It took our car 10 to 15 laps to settle in where we thought that we would be. We made some adjustments and brought it to life earlier in the runs and that was a big key for us getting on top of that and finding a direction. It was probably hallway through the race when we finally got a hold on what direction we needed and we got the breaks of getting the (pit) stops and make those adjustments.”

TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY HERE AT DOVER TODAY? “I felt like watching Kurt over the years here that he’s been really fast. The way that we went through practice and the adjustments that we made from practice to qualifying and to qualify second – so close to the pole – making the adjustments to go into the race like we did, we learned a lot from practice this week and that was a big key. (He) could come in here and win at Dover and that was just us giving him a good piece to do it.”

TRAVIS GEISLER (Director of Competition, Penske Racing)
“A great day. This is definitely awesome. We knew that the 22 was a good car. We ran up front all day. It was just a matter on how it was going to shake out in the end. To come down to the restart with the 48 and have Kurt just drive away was pretty awesome. That’s what Kurt is capable of doing and what this 22 team is made of. A great Shell/Pennzoil Dodge. To win in the Chase is awesome.

“The 2 car recovered really well today. They had a freak issue with the belt coming off the power steering and that set them back a bit. They did an awesome job hanging in there and getting a top-20 finish. We’ll take it and go on to Kansas.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 20th
“We had a really good car in clean air. We had a little problem with the power steering belt coming off, lost a lap and by the time we finally got back on the lead lap, we didn’t have any time left to gain back any of the track position we lost. It’s frustrating. I think we were good enough to get a solid run out of it, but ended up 20th. That’s the way it goes.”

AFTER YOU GOT BACK ON THE LEAD LAP, WHAT WAS THE ISSUE AROUND OTHER CARS? “I finally caught the back end of the field, but when I got up to the rear of a car, I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t get around them.”

KANSAS UP NEXT; LOOKING FORWARD TO RETURN TO A TRACK YOU’VE WON AT? “Absolutely. I’m certainly looking forward to that one; I’m looking forward to all of them. We’ve just got to keep digging.”

PAUL WOLFE (Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T)
“We used a little strategy early to gain track position. We felt like we had a top-10 car and just needed to keep working on it, but had the issue with the belt and lost that track position. The way everything fell there at the end didn’t go our way. We got our laps back, but it was too late in the race to make anything happen. You use your tires up trying to get to people to make the pace and once you get there, it’s just difficult to get around them. It definitely wasn’t the day we needed. We can’t haven another one of these days to have a shot at it (championship). Some things out of control today happened. We did the best we could to get the best finish.”

- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release

Ryan Newman in Car - Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images

DOVER, Del. (Oct. 2, 2011) –

Starting 20th for the 400-lap event at Dover International Speedway, Newman’s No. 39 U.S. Army ROTC Chevrolet struggled with track position at the all-concrete 1-mile oval.

“We just didn’t have it right all weekend,” said Newman. “We didn’t have any grip, which caused us to have poor track position all day. We tried a number of adjustments and pit strategies but nothing seemed to work in our favor. We have to put this weekend behind us and move on. Our Army Strong Soldiers fight adversity every day and they expect no less from their team. We won’t let them down. We’re a much better team than where we finished today.”

Newman’s crew chief Tony Gibson was equally disappointed in the performance.

“Ryan didn’t have much to work with and he got everything he could out of what he had to drive,” stated Gibson. “No matter how hard you try to better the car’s performance some days the dots just don’t connect. Today was one of those days. Believe me we worked hard and the pit crew did their job, but we just couldn’t put it all together. We’ll rebound, you can take that to the bank.”

Newman remained 11th in the Chase standings with seven races remaining. He is 41 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.

Newman’s teammate, Tony Stewart, came into the race as the points leader after winning the first two Chase events at Chicago and New Hampshire. But as was the case with Newman, Stewart also struggled, finishing 25th. He dropped to third in the Chase standings, nine points from first.

The race winner was Kurt Busch. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth.

The next Sprint Cup race is Sunday (Oct. 9) at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

###

Chase Point Standings After 3 of 10 Races
1. Kevin Harvick 2122 points*
2. Carl Edwards, 2122
3. Tony Stewart, 2113*
4. Kurt Busch, 2113
5. Jimmie Johnson, 2109
6. Brad Keselowski, 2108*
7. Matt Kenseth, 2108
8. Kyle Busch, 2107
9. Jeff Gordon, 2103
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2088
11. Ryan Newman, 2081
12. Denny Hamlin, 2054

*leads next opponent due to tiebreaker

- DMF Communications for U.S. Army Racing, Press Release

Team Chevy Logo

Kevin Harvick Takes Points Lead after Solid 10th Place Run at Dover

DOVER, Del. (October 2, 2011) – With three races of the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint (NSCS) Cup in the books, Jimmie Johnson led the six Team Chevy contenders in the battle for the title with a runner-up finish at Dover International Speedway behind the wheel of his No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet.

