Fontana II: Dodge teams race quotes

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 22 America's Tire Dodge Charger) Finished 2nd

"I'm really proud of my team's effort today. Our America's Tire Dodge ran good all day. We just needed a little bit more speed to run with the 18 and 20. Our Dodge Challenger seems to be really, really good. We're just a little bit behind on the Charger program. But a solid run today. I thought that we had a shot at the 18 there at the end, just not fast enough."

THE RACE CAME DOWN TO A SHORT RUN?  "We just didn't have enough for the
18.  I think we could run with Kevin (Harvick), but once we got behind
in traffic it was really hard to make ground on the leaders.  It was a
solid second-place finish.  I thought that our car would draft better in
the pack and it just didn't happen.  It was a great race at Auto Club
Speedway.  A lot of cars with equal speed ran side-by-side and made it a
great race.  It was a lot fun.  A good point's day for us."

***

PAUL WOLFE (crew chief, No. 22 America's Tire Dodge Charger)

"A solid run for the team. Everybody is working hard trying to get wins. It's a little frustrating that we didn't beat that 18 car. We're just off a little bit on the mile-and-a-half tracks. We'll keep working hard. It was another great point's day for us. We've got five (races) to go and a nice point lead. Big picture for us is what's most important. A solid effort. Brad ran a smart race and the pit crew did their job when they had to all day. We'll take it and move on to Charlotte and get ready to show off that awesome Dodge Challenger that we have ready to go."

***

JUSTIN ALLGAIER (No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge Charger) Finished 8th

"The Verizon Dodge guys were awesome all day. My pit stops were just awesome all day. We had a fast race car. We weren't quite as good as some of these guys, but we felt like if we could stay up there that we could maintain our position and have a shot at the win at the end of the race. At the end of the race, I had a good run on the 99 and the 33 had a run to the top. I got my right side destroyed and didn't have enough right-front fender to stay up front. It was a frustrating finish for us as well as we ran all day. It was another top-10 finish and we'll head to Charlotte next week and try to get a win."

"We had a better car than where we finished. We weren't able to get the finish we wanted, but we got the right side torn up and this place is so aero dependent. I've got to thank all the guys back at the shop, the cars were awesome, the engines unbelievable. I wish we could have finished a little better, but we're going to Charlotte next week with a new Challenger and hopefully, we can get the Verizon Dodge in victory lane.

"I had a blast all day long. That's the most fun I've had in a long time. This race track is so big and to race like it was a Friday or Saturday night race was really cool. I'm really looking forward to coming back next spring.

"We felt like we had a fourth- or fifth-place car. We didn't feel like we could win the race, but the pit crew did an awesome job and the engine was unbelievable. We stayed up front, drove a safe race and was trying to make it to the end. We felt like we did that pretty well and then got together with Martin (Truex Jr.). I don't know exactly what happened. I got a run on the inside and I think (Kevin) Harvick might have gotten a run on the outside. It's unfortunate we got together and ended up with the finish we did.

"The top four cars were so even. We were good on the straightaways and corner exit and some of the other guys were a little better on corner entry. I'm pumped. We showed today what our Verizon Dodge team is really made of and how we should be running every week. We just need a little luck."

***

CHAD WALTER (crew chief, No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge Charger)

"Surprisingly, an easy day atop of the pit box. We really worked hard yesterday to get the car ready for the heat of the day today. We haven't run an afternoon race here in California in quite some time. We knew that it would be critical to have a lot of grip and we really didn't have to make major adjustments to the car. Maybe some air pressure adjustments, but that was about it. A solid run for us, that's for sure. Great pit stops by the crew all day. I can't thank the Penske pit-road crew guys enough today. They put us in great position all day and gave us an opportunity to win the race."

-source: dodge motorsports