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Here's what drivers had to say after Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway:
Chase Elliott – winner: "What a day. … Many thanks to all our partners, my team, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet; there was obviously a lot of team work done today. We just had a plan and we performed very well. Obviously, it could have gone both ways, but fortunately everyone stayed together, stayed the course and had some help on the last lap with caution. I just enjoy all the support. It's amazing. This is special. It's close to home for me. It sounds a bit like a home race. "
Alex Bowman – finished second: "There was no plan for Turn 4, but unfortunately we were not there before the warning. Big accessories for Chevrolet and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. They brought some excellent racing cars here. We had a great Nationwide Chevrolet since the time we landed. We showed a lot of speed. We all stayed true to our plans and performed very well. Accessories for everyone at home at Hendrick Motorsports, in the factory, in the engine shop and for everyone who makes this deal possible. (If the warning did not come, would you have acted against Elliott?) Well, I'm not going to just let him win, right? I need to try. I knew I could go to his shift group. I was confident enough to be able to join his quarterback group in the tri-oval and who knows who will be the first to reach the line at that time. I thought I could do it, but it depends on the car behind you and where it is going. It would have been fun to try, but I'm happy for Chase. … I'm happy to change things. The year was tough and these guys deserve a lot better than their finishes. So getting into second place is not a win, but it's in the right direction. "
Ryan Preece – finished third: "It was awesome.I was only here another time and it was in Talladega in 2016 in an Xfinity car and I was third with three points to go, I went to get the hole from I was not going to do that today … Nice day for Kroger and JTG (Daugherty Racing) and hopefully we can continue this momentum. "
Joey Logano – finished fourth: "In the end, Kurt Busch had a big race and I felt that I had to block this. When I blocked that, I can not block both and (Chase Elliott) me under me. If I had chosen the bottom and the blocking (Elliott), I had (Alex Bowman) there and they would pass next to me as soon as they would form a race. I was not in a very good place. Once outside, I thought it would be a better place than the bottom, but the teammates did not fight to the end, which is a good thing for them because it allowed them to win. If they were found side by side, I think I could have done something but they were disinterested with each other. I really think that even though it was green to the end, it was exactly the same. There were no tracks built and no momentum went off. This is a difficult point. You think you are in a good position and every time you can take the first line during a last restart, you will do it, especially here in Talladega, but it's hard when the numbers are tight against you. a little. The team, however, did a good job and our Mustang was very fast and that's what we have to be proud of. "
Daniel Hemric – finished fifth: "Chevrolet and all the drivers and teams have worked hard to communicate here in recent weeks to remain dedicated and committed to each other. We talked about it in the past, but we never had such a unit on the circuit that we had today. This ultimately led to our best result as a group. I'm proud of that and all the Chevrolet drivers who stand together. The first goal was to make sure a bow tie was in Victory Lane today, and that's what happened today. I'm proud of all these guys. (Regarding the number of meetings with Chevy) Oh yes, there was a lot to make sure we were all on the same page. It was cool to see people doing the effort, then we do our job on the track and stay committed to each other. It is special. It's hard to take a lot of selfish pilots and put them aside to try to find the biggest cause, which was to bring Chevrolet to Victory Lane. That's what happened and I'm happy about that. "
Kurt Busch – finished sixth: "I think we had a great day with our Monster Energy Chevy. I just did not deliver the victory. I felt that I had it in my hands and dropped it. I did not take the right steps in the end for our Monster Energy Chevy to win. It's hard. I just did not do what I had to do to win the race. But overall, it's a great day for Chevrolet and everyone's teamwork. … Chase Elliott deserves the win. He did everything you needed to a teammate of a brand. He put himself in position at the end. I just did not know which way I had to borrow to enter turn 3 and found myself engulfed in the rough draft. (Reflections on the new aerodynamic package) I think that every constructor is well behaved. No way seemed more effective than in the past years. I would give the package a boost. … I just feel like I have given this one today. Our Monster Energy Chevy was fast and we are now going on a fast track of 1 mile with all the power. To have all this strength of support and all that power, I was looking forward to being in Dover all year long. "
Ryan Newman – finished seventh: "It was crazy. I took the inner line and started there and stayed there. I have never had many places to go, but in any case it was a good race and a good team effort. Proud of all the team to be able to stay together. I think we kept most of the race cars on the race track, which was probably very lucky. We will go to Dover. (Was he surprised by the dominance of Chevrolet?) No, honestly, it was mostly lucky. They orchestrated the stand well but I do not think it won them the win. … we put two tires on it at the end and we went there. We just ran out of time. I think we finished sixth, I feel like I'm ahead of one of these guys. It was a good race for the Ford Tassels. We have good points of stage and race. We must win. We must have a top five. We have the top 10 that rolls and that is good. We must continue in the right direction. (It was a different Talladega, using conical spacers rather than restriction plates?) I did not know it was very different. You had bigger races but the end result was basically the same. We are always at the mercy of the mistakes of others who will always be part of the race here. In the end, I am happy that all race cars have remained on the race track. "
