Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Coke Zero 400 (Daytona International Speedway)
Friday July 4, 2014
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
1st David Gilliland
8th David Ragan
10th Greg Biffle
11th Carl Edwards
15th Aric Almirola
16th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18th Marcos Ambrose
25th Trevor Bayne
26th Brad Keselowski
28th Joey Logano
DAVID GILLILAND, No. 38 Love’s Travel Shops Ford Fusion – QUALIFIED 1st
(PIT ROAD INTERVIEW) “You know, the win last year at Talladega was big for David Ragan and I feel like this is our strong suit for our team. Out there qualifying we knew that anything could happen and Frank Kerr, my crew chief, has worked really hard on this car and it has a lot of speed. We are really looking forward to tomorrow. We are happy and excited but especially happy because of our special paint scheme on the car with Love’s Travel Shop to support our military and a lot of them have signed the hood. This is special and that just makes it that much more special with the camouflage paint scheme and the Fourth of July, so we are going to go enjoy it.”
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 3M Stars & Stripes Ford Fusion – QUALIFIED 10th
“That was interesting to say the least. It is all about getting a run and fall back and getting a run on a guy. It is sort of different because it isn’t really qualifying, you know what I mean? I don’t know what to call that honestly. It is kind of just being in the right place at the right time. That is really what it is. We were. We were in the right place at the right time there. It worked out for us.” YOU CONSIDER A TOP-10 A WIN ON A DAY LIKE TODAY? “Yeah. We were eighth before final practice and 10th in this session so we are pretty happy with that. We have a good car.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Subway Ford Fusion – QUALIFIED 11th
“That was actually fun. It is a cat and mouse game. All the Fords got together and we did a good job. I think that was pretty good. I am happy with our starting spot and obviously we would like to be on the pole but considering we were set to start 27th, I am happy with this.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Cargill/Winn-Dixie Ford Fusion – QUALIFIED 16th
“These plate tracks have been pretty sporty for us the last five or six races. We are looking for that change to be there at the end tomorrow night and see if we can get this Winn-Dixie Cargill Beef Ford Fusion in victory lane. It is the first time Cargill has been with me since 2012 when we won the Nationwide championships with them. We are really excited they are back on. Hopefully we can put on a good show for them. The car is really fast and felt good yesterday in practice in the draft. I feel it is a better car than we had here in February.” WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE IN THE RACE TOMORROW NIGHT? WHAT WILL BE THE KEY TO PUT YOU UP FRONT AT THE END? “I think you want to hang up in the front all night long if you can. We tried that in February and got shuffled back and had some problems but made our way back toward the front when it counted. We will try to stay up front all night long. I don’t think handling will be an issue but I do think the speed in the race car is important and Mike and the guys brought a fast Ford for us.”
MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 DeWalt Wounded Warrior Project Ford Fusion – QUALIFIED 18th
“I was expecting a cluster and that is exactly what we got. I don’t know how to describe it really. It was like bob the apple out there. You don’t know what to do. You could be first, you could be 41st, it was totally random.” WHEN YOU GUYS SPOKE EARLIER TODAY ABOUT QUALIFYING STRATEGY, WAS WHAT WE SAW TODAY A PLAUSIBLE OPTION? “We didn’t even talk about it because we didn’t have a plan going in. How do you plan for something that is random like that? For me, it is not what I am here to do. I am not here to drive around in second gear at Daytona, I am here to go 200 miles per hour. It is an odd deal but we got through it.” HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR CAR FOR TOMORROW? “I feel real good about it. It is a good piece. I am pleased we got through qualifying and kept it straight. I think we have something for them.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – QUALIFIED 28th
“That was pretty dumb. I don’t know. You have to rely on everybody else and we have a pretty small group with just the three of us that are trying to make something happen so you try to tag along with other groups but you don’t know what they are doing. Sometimes they are lifting, sometimes going. It is very difficult to figure out what is going on there. Before you know it you are stopped on the race track and asking yourself what you are supposed to do. It is what it is. Unfortunately we qualified really bad. The fortunate side is we are in Daytona and it doesn’t really matter a whole bunch. There is only so much you can do as a driver and a team and you are trying to figure it all out and it is frustrating. I am still trying to get my thoughts all together. Overall our Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion is good and we will try to get it into victory lane.” HOW WOULD YOU FIX IT? WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENT? “I don’t know. It relies so much on what other people are doing. I don’t know the answer to doing group qualifying like this. You see in the truck series every week where they are drafting and playing games all week and you come to a speedway like this and it is even worse. I don’t have the answer. I will think about it and let you know when I come up with it.”
