NASCAR Cup Series

MATT KENSETH, No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion - (Finished 5th/Seeded 8th in 2012 Chase): "I think the team is good in shape, we have been having great, great days on pit road, pretty good adjustments, made something out of, I don't want to say nothing but we didn't have a great car and Jimmie and them guys did a great job on pit road, strategy and adjustments and got us a top-5. So we've had a couple decent weeks. I can't wait to go to Chicago and race there. We definitely know we need to win some races to have a shot at this thing so hopefully we can have a shot next week."

Following weeks of build up and anticipation, the NASCAR Spring Cup Series arrived at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night for the final race before the Chase for the Championship. Ten drivers arrived already locked-in to the Chase, including Tony Stewart who was assured of either a finish in the top ten or a wild card spot.

CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford Fusion – OBVIOUSLY DISAPPOINTMENT FOR YOU TONIGHT. “Yeah, this isn’t about one race. It is 26 races and we just let too many points get away for a bunch of different reasons. There was a lot of luck involved and everyone tried really hard. This is the fastest we have been the last six weeks all year and I am proud of everyone for rallying around Chad (Norris) and Bob (Osborne) included for making the best effort we could. We will just go try to build the best team we can for next year and try to make sure a Ford wins this championship.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET HOW IS YOUR CAR? “It’s been a handful. We are working on it. We will just keep going until the race is over and get everything we can out of it. We missed it. It’s unfortunate, but a lot of racing left to go.”

Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) Currently 7th YOU ARE RUNNING WELL UNDER GOOFY CIRCUMSTANCE TONIGHT. “Well I wish we were another 48 laps into it. Hopefully we’ll get out back out there and at least get to halfway. The car is really good. The Shell/Pennzoil Dodge is able to make some passes and move up a little bit and the car is really good right now. I hope we get to keep running it.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion – A LOT OF GUYS ARE SAYING THEY ARE LOOSE, SOME SAYING THEY ARE TIGHT. WHERE HAS YOUR CAR BEEN? "It is both. It was petty good when the track was green after the rain the first part of the race.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. captured his first pole of 2012, setting the fastest lap today at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) for Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured the pole for Saturday nights NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway with a lap of 127.023 MPH (21.260 secs).

4th, CLINT BOWYER 15th, KYLE BUSCH 6th, MARK MARTIN 29th, BOBBY LABONTE 7th, DENNY HAMLIN 32nd, TRAVIS KVAPIL 8th, JOEY LOGANO 34th, JOE NEMECHEK 9th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 40th, MIKE BLISS 12th, LANDON CASSILL

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: ON HIS LAP: “It feels good. I’ve not really been the best of qualifiers the last couple of years. We have a lot of improvements we’ve made this year. It feels good to get a pole.”