Brendan Gaughan – finished eighth: "I was telling guys," I do not know what you think is so hard about it. I go every three months and I get into the top 10. "I miss this sport, it's a lot of fun, I do not miss it enough to want to be here every week, I know now that I can remember my breath for a minute and 45 seconds! It was quite impressive.Thank you to the Beard family, Richard Childress and ECR.I'm here four times a year and we have a chance to win every time we introduce ourselves. I like to drive for this team.It was unbelievable at the end of the race.I straightened up and I stayed under Ryan Newman.I sat down at the bottom and I tried d & # 39; I'll take eighth today. "
Aric Almirola – finished ninth: "We had a very good Ford Mustang Smithfield. I thought we had a car capable of winning but just a few mistakes on my part and then some things did not succeed. I went back to the first two or three places and I found myself behind once at the end of the race and I fell in the back. I had to fight very hard to get back into the top 10. I'm really proud of all our guys. I thought we had a car capable of winning and the circumstances and some things were not going as planned. The Fords were really fast. The only thing that makes me happy is that we finally stopped the bleeding. We had a really bad two weeks with Bristol and Richmond. We fell from the fifth to the eleventh. We stopped bleeding there, got another top 10 and are back on a good race track at Dover. "
Kyle Busch – finished 10th: "We left the front row and I thought the 1 (Kurt Busch) behind me would want to run for the win and not just stand behind Fords and Chevrolets and he would accompany us a little there. The team order prevailed I guess. This kind of sucked. We did not manage to run. As soon as he escaped from behind me and two others behind me doubled in width, then he sucked me into six rows. I had to try to recover after that and all I could get was what I had. When you were getting older with tires and the cars were starting to get badly handled a bit, it was interesting. We have more support, and yet the cars drive worse, I do not know how it is possible. It was just interesting to see how you could be everywhere and not get stuck. The guys were moving a little, you could do a little movement. There was a section of the race where the lower track did not move and the top track did not move – we were stuck in the same position as for eight laps. That was just about everything I really saw.
Daniel Suarez – finished 12th: "We had a very fast Orange Vanilla Coca-Cola Mustang today, but in the end we simply did not have the time to get down the path that allowed us to progress the best. I tried with a few laps to go, but that was wrong. With the new package, we are still trying to understand how the car reacts in different ways and things like that. Overall, we have escaped all the accidents and the Mustang # 41 guys are doing a good job and we continue to improve. "
Brad Keselowski – finished 13th: "Erik Jones and I had a fantastic race in the lead with three laps to go, but it did not work. The main accessories of the crew to have adapted and overcome when I slipped into our booth. "
Austin Dillon – finished 14th: "I thought Chevrolet did a great job today. The race was pretty good. We did not tear too much, and with all the strength of this new package, we could really move. If you were touched, you could try to save him, so I thought there were very good races going on today. I chose the outer track during the last run. Kyle Larson and I were tied to each other, but I do not think the outside works with the spoilers we have on our cars now. There is simply not enough grip until the end of a race. At the end of a race, it gets stronger. I am proud of all the members of this No. 3 Dow Chevrolet team for their efforts today. We head to Dover to try to win a victory for RCR and ECR. "
Ryan Blaney – finished 15th: "The race was tough today for the Menards / Knauf team. The new package allowed us to take action, but unfortunately we were out late and we did not have time to come back to the fore. "
Ty Dillon – finished 17th: "I am really proud of our efforts today. We want to win the Geico 500 but we won something today (first step), so it's still good. (How was the race today?) Crazy! It's crazy. Let's hope fans have appreciated, and that's all that matters. (What does a second win mean?) It's huge. I do not think anyone expected us to win two stages this year, so we're proud of that. We will continue to click. We were really pleased with the way we proceeded in Bristol and we were surprised to do it here in Talladega. Who knows how much we can still do, but I'm really proud. "
Jeffrey Earnhardt – finished 22nd: "Today has been a difficult day for the Xtreme Concepts team. I was tight all day and we did not start to progress, but at the end of the race, it was worse than all day. I really thought that in the last laps, we would rank among the top 10. I could not do anything to save him there. I took a side shot and then saw the rolling of the barrel. I'm just glad it's not worse. That's Talladega, however, you never know what you are going to get. We had two great cars this weekend and we ran well both. We will go back to what we have learned today and be ready to give another shot when we come back for the Cup in the fall. "
David Ragan – finished 23rd: "I was in the middle after taking the white flag and I escaped and destroyed the 24th (William Byron). I spun him by the nose and he gathered some other cars. This last wreck was my fault. I was pretty stupid to collapse like that when you run 10th or 15th in the last round. We did not have a chance to win. When you have three widths, there is nowhere to go and everyone pushed and shoved and my car just jumped to the side and when I corrected, I caught the left rear of 24 and the spun on my nose. It was unfortunate for our team. Our Mustang was fast all day and had a lot of fun but just made a stupid mistake in the end. (What he thought of the new package) I thought it was quite intense. I felt that there were times when guys were running very hard at the front and sometimes when guys got a single file and went up. You're going to have that in a 500-mile race. You can not run as hard for 500 miles without carnage. This first wreck set the tone and the guys relaxed a little. Cars run at 200 mph. It's exciting and hard to drive and you'll end up making mistakes. "