The strong run jumped Johnson to fifth in the standings, just 13 points out of the lead and just four points out of third place. The five-time defending NSCS champion led a race-high 157 laps in the AAA 400 at the Monster Mile.

Kevin Harvick once again sits atop the point standings after a solid 10th place finish in the No. 29 Rheem “Chasing the Cure” Chevrolet. Harvick started 22nd in the 43-car field and was credited with leading once for 10 laps.

Clint Bowyer, No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet finished eighth to give Team Chevy three of the top-10 finishers.

Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, is now third in the standings, only nine points behind the leader with seven races remaining in the Chase. He battled handling issues throughout the race to be scored 25th at the checkered flag.

Four-time NSCS champion Jeff Gordon powered the No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet to 12th in the final finishing order. Gordon is now ninth in the standings, a mere 19 points away from the top spot.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, suffered a setback with a sway bar mechanical failure early in the race; then a loose right front wheel late in the race. He finished 24th and now sits 10th in the standings, 34 points behind the leader.

Ryan Newman, No. 39 U.S. Army ROTC Chevrolet also battled handling issues throughout the 400-lap/400-mile race. He finished 23rd and sits 11th in points, 41 points out of the lead.

Kurt Busch (Dodge) was the race winner. Carl Edwards (Ford), Kasey Kahne (Toyota) and Matt Kenseth (Ford) complete the top five finishers.

The Series moves to Kansas Speedway on October 9 for Round 4 of the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2^ND:

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET – CHASE POINT LEADER:

KERRY THARP: Kevin, I know you were up front most of the day, the weather got a little sticky there at times, I’m sure the track conditions changed some, but you’re the points leader coming in here and after the third race, so you can’t really argue with that, can you. Kevin is tied with Carl Edwards for the number of points, but Kevin would get the higher seed due to the tie breaker rules.

KEVIN HARVICK: No, not at all. Obviously we circled this one as a place to come to, to overcome some things, and the guys did a good job today. We were just so loose on two tires, which is kind of backwards from what it should be, but we had to put two tires on there at the end to protect the track position side of it. So all in all it was okay.

Q. How have you circled Kansas, because that’s not a place you’ve had a lot of success, either?

KEVIN HARVICK: You must look at a different stat sheet than I do. We have run really well there the last few times and I think we should be fine.

Q. Looking for your first win, I guess is what I’m saying.

KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, if you’re looking for wins; you know, right now we are looking for a championship so whatever we have got to do to fight through that is what we’ll do. Obviously you need to run good at all of them. You can run bad at any of them to tell you the truth but Kansas has been a place where we have been pretty solid.

Q. Coming into Dover it’s usually pretty hot out there, how did it feel with the weather, and the rain through the cautions probably didn’t help too much, but as far as temperature goes inside.

KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, inside the car, obviously cool days are great for us. But I think I would rather have had a hotter day than today, just because I felt like our car was better in practice when temperatures were warmer. It seemed like the groove that I was running in practice really wasn’t there for us today because our car was too loose.

So, you know, it was good for inside the car but not great for the handling conditions of our Rheem Chevrolet.

Q. I think 11 points changes during the first 26 races; why does it seem like more this year than maybe in the past?

KEVIN HARVICK: I think the competition level is so even. I don’t think you’re going to see anybody come in here and dominate like you have before, as far as just taking off and running away. You’re going to be consistent and solid and it’s just a matter of keeping yourself in it until you get to the last couple of races and if you can keep yourself in contention, hopefully you’ve eliminated most of the other guys in the Chase.

Q. The new points system this year, do you think that plays a factor in how you look at the competition, seeing, wow, they are only two back or five back or the Top 5 or ten back or something like?

KEVIN HARVICK: It’s definitely easier to add up.

I think the points system definitely has changed the complexion of having a bad day. I think when you have a bad day, it hurts you worse than it had in the past. Maybe it just seems that way, but it also seems like if you can win some races, you can make up ground fairly quick and get up front and get the bonus points and the things you need to do.

A lot of those guys that were pretty far back, that everybody thought were pretty far back had a pretty great day today and won’t seem that far back anymore. You just have to take it one week at a time and I would much rather be sitting on top of the points three weeks in than sitting 12th. So we’ll just keep at it.

KERRY THARP: Only 15 points separate the top eight; 15 points separate the top eight drivers.

Q. Did anything surprise you from the way this race went, the other competitors, Jimmy being strong, Carl being up there; did anything surprise you today?

KEVIN HARVICK: You look at this racetrack, obviously the 48 has had a lot of success here and the 18 has had success and the 99 has had success. So it’s been a good racetrack for those guys, and obviously not a super strong racetrack for us. But we felt like we had been solid over the last couple of years not to win the race but solid enough to get decent finishes and get out of here.

KERRY THARP: Thank you so much and congratulations on taking over the points lead and we’ll see you at Kansas. Thank you.

Our race runner up is Jimmie Johnson, five-time NASCAR Sprint such series defending champion and Jimmie comes back with a strong second place finish here today. And talk about that, Jimmie. You certainly had a car that could you had a race winning car and certainly you were strong and a tired day and certainly one of those tracks you feel like you needed to excel at that.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Obviously a great day for us, to lead that many laps and to have great stops on pit road across the board, very, very strong effort. Wish that we could be one spot better but I just did not get two good restarts at the end of that thing and cost myself.

So all in all, though, exactly what we needed. We needed to run in the top three here at one of our better racetracks, and mission accomplished.

KERRY THARP: After today you are in fifth place, just 15 points out of the lead. So you made up a lot of ground today here at Dover.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Are we out of it? Last week I was considered done.

KERRY THARP: Jimmie, you are never out of it.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Just making sure, Kerry.

Q. Coming here to Dover for a third race in the Chase, do you think that plays into the factor of how the Chase shakes out; when you won your past championships and prior years past, it was the second race; do you think it makes a difference or it benefitted you more that it’s the third race in the Chase?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I don’t think it really matters to be honest with you. When I looked at the schedule, with Atlanta not being in the Chase, that’s been a tough track for us to consistently run well at and Chicago has been a more consistent track. My focus was more on the Chicago Atlanta switch. Didn’t really matter to know. I was happy to that I was in the Chase; that Dover was in the Chase.

Q. You mentioned the last two restarts, and Kurt looked like in a pro stock the way he took off; was that a case of him being so much better or you not hitting your mark right?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Well, I did a really good job, up until those last two. I have to say, when you’re the leader, you have a small advantage, because you go when you want. I blew it by spinning the tires. Kurt got a good launch, and we were door to door going into one, and he was able to get by on the outside.

And then the next one, I was going to try to do that same thing back to him, and I was just trying to time it when he was going to accelerate. And I didn’t time it right. And I had too big of a gap, and fell in behind him going into turn one.

I put it on me, because the starts I had earlier in the day, regardless of the lane, leading or not yard guys, I cleared them typically going into one so, it’s on me.

Q. The two of you have had really very similar seasons, both of you have won one time and won once, and both of you could have run a number of other races. The regular season is sort of graded on a curve for the Chase, but the Chase is just a system that rewards consistency. Have either of you ever had seasons when you have actually been more consistent?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Is that a brain teaser? You’re making me think, man.

Q. Tony Stewart complains that we don’t make him think and now you complain that we do.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: (Laughing).

Q. Are you proud of your damn consistency?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I think that the year that we raced Jeff for the championship, I know in the Chase, at least, we won a lot of races. I feel like that was maybe my most consistent year. I don’t know how the regular season was.

But you know, victory lane, there’s nothing like it. I wish that especially in the first 26, the consistency wasn’t there, but we went to victory lane more; would have been a better regular season for me.

Q. We have seen in the first three races, a pattern of you being up there, contending for top five finishes in Chicago, you run out of gas the final lap. You go to New Hampshire, you were on track for a top ten finish and you struggle with Kyle Busch’s contact in the final laps, and then here, it looked like you led the most laps, you’re in contention to win, and then you end up finishing second. Do you feel like you’ve left a lot of points on the table the first three races and do you look back and say, oh, that’s going to hurt me down the road? Or are you confident with the speed you’ve shown in the first three races and you’re saying, okay, I feel like I’m in good position for the final seven.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I look at it and say we left points on the table. New Hampshire, for sure all three of them, absolutely, without a doubt. Not getting the restart I needed today at the end, that’s on me and no one else.

Definitely. This Chase is so tough to know what it’s going to take, and I just we look at the 14 car, and what he did in the first two races and then the struggles they had today. I think it speaks to how tough these ten races are going to be and how you think somebody is on fire and the fire can go out.

So we’ll just keep fighting hard. I hate leaving points on the table, and we have these first three.

Q. You both (Carl Edwards) talked about essentially mistakes that you made today that prevented you from winning. How do you get over that? How long does that take? What’s that process in moving forward?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: If I was Carl, I wouldn’t get over that mistake.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I maybe wouldn’t show up next week.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: (Laughing). Not sure we answered your question.

Q. Inaudible.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Definitely, giving up a win by not getting a good restart; I’ll think about it tonight. And certainly disappointed in the fact that I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity I had up front.

But finishing second, big picture wise, we’ll take it. It’s not the end of the world, but the mistake’s on me.

Q. Did you say that maybe you had something on one of your tires on that restart? And also, can were you concerned at all just restarting against Kurt Busch and knowing if you had contact, then, oh my gosh, this could lead to other stuff?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: No, it didn’t cross my mind at all. It was just another guy to race, another car to worry about fighting for the win with. I didn’t think twice about Kurt being out there.

