Brendan Gaughan Post Race Quotes - Daytona

BRENDAN GAUGHAN - No. 10 International MAXX Force Diesel Ford F-150 - (finished 34th, qualified 28th) - We're perfectly fine. The Circle Bar Racing team builds great Ford pick up trucks. I feel bad for the International MAXX Force guys. Anybody that was watching that understands anything about racing can understand that Kyle [Busch] just will say 'I'll race tomorrow' he doesn't care about this. This is his fun time. [Mike] Skinner was loose and he's one of the best drivers we got. I was on the outside of him and knew he was loose so [I] was making room and Kyle [Busch] had all the outside and decided to stay right down the center and cut right in front of him. Skinner had nowhere, tapped him and I tapped Skinner and the whole thing happens and he'll just come tomorrow. Of course, his truck is still running and my Ford's in the pits. It's a [bad] day and International had a ton of people here and had an International truck tow my International truck in, so I'm not happy about that. You could see we not only had one of the best Fords, we had one of the best trucks. I don't know if we were the top Ford in that first run, but we got from 28th to seventh and I sat in the bottom groove and thought 'cool, I found a spot.' My guys did a great pit stop with four tires and we got out and were sitting there. It's just a shame that a guy that will get out of the race at the end of the day and doesn't care how many cars he wrecks and says, 'hey, I'll get 'em tomorrow' because this isn't his job for a living. Those of us who race the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for a living full time have sponsors to take care of. This is where our money is paid for. That's not they way we want it again. If you watch the tape, Kyle just didn't feel like going up to where he was clear. He stayed down and was tight on the nose and I came up on Skinner. Me and Skinner had no place to go. He [Skinner] is one of the best drivers out there, I'd race against him any second of any day. We had one of the best trucks out there. I think International could have one the Daytona 250."

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (continued) YOU DID MAKE CONTACT WITH SKINNER, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T THINK YOU DID? "I made contact with him after he got pushed. I was right on his outside rear corner and I'm watching the whole thing and watching him as Kyle drives across, Skinner gets moved and as he wiggled up it was right into my nose. It wasn't like I hit him because I hit him, it was after the aftermath and then both of us went to the wall. Fortunately, Circle Bar builds good trucks and Skinner's team builds great race trucks. He's already walked out [of the infield care center] and I've walked out, everybody's okay. Once again, a guy that's still in the race, he'll come out and say 'I'll get them tomorrow' while the rest of us that do this full time are sitting with trucks destroyed." DID THE RACE GET ROUGH AS IT WENT ALONG? "No, it didn't get any rougher than the start of the race. I went from 28th to seventh and followed Mike Bliss and he did a great job. The trucks move around a lot and that's what makes the Craftsman Truck race so fun. But after the pit stop, guys made some adjustments. Some guys made adjustments and moved a couple spots. Guys were stuck in the middle. It didn't get any rougher than it had been. It was a great Craftsman Truck series race, I just wish we weren't towed into the garage."