May 13, 2008 | Snap-on NASCAR Drivers

Darlington Raceway

May 9-10, 2008

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet, finished 10th:

"Toward the last third of the race, I drove way more aggressively and my car got a lot better too. But we didn't hit anything all night and that was a good thing. We were tight then loose then back to tight. We were our best there at the end but I'm proud of the AT&T team for fighting and because of that we were able to get another top 10."

Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished 12th:

"The Miller Lite team did a great job tonight. The Charlotte test paid dividends. With this right sides being the same as Charlotte here at Darlington, we just kept the same frame of mind for four days straight which really helped us. It will be nice to do that again at the All-Star race and the (Coca-Cola) 600 and try to stick with the same tire and give our team some continuity and hopefully we'll benefit from it."

Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, finished 14th:

"We gave away some points tonight. We had a great car for most of the night and had a good chance to win this thing. We could have easily moved up a couple of spots in the standings. Once again, we're in the wrong place at the wrong time. With the luck we've been having, I'm about ready to go see a witchdoctor to get this hex off us."

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, finished 15th:

"We didn't have the best night but it could have been a lot worse. Everyone on the Jack Daniel's Chevrolet kept their heads in the game and we came out of here with a halfway decent finish. Gil and all the boys kept working on it during every stop and we ended up okay. We got a lap down a couple of times but we stayed after it all night and finished on the lead lap. We'll take that and go on to Charlotte."

Mark Martin, No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet, finished 16th:

"This was a really tough race. But these guys on this U.S. Army team are just incredible. They just don't give up and they got us so many positions on pit road. We were able to just hang in there and bring home a respectable finish. You don't always have the fastest car out there and everything doesn't always go perfect. On those nights you just have to dig deep and give it all you have. That is what these guys did tonight and I'm incredibly proud to drive their car each week."

Bill Elliott, No. 21 Motorcraft Ford, finished 30th:

"Once everybody kind of got spread out it was just another race. The problem is it seems like after everybody runs a little bit, you had the cars that were super-fast and then you had a big group of everybody else. We fought tight there early in the race and lost a couple of laps and then we had a little problem in the pits and just kept digging through it. All in all, I think we learned a lot. At times we ran good and that's what we need to do is keep working on a baseline and continue to expand on that because it's just tough right now."

Paul Menard, No. 15 NIBCO/Menard's Chevrolet, finished 36th:

"It was just a tough weekend overall, for the Menards/Dale Earnhardt Inc. team. Doug and the boys on the team were awesome, as usual, but we just couldn't catch a break with the Lady in Black. It's a long season, so we're bound to have rough weekends like this one every now and again. We'll head home to Charlotte and rebound in the Coca-Cola 600 like the top team that I know we are."

Ryan Newman, No. 12 Alltel Dodge, finished 37th:

"It was just a disappointing night for the Alltel Dodge. We had problems throughout the race, and it ended up costing us in the points. We're going to have to work harder and hopefully rebound at Charlotte."

Sam Hornish Jr., No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge, finished 38th:

"I'm pretty sure that we had a right-side front tire go down. I went down there and the front end, as soon as I turned in it just went straight. The car was handling real good. We moved up a couple of spots already. I felt really good about what the Mobil 1 Dodge was going to be able to do today. The days when we feel like we're really out to lunch, we kind of go out and run without a hitch and then the days when we're going to go out there and get top-15, top-10 runs we have a problem. We'll have to figure out how to get around that sooner or later."

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, finished 39th:

"I hate it for the Shell-Penzoil team. It was my fault when I hit the wall. The guys did a great job in the garage and worked hard for me to get back on the track and because of that we were able to pick up a few positions."

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Clint Bowyer, No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet, finished second.

Steve Wallace, No. 66 Atreus Homes and Communities Chevrolet, finished fifth:

"Tonight was a great race for our Atreus Homes & Communities Chevrolet team. I got us in a hole by wrecking our primary car in practice, but my guys worked hard and our backup car was just as good. I had a little bit of a hard time figuring out the racetrack at first -- I've only been here one time before tonight -- but I knew once the race started, the pace would change and I'd have a good idea of what we needed. I'm really excited about the way our day turned out. Our team has a lot of momentum heading into Charlotte. I can't thank my guys enough; Harold Holly has turned this whole team around. I really think that we're going to be knocking on the door of victory lane pretty soon."

Marcos Ambrose, No. 59 Kingsford Hickory Charcoal Ford, finished 10th:

"We got a bit of damage early but it was a night when plenty of people got a lot more damage than we did. We fought the car all night and kept making small repairs at our stops and it was at its best towards the end of the race. This track is so tough that it's really about fighting the conditions rather than the competitors. That's what we did for a lot of the race tonight. We deserved to finish where we did tonight. We had a really good run in the Kingsford car and we were at the front when it matters in the last part of the race."

Kevin Harvick, No. 33 Camping World/RVs.com Chevrolet, finished 13th:

"We just missed it tonight. We were never in contention no matter how much we worked on the car. We ran hard and stayed out of trouble, and we were able to secure a decent finish for our Camping World Chevrolet."

Jeff Burton, No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet, finished 21st:

"It was a tough night for the Holiday Inn Racing team. We struggled early with the car early and just couldn't get the handling right. I got extremely tight and just lost it. I have to give my guys credit for getting us back out on the track and making up some ground over the closing laps. We'll go test this week at Charlotte and hopefully get the car dialed in for the race in two weeks. We need to keep progressing and making ourselves better."

Kelly Bires, No. 47 Clorox Ford, finished 24th:

"I made one small mistake there mid-race where we brushed the wall but we repaired it in the pits and I don't think we were alone on that count. We had new tires so we were really making a run there at the end and we would have grabbed another couple of spots. It would have been a really good recovery. The No. 5 car slowed, I think he was low on fuel or he missed a gear, and I was already around him but drilled from behind and it put us in the wall. It was one of those deals and not anyone's fault."

Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 25 Curly's Ford, finished 30th.