We raced hard and clean and did what we both needed to on the track, so that’s a good thing. Coming around to get the green, there’s a lot of rubber chunks laying around and I picked up a piece of rubber and I could feel it on the tire kind of thumping as I was coming around. It could have been on the rear. I think it might have, but I didn’t want to climb out of the race car saying, I had stuff on my tires and that’s what messed it up. I should have done a better job of cleaning my tires and worked harder to get it off. Whatever it is, it’s still on me.

But I did feel like I had a little pick up there right before I went to the gas are for the start itself.

Q. How glad are you guys that it wasn’t a mileage race today?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Very glad. Very happy that it wasn’t. Racing, worrying about that stuff, it has not been our strong suit but it’s an area we are working hard to get better in and happy to know it didn’t come down to that.

KERRY THARP: Jimmie, thank you and good luck at Kansas.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports …

About Chevrolet

Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 120 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com .

- Team Chevy, Press Release

Carl Edwards - Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

Edwards, Kenseth Lead Roush Fenway with top-five finishes at Dover

DOVER, Del. (Oct. 2, 2011) – Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth finished third and fifth respectively to lead the organization’s strong effort in the AAA 400 Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. Edwards dominated early, leading 116 laps in the race, and used the strong performance to move into a tie for the Sprint Cup points lead. With three of 10 Chase races in the books Kenseth leaves Dover tied for sixth; 14 points out of first.

David Ragan and Greg Biffle finished 21st and 27th in the race. Biffle was top five early, but had to battle back from an early commitment cone penalty. He was running back inside the top 10, when he made hard contact with the inside wall off turn four late in the race.

Edwards and Kenseth each made strong bids for victory. Edwards was forced to race back onto the lead lap after a late pit-road speeding penalty. Kenseth and crew chief Jimmy Fennig elected four tires late in the race and were never quite able to recover from the loss of track position. Still, both were able to post top-five finishes on the day; keeping their championship hopes alive.

Roush Fenway returns to action next weekend at Kansas Motor Speedway. Roush Fenway has won three times and led over 750 laps in Sprint Cup action at Kansas.

- Roush Fenway Racing, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

Camry driver Kyle Busch (sixth) also finished in the top-10 at the one-mile concrete oval — his 17th top-10 of 2011.

Mayetta, N.J.-native Martin Truex Jr. (30th) started the race from the pole position for his sixth career NSCS pole.

Other Toyota drivers in the field included David Reutimann (13th), Brian Vickers (14th), Denny Hamlin (18th), Bobby Labonte (26th), Joey Logano (29th), Casey Mears (35th), Joe Nemechek (39th) and Michael McDowell (40th).

Busch is now eighth in the unofficial NSCS point standings — 15 points behind leader Kevin Harvick — after three of 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup races. Hamlin remains 12th in the standings — 68 points behind the leader.

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 4th

How was your car today? “We had a strong Red Bull Toyota throughout the race and at times we were the best car, but at the end I got a little bit tight. Then I had a great restart and I thought we were going to get to second and Jimmie (Johnson) just was coming down getting into (turn) one, so I let him go rather than wreck him. That was kind of our race, but we ran well. The team’s still fighting hard even though there’s some uncertainty with the guys, some of the guys. The Red Bull guys are still fighting hard and doing a really good job. Kenny Francis (crew chief) called a good race and we were right there all day.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 6th

How would you assess your race day? “I don’t know, it was alright. We had a pretty decent Interstate Batteries Camry and fought for a top-10 spot all day long. When it was too tight, it just didn’t have enough turn to keep speed in it and when it was too loose there was just no rear grip to go fast. Just missed a little bit. Track position was a lot and we kept our track position today, which is good. We fought hard and we held in there as hard as we could and to come out here with a sixth.”

How do you look at the Chase with seven more races after closing in on the points margin? “It’s deceiving because you shave points off, but then you lose two spots . It’s alright. It’s the margin. You’re back, which is all that matters. We’re still in the thing, so you keep fighting and keep doing what you know how to do and hope that your Michigan setup works pretty good at Kansas.”

Are you glad you don’t have to come back to a track like Dover this year? “There’s nothing wrong with Dover. Dover is a great race track — it’s fun. This is one of our better race tracks. We’d like to come back here more rather than a place like Loudon or Talladega or something like that. There’s some good tracks coming up. Anything can happen, you know we saw it today. (Tony) Stewart won the first two races and didn’t run very good at all today. You just keep fighting. What are we now, seven long more weeks.”

Did you think you would get a better finish today? “It’s hard to put it in perspective that we feel good about a sixth. You know, we came out of the pits there the last stop and were fourth and got up to third and I felt like if the car would just stay where it had been all day — just a little bit tight — we would have been able to hold those guys off. But, we went so loose. We have no idea why it went that loose. I was just barely hanging on the last 30 laps of the race. Lucky to come out of here with a sixth. It’s better that we got there than we fell further back.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 13th

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 14th

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 18th

Were you battling a tight race car during the race? “Yeah, we were pretty much tight all day, just couldn’t really get a feel for it. No matter what we did, really it stayed tight all day. It was kind of — we kind of didn’t have that good of a car today.”

What challenges does a tight race car present to your race team? “Well, we couldn’t get to the throttle on exit because of it. With this race track you really have to be able to put the power down and on this one we just couldn’t. Our front end wouldn’t hold it.”

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Grilling.com Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 26th

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 29th

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 30th

CASEY MEARS, No. 13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 35th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 39th

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing, LLC Toyota Camry, HP Racing Finishing Position: 40th

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

Team Chevy Logo

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND:

ON HIS RACE:

“Great run. Certainly wish we could have finished one spot better, but just didn’t get a good restart the last two restarts. I just didn’t get good one. Being on the outside there for me on that second one. I was lucky to get to the bottom or I think I would have had difficulties with Kasey Kahne and the No. 99 (Carl Edwards). But, all-in-all, it was an awesome day. Very very strong performance on pit road; on the race track; race strategy and everything. So, very very proud of the effort today. Wish it could be one better, but this exactly what we needed for this championship Chase.”

NOW YOU ARE UP INSIDE THE TOP-FIVE IN POINTS, IT HAS TO BE NICE TO GET CLOSER TO THE FRONT SPOT:

“Does that mean you’re going to leave me alone? All you media people leave me alone about being down in points? (LAUGHS)

YES, I’LL BE THE LAST ONE TO EVER ASK YOU ABOUT IT, HOW ABOUT THAT? “(LAUGHS)

“It’s all good! Yes, certainly we are going the right direction. At Chicago we ran so good. Even at Loudon we were going to have a decent day, it didn’t turn out. I am happy today we finished up front. We ran up front. There is still a lot of racing left. We came into this Chase wondering what happened to the No. 14 (Tony Stewart). Then the No. 14 is on fire and where did the No. 14 end up today. It just shows how inconsistent this Chase is going to be.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM “CHASING THE CURE” CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH-POINTS LEADER: ON HIS RACE:

“We are excited. Our Rheem Chevrolet was good today and we will just keep rolling.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM “CHASING THE CURE” CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH-POINTS LEADER: ON HIS RACE: “We are excited. Our Rheem Chevrolet was good today and we will just keep rolling.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET – FINISHED 12^TH

YOU STARTED 34^TH AND ENDED UP 12^TH. YOU’RE NOT HAPPY WITH THAT BUT WHAT’S UP WITH THOSE RESTARTS? WAS THAT THE PROBLEM TODAY?

“Yeah, that’s been a struggle for us here at this track this year. It’s like there is no air in the front tires for the first eight laps and so we just don’t have any speed to take off and then once we get going there, then we’ve got a great race car. It started off good and we worked our way forward pretty quick from that 34^th position, which we were hoping to do; but once we got up there I made some mistakes today and we just didn’t have it on the restarts. Other than that, we had a great fight from this race team. I’m so proud of the effort. We’ve just got to run better than that.”

YOU LOST FOUR POSITIONS IN THE POINTS AND ARE NOW 9^TH. GOING TO KANSAS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL HAVE THERE?

“Well, we gained on some and lost on some others. It’s so tight right there; all the way back to 9^th or 10^th. Kansas is a great track for us. I can’t wait to get there. If we can run the way we ran there earlier in the year, we’ll make up a bunch of those points that we lost today.”

YOU PRACTICED WELL BUT HAD A BAD QUALIFYING EFFORT. DID YOU HAVE A FEEL ON HOW TODAY WAS GOING TO GO?

“I knew it was going to be tough. It doesn’t matter how good your race car is; well, unless you’re Carl Edwards. They had an awesome race car. But you’ve got to have position here. It wasn’t so much the 34^th. We actually took off there at the beginning and made some good passes but as the race went on, the restarts just killed us. The front tires just would not hook up. And we really struggled getting the car to roll through the center until we got 12 to 15 laps, and then we were just about as good as anybody. And so, it was a struggle. We finished 12^th. We salvaged something out of it. It could have been a lot worse and we go on to Kansas.”

HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE YOUR CHANCES AT THIS POINT? YOU OBVIOUSLY DON’T HAVE THE START YOU WANTED FOR THE CHASE
“No, I knew this was going to be a struggle for us. I think Chicago was a big surprise for us. I think had we finished good in Chicago, had the run that we had in New Hampshire, which we thought we could have; and then came here and had a 12^th place finish, I’d be feeling pretty good about it. So, you know again, it all depends on the average finish. So that means we have to go and perform better. Every time we have a finish like this it means we’ve got to perform that much better in the next couple of races.”

DID THE TRACK CHANGE DURING THE RACE?

“I thought it was pretty standard. I think the pace was a little bit higher than normal and the grip was a little bit better just because of the cool temperatures.”

