What do you think of Atlanta losing a date?
"“I’m bummed out about that. Atlanta is one of my favorite race tracks. It’s a fun track and the fans are great there.”"
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Do you think if the Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski deal did not happen, you would have finished better than 23rd at Atlanta in March?
"“Yes, I would have ended up fifth. (Laughs) In fact, I was running fifth when that all went down in front of me. It seems like that is the way our year has gone. There is a reason for every bad finish we’ve had this season. I know everyone has a reason for a bad finish, but I think every bad finish we’ve had, except for one race, something bogus happened around us. That’s the frustrating thing about our season this year. Last year, there were a lot of bad finishes where you would say, ‘boy, we were terrible all weekend.’ But, this year, we have been upfront, running well and leading more laps than we ever have. Things have been good this year, but we haven’t been able to get the finishes that we deserve in a lot of places.”"
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From looking at the statistics, guys who have dirt track experience seem to run well at Atlanta. Why is that?
"“That’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re dirt tracking at 200 miles per hour around a big race track. You have to get up on the wheel to make things happen, but hold onto the car and don’t let it get out from underneath you. Most of the time, you’re really loose as the back end of the car is trying to come out from underneath you. It happens about every corner on every lap. It doesn’t matter what line you’re in either. You could be on the white line or all the way up at the wall. Either way, you’re loose all the way around the track. In order to be good on the long run, you have to be really loose on the start of it.”"
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