Texas post-race quotes

CROWN ROYAL IROC SERIES TEXAS RACE QUOTES

Sebastien Bourdais, Champ Car World Series: Winner "It's quite special for an open-wheel driver to keep up with the NASCAR drivers here," said Bourdais. "These (NASCAR) guys have a lot of tricks, and they use them all the time. I practiced in the IROC cars here on Monday night and it was quite productive. I tried some different lines and they paid off.

"All the open-wheel guys were happy for me because we've been kicked around here for a while. I think they were excited that a fellow open-wheel driver won here tonight."

Mark Martin, NASCAR Nextel Cup: Finished Second ''The biggest chance we had was if he would have made a mistake. It didn't look like that would happen,'' said Martin. ''He (Bourdais) did an awesome job. He is an incredibly talented young race car driver."

Buddy Rice, IndyCar Series: Finished Third

(How was it running up front with everyone?) "Yeah, it was awesome. I had a good time. It was good to have a couple open-wheelers up there trying to work together. It was exciting. I have a little bit of seat time here racing in the dark in the IRL. I've always liked this place. I think this is my best finish I've ever had here at this track. I've been running up front a whole bunch of times. I've just never been able to get a solid finish. This is the first time to get one here and to do it in IROC in a car that I'm not familiar with."

(About getting teamed up on by Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr.): "It's just how it goes. I don't know if it's teaming up. Everybody is out there for themselves. It always helps that some of these guys have a little bit more experience. The IROC guys make everything so even. When the two cars got up front, I was still able to catch back up. It was just really hard to pass because the cars are so equal."

(About missing the Kurt Busch accident): "It was so close. I started to go in the inside and Hamilton was right on me. He started to ricochet off. Our cars hit and stay against the fence. So he hit, and I saw him start coming out so I dart to the right and Hamilton is pushing on me and we go shooting through there. I picked the right way, but it was definitely getting ready to get exciting there for a second."

(About points race): "We're only on the second race. Mark has a win and a second so he's pretty solid right now in the lead. There's still two more rounds so a lot can happen. We'll have to wait and see, but I'm having a blast. This is a great time for me." -More-

Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR Busch champion: Finished Fourth

(About the experience of bare bones racing) "It was cool, it was a lot of fun. Without spotters, You have to watch your mirrors when people were on your rear. You want to pass people before they even know you're there. It all makes for a lot of fun and you never know what's going to happen next."

(About his results) "I think I did a good job of picking lanes. My car was pushing in the beginning, but the new tires at the end really helped out."

Bobby Hamilton, NASCAR Craftsman Truck: fifth "It was a great day out there, a lot of fun. This is really great racing and I love working with these guys. The IROC folks produce a great product and really happy Crown Royal stepped up to do this with them. Getting an opportunity to race with these great champions is a really cool deal for me."

Danny Lasoski, World of Outlaws (Defending race winner): Finished Seventh "I think my problem was overdriving. I just wanted to win again so bad. You can't give these guys an inch or they'll definitely take a mile. I really want to win this one again."

Scott Pruett, Grand American co-champion: 12th

(Lap five accident) "I just got flat out run into from behind coming out of turn four. It's discouraging. We all just came out here to have a little fun. I just hate it. In my book that's just unprofessional. The race was just getting started and I was just settling in."

Kurt Busch, NASCAR Nextel Cup champion: 11th

(Accident) "This is four weeks in a row now with bad luck. I hope I can shake this luck off."

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