Kyle Larson – finished 24th: "At first I thought I was going to hit the inside wall and just before I got there, he started to lift himself up. It was probably the longest turnaround I've ever had. I did not know if it would stop one day. I knew I was rocking and I was just hoping I would not get close to the pound. It was a little scary, but I'm fine. Thanks to the fabulous Chip Ganassi Racing store for the construction of safe racing cars. As I said, it was scary, but I'm just grateful that I'm fine.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – finished 25th: "Our fifth Ford third was sporty all day" Stenhouse I said. "The No. 1 m dropped during the last rally, he was doing what he had to do to get inside, which sent us back. It was simply disappointing because we had such a good car to break a tire at the end and not get the finish we deserved. "
Daniel Hemric – finished 26th: "It's a successful day for us, that's for sure. Thank you to all members of this Caterpillar Camaro ZL1 Caterpillar # 8 Team for having persevered all year; It was the race we needed. We won stage points, brought home a clean Camaro and scored our first among the top five. We could not be too aggressive all day, but we did a great job from Chevrolet and all of our staff. We did everything in our power to stay together and, fortunately, we managed to keep our Chevrolet at the bottom of the list and a few of us are lined up together in the final laps. The race was wild. I have tried to remain dedicated and patient throughout the race and it was the most difficult thing for us. I am proud of all the efforts of all Chevrolet teams and drivers to bring Chevrolet back to victory, which helps us all on the builders side. Hope these fans enjoyed the show; I know I did it. "
Chris Buescher – finished 30th: "We have just returned (speaking of his accident at the end of the race). We had a good driving car and we were well placed with a handful of laps to go. We just turned right, were hit and turned right into the fence, destroyed our race and several race cars. It's typical of these race tracks. It gets frustrating every time you come to these places and something like that throughout the race. It's just not very fun.
Matt DiBenedetto – 31st completed: "I am tired of superspeedway racing for the year. Daytona – good car, good race, crashed. Here, I was fighting really hard at the end. Just struggled to keep up, but once we got up in second place, the cars did not stop going under the bend. But I do not know what happened. I saw (Chris) Buescher spinning and we absolutely spoiled him. I had nowhere to go, nothing to do – just speedway races. I'm sure I'd love it if it went in the opposite direction, but it seems like we're collapsing in each of those things. "
Denny Hamlin – finished 36th: "We had to start at the back and we are ranked in the top five. Then Bubba (Wallace) and Ryan (Blaney) bounced back on each other. Bubba stood on the side in front of me and I met him. That caused a bit of damage, and then we blew up a tire – Jimmie (Johnson) blew up a tire, without caution. Clint (Bowyer) blew a warning, sinking, no warning. Then we blew up a tire and no caution. We did not really have the opportunity to fix the problem the way we wanted it and ended our day. We've been lucky enough to miss a lot of superspeedway wrecks in the last four or five years, but today was the day we were unlucky.
"It's one of the things I felt I was doing everything I was supposed to do, but sometimes in a NASCAR race, when someone else makes a mistake, it's taken trap. That was the case today. I imagine that I might have been a little more aware of the guys I was running with. The tracks are big. It's very difficult to defend the lead once you get there. You must be on your guard more than ever with this package just because the races are huge. We have information, we will move to Daytona. "
Kevin Harvick – finished 38th: "I went to the back to start and I thought it would happen several times a day. I ended up there and it looked pretty tame, so I decided to go back to the front and get there quite easily. I do not know what happened. They all sank and slowed down. Someone knocked on the door and hit the wall. "
Bubba Wallace – finished 39th: "All I was trying to do was just avoid the wrecks. I do not want to go back to number 12 (Ryan Blaney). This is the last car I want to flounder. Had such a big race on him. And No. 22 (Joey Logano) stopped and he checked a little. I went to the bottom, where I was safe. I do not know if I've gone through his bumper or anything. But it made him rock and pushed me even further than I wanted to go. So, I went back up just to stay out of the apron and he just unloaded. It's just a shame, but I tried not to ruin my friend, Ryan, and it cost our day and a few others. I'm sorry. But we should have been destroyed a few times before. No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) had a big run against us and let me in the middle, so I appreciate that. We were fast. I was just trying to roll without destroying anyone and I destroyed myself.
Michael McDowell – finished 40th: "It looked like the 43 was really aggressive and made stupid moves at the start of the race. … it's early enough in the race to make stupid moves like that … to be so aggressive. Unfortunately for Ford, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw the 43 (Wallace) ride the race track and that was just about everything. It's disappointing. We had such good speed and such a great superspeedway program and we were really hopeful for today. Being out so early is very disappointing. It's out of our control though. This is part of the superspeedway races.
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