AND YOU FIGURED JIMMIE JOHNSON WAS GOING TO BE GOOD HERE

“Well, I think had they not qualified as good as they had, it might have been a little bit tougher for them. But they qualified so good they were able to maintain that track position. You get Jimmie and that team a good qualifying effort here, they’re going to be tough to beat and they were.”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET – FINISHED 11^TH:

“We didn’t do ourselves too many favors in the pits today but the Cat team rallied when we needed to and got a decent finish. We were tight off the corners early on but were actually a little loose at the end of the race.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET – FINISHED 25^TH:

WHAT WERE YOU STRUGGLING WITH THE MOST?

“Just the whole package. Even when we got the balance half-way decent it didn’t have speed. So we just missed it.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE POINTS RIGHT NOW?

“Well, we’ve got seven weeks to worry about it. So we’ll see.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 U.S. ARMY ROTC CHEVROLET, FINISHED 23RD.

“We just didn’t have it right all weekend,” said Newman. “We didn’t have any grip, which caused us to have poor track position all day. We tried a number of adjustments and pit strategies but nothing seemed to work in our favor. We have to put this weekend behind us and move on. We’re a much better team than where we finished today.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET – FINISHED 24^TH:

REGARDING THE LOOSE WHEEL

“I didn’t think it could make it many more laps so we had to come in and fix that and that got us behind pretty bad and from there on it was a little bit too late to play catch up at that point.”

WHAT WAS THE EMOTION LIKE BECAUSE YOU HAD RALLIED BACK AT THAT POINT

“That’s racing. That is all I can say. I have had a lot of stuff happen to me over the years good and bad and you just have to roll with the punches. I don’t think I am B.S.ing myself when I think that we brought a good car to the track. We improved it from practice and I thought we weren’t really that good in practice and I thought we improved on it and we kind of went toward where Jimmie was and it helped my car so we know that was a good direction so we know that for next time we come here because I really have a hard time with this place lately and need to get something figured out here. There was a couple promising things today but we didn’t finish like we wanted to. “

DID YOU THINK THE ORIGINAL INCIDENT WAS MORE SERIOUS AND DID YOU THINK YOUR TEAM WOULD BE ABLE TO GET YOU BACK OUT THERE?

“Well, I figured we would be able to fix it but I didn’t know how many laps down we would be and they fixed it really quick. It just sort of all worked out the way it did. I wasn’t too competitive with a broken sway bar arm and we were going to get lapped if the caution hadn’t come out. The caution came out and kind of saved us and we were able to fix it and lose only one lap and then we raced our way into the “Lucky Dog” and got the next caution. It was a bunch of luck right there, pure luck to get that lap back. The guys worked really hard but if the circumstances hadn’t come with the cautions it would have taken us longer to get there and we would have eventually got back.

“The loose wheel cost us a lot and that happens and those guys are doing the best job they can and they had a couple of really good pit stops today and a really good week last week and we’ll just try not to have loose wheels next time. But there is not much you can do and I have a great bunch of guys, happy to go to the race track with them and try to do better. We had a pretty good car and ran well and we didn’t do anything stupid we just kind of got snake-bit there a little bit today so we can’t be too upset at ourselves.”

IS IT MORE DISAPPOINTING TO LOSE A TOP-TEN OPPORTUNITY OR MORE BECAUSE OF THE POINTS?

“I think more than anything I would like to run as well as I think we should and like today I wish we would have finished in the top-10 like I think we could have and to show what we are capable of doing first and foremost before I even think about points and other things. We are a good team and we have showcased that several times this year and if you really study today’s race we had a really good car and we weren’t as fast as the guys up front but we were better than we have been here in a long time and I have had some rough runs here lately and haven’t got this place figured out yet or what we need, but we are getting better.”

NOW WHAT FOR YOU GUYS? YOU ARE THIRTY-SOME POINTS BACK TO THE LEADER

“Just try and win a race. To win a race and see what happens. See if you can knock it in half, who knows. You can’t quit. You have that opportunity there and we have a hot pass to the garage area and you are going to go in there and check it out. We have an opportunity to race in the Chase and we are still alive and we will keep racing as hard as we can till the last lap at Homestead. One of the things I learned a long time ago was that if you wreck out or something you go back out there and finish the race and run as hard as you can. It’s really hard to look yourself in the mirror when you don’t and when you don’t give it your all even when it doesn’t look great and your opportunity to win a championship doesn’t look great. It’s hard to look yourself in the mirror when you don’t try hard every time and every lap.

About Chevrolet

Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 120 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com .

- Team Chevy, Press Release

Ford Racing

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion –

A GOOD DAY, BUT GUYS YOU’RE RACING IN THE CHASE FINISHED AHEAD OF YOU. “I can only drive this car. We can only work on this car and can’t control what anybody else does. We had a pretty solid day today. We were able to lead a little bit. There were times in the race when we were pretty dominant. We didn’t have our worst run at the end and were able to drive back to fifth. My guys did a good job on pit road, so we’ll just keep working on it.”

HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO GET A GOOD FINISH LIKE THIS? “I was hoping for a little better at times, but it’s important. As good as everybody is these days and as equal as everybody is, it’s important to get a good finish every week. Then you have some of these tracks that you feel are your best, you need to be in the top five to be able to stay in the hunt.”

