Quotes of the Week

JOHN BARNES, Co-owner, Panther Racing IRL team
"We would make it where we would race on Saturday to replace a Busch or ARCA race, and they [NASCAR] would race on Sunday," Barnes said. "I have no problem being second fiddle to them, I just want to get in front of their fans and show them what real racing is all about." (Recommending the idea of having IRL-NASCAR Nextel Cup combined events. Barnes thinks that even if the IRL event was positioned as a support race, Indy-style racing would benefit)

MARINO FRANCHITTI, ALMS driver, Andretti Green Racing
"It's typical Ryan. My brother [Dario] said he was brain dead and he does stuff like that and he never learns. You tell him and you tell him. I give people their own chance. I left him a little bit of room on the inside. You could see…. I saw the replay while I was sitting there waiting to get towed. He hardly had a wheel on us. Wiped us out." (A very disappointed Marino Franchitti commenting on Ryan Briscoe stuffing him into the tire barrier during the St. Petersburg ALMS race after Marino had such a promising start by leading the race)

GIL DE FERRAN, Sporting Director, Honda F1 team
"I think Marco [Andretti] is one of the bright young stars," de Ferran said. "He has shown tremendous potential at an early age. The people he's racing against are very good. We would be remiss if we weren't looking at promising talent from around the world. Marco is very mature and a very intelligent guy. He's very much in control of his world and his situation and that impressed me a lot. He's a tremendous talent in the car but his attitude and his head impressed me the most." (Commenting on Marco Andretti's recent tests in the Honda F1 car)

TONY KANAAN, IRL driver, Andretti Green Racing
"Let's make it clear. The band-aid was on the nose of my car, not on my nose. Although they fit here, it wasn't on my nose (laughter). You know me. After yesterday, I went back there. I went to dinner, a sponsor dinner, came back and the guys are still here. I looked at the guys, we have a mechanic, Steve Price, he's always hurt. If you see him, he always has a band-aid or something like that. This weekend, I had band-aids all over the place. I had a problem with my back because of the ALMS race in Sebring. I had to do a three and a half hour stint with no power steering so I kind of messed up my back, so my arm was a little sore. I had the same thing. They started to make fun of both of us. Then we looked at the car. First thing I said, "Hey, looks like Steve. It was all banged up, different colors." One of the guys said, "Well, we're missing some band-aids. I went and got some. We put it on without the clear tape. One of them tried to come off in warm-up, which I was very upset. When the car is good, you don't touch it, so I'm a bit superstitious. Let's put clear tape over those things. We left it there. I hope the car feels better now." (Third-place finisher Tony Kanaan's carried three bandages on the nosecone during the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Kanaan's car was damaged in an accident during Firestone Fast Six qualifications)

KYLE PETTY, NASCAR driver, Petty Enterprises
"My thoughts are you need to shut up and quit talking about it. We've had two Car of Tomorrow races. Same old Bristol. Same old Martinsville. Great finishes. Half car length finishes at both races. That's the closest racing we've had all year long. Ok? So, I guess you all are right. Everything I read in the paper and everything I see on TV, the Car of Tomorrow is a piece of crap and we shouldn't be running it."

TONY RAINES, NASCAR Nextel Cup driver
"I thought I raced him (Montoya) clean for 10 to 15 laps. I got by him coming off of (Turn) 4 and cleared him and he just dove under me entering (Turn) 1. We made contact and I backed into the wall." After the race, Newman went in search of Montoya, found him at his team hauler and asked him over to his car, where the two were engaged in a brief animated discussion. "I just wanted to ask him a question. I wanted to know if he had turned down on my me on the straightaway and he said he didn't," Newman said later.