Running Their Mouth: 2007 3M Performance 400 at Michigan Rain Delay
March 21, 2022 August 20, 2007 Beth Lunkenheimer
Each week, we'll go through all the media reports, interviews, PR and all our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Nextel Cup race to capture the story of how the weekend unfolded. It's the most original commentary you'll ever find; the truth, coming straight out of the mouths of the drivers, crew members and the car owners themselves. This week, here's a sneak peek at what a select few were thinking during the rain delays for the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
"We've just been playing Nintendo in the motorhome, and we got cabin fever last night and we went to the university in Adrian and they let us use the gym there, so me and my trainer, Dean, and my motor coach driver, Tom, we went and worked out. And then we came back to the motorhome for as long as we could, and we took our little Polaris out and ran around the the infield in the rain and met some folks, and had a pretty good time." – Carl Edwards
"Really, I have just been bored. We came up here to race. With the weather, we've just spent a lot of time in the rain or just waiting. There is not a lot to do in these motorhomes. You run out of movies to watch, TV shows and these satellite dishes don't work when it rains as hard as it has. You just wait and hope it quits raining so you can get out on the track." – Kasey Kahne
"Well, it's really, really frustrating to have such good cars over the last month, month and a half and have potential top five, potentially wins possibly, but sure top-10 finishes ruined and go by the wayside with issues and gremlins, a lot of stuff that's in our control. And we tore up a lot of motors because of either my mistakes or some kind, like this weekend we had a bad master cylinder in the clutch. Someone had put it together backwards and it slit the clutch, burnt the clutch out and cost us a lot of practice time and it may have hurt the motor." – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"The waiting part stinks because you don't really have a schedule that you can stick to. You try to stay close and just hear what you hear as it comes along." – Martin Truex Jr.
"I think the standing around is the nuisance. We come here to race and do our thing, and we want to get this done and move on the next event. Guys like me, we eat all day – and that's a nuisance. That's about it. The rain is just something we have to deal with." – Earl Barban, spotter for David Gilliland
"It just puts everything behind when you've got so many people here because we've got a lot of people here that's normally back at the shop working and it just kind of puts everything behind. Actually we had a test planned for today and tomorrow at St. Louis, which it's raining there, so we cancelled that. It's just trying to get everything back and get ready to go to Bristol and Fontana. I think we could actually run it Wednesday, just so we could get out of here at a decent time Wednesday." – Donnie Wingo, crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya
"Hopefully that (postponing the race until the end of the year) will not be an issue. NASCAR has always had thing under control and they continue to have things under control. They have an A-plan, a B-plan and a C-plan so I'm sure those guys have everything taken care of. Basically I try not to worry about stuff that is not under my control." – Tony Glover, team manager of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
"I've woken up a lot of mornings over the years and pretty much knew that it wasn't going to happen, we weren't going to race. I'm a weather nut anyway; I love the Weather Channel, that's one of my favorite channels. I've got all of them – Weather Channel, AccuWeather, NOAA, everything in the world – where I can click on it. Everything says 'rain' today. Usually – and I've got four of them – when three of the four say 'rain,' it's going to rain. Like last weekend at Watkins Glen, for qualifying, two of the four said 'rain' on qualifying day, so it was 50-50, and it rained." – Eddie Wood, co-owner of the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion
"You're all pumped up, no matter what happens, in the morning. You're getting your stuff ready and getting prepared for the race. The weather has just really let everybody down and it doesn't look much better for tomorrow. Hopefully we get it in sometime. You get all pumped up ready and you're figuring out your car and the inspection process is coming up and then it's like 'OK this is it. We're done for the day.' It's frustrating. I just hope we get in sometime before the end of the year [laughs]." – Frank Kerr, crew chief for the No. 00 Domino's Toyota Camry
"Everything, to me is a building block. You know, you go through your career and you do different things, and now I look back and it just seemed like yesterday you were starting all of this building, and now you look back at all the things that you accomplished and all the things you did – and, really, how hard it was to do at that point in time. In some ways it was easy and in some ways it was very difficult, but it's still a special part.
"It's time to reflect back on all the people that supported you, helped you and did all the things that they sacrificed to help you, and that's what it means to you today. It's a very special part." – Bill Elliott on being inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame
Beth Lunkenheimer
Content Director Beth heads up management of our 30-person staff, acting as Tom's main assistant with technology and personnel while working as Frontstretch's Truck Series expert. The author of Truckin' Thursdays and the coordinator of the site's pre and post-race coverage, she also runs a periodic charity column that spotlights when NASCAR gives back. A childhood transplant to Texas, Beth is a 15-year writing veteran who has contributed content to BRANDT and Athlon Sports, among other outlets.
https://frontstretch.com/author/bethl/
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