FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES
STP 400 (Qualifying) June 4, 2011
Kansas Speedway
Ford Kansas Qualifying Order 7th Carl Edwards 14th Greg Biffle 19th David Ragan 21st Matt Kenseth 26th AJ Allmendinger 30th Travis Kvapil 35th Marcos Ambrose 38th David Gilliland 39th Andy Lally 41st Patrick Carpentier DNQ Tony Raines
PATRICK CARPENTIER, No. 32 ¬U.S. Chrome Ford Fusion (Qualified 41st) “That was a good run especially for the first qualifying run we have done all weekend. It was good to know what kind of car we are going to have. We were a little on the tight side. We are in the show so that is the first time that I got to do that and know we are in right away. I think we are pretty decent in race trim. Yesterday we ran used tires all day and it seemed to be pretty decent compared to the other guys on used tires. As long as we finish somewhere up there and get some points for these guys that is all there is.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 17 Affliction Clothing Live Ford Fusion (Qualified 21st) “We weren’t very good today in qualifying trim but the good news is that we are fine in race trim. The qualifying run is disappointing but I know we have a fast car for the race tomorrow so that is good.”
MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion (Qualified 35th) “The heat doesn’t change our run much, we just weren’t very good. We will just take what we can from today and look forward to tomorrows race. This place is a great track and I really enjoy coming here. I tend to run well here but if you miss it a little bit you pay because there is not the banking to help you. We are going to have to drive through some cars to get to the front tomorrow.”
DAVID GILLILAND, No. 34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion (Qualified 38th) “It is definitely getting hotter out there as we go, but we are all in the same boat there. We have been kind of struggling all weekend and we are going to make some changes for tomorrow, throw everything at it and see where we end up. I am not happy with the race car right now, but we will make some changes.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 43 STP Ford Fusion (Qualified 26th) “This heat is something. It is one of those things that’s just tough not having a Saturday practice with conditions like this. You just don’t know and it is so hot out and so slick. We aren’t very good either which is part of it. We just aren’t good right now and need to keep working on it.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Qualified 19th) “So far so good. I really like this place. It is neat to come out here at a different time of year with different weather and different tires and different scenarios for our UPS team here at Kansas than we are typically used to. Qualifying was okay. We went later and the track is a lot more heated than it was to begin with. I think our Ford is pretty fast for the race and this is one of our favorite tracks to come to, so maybe we can get a win Sunday.”
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 3M/Walgreens Ford Fusion (Qualified 14th) “It was a pretty good run but we were just a hair too loose. We struggled with our practice plan and we tried to start it out in qualifying and it wasn’t that good so we switched to race trim and got real happy with the car. It was just a little too loose out there today. I think I have a really good car for tomorrow though.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Qualified 7th) “I am not going to tell you exactly what I did wrong but I know it was something. Bob and I were just talking about it and he wrote about a page of notes. It is good to be frustrated about not getting the pole there because I thought we were going to be way slow with these track temperatures but our Aflac Fusion has been really good and it is going to be a good race. If we start sixth, seventh or eighth then I think we are going to have a really good shot at this race and that would mean a lot to me.”