WERE YOU HAPPY WITH THE WAY YOU RAN? “On one run we ran down the 48 and at that point we were good enough to win, but the rest of the runs we weren’t good enough to win. The 48 was just dominant and the 22 got real good there on short runs toward the end. They got their car better at the end. We got off about three runs from the end and never quite got it back to that for some reason.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion – “You just want to put yourself in that position, but we weren’t quite good enough to win. Depending on what call and where you restarted, I think we might have been top-five there at the end. A lot of guys took two tires. I didn’t as many guys would, so it’s one of those things where I felt we were a fourth to seventh-place car at worst and we finished seventh after being turned on lap four. As I was spinning I thought, ‘Okay, the day is over already,’ but it was a solid day. It was something we needed after the last two weeks. Obviously, we want to try to win, but at least we were there all day.”

THAT WAS QUITE A SAVE. “Denny had a nose right there, but it was lap four. Those guys would expect you to give them some room, but he just stuffed it down in there and jacked me sideways. It was no surprise, and as I started spinning toward the wall I just hammered the throttle. I didn’t think it was gonna hit the wall, but then I was afraid that everybody behind me would come piling in. I’d like to say it was all driver, but luckily I tapped the brake and kept it on the throttle it straightened back up to where I didn’t stop in front of anybody and, thank God, everybody behind us was alert and kind of got it slowed down. I’d say it was 60 percent driver and 40 percent luck. I’ll give myself a little bit of credit.”

MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion – “We’ve been bashed up pretty good the last month, so it’s just good to come back with a solid day. We should have finished better than ninth, but we played it safe there and took four tires at the end. I’m proud of the team. They’ve stood by me after a tough month and I’m looking forward to getting to Kansas.”

YOU LIKE RUNNING HERE DON’T YOU? “We’ve just got a good setup, that’s all. We worked well here in the spring and we worked well here in the fall. I think when we hit on a setup we can come back to it and it feels right and I give good direction.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion – PRESS CONFERENCE –

“It was a great day other than that feeling I had when I ruined it there on pit road. That’s about as small as you can feel in a race car. We talked about it before the race. We looked at the pit road speeding lines and that last line Bob and I actually discussed the last section – it’s 25-feet, 8-inches long – and we talked about that one and how I was not gonna speed through it and I just blasted right through it, so we were very, very fortunate. As frustrated as I am with myself for messing that up, I’m really, really grateful for the gift that was given to us with that caution and the ability to come back up there. The other thing that was really important to me was my guys sticking behind me because they had every right to be really, really upset with me, so it ended up to be a good finish. I had a good time racing there with Jimmie the last couple of laps. That was fun.”

HOW DO YOU GET OVER A MISTAKE LIKE THAT? “It is tough. It’s frustrating. If I were Jimmie I would be so frustrated I gave up that win, I mean he otherwise had a perfect day. It would probably bother me all week if I were Jimmie (joking). I go shooting, that helps (joking). It is tough. I think someone wrote a long time ago, I don’t remember which book it was, but my buddy Carl Fredrickson had this book at his house and it said that you don’t succeed by being the guy that does everything perfect, you succeed by being the guy that minimizes the mistakes because everyone is going to make mistakes. They are very difficult to get over. Today, I think both of us were fortunate. We finished up front. We didn’t cost ourselves a ton of points, but we’re race car drivers. We’re gonna think about what we did wrong and try not to do it again, but it seems like as soon as you’ve got everything figured out, you start forgetting things you remembered a long time ago and start making the same mistakes over again. It’s very difficult.”

WITHOUT THAT MISTAKE DO YOU WIN THIS RACE GOING AWAY? “It’s real easy to say if we didn’t make that mistake we would have won. I definitely took myself out of a position to fight for the win by doing that, so that’s something that’s painful. I’m gonna think about it. I’m gonna think about it all the way home. I’ll lay in bed and my wife is gonna yell at me and tell me to get over it and that’s just how it goes. That’s how racing is, but, to me, the neatest part is that Bob and my guys made sure and told me they were behind me and were excited to go to Kansas. That really felt good, but you do feel kind of like you’re on an island sometimes when you make those kind of mistakes. You just feel like I’ve got all these people behind me and all these folks working so hard and that’s a tough thing to swallow, but that’s part of this sport.”

IS THAT THE FIRST TIME YOU HAVE BEEN CAUGHT SPEEDING ON PIT ROAD? “That’s the first time I’ve been caught speeding on pit road all year, but I’ve done it like 15 times in the Nationwide Series. That’s a tough one.”

WERE YOU GLAD IT WASN’T A FUEL MILEAGE RACE? “We get pretty good fuel mileage with our Ford and we worked on it hard, so, to me, the fuel mileage races I look at as an opportunity. I’m sure as soon as I say that I’ll get bit by one and it’ll get me, but I was glad we raced to the finish today. I thought that was a lot of fun.”

