Denny Hamlin rode shotgun with a fickle Lady Luck this season. (Photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)
A collection of off-beat and occasionally insightful remarks from the 2009 NASCAR season, compiled by Monte Dutton:
"When we used to run the 600, it was a six-hour race. It took all cotton-pickin’ day." - Richard Petty, on Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s Coca-Cola 600.
"We’ve more or less been talking around here about what kind of animal we need to sacrifice to get the finishes we deserve." - Scott Speed, joking (we hope).
"It’s like walking a tightrope for 500 miles and holding your breath the whole time. No other track is like that." - Greg Biffle, on Bristol.
"You can be aggressive or you can be conservative; either approach can be good or bad. And I don’t believe one approach works better than the other." - Jeff Gordon.
"It’s a free market of sorts. If you have the equipment and you meet the qualifications, come run with us." - Jimmie Johnson.
"Man, you all are too hard on him. It is, like, if somebody wrecks him, it is the end of the world. If he wrecks somebody, it is the end of the world. You know, give the guy a break. Everybody makes mistakes." - Martin Truex, referring to coverage of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"When I got a stock car team, I pretty much eliminated wanting to do anything outside of NASCAR for quite a while. When you start becoming an owner in a NASCAR team, you kind of have to pay attention to that." - Tony Stewart.
"They are not kidding when they say it’s like a bullring." - Australian driver Marcos Ambrose, on BMS.
"Another thing people may not know about me is that I have a strong sense of humor." - David Reutimann.
"I’m not a real ‘good-luck charm’ kind of guy. … I don’t like four-leaf clovers. I had one given to me at North Wilkesboro years ago, and I was wrecked on the pace lap." - Mark Martin.
"Pressure is part of the sport. It’s part of any sport. There’s pressure to do anything. We’re just in a pressure business." - Joey Logano.
"It’s more fear than anything: that I’m going to have to get a real job if I’m not successful." - Stewart, on why he’s been successful in a variety of series.
"Junior is good at dealing with pressure because he walks around with the weight of NASCAR on his shoulders every day." - Martin, referring to Earnhardt Jr.
"To me, you just have to go like hell and try as hard as you can every single lap, because track position is so important." - Johnson.
"The cars have changed, the speeds have changed and the asphalt has changed, but I don’t believe the driver’s thinking has changed one bit." - Jeff Gordon.
"I’ve told my engine department, ‘bring the biggest horsepower you can. If we go up in a ball of flames, we go up in a ball of flames." - Kurt Busch, before the Sprint All-Star Race.
"I keep thinking our luck just has to change, but then something happens, and I’m not so sure." - Denny Hamlin.
"You get a chance to turn right and left and be kind of crazy." - Kyle Busch, on road racing.
"I know some people have called it a flying brick, but I look at it as more of a rental car on steroids." - Patrick Carpentier, on the generic car.
"I’m not sure what it takes to win here because I haven’t won here." - Matt Kenseth, at Chicagoland.
"I think they wasted a lot of asphalt on straightaways. As a race-car driver, I like the corners." - Clint Bowyer.
"Well, you have two choices. You can either give up, or you can keep fighting. If you keep fighting, anything can happen." - Jeff Burton.
"In my head, I’m always 13th. I’m always on the outside looking in. I don’t ever want to get comfortable or think we’re safe." -Martin.
"I’m fully capable of running out of talent. I’ve done it before." - Ryan Newman.
"The winds have slowed down a little bit. It’s no longer a hurricane, it’s just a tropical storm right now." - Hamlin, offering a metaphor for the Chase.
"What the reality is, the racing decides." - Martin.
"I’ve always told my crew chief, whoever it is at the time, ‘If you give me a straight arrow, I’ll shoot it straight. But don’t expect me to shoot a crooked arrow to the pole.’" - Newman.
"At Martinsville, I always like to say it’s controlled chaos. What we ask our cars to do and how we ask them to do it is not natural." - Michael Waltrip.
"I’d rather go down fighting than flipping." - Martin.
"The closer you get to the equator, the more popular he is, I think." - Newman, on Juan Pablo Montoya.
"I hate looking at my stats." - Casey Mears.
"I believe we have a grade of ‘C.’ We were an ‘F’ in 2007. We were a ‘D’ in 2008. We are a ‘C’ now. That’s progress." - Michael Waltrip, on the team he owns.
"The backbone was there. We just had to branch out. Our new branches were new people." - Newman, mixing his metaphors.
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — After being collected in a multi-car accident during Wednesday’s afternoon practice, four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will have to go to a backup car for Thursday’s Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway.
Chad Knaus
Jimmie Johnson’s selection Monday as the Associated Press Athlete of the Year isn’t just a well-deserved honor for the four-time NASCAR champ, but validation for NASCAR’s place in the sporting world and a nice holiday antidote to all the recent athletes-gone-wild headlines.