I wanted to send the car back to North Carolina intact and we did that, ... I finished 30th, which is where I finished here last year. I ran a lot of laps and really feel like I learned a lot this weekend.

I'm going to give myself a B-minus. In practice and qualifying I thought I made a lot of progress. But then in the race we got unlucky because we blew a left-front tire right off the bat. Later in the race I spun when I was trying to get by someone-- that was just a rookie mistake, but I managed to save the car and not hit the wall.

I had great restarts all day, but Tony got me and I got bogged down.

It would have been nice to finish second to Tony Stewart . He's the best right now. What he's doing is unbelievable.

Each time I get into one of these cars I feel more at ease and the tension drops a few notches.

Each time I get into one of these cars I feel more at ease and the tension drops a few notches,