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MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400

September 9, 2017

Richmond, Virginia

Q. Jamie McMurray, got very interesting after Matt fell out. You had all those bonus points from the stage wins. What was your take on that?
JAMIE McMURRAY: No, actually they didn't say anything to me until we had the green‑white‑checkered at the end, then they told me that Matt had an issue earlier on.
We had a tough night, so I'm so thankful we didn't have to try to race our way in. We were way off at the start of the race. Matt did a good job of getting the car closer at the end, but still didn't have the speed we needed tonight.
Glad that we're in. We've run so well all year long. I think we were eighth in the overall points up to this point. We've run better than most of those cars behind us every single week. I look forward to the Playoffs this year. It's been my best season really in NASCAR with the exception of 2010 when I was able to win all those big races. Consistently this has been my biggest year. Excited for McDonald, Cessna, GearWrench.

Q. Top 10 last week at Darlington, your 13th of the year. How far can consistency take you in the Playoffs?
JAMIE McMURRAY: Well, I guess you have to see. The Playoffs I feel like always throw a surprise at us. You get to that first race, there's always somebody that has a motor issue, has something go wrong that hasn't happened earlier in the year.
We've been so consistent and run so well, I feel like we're going to make it through a round or two if we just keep doing the same thing we've been doing.
Matt, Josh, everybody on the 1 team, has given me really good cars all year. Our pit crew is doing a really good job right now. I feel like our whole team is consistent. It would be nice to get a little quicker, but yeah, it's been a great year.
I hate to sound bummed right now, but we just didn't run very well tonight. You're only as good as your last race. Very thankful to be in the Playoffs again. Looking forward to it. It's going to be less stressful this week than it was last week.

Q. Ryan Newman, how did you get in position on the last restart to come away with a top three?
RYAN NEWMAN: A little luck on the restart no doubt. Missed the 19 and the 77. They were coming to the start/finish line. Tried to wad them up into the middle of one and two. Caught the inside there, kind of got lucky.
A good run for the Caterpillar Chevrolet. Still have some work to do to make our car better, pit stops faster, me better. All across the board we have to step it up to lead some laps, be able to work our way through the Playoffs.

Q. Still this is four straight top 10s now, how has this team been able to rise to the occasion?
RYAN NEWMAN: Working hard together. The engine company has done a great job, the chassis shop has done a great job, the body shop. Everything is better.
We were struggling in the months of summer on the big racetracks, struggling to stay on the lead lap. To have a good long run racecar was special today. It worked out for us. Keep digging.

Q. How much has the game changed with both these bonus points, just the level of competition?
RYAN NEWMAN: Well, you can have all the bonus points in the world, have three different guys win and make it through the next round. That round into Homestead is what really matters.
It makes a difference, don't get me wrong. But winning those rounds is what it's really all about. I think we've got a little bit of work to do to do all that, but we can put ourself in position to do it again.

Q. Austin Dillon, you're in the Playoffs. What does the future hold?
AUSTIN DILLON: There's a lot for the future. I feel like our cars have gotten better on the mile‑and‑a‑half's. This place is my least favorite track of all NASCAR tracks. I'm working on it hard, but it's just not been able to get that much better at it.
Proud of my Dow guys. They worked hard all night. We can celebrate for a night or two, but next week becomes the Playoffs. I'm looking forward to it. I think we can make it into a couple rounds there and hopefully get to Homestead. We're going to work hard at it.
We need to win one of these next 10, that would be awesome.

Q. You had a great run at Darlington, good speed at Michigan. Is that what you look at looking ahead to the Playoffs that will propel you through the Playoffs?
AUSTIN DILLON: I'm really excited about the next three tracks. Last year we excelled in those three tracks in the first round, got ourselves into the next round. Only missed by a point by getting into the next round at Talladega. Hopefully we can put ourselves in a little better position going into Talladega.
We want to better ourselves than what we did last year, that was make it into the second round. Want to get into the third round. From there you never know what can happen.
Excited about all the tracks coming up. All solid tracks for me.

Q. Which one do you think you could win at?
AUSTIN DILLON: Chicago is a really good one. We've been good at Dover before. New Hampshire is a solid one. I feel more confident about Chicago and Dover in the first three.

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