Keselowski and Hornish have hard time at Charlotte 300

Brad Keselowski (No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger) Finished 18th “It was very fast. We certainly had a car to win with the Discount Tire Dodge. Discount Tire does tires, not gas so they’ve got that part right (smiles). Just didn’t have any gas there at the end and they won’t run without that.”

CAN YOU LET THIS GO OR IS THIS REALLY MADDENING? “Yeah, it is what it is. You know, you have to understand that with this program, it’s about giving opportunities with different people, whether it’s Ryan Blaney who drives when I don’t or different pit crew members. We made sure none of the Cup guys were on this team tonight so there’s no risk of them getting hurt. We provided some opportunities to some other guys and some of them did great and obviously, we had some struggles in some other areas. That’s what this program is about. We win and lose as a team.”

YOU HAD A VERY FAST DODGE CHALLENGER BUT HAD A BOBBLE ON THAT LAST FUEL STOP. “Yeah, it’s unfortunate but the Discount Tire Dodge was fast and I was really proud of that. It’s a brand new car that Penske built and it ran with some good speed. I’m proud of that but obviously we didn’t get all the other pieces right that it takes to win a race. It takes a lot of pieces right to win. That’s okay. It’s just part of the deal. We’ll focus on tomorrow and get rolling.”

Jeremy Bullins (Crew Chief, No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger) YOU HAD A VERY FAST DODGE CHALLENGER TONIGHT BUT UNFORTUNATELY YOU DIDN’T GET THE FINISH THAT YOU DESERVED. “No we didn’t. Everybody at Penske Racing put a lot of effort into this car. It’s a brand new car and it’s a sister car to the car that we had at Indy. I’m really proud of the way it ran, strong all night. Just had a little bad luck there on that last pit stop and couldn’t get the fuel in that we needed to get to the end there. It’s a real tough break for Discount Tire and everybody that helps us out with these Challengers. We had another strong run and I really felt like we had a shot at the win.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO MAKE THAT GAS-AND-GO STOP AT THE END OF THE RACE? “That one was really difficult (smiles). It’s tough. I mean it’s a lot of pressure but at the end of the day, it’s what we’re supposed to do. We just didn’t do our job at the end there. Sorry to all the sponsors and fans that we didn’t get the finish that we deserved. We’ll keep running strong and get some more wins.”

COULD WE SEE THIS CAR AGAIN BEFORE THE END OF THE SEASON? “I’m hoping you will. As strong as it was, we might have to rearrange the schedule a little bit.”

Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 12 Wurth Dodge Challenger) Finished 35th “Early in the race and we thought we had a great car. I got restarted on the bottom when it was all dusty and I guess the end of the story is I got cleared up and I wasn’t clear. My spotter does a great job and made a mistake. I feel really bad that it cost the guys that work on the Wurth Dodge and it also cost Justin (Allgaier) and his guys, too. It’s real unfortunate but when you’re going the speeds that we’re going whether it’s the driver or the spotter, anybody makes a mistake it’s usually pretty costly.

“The spotter cleared me and I wasn’t quite clear, obviously. He jumped on the radio as soon as it happened and said ‘Hey man it’s all my fault. I’m sorry.’ Chris does a great job for me spotting on the Nationwide and the Cup side. This is the first incident where he’s made a bad call. It’s really tough for all of us on the Wurth Dodge and I feel really bad for Justin and his guys, too. It’s a bummer. I’ll forgive him and we’ll move on.”

Source: SRT Motorsports