FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES
Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (NNS Post Race)
September 9, 2011
Richmond International Raceway
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. PRESS CONFERENCE
CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE $100,000 DASH FOR THE CASH TONIGHT. “Thank you. I appreciate the media guys that stay. This room is empty now. It was a great race for us. We worked on it all night. We struggled a lot more than we expected to. We felt like the past couple of races here we had something that could win the race but we struggled with our Fastenal Mustang a little bit. Nationwide does an awesome job for us Nationwide regular guys and to win that Dash for Cash means a lot. Now we are up for it at Charlotte which is a really good race track for us to win it again. That was a great points day for us and all the Roush cars were fast. We have to keep doing this every week. We didn’t make mistakes tonight. I don’t think we had one area that we made a mistake in, other than not getting our race car where we needed it to be. Other than that, we have to stay positive. We have been running really well and go on to Chicago.”
YOU EXTENDED YOUR POINTS LEAD BUT YOU HAD KYLE AND CARL IN THERE. HOW FRUSTRATING IS IT TO TAKE THIRD, BEING FIRST IN CLASS IN A WAY. “It is definitely frustrating. I wanted to be a little more excited about winning that Dash for the Cash. Finishing third makes it tough to do that. For a second there I thought we had something for Kyle. It fired off good for 10 laps there on that last run and then just kind of gave up. We were a little too tight in the center and we were spinning tires up off. It is disappointing to finish third but then again it is good to be up there racing with those guys. They are champions and win a lot of these races so to be in contention to win is a good thing in this series.”
“Actually, last race here we felt like we were awesome everywhere. Tonight I just struggled. It didn’t matter really what we did, we just struggle through three and four and they beat us down the front straightaway. I would gain on them in one and two and then we were a little too tight in three and four. I would have to basically stop the car to get it to turn and go the other way. That is really what we struggled with all night.”
WHAT KIND OF THINGS PLAY A ROLE BETWEEN WHO MAKE THE RIGHT ADJUSTMENTS AND WHO MAKES THE WRONG ONES? “I think Carl and Kyle’s experience helps them out a lot in that situation. They can come in and tell their crew chiefs exactly what they need. Sometimes I think I struggle with that, telling them exactly what I need to make my car faster. Kyle made his better and he normally makes it better every pit stop it seems like. Carl was better at the beginning and was catching him at the end, he just ran out of time I think. I feel like we make ours a little better in the center part of the race and that second to last run was our best run. We stayed closest to the leader throughout that whole run, that last run. We just tried something to get a little bit extra and go after those guys and it just didn’t work for us.”
CARL EDWARDS PRESS CONFERENCE
TALK ABOUT HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED FOR YOU TONIGHT. “It started out spectacularly for us. We had a really great race car. As the race went on those other guys got their cars better and better and by the end it was going to be a battle if Kyle and I had started side by side. We had a tire get stuck on the fender I guess on the right front and the guys did a really good job only losing two or three spots with that. I just couldn’t get to them and by the time I was in second I had worked my tires over pretty badly and I needed a caution to get to start next to him again. Kyle and those guys definitely earned it. We didn’t give it to them. With a pit stop, they were going to be tough either way.”
THERE WERE FIVE CUP DRIVERS IN THIS RACE AND FOUR OF YOU ARE IN THE CHASE, SO IS THERE ANYTHING TO THE WHISPERS OF PEOPLE SAYING RUNNING BOTH IS A DISTRACTION? “I think it is tough for me to say because I can only speak from my perspective and for seven years I have been running both series and we have won tons of races in both of them and I have learned a lot. I do think there is a time in my career that I need to focus a little more on the Cup car and that is why I have decided to do that next year. Today is a great example of a really long day for a race car driver. We started in the race car at 9 am and just got out without much time in between. That can be really great for a young guy trying to learn and can also wear you down a little bit. In my case I think it has helped me a ton and I am excited to see if I can do even better though next season focusing on the Cup car.”
