Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Sylvania 300 Advance (New Hampshire Motor Speedway)
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Joey Logano (6th) and Greg Biffle (10th) qualified in the top 10 for tomorrow’s scheduled running of the Sylvania 300 while Carl Edwards (26th) will have to work his way through traffic to get to the front. Ford Racing spoke with the crew chiefs for all three Chase drivers before Saturday’s practice and got their thoughts on where they’re starting and what they have to do to be successful on race day.
MATT PUCCIA, Crew Chief – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO START IN THE TOP 10 TOMORROW? “Qualifying is huge here. We were really trying to get a good lap, but the track had a little bit more grip than we thought it was gonna have from practice, but we got a decent spot and it will be good to get a good pit selection. We’ve just got to work on our balance for today and get the car driving to where it needs to be. The car seems to have decent speed, so now we just need to work on getting it a little more comfortable. We didn’t have the week we wanted and needed at Chicago. We definitely had a better car than where we finished and that’s what we need to work on. When we have a fifth-place car, we have to be able to finish fifth. We can’t finish 16th with it and the same goes for this weekend. That’s what you’ve got to do to be in the hunt for this thing.”
FLAT TRACKS HAVE BEEN A POINT OF EMPHASIS FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION. HOW IS IT GOING? “We worked on our Richmond package pretty hard and did some testing there, and we came up here to Loudon and tested. Our flat track program has definitely been something we’ve wanted to focus on and get better and we’re working really hard on it. We’ve got another test coming up here at Martinsville before the second race, so we know it’s one of our weaknesses and have been putting a lot of energy into it trying to get that program better.”
HOW MUCH STRATEGY PLAYS OUT AT THIS PLACE? “Fuel mileage is a huge deal here. That’s always been a big thing for as long as I’ve been coming here, so that’s always on our mind, but tire strategy and tire management is big. You’ll see a lot of two-tire stuff and your car has got to be able to go on two tires, so we’ll see. It will be interesting when the cautions fall. That’s always big because if you get that late caution or a caution right when you’re outside your fuel window and you see a lot of guys pit it’s always a tough one – especially after you’ve just pitted – so do you give up track position and stop or gamble on your fuel mileage. That’s always a tough decision late in the race.”
GREG THOUGHT HE HAD A TOP-15 CAR YESTERDAY AND HOPED TO OBVIOUSLY MAKE IT BETTER TODAY. WHAT IS YOUR PLAN? “We have a pretty good laundry list of stuff that we’re gonna do, but the car showed decent speed yesterday. That’s something we didn’t have in the first race. The car didn’t take off as good on fresh tires, but that seemed better yesterday. The car had more speed and even though it wasn’t to his liking, we had decent speed and now we’ve got to work on getting it to drive a little better for him and the rest will take care of itself.”
JIMMY FENNIG, Crew Chief – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion – YOUR CAR WILL START 26TH TOMORROW, SO WHAT KIND OF STRATEGY WILL YOU EMPLOY? “That’s something we’re gonna look at is work on our strategy and work on the car to get it better so we can get back up front. Track position is big anywhere, so you’ve always got to look at pit strategy no matter where you start.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE AFTER ONE CHASE RACE? “I’m still not happy. We need to be running better. We need to unload off the truck better, so we’ve got work to do.”
TODD GORDON, Crew Chief – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH A TOP-10 STARTING POSITION? “I think this race is all about track position, so having the opportunity to pick a good pit stall is a bigger piece here than a lot of race tracks, so it’s a good start to the weekend and now we just have to finish it off.”
HOW DO YOU RECOVER FROM LAST WEEK? “You can’t do anything about the past. Last week is over and we’re 52 points back. The way we recover is by focusing forward on what we can do and not what we can’t do. I think yesterday is a first statement of that because this is one of our weaker race tracks and to qualify sixth is a step in the right direction and it means everybody still has their head on their shoulders.”
YOU ONLY HAD A FEW LAPS IN THE FIRST RACE HERE BEFORE A TIRE ISSUE ENDED YOUR DAY. WILL THAT BE A DISADVANTAGE AS FAR AS YOUR NOTES GO? “Obviously, it would be better to have a notebook from the first race, but after we fixed everything and came back out we did some things in that race to get a feel for what we would have coming back here, so we had a little bit of a notebook – not as big as we would have liked – but everybody is just focused on what we can do. We also have a good notebook from the 2 car, which sat on the pole and ran in the top five all day.”
IS THIS A RACE YOU ENJOY CALLING TOMORROW? “It’s a stressful race. Track position plays pretty big here. It’s surprising to say that at a one-mile short track, but that’s the case. There are a lot of strategy calls that will take place, but the other factor is it’s a 300-lap race, so it’s a short race and that kind of changes your mindset as well.”
