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[/media-credit]Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks (Dover International Speedway)
NSCS Post Race (June 3, 2012)
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd Matt Kenseth
6th Aric Almirola
10th Marcos Ambrose
11th Greg Biffle
21st David Ragan
26th Carl Edwards
30th Reed Sorenson
40th David Gilliland
41st Casey Mears
42nd Michael McDowell
43rd Scott Speed
Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion — Finished 3rd
“It was okay. We really honestly struggled and didn’t have quite the setup that we needed. My team did a good job of getting good pit stops and making some adjustments to keep us in the game there. I am happy to come home third with a car that didn’t drive the way we wanted it to.”
Aric Almirola, No. 43 Jani-King/Smithfield Ford Fusion — Finished 6th
NOT TOO BAD FOR YOUR FIRST TIME IN A CUP CAR AT DOVER. “No, I would say that is pretty respectable for our first time here. I can’t say enough about all the guys on this team. The beginning of the year was not what we wanted and they all kept believing in me and being behind me and supporting me and working their guts out. It is days like last week when we qualified on the pole and this week coming here and finishing sixth, it is runs like that that make you realize how hard these guys work. It was a great day for everybody on this Jani-King Smithfield Ford. I am proud of everybody and we had a really good run.”
Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion – Finished 10th
“We were fighting for our life out here for RPM. Top-10’s have been hard to come by this year and I really wanted to get two top 10’s for our company this weekend. Aric had a good race car and I had a decent one and I was just fighting to stay in the top-10 there. As respectful as I can be to Biffle who is at the front of the championship battle, I didn’t want to let him pass because I wanted a top-10. It was a good fight and that is what racing is all about.”
Greg Biffle, No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – Finished 11th
“It was tough. We just fought balance all day. I would be a little loose in, real loose in the center and then plowing tight. We could never close that gap. I could make it way too tight and so loose that I couldn’t drive it, but I could never balance the middle and off and in. I just couldn’t get the balance right. But we finished 11th and I wish I would have stayed out at the end. I came in and got tires and I thought more guys would come. We pitted ninth and finished 11th, so that probably wasn’t too smart.”
David Ragan, No. 34 8 Hour Alert Ford Fusion – Finished 21st
“Our 8 Hour Alert Ford wasn’t too bad today. The sun changed the track today and our car was a bit tight and then loose. The guys on pit road did a good job all day. We just stayed with it and Jay made good calls. We just got through that wreck and then just raced hard the rest of the afternoon. We can learn from this run too. We have some notes for when we come back.”
MATT KENSETH POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY TODAY. “Our finish was really good. Our end result, you can’t really complain about that.We kind of missed it all day. Good thing we qualified good yesterday and kept some track position. My car was really tough to pass with the setup we had in it. We struggled getting the balance we needed to run fast. We got way off one time in the race and Jimmy (Fennig) did a good job of recognizing what we did and got the car back to where we could keep up with everybody except for the 24 and 48.”
WOULD YOU MIND TALKING ABOUT RESTARTS? ESPECIALLY IF YOU WERE ON THE INSIDE LINE WHERE YOU WERE A SITTING DUCK TODAY. IS THAT DIFFERENT THAN NORMAL OR TYPICAL DOVER? “Well, you are asking the wrong guy about restarts, although the same thing happened to Jimmie when he spun his tires. It was tough to get going. I was able to get back by Junior on that last restart. It is always kind of like that. It isn’t really necessarily what lane you are in it is just that the leader dictates when you go and you can’t go until he does. They were really fast and he was really good at that. By the time he gets going and you recognize that and try to get going, he is already pulling away from you. It is easier to be in the row back because you can kind of watch him when he gets going and roll toward him. When you are underneath him it makes it difficult, at least for me it does.
YOU AND GREG (BIFFLE) LEAVE HERE ONE AND TWO IN THE POINTS. DO YOU WALK AWAY FEELING GOOD ABOUT YOUR POSITION OR THAT YOU HAVE WORK TO DO AT ROUSH? “Both. I feel good about our position, obviously anytime during the year you want to be as high as you can in the points. If we make the Chase they rack that by wins, so that is what you look at right now. Certainly we have some work to do. I don’t think anyone could run with the 48 and 24 today. It seemed to me that they were in a league of their own and we have some work to do.”
Carl Edwards, No. 99 SUBWAY Ford Fusion – INVOLVED IN SINGLE CAR WRECK ON LAP 165
WHAT HAPPENED? “Our front right tire went flat. I don’t know exactly why. This is such a fun race track and the car was so good. Our whole SUBWAY team had done a really good job so far and the hopefully we can get back out there and get some points. It is so frustrating to have that good of a car. I love racing here. We will come back and get them in the fall. I hope Matt of Greg can win this thing. I guess I will go get a sandwich and we will try to get it fixed and get all the points we can.”
HAS THE TRACK CHANGED A LOT TODAY? “The track is changing quite a bit. You can run all over it. You can run pretty much any of the lines. It is so much fun. It is just a blast. I am really frustrated our day got cut short.