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion – “We fought all race and our team never gave up. At times, our UPS team had speed, but we got a lap down and then with the way the cautions came out and pit sequences fell, we just couldn’t get on a roll. Drew [Blickensderfer] made some great calls in the pits and we adjusted all day and were able to take the wave around to get back up on the lead lap. We had a pretty good car all day; not the best car, but we were able to get back up and gain some spots in the end. We’ll learn from this and move on to Kansas.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Fusion – “It wasn’t as good of a finish as we wanted, but the guys did a good job over the course of the race making the car better. We ended the race the best we were all day, and that’s what we really need to focus on. That’s just going to help us the next time we return to a track.”

J.J. YELEY – No. 38 “Drive Sober, Arrive Alive” Ford Fusion – “You know the saying, ‘If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all?’ Unfortunately, that’s the kind of day we had in our No. 38 ‘Drive Sober’ Ford Fusion today. It started with a loose plug wire and then we had a setback with a penalty for a pit road violation and then we blew a tire and got into the wall. Not the day we were hoping for with the ‘Drive Sober’ campaign. Our Ford Fusion actually was pretty good. We just had all these other things trip us up.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Kurt Busch - Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

This was Busch’s 2nd series win of the 2011 season, his 24th series career win and his 1st series win at “The Monster Mile.”

Coming in third behind Busch and Johnson (who led the most laps – 157 of 400) was Carl Edwards, followed by Kasey Kahne finishing fourth and Matt Kenseth finishing in fifth.

Rounding out the top-ten finishers were Kyle Busch finishing in sixth, AJ Allmendinger seventh, Clint Bowyer eighth, Marcos Ambrose ninth and Kevin Harvick finishing in the tenth position.

Third-place finisher, Carl Edwards, is now tied with Kevin Harvick in the points for the lead, but has fewer wins and is credited with being in 2nd-place in the NSCS point standings.

Last week’s race winner and was the series points leader coming into Dover, Tony Stewart, finished in 25th and now sits 9-points behind Harvick and Edwards for third-place (also tied in the points with race winner Busch, but has a better season record).

RACE NOTES:

Best Finish for Chase Driver: Kurt Busch, 1st
Worse Finish for Chase Driver: Tony Stewart, 25th
Average Speed: 119.413 MPH
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 30 Mins, 59 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.908 Seconds
Lead Changes: 24 among 13 drivers
Cautions: 10 for 44 laps
Attendance: 83,000

Unofficial Top-12 in the Point Standings: 1. Kevin Harvick – 2122 (Leader) 2. Carl Edwards – 2122 (-0 Points Behind the Leader) 3. Tony Stewart – 2113 (-9) 4. Kurt Busch – 2113 (-9) 5. Jimmie Johnson – 2109 (-13) 6. Brad Keselowski – 108 (-14) 7. Matt Kenseth – 2108 (-14) 8. Kyle Busch – 2107 (-15) 9. Jeff Gordon – 2103 (-19) 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2088 (-34)
11. Ryan Newman – 2081 (-41) 12. Denny Hamlin – 2054 (-68)

Next Up: The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, October 9th, with ESPN beginning their (pre-race) coverage at 1:00 PM (EDT).

2011 NSCS AAA 400 Race Results

(i) Ineligible for Points in this Series
# Denotes Rookie

Carl Edwards does a backflip to celebrate winning - Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

Edwards, who led 179 laps of the 200 that were run, received his 7th series win of the 2011 season, his 36th series career win and his 3rd series win at Dover International Speedway.

Following Edwards to the drop of the checkered flag were Brad Keselowski (finishing 0.791 seconds behind) coming in second, Clint Bowyer third, Kasey Kahne fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (who now leads Elliott Sadler by 22 points in the standings) finishing in the fifth position.

Rounding out the top-ten finishing positions were Trevor Bayne finishing in sixth, Reed Sorenson seventh, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, Ryan Truex eighth, Mike Bliss ninth and Justin Allgaier finishing in tenth.

RACE NOTES:

Average Speed: 117.321 MPH
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 42 Mins, 17 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.791 Seconds
Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 22 laps
Attendance: 38,000

Unofficial Top-Ten in the Points Standings: 1. Ricky Stenhouse – 1025 (Leader) 2. Elliott Sadler – 1003 (-22 Points Behind The Leader) 3. Reed Sorenson – 976 (-49) 4. Aric Almirola – 951 (-74) 5. Justin Allgaier – 939 (-86) 6. Jason Leffler – 884 (-141) 7. Kenny Wallace – 841 (-184) 8. Steve Wallace – 815 (-210) 9. Brian Scott – 811 (-214) 10. Michael Annett – 804 (-221).

Next Up: The Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, Oct. 8th, with ESPN2 beginning their (pre-race) coverage at 3:00 PM (EDT).

2011 NNS OneMain Financial 200 Race Results

(i) Ineligible for Points in this Series
# Denotes Rookie