Tony Stewart surged near the end of the Pepsi Max 400 ahead of Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman to win Sunday at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Point leader Johnson extended his margin to 36 points over second place contender Denny Hamlin while Stewart moved to within 107 points of Johnson.

All top five finishers expressed their thoughts before the green flag and after the checkers for race 30 of 36 in the long but fast NASCAR season.

Tony Stewart (No.14 Chevrolet) Finished first

Before:
“We’re not out until we’re mathematically out,” Stewart said. “Who would have dreamed we would have two weeks in a row like we had the first two weeks. So it’s proof it can happen. Talladega is still on the schedule (laughs) so that can jumble everything up too. So, we’ve just got to go out and do what we did at Kansas and that’s just go out and try to win the race and take what it gives us.”

After:
“We have won because the pit crew gave us a chance and that is all you can ask for,” Stewart said.

“I was all over the track today trying to find different spots. It seemed like at the beginning of a run, and the later the day got, the more we could stay down on the bottom and be decent. “It is just having the confidence to hunt around when you need it to and then get out of your comfort zone and move to a different spot.”

Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Chevy) Finished second

Before:
“California is one of those deals where you better show up fairly close or you are going to struggle,” Bowyer said. “You might get yourself a decent top-10 finish but you are going to fight long and hard for it all weekend long.”

After:
“Tony (Stewart) just beat us there at the end,” Bowyer said. “It was a good day for us. We will regroup and hopefully get us another win. I’m happy to get things turned around. After the last two weeks we had. I’m frustrated. I want to redeem myself.”

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Chevrolet) Finished third

Before:
“I really enjoy the race track,” Johnson said. “I enjoy the weather, the atmosphere, In N Out Burger, Mexican restaurants I am fond of in the area. It is always good to go home. There is a certain feeling about it. I won my first race there. My 48th race there and there are a lot of cool things about that race track for me. Oh yea, fish tacos, lots of lime. Post race add a Corona to the mix and we are in good shape.”

After:
“One race down, still in the points lead, but a lot of racing left,” Johnson said. “Just a great performance. Great day overall. We certainly wanted to be in victory lane, but if we can finish in the top three week in and week out you’re going to have a shot come Homestead and that’s all we’re after.”

Kasey Kahne (No.9 Ford) Finished fourth

Before:
“I like California,” Kahne said. “California doesn’t have a lot of banking but it is a pretty fast track. I think, like every track, getting the car to handle in the corners is the biggest thing. It’s a two-mile track and the front and back stretches are pretty long.

After:
“We made some gains and it was actually nice,” Kahne said. “I felt like a driver again, so it was kind of cool. It definitely got better. It was a handful. It was tough and we had to work on it a little bit and lost some positions doing that, but once we got it where we knew we needed it, the car wasn’t too bad.”

Ryan Newman (No. 39 Chevrolet) Finished fifth

Before:
We had made some big improvements as a team on our speedway program,” Newman said: “So we’re looking forward to the return trip to California.. We definitely want to show how strong our program is and get a good finish at California this weekend.”

After:
A great day for Stewart-Haas Racing,” Newman said. “Can’t really complain a whole lot. We started off tight and got it loose and then got it good at the end. Had a little beatin’ and bangin’ there with the No. 29 (Kevin Harvick) car, not sure what his deal was.”

FYI WIRZ is the swift presentation of pertinent motorsports topics compiled and condensed by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com. Quotes provided by NASCAR and Sprint Cup team media.

ABOUT DWIGHT
Dwight Drum, a member of the National Motorsports Press Association, began in motorsports as a photojournalist and writer with Stripbike.com in 1998 and as editor created Zoomster.com (1999) and Racetake.com (2007). He has interviewed almost every big name in NASCAR, NHRA and IndyCar. He also has experience covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has two stories in the 2010 book “Chicken Soup for the Soul: NASCAR.”

Photo credit: Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com.

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