Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Budweiser Duel #1 (Daytona International Speedway)
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Ford Finishing Results:
2nd – Greg Biffle
7th – Brad Keselowski
8th – Casey Mears
10th – Joey Logano
12th – David Gilliland
15th – Scott Speed
22nd – Carl Edwards
23rd – Trevor Bayne
CARL EDWARDS (No. 99 FASTENAL Ford Fusion)– ACCIDENT QUOTES
WHAT HAPPENED? “I don’t know exactly what happened. It looked like Denny (Hamlin) got sideways and wrecked us. That is the fourth time we have wrecked since we have been down here. I told Jimmy we wrecked four times, so we have the black flag already and the race hasn’t even started. We are getting it out of our systems. Fortunately we have a really good group of guys and have a good backup car, which is our Shootout car. We will just go get‘em in the 500. I learned a lot. If we can just have a little luck I would not count our 99 team out. It will be a good race for us.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY? “I learned some ways to patiently move to the front and I am going to use that stuff on Sunday. Hopefully the temperatures are up like they are today. It looks like it might be cloudy on Sunday but the forecast keeps changing. I think you saw today exactly what that race will look like. There will be groups of cars that separate themselves and some pit strategy and some guys that slide around and can’t keep up. I think it will make it a really dynamic, fun race.”
HOW DOES STARTING SPEEDWEEKS LIKE THIS IMPACT YOUR CONFIDENCE? “Well, we started it perfectly last year. We won the pole and everything was going smoothly and it was a terrible year. Hopefully this is a sign that this will be a great year. This is the worst speedweeks start I have ever had. I don’t think I have crashed this many race cars in two years. It has been expensive for Jack (Roush) and we have used a lot of Fastenal nuts and bolts but our guys are upbeat and ready to go race.”
LOOKED LIKE YOU GOT PULLED UP ALONGSIDE THE 51, JUST LIKE IN PRACTICE. “I don’t know exactly how come Denny got sideways there. If you look at the replay he was just out there on my right rear and got sideways and hit the right rear of the car. I am sure it was as much a surprise to him as anyone. I don’t understand it exactly. I will have to ask Denny what he felt.”
TREVOR BAYNE (No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion) – ACCIDENT QUOTES
WHAT HAPPENED? “It looked like the 11 got loose in front of us. We led for a long time there and it was easy, just train racing it seemed like. There at the end we had to make a comeback because I accidentally slid the tires coming into pit road and we had to pit for four. We finally got linked up and were catching the lead pack. We caught Carl and somebody else at the end. Once we caught them it seemed like the 11 got really loose out of turn two. I wasn’t close to pushing him or anything. He just got really sideways and he clipped Carl and spun him in front of us and we had nowhere to go. It is unfortunate because we had a fast race car and you don’t want to tear that stuff up. I know they have a good backup car for me and we will try to get it on Sunday.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SUNDAY? “I don’t know. It seems like those guys were able to mount something up on the bottom for Harvick to get the lead but it disintegrated once he got up there and pulled high. If you can get the majority of the guys to go with you it doesn’t matter which lane. That lane will move. Other than that it is a train race. I enjoyed it for the first half but at the end it made it really tough on us and it is unfortunate for our team. I wish I hadn’t slid the tires into pit road. I will take the blame for that. I won’t make that mistake again.”
ANYTHING YOU LEARNED TODAY THAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE? “Not really, watching the Sprint Unlimited I saw everything that happened today. You have to stay in line and the top lane is the fastest and wherever the majority of cars go they can make a run at it. That is how it was today.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “We definitely needed that. We missed it a little bit and weren’t as good as we needed to be, but I’m glad we had that opportunity. I’m not happy with just surviving, I want to win, but sometimes you have to find a silver lining every once in a while. We’ll be better for the 500.”
CASEY MEARS – No. 13 Geico Ford Fusion – “It’s a great day. We got some really good news this morning from Geico that they’ve decided to run the full year, which is a huge shot in the arm for this program. We were going out obviously wanting to win the 150. We made some conservative decisions at the end to make sure we brought one home and had a good piece for the 500, but I’m real proud of the way the Geico Ford ran. It was very competitive and up front most of the time, so I’m looking forward to Sunday.”
DAVID GILLILAND – No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Fusion – “We wanted to be careful. This is our best car by far, but when we started off the race I was a little bit free and didn’t want to take any chances. As the race got going I got shuffled to the back and then lost the lead pack, so at that point we were in trouble, but I just tried to stay as calm as I could. I was hoping there would be a caution and there was, and Frank did a good job tightening the car back up and we were able to finish 13th.”
THOUGHTS ON THE CAR? “I like the new car. That’s the hottest it’s been since we’ve been out there in a pack and we definitely learned a lot that will help us on Sunday.”
GREG BIFFLE POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – WALK US THROUGH THE END OF THE RACE THERE. “He (Kevin Harvick) won the Sprint Unlimited race like that and I tell you, I went all the way to the back when I started on the inside and worked my way all the way back to second. I was hoping that wasn’t going to happen today. I could see four to go and I was starting inside I thought I was dead in the water. If the bottom line hadn’t gotten going, if Juan wouldn’t have gotten his army together and made a run on the bottom I would have probably not ended in the back but not been where I was. When they finally got their run I was able to move down and get a shove from them. I was able to stay up there at the top. It seems like the top is the fastest and sometimes the bottom. When the four of us were out there on the bottom we were faster. I don’t know if anybody knows yet. We will just have to keep trying.”
EARLY IN THE RACE GUYS SEEMED TO BE JUST DOING LAPS. WAS IT MERE CAUTION OR FEAR FOR A LACK OF PARTS? “I wasn’t thinking about parts because my Sprint Unlimited car was pretty fast. Either way I was good. You know, the reality was that once that train got on top and lined up, the bottom couldn’t really do anything. Everybody that got out of line – Denny Hamlin got out of line running third or fourth and my spotter told me he got in line dead last –I didn’t want to do that so I just stayed in the line until it came down to it and I could make a run at the leaders. I think everybody knew that if they got out of line without half the field committing to the bottom it wasn’t going to happen.”
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCES TESTING THE VEHICLE TO RACING THE VEHICLE? “It is really hard here because at testing we were mostly single car runs and not in big packs. When you are in big packs testing you aren’t trying as hard as you can. Now we know people are trying as hard as they can because there are trophies on the line and starting position and stuff. We are getting a feel for how it really drives. They really stall easy and they won’t suck up to the guy in front of you. He pushed me up and I got close to Kevin and he just took off like he hit the gas. I looked in the mirror and was like, “Juan, where are you going? It takes time and cars to get back. You need that accordion affect to start bunching up to where it starts pushing the front cars again. That is what ends up happening.”
YOU’VE HAD TWO CHANCES TO GET AROUND HARVICK. IS THERE A PLAN C FOR SUNDAY? “I got to get to his bumper. I was on his bumper in three and four there but you just have to have some help. You gotta get that accordion affect. I didn’t think about or know what was going on. I knew there was a lot going on behind us so I didn’t think about backing up to the bumper of the 42 because I didn’t think that would be smart. You have to be in the right place at the right time. You have to get a run and have some cars with you and side draft a guy and get out front. A bunch of people wanted to know why I didn’t turn him. It doesn’t take any talent to wreck somebody for the win and wreck 20 cars behind you. You have to run as hard as you can and trade a little paint but at the same time we all have to finish.”
