DAVID RAGAN, No. 6 AAA FORD: “I feel like our position on the Cup side is where we want to be. We’ve had a few strong races. We’ve had a couple of race that we’ve struggled a little bit. We know some areas that we need to work on and I feel like we’re getting close. Our Car of Tomorrow program at Roush Racing needs a little bit of work but I feel like we’re on the right path to making it better. So, anyway, we’re sitting 18th in points and we want to stay in that top-20, we want to be a little more consistent from the mile-and-a-half tracks to the short tracks and I certainly know we’ve got some road courses coming up and I want to be prepared for that. We’re where we want to be but we’ve still got a little improvement. On the Busch side, I wish I was the only driver in here and I could be leading both Busch and Cup [smiles]. It’s pretty tough. Everyone says ‘Man, you’re not running that good in Busch’ and I tell everyone it’s just as hard top run in the top-10 in a Cup race as it is a Busch race. I’ve had my work cut off for us on the Busch side. Hopefully we’ll get a few strong runs and catch Marcos a little bit.”

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 59 KINGSFORD/BUSH’S FORD: “Well for us, being a Raybestos Rookie in this deal, I’m in my second year on ovals. It’s been a pretty daunting challenge. We’ve just tried to be consistent and conservative out there. We haven’t been the fastest Raybestos Rookie on average, I’d say, but we’ve finished the most races, I’d say. We’re consistent and we’ve just been trying to build a platform. My biggest goal is to be safe in points, get some confidence, learn the guys, learn the tracks, learn these Busch cars and then hopefully over the summer really pick up our performances and try to get some more of those top-10s. We’ve had a couple already but we’re pretty excited to try and get another one just to take some pressure off. I feel like I’m playing catch-up a lot in these races and it’d be nice to feel confident before I get to a track like here at Texas.”

RAGAN: COMMENT ON RACING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY. “I’ve been here in a Craftsman Truck a couple of times. This is probably one of my most favorite racetracks. There’s just something about this place that makes it a little easier for me than say Charlotte or Chicago or something like that. I really enjoy coming to Texas and I’ve actually been here since 1998. We came here in Legends cars and Bandoleros and raced a lot. I really like the place and hopefully we’ve got our Discount Tire Ford on the Busch side ready for a strong run and certainly on the Cup side we’d like to qualify a little better and run in the top-20 this weekend.”

AMBROSE: COMMENT ON RACING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY. “I had a couple of truck races last year here, too. The first one was a real experience for me [smiles]. I’ve never been on a racetrack that is so fast for the whole race so that was interesting. The second time I came back in the truck I was quite happy. I think we had a strong top-10 run. This weekend, the Busch cars are different. I’m not very comfortable out there yet. I’m still working at it and hopefully we’ll have a strong qualifying run and put ourselves in a good spot for the race.” COMMENT ON SO MANY NEXTEL CUP DRIVERS COMPETING IN THE BUSCH SERIES RACE HERE AT TEXAS. “Well, he’s one of the Buschwhackers now [points to Ragan]. He’s doing both. For me, it’s great to run up against those guys because you can really see where you’re at, see what you need to do to improve. Basically, get shown how it’s meant to be done out there on the racetrack. It’s great to have a few of them in, maybe not half the field. It makes it a little bit tough on us. But I enjoy it. I’m not sure the team owners that are running Busch only teams like it that much because their pride is going to get affected and TV time, too. But as a Raybestos Rookie you’ve got every chance to beat one of these Cup regulars and that’s for me a great challenge and that’s something I look forward to when they do come.”

RAGAN: COMMENT ON SO MANY NEXTEL CUP DRIVERS COMPETING IN THE BUSCH SERIES RACE HERE AT TEXAS. “I think the Busch racing is equally as tough as the Cup racing toward the front. The thing that makes a difference in the Cup side is it’s hard to run 20th but on the Busch side, the top-10 if you look at it, you’re racing against guys that are good on the Cup side: Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, week in and week out. Nashville was still a tough race. You’ve got guys like Shane Huffman. They’ve picked up their program and are running really fast. Both Rensi cars are always pretty good. There’s a lot of Cup guys that even struggle racing some of the Busch guys and hopefully that kind of equals out. We always have a lot of fun on the Busch side.”

AMBROSE: DO YOU KNOW WILL POWER? HAVE YOU SPOKEN WITH HIM SINCE HIS WIN LAST WEEK? “Will Power is actually on our Team Australia team and Champ Car has been with Team Australia for a lot longer than I have and Wood Brothers. We give him fun about his name. I don’t know what his Dad was thinking when he called him Will Power but I guess it worked out for him there at Las Vegas because he had plenty of willpower to win the race. I know Will pretty well. We’ve grown up racing with each other in Australia. We went our separate ways there in the late ‘90s. I know him very well but I haven’t spoken to him.”

RAGAN: COMMENT ON TOYOTA’S NEW INTAKE MANIFOLD IN THE BUSCH SERIES. “I think the more equal things can be and they’ve obviously had a slight horsepower advantage. I don’t know for sure the numbers exactly and how much but for an outsider looking in, and even competition-wise, on average the Toyotas have had a little better power than all of us. We’ve got great Roush-Yates Engines and we feel like it’s as good as it can get and then when you see one of those guys pull you just a little bit it’s a little discouraging. That’s great. NASCAR does a good job keeping the level playing field. We’ll race ‘em whatever they have but it helps a little bit to be a little more equal.” AND ON THE CUP SIDE, CHEVROLET HAS A NEW ENGINE. “That’ll be a plus for them in time but we’ve also got some things on the Ford side that they’re constantly working on. We’re doing cylinder head advances, they’re working on intakes and all kinds of work on our engines so I don’t know when the next new phase or the next big thing to pop up. But I don’t have any worries at all on our engine program.”

AMBROSE: COMMENT ON TOYOTA’S NEW INTAKE MANIFOLD IN THE BUSCH SERIES. “Well, I know that I ran wide-open quite a few times in the truck deal and kept getting beat by Skinner there for the pole [smiles]. Parity is a great thing as long as NASCAR had the right intent, which I’m sure they do. It’s great because it’s just going to keep the field even and give the drivers and teams equal chances to win races.”