Dodge teams Michigan race quotes

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 3rd

Brad Keselowski

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

“We were decent today, about a fifth to 10th-place car. Paul (Wolfe, crew chief) and the guys did a great job making the right pit calls and executing. We probably finished better than what we had in the car. It was a solid day. I’m proud of my team and the whole Miller Lite Dodge Charger effort here. It was a pretty good race, I hope everyone enjoyed it.

"It was a good run for the Miller Lite Dodge. The guys did a great job working on the car today. We executed well all day. Paul made some great call on the pit box and we were able to bring home a third-place finish. It's a great run for us here in Michigan, a solid day. I'm proud of my team. We gained some points and had another solid run.”

"HAS THE MILLER LITE DODGE TEAM PEAKED AT THE RIGHT TIME? “I think so. Right before the Chase is always the right time to peak, you just hope you can carry that momentum in the Chase. I feel pretty good about the next three; we’ll just have to see what we get there. It’s been a good ride the last three weeks.”

TALK ABOUT YOUR THIRD-PLACE FINISH TODAY. “We were decent today. Probably not as good as we needed to be to run with the 48, the 24, 18, those guys but probably a fifth to 10th-place car. Just executed really well. Had some good restarts. Had some good moves in traffic. Good pit stops, good strategy. Found our way up into the top five there with 75 to go. Just a really solid effort. We need just a little bit more speed. Seem to be executing fairly well with our team. I'm proud of that.

“Wish I had something more for the 48 and 18 there at the end, but it was just really kind of watching and hoping someone would make a mistake. I couldn't do anything on my own merit. Still a fun race, proud of the effort. The last few weeks are more than I could ever ask for.”

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PAUL WOLFE (Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T)

“We battled with it (the car) today. We made a lot of changes to try to be smart about what we were doing, trying to understand what was working and what wasn’t. At the last stop, we were having issues with the car being tight in, loose off. We weren’t able to fix both of them, so we decided to focus on what would make us the best. We tried to help the exit a little bit. We thought that would be where we could make some gains. So, we did. It was a great effort. Brad did an awesome job. I think we’ll continue to get better and better each week.

“I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job these past three weeks. I’m proud of all the effort. We’ve been working hard and the guys have made a lot of changes to our race cars back at the shop. We continue to make changes and we’ve got more to come. That’s the encouraging part. We’re definitely not at full capacity yet. We’ve just got to keep working hard.”

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KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 34th

“We blew a right front tire with three to go running just outside the top 10. It ruptured the radiator, so that was it for us.

“It’s just so typical of how a lot of our races on this type of track have gone lately. We’re good for about the first 15 laps in a run and then the handling goes away. We started really tight, adjusted on it and it went too loose, so loose that I got into the wall about a third of the way into the race. We were luck not to cut down a right-front tire before it happened.

“We thought if we went with rights only on one stop that it would give us track position and tighten up the car. We got up to third before the handling started going away. There were just way too many mood swings with our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge out there today.”