"I don’t know that we had the best car, we definitely had a top-three car all day. Just went and got it there at the end. I saw the 4 (Kevin Harvick) get loose and usually when you’re loose, you’re not able to run up high. That was a benefit for us to be able to get that momentum going. The pit crew did an amazing job getting us out there ahead of everyone else that had four tires. Proud of this whole FedEx team. We’ve had a rough three weeks. We were leading at Indy when we blew a tire and this team is really hitting on all cylinders right now." - Denny Hamlin, race winner

"I thought Denny (Hamlin) and I were probably pretty close to equal the second half of the night. It was just a matter of who got out in front. We didn’t get out in front on the restarts there and he was able to take advantage and bring home the win. All in all, it was still a really good day." - Brad Keselowski, finished second

"We were catching them; I just needed more time. I don’t know, every time we got the lead, the caution would come out and guys with two tires (in front of us) and we would be sixth or seventh and battle our way back. That was really the difference tonight. Every time we got the lead, we gave it up on strategy and then had to battle back. At the end, ultimately, we just ran out of time." - Martin Truex Jr., finished third

"We needed a miracle. Our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang was really loose. We got a couple good restarts and had a couple good laps but we were in trouble there regardless if it didn’t just keep going yellow. Our guys did a good job keeping us in the fight all night but we definitely have some work to do." - Kevin Harvick, finished fourth

"This is what we needed; we needed a really good points day. It kind of seems like we’ve been in this spot the last couple of years unfortunately. It feels good to climb out of it. The Reser’s Camry was really good. We started really deep and just could never quite get up to the front and get some clean air. I kind of made a mistake on that last restart, I was trying to push too hard to get to the outside and gave up some ground there on those guys and had to make that back up. Good effort. Pit crew did good and the team gave me a good car. We just have to keep doing that and keep wracking these points up and hopefully get a win." - Erik Jones, finished fifth

"I am pretty eager to get a W. This race team has been doing a great job. We have been running really good. A long time ago I would have given anything to just run top-10 every week and run like we have been running but when you start tasting victory and run up front and race around those guys, you want to seal the deal and go to victory lane. Tonight we were just a little bit off. We didn’t have as good of a car compared to the field as we have the last several weeks. I am proud of my guys. We keep chipping away and building up that points buffer to the cutoff which is nice but now we are ready to go get the W and some bonus points for the playoffs. I am proud of everybody, Smithfield, Ford, Mobil 1 and everyone that supports this program. Everybody back at Stewart-Haas Racing. Finally we will get to catch our breath for three or four days here and then head off to Loudon." - Aric Almirola, finished sixth

"Rough night. We threw about every adjustment at our Camaro that we possibly could. Thankfully, we were able to finally get it a little better there towards the end and go back towards the front a little bit. Hate that we lost a bunch of spots on that last restart – just wide open and some people drove around us. We’ve got some work to do, for sure, we know that. But getting a good, solid finish this week was good and a good momentum-builder back in the right direction. It’s been pretty painful here lately. We’re working hard to get our Chevrolet’s back up front." - Alex Bowman, finished eighth

"The car was a little tough at times throughout the race. We struggled on some of the restarts with tires on heat cycles, but thanks to my guys on this Monster Energy Chevy. We battled hard together and never gave up on working to make it better and try to find the sweetest spot to run. We just need to keep after it and turn these top-10’s into better results." - Kurt Busch, finished ninth

"It was a solid finish for us – we needed that for sure for the playoffs. We started the race way off. We were really loose – just really struggling. The guys, Keith (Rodden, filling in as Crew Chief) and everybody made a lot of great adjustments throughout the race. It really got us in a position where we could attack. As soon as we got probably 10 laps on our tires, the car felt pretty good. We just stayed out there on no tires, really ran there with the 2 (Brad Keselowski) and was able to pass him back for the lead. I thought we were looking really good. Unfortunately, the two tires didn’t really work out for us there at the end. I think we just had too many laps on the left side and struggled there. But overall, was really happy with probably 40 to go in the race. I thought we were in a really good position leading the race. We’ll take a top-10 with what we had there at the end and move forward to the next race. Looking forward to it." - William Byron, finished 10th

"To be honest with you, we had a fast race car right there at the end. It’s frustrating for all of us at JTG Daugherty because we’ve been working really hard and probably had a top-10 car there at the end. I’m alright, just ready for this year to turn around. Thanks to Bush’s Beans, the No. 37 and JTG Daugherty – we’ll be back next week." - Ryan Preece, finished 34th (Crashed out)

"I couldn’t tell what was going on. I just tried to go low. I saw guys checked up off of two. I didn’t see it. I just got clipped in the right side. Nothing I could do different. I am not going to lie. I am pretty frickin irritated. We have had garbage luck the last couple of weeks. The Menards Dutch Boy Ford Mustang was fast and we deserve better. We are racing for the playoffs and this is just annoying.

"The restarts are just wild because we have no horsepower so it takes us 45 minutes to get going. The restarts are wild. It is part of racing. I am glad to see those guys are okay. I saw Ryan Preece’s crash and Newman and those guys. I am glad to see they are okay. We have been so fast every week. We made 700 adjustments there and put about 40 rounds of wedge in it I think and just got the balance about right and then we crashed. I need an off weekend. I will watch the other guys race and go to one of my favorite tracks, New Hampshire, and rebound and get a dang finish that we deserve." - Matt DiBenedetto, finished 36th (Crashed out)

"Man, at the start of the race our Kroger Camaro was really good. We’ve had some really bad weeks as far as results go and drove up into 14th there on the first start. We lost the balance there a little bit, but it felt like we were still pretty close and then I don’t know. A fire started in the cockpit. Something electrical under the dash. So, it’s a bummer to end the day like that for our Kroger team. I felt like we had a really good shot at a top 10 if we kept dialing our car in. I really like Kansas. I’m glad we’ve got kind of an off-week now before New Hampshire so we can regroup." - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 40th (In-car fire)

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.  The photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.