Aaron Fike finished 18th and took Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the first time this season.
Aaron Fike No. 1 Red Horse Racing Toyota:
"We could never get my truck to turn the whole race. I thought we had a better truck than that. I'm proud of all my guys. I thought they gave me a better truck than that but I did what I could do with it. I just couldn't turn the whole race ."
Did the weather conditions add to your struggle? "There was a lot more grip tonight which you figure would play a part in me not being able to turn, I think. But we didn't know that. We had a little bit harder tire and we didn't know what was going to happen. We freed it up a ton every pit stop and it just never got there."
How much did you learn tonight that will help you in the future? "We just put this truck together. This is a brand new truck. We'll just go back to the shop and work on it some more and go to Atlanta."
Willie Allen, No. 13 Thorsport Chevrolet:
"It was so loose at the end I think we were last or almost next to last. We got a lap down early and just struggled so hard to make that back up. We got the truck a ton better. We had a way better truck that that at the end. I'm just so excited to know that we can run with the guys. We ran right in the middle of the pack for a long time and made our lap back with five to go and still got several spots there at the end. We wanted more laps after we got the truck better. I just can't wait to go to Atlanta."
How much did you learn that will help you in the future? "So much stuff. It's overwhelming how much I learned this weekend and what it takes to get our trucks hooked up on a superspeedway. I'm a short track racer and have been a short track racer all my life and just needed to know that balance from practice to the race. There's so much difference from the practice to the race. I got it turning good in the center in practice and we started the race and just could not drive it. We just have to get it tighten up in practice. I've learned a lot and I hope Lance has learned a lot about what I need and stuff and just look forward to Atlanta."
Does that go back to qualifying on race setup? "I just had it way too loose. I was telling them to get it too loose. We got it good for low on fuel runs but when they put fuel and tape it was wicked loose. I scrubbed even scrubbed the wall in practice."
Kelly Bires, No. 16 Melling Engine Parts Ford:
"We struggled all night. We were loose the whole night and we got a bad set of tires there on the last stop and we had to come back in and put the old set back on and it helped. We just got far behind. We did a good job. We were just way, way too loose to start that race and it took us 80 laps until we got it tightened back up so we could go. I learned a lot and that was the biggest thing."
Tim Sauter, No. 07 Lester Buildings Chevrolet:
"It's a young team and obviously not what we think we should be. But we've got a lot of time and we'll get it better. I think we can have a lot of fun. I enjoy it already and I'm looking forward to racing competitively."
Blake Bjorklund, No. 8 MRD/HAAS CNC Tools Chevrolet:
"We actually got the truck handling pretty good toward the middle of the race and ended up starting to lose a motor. It progressively got worse until the end. We were down probably a couple of cylinders at the end. Actually, I was pretty happy from where we started and we were actually running with guys that were a lot faster than we were. It's just a misfortune on the motor deal."
Tyler Walker, No. 36 360 OTC Toyota:
"We fought an ill-handling race truck all night. You're just going to have that. I just tried to bring it home. I was on pins and needles pretty much the whole time out there. You're going to have that. We got 100 laps and that's what my goal was. I've got to smile about that. We weren't 31st like we were last week and if we can pick up seven positions a week in six weeks we'd be the winner . This is a tough place. We practice in the daytime and we race at night. We're all learning here. We can go back and make this truck better, that's the main thing. We'll go back and work on it. It's not in pieces. Hopefully we'll go to Atlanta stronger. I think we've got a different truck that we're going to run there. We're going to see which one is better. I've just got to thank my guys. We've all got to work harder. I've got a little more experience at Atlanta so I'll be a little bit more on point. Toyota gave me great horsepower and the guys at Bill Davis Racing built a great truck. We qualified third and that's something to be excited about."