FYI WIRZ: NASCAR's Top Dover Drivers Talk Before and After Race

All top five NASCAR Sprint Cup finishers expressed their thoughts before the green flag and after the checkers for the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, race 28 of 36 in the long, NASCAR season--also the second of 10 races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The story at Dover seemed to be all about Denny Hamlin (No.11) and his rift with Richard Childress Racing drivers over his adverse comments about Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 car. But the tale that counted was the Chase for the Cup as Jimmie Johnson (No. 48) surged back into contention after a poor finish last week at Loudon.

Kurt Busch (No.2), Jeff Burton (No. 31) and Carl Edwards (No.99) moved up while Clint Bowyer (No. 33), Matt Kenseth (No. 17), and Tony Stewart (No. 14) slipped into 160 plus point deficits that will be tough to overcome. 

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

Select driver comments before and after track action presented here–just for fans:

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Chevy) Finished first

Before:
"Dover is one of my favorite race tracks so I’m excited to get back after last weekend’s finish,” Johnson said. “We definitely need to get some points and get some things going. We couldn’t pick a better track for the Lowe’s team to go to in order to get some points.” 

After:
“Today we got maximum points,” Johnson said. “I am very proud of that internally. But it's not time to celebrate. If we take this week off and take it lightly, not prepare like we need to for Kansas, we'll get beat. We can't get beat. We've got to win races and keep this momentum going.”

Jeff Burton (No.31 Chevy) Finished second

Before:
“When things are going well, it’s easy to be mentally tough,” Burton said. “The question is when the chips are down, who is going to be mentally tough? The chips are going to be down for everybody at some point in this Chase and those will be the defining moments in this Chase and who can come through those…that’s going to determine who the winner is.”

After:
“I thought the track changed a lot,” Burton said. “My guys did a great job of adjusting to the track, getting the car better at the right time. Proud of us being right at the right time. 

“Every team is here to win races. Every team is here to try to win a championship. As the thing goes on, it will get harder for some teams to win than others.”

Joey Logano (No. 20 Toyota) Finished third

Before (Qualifying comment):
“We freed it up too much,” Logano said. “We got loose and as soon as I landed the back end just broke out and I just over-slowed the car and forced me to get to the gas too soon and I missed my corner. It seems like once the first thing goes wrong it all kind of goes wrong together after that.”

After:
“We had to start in the back, but felt like we did a good job working our way up there today and made good adjustments on this race car,” Logano said. “It’s definitely a good run for us. We still have to work on our consistency. We have to somehow figure out how we can do this week in and week out.”

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Dodge) Finished fourth

Before:
“Dover will always be such an extraordinary track for me that holds such significance as far as my career goes,” Busch said. “We’ve had some strong Cup runs at Dover; it just seems like we haven’t been able to put together a whole race.”

After:
“My guys did an outstanding job, here at the track, back at the shop to have this effort come forth today,” Busch said. “Dover was definitely one of the tracks we were worried about. We had a fast enough car to win. Driver was speeding on pit road. So I cost us five or 10 point s today.”

Carl Edwards (No.99 Ford) Finished fifth

Before:
“We have nine races left in the Chase and we are going to Dover to win this race,” Edwards said. “It's a great track for me. We've had some really good runs there including a win. For me this is one of the races in the Chase where I can make a difference as a driver.” 

After:
“It was a solid day for us,” Edwards said. “It’s nice to be disappointed with fifth. I thought we had a better car than that. We’ve got eight races left and closed some points on the leader. That’s all we can do every week.” 

 Photo credit: Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com