TEAM REPORTS (DAYTONA, FLA.) - TRD/NATIONWIDE POST-RACE NOTES

TONY STEWART, No. 20 Armor All Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finished:1st

How much did it help to have your teammate (Kyle Busch) with you in the closing laps?

“I just couldn’t handle as good as he could -- I think he had the best handling car out there, he could go anywhere he wanted on the race track. I couldn’t and that got us behind early in the race -- we lost the front end. We were battling the balance of the car, but this thing was so fast on the straight-aways. If I could get it to turn and rotate off the corner, I could carry a lot of momentum down the straight-away with this Armor All car. I’m just proud of all the Toyota people and all the work they’ve done in such a short amount of time to get us all in victory lane. That’s twice this week that we’ve gotten Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas in victory lane. I’m really proud of that -- I’m proud of the effort they’re putting into it. This is the only race we’re running for Armor All this year so I’m glad we were able to get the pole and win the race for them. I kept thinking we were going to have a one-two finish because Kyle (Busch) was good and I could stay with him. We were getting such odd runs toward the end of the race because everyone was trying to back-up and get the big run to make passes. We were carrying so much momentum into turn one that I couldn’t even get it to turn -- it pushed up off the bottom. That’s when the eight car (Martin Truex Jr.) got down underneath us and the No. 10 (Brian Vickers) car and we kind of got freight-trained to the outside. Once the No. 10 car got hung, I actually liked it and it actually helped my car turn. It was kind of a blessing in disguise to get that momentum to get up front and then I tried to get back down in front of Kyle and keep the two of us together. I felt like no matter what the order was, whether he was leading and I was behind or vice versa, as long as we could stay together then those guys were going to have a hard time with us. I think even if we had another 100 laps to run, they were going to have a hard time as long as Kyle and I were together.”

How did the warm temperatures affect the handling of your car today?

“We lost the handle on it about 20 laps into the first run. We never really got to run a lot the other day because of how many sets of tires are allotted. Just trying to keep up with what changes to make and trying not to burn our tires up so we had them for today -- that was our biggest feet.”

Can you talk about yourself and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s abilities to run so well on superspeedways?

“Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and I have had such good luck together -- we’ve run one-two in so many races -- at Talladega and even here at Daytona. You always know that when you beat a guy like him -- you’ve beaten one of the best. It’s a huge compliment and he’s a great guy and I think we both have a lot of mutual respect for each other when it comes to these superspeedways.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finished:2nd

You were up there in the front of the pack all day, you didn’t win, but you must be happy with your finish out there today?

“It was a good run for us in the Interstate Batteries Toyota. It’s just a shame to come in second with such a great race car. I had a good time out there and had a great race car definitely. It went wide open all the way around the race track. It was definitely a lot of fun to have a car that was driving that well. We just didn’t have the speed we needed. The good thing is that we had a good enough car to stay up there all day. Congratulations to Tony Stewart and guys, they deserve it. That is why we built this car to copy their car so we knew it was better. I’ve got to thank the team back in the shop -- I’m proud to see a Joe Gibbs car in victory lane even though it wasn’t us, but I wish it could have been us there. If I win tomorrow I’m going to be the happiest man alive. That is what I’m saving my win for -- tomorrow.”

Can you tell us about the run today and your second-place finish?

“It was a good run for us in the Interstate Batteries Toyota. Had a good time out there and had a great race car in the long run -- it was the best thing here. We could run all day long with it, wide open, all the way around the bottom of the race track, top of the race track, anywhere it wanted to go. So that was pretty cool. It was definitely a lot of fun to have a car driving that well. It reminded me of our car last year. We just didn't have the single-car speed built into it. (Tony) Stewart's car was awesome and we knew that down here testing. That's why we went back to the shop, cut our car up in order to try to match his a little bit. His was too slick to run on the bottom in the long haul to have a good-handling race car. His car was not handling very well. He got a lucky break there with the amount of laps of tires we had on it and how many laps to go. We were able to pit there -- that kind of paid dividends for him. Luckily we had a good enough car where we could stay up there all day, keep some good pushers behind us.”

Martin Truex complained you were blocking him there toward the end. Can you respond to that?

“What else you going to do, man? Shoot, he's pushing me through the tri-oval, wanting to spin me out. I'm sorry I saved it and kept it in front of him. Grow up, Bud. What do you want me to do, pull over?”

At what point do you stop trying to win and start trying to keep Tony (Stewart) up front?

“Dude, I was trying to keep myself where I needed to be. I was getting passed left and right all day long when I got out of line. I was just trying to stay in line. He got a run on me, tried to pull low; I blocked him low. And then he tried to pull high; I blocked him high. That's what you have to do if you want to finish up front in these restrictor plate races instead of laying over and letting those guys go by you. Then you get hung out to dry and you fall back. Junior made a move there to pass Tony for the lead I think on that restart with about nine to go, or pass me or something like that, and Stewart came and helped me. He got hung out and went all the way back to 12th place. What are you going to do? You're going to sit up there and try to do what you can in order to not only get get yourself propelled to the best possible finish you possibly can. I didn't have a car that was going to win the race. Stewart was far enough ahead where he was going to win already. Hell, I blocked him through three and four. He about spun out through three and four too and you don't hear him complaining.”