"That was unexpected.”— Cory Mac after going up in smoke in the first round against Doug Herbert
"It was operator error. We were short on power when we arrived but over the course of the weekend we got the engine running good again and I just over-tuned it this morning. We over-powered the track. These tires are very sensitive. If you don't have the right power curve they are prone to shake."— Wes Cerny, crew chief for McClenathan, on his role in their early exit from competition
“It was obviously the same for everyone. The fact is that Millican managed to get to the finish line in relatively clean fashion and we didn't. You've got to get it done no matter the conditions.”— Schumacher on losing in the second round
“We just kicked the tires loose about mid-track against Brandon. We were running on a new track and the heat pulled up some moisture from the asphalt.”— Millican on losing traction against Brandon Bernstein in the semis
"This was a real test for (crew chief) Rahn Tobler and the guys to run well and win in the heat. They pulled it off today, and it's a good feeling because we're heading into the hotter climates now. It seems like we're ready.”— Kalitta on his outlook for the season after going 4.675/310.98 to beat Bernstein's 4.691 at 307.09 mph in the final round
"They pulled a lane change on us the last minute. I don't know if that was to try to get in my head. I don't know if that was something they saw in the other lane. We'd been in the right lane all day and they'd been in the left lane, so I thought, ‘Okay, you're trying to mess with us.’ I got up there and I was so poised to leave the starting line.”— Ron Capps on John Force’s final-round tactics, before Capps went on to win his fourth race this year and the 21st of his career
"We ended up burning a piston and blowing off an oil line, and that's where the fire came from. It made great TV coverage because of our Advance Auto Parts in-car camera footage—it gave the fans a real perspective of what it's like to be in a Funny Car when something like that happens. Thanks to the fire bottles, the flames went out right away, which is a definite improvement over the safety conditions years ago. Because of these incidents, we worked toward sealing the cockpit better. In the event it happens again, fire shouldn't get into the cockpit like that."— Cruz Pedregon on the ESPN2 footage of his Friday-night engine fire that was shown repeatedly throughout the qualifying show on Saturday night
"There's either something mechanically wrong with the car right now, or we're just barely missing on something, but it's enough to drive you crazy. We dropped No. 6 (cylinder) each time, and that's not a normal thing for us. It's not uncommon to drop a hole down track, and if you spin the tires down there it almost always happens, but we're dropping No. 6 right after the 60-foot timer and leaving it out the whole way. You can't make the field here, or anywhere, running on seven cylinders. The really bad part of it is, I know if we go end to end with all eight lit, we're as fast—or faster—than anybody here."— Del Worsham on being outside the top 16 qualifiers after two rounds were completed
