Quotes of the Week
"I say (to them [FOTA]): If you want to formulate your own rules, then you can organize your own championship – assuming the rules satisfy the safety requirements. But we have the Formula One world championship and we make the rules for that. We've been doing it for 60 years and we'll continue to do it in the future. Now we have a dispute and we'll see who prevails." Max Mosley, FIA President
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The toughest people to pass was my teammate at the end. I don’t mind racing wheel to wheel, but that got a little crazy out there. I just said (to Danica Patrick), ‘We’re going to have to talk.’ There’s racing and there’s what you’re looking at right now (video of Marco and Danica in a late battle during the Bombardier Learjet 550k). So I don’t know. I’m just a little bit disappointed. I think three out of the four of us get the camaraderie of Andretti Green Racing, so I think we have to have a sit-down." Marco Andretti, IndyCar driver, Andretti Green Racing, commenting on Danica’s driving tactics during the Texas Motor Speedway race “My Plan A is Chevrolet and my Plan B is Chevrolet and my Plan C is Chevrolet (laughter)." Rick Hendrick, Team Owner, Hendrick Motorsports, answered the question, "If Chevrolet were to say they can't give you another cent for the foreseeable future, would you continue to race Chevrolets on your own? Or do you have a Plan B"? "Big Bill France, NASCAR founder, and Bill Jr. ruled the sport like a father — at the end of the day they took care of their family. These guys don't care. They don't have any heart. Basically, it seems like they don't care about the sport, they just want to make a dollar. I truly have a sour taste of the management in our sport. They've forgotten the roots of how this sport was created, and who are the people buying the tickets, sitting in the stands. The people in the stands are me.“I think that when Richard Petty won the race at Daytona with an illegal engine, he won the race when Bodine did what he did. They were in competition. This was in practice and anyone in the garage area knows my circumstances and why I’m there. The rules are written for what they are but the bottom line is it always has ‘at NASCAR’s discretion.’ There’s a few things – ‘Hey, get this fixed before you come back through tech. Fix this before next week.’ So, I was wrong by expecting to get something out of it. A rule is a rule – that’s what they said. That’s the way it’s got to be. There’s no other game in town, so what do you do?" Carl Long, NASCAR driver, Front Row Motorsports, slams the National Stock Car Commission after they upheld the record 200 point, $200,000 penalty against him.
"First time when I jumped in a car at Long Beach, I asked if this was a dream and (Tim Cindric) said it was reality. It certainly feels like it's a dream, but I understand that it's not. And that's good news. Team Penske did an incredible job today. It was an incredible day for Team Penske. All the credit also goes to Ryan Briscoe and his team. They push us, and we push them, and together, we're pushing towards the top. Having first and second at Texas is not easy, so that's a compliment for everyone." (About passing for lead in the pits): "In the beginning of the race, we were saving fuel, but you're also trying to figure out what your car is doing and that what I was trying to do. The car was loose, and there were some moments out there. But we figured out what to do and great pit stops the guys put me up front. In the end it was 50 laps and full throttle. It was the toughest 50 laps that I had to go through, but we held it together." Helio Castroneves, IndyCar driver, Team Penske, commenting after winning the race at the Texas Motor Speedway
"What an awesome race car — what an awesome group, these guys here. I owe it all to them. It's great to be able to come back here and finally get this monkey off our back or whatever its been. I want to thank the fans and everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), all the guys at the shop. They do a phenomenal job for us. It's been a hard couple weeks. I'm out of breath — that was a lot of running right there. It was fun. This night was good. (Brad) Keselowski was better than us at the end of the race, but I was just trying to be conservative and not let anything happen — again. What a great place to do it at (Nashville). This is the team — this one here is for the team. I told them I was going to give them a piece of that guitar. I can always buy another one so I gave them pieces. I want to thank the fans. It's great for them coming out and sticking around and NOS Energy Drink, Z-Line Designs, everybody on this whole team, guys at the shop — they do a phenomenal job for us." Kyle Busch, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, Joe Gibbs Racing, commenting after he won the race at the Nashville Superspeedway and smashed his expensive Gibson guitar trophy in Victory Lane
“Breathe easy, boys, we’re gonna make it," Stewart radioed to his crew as he rolled through the final corner. “God, I’m proud of you guys. You make me look like a genius in here." After the race Stewart said, "I’ve always had a great group of people to work with at Gibbs, but it’s just a little different when it’s your own, you know, when you’re the one that’s got to be accountable for (it)." Tony Stewart, NASCAR driver and team owner, Stewart-Haas Racing, after coming from the back of the field to win NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway