Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion, is the highest ranking Ford driver in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. Kenseth sits second and trails leader Jimmie Johnson by only 21 points. He spoke about this weekend’s race after Friday’s practice.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE HERE? “Richmond is like a little mini superspeedway in a way. It’s a short track, but it kind of drives like it wants to be a speedway. It’s the same thing at most short tracks. You’ve got to be able to turn good in the middle and have good traction up off the corner. This track also gets pretty wide so there are several grooves. When you practice here during the day it gets pretty hot and then you race at night, so the conditions change a little bit.”

WHAT DICTATES WHICH GROOVE YOU RACE IN HERE? “It depends on the situation, but if you’re trying to pass somebody, you run in the groove that they’re not in. Generally, the outside gets a little quicker. You just kind of move around and see where you can find the most grip during the night.”

THOUGHTS ON CONDITIONS NOW FOR PRACTICE AND THEN AT NIGHT FOR TOMORROW? “We’ve always practiced here during the day and qualified during the day, and then raced at night. We’ve never had night practice, so I don’t think it’s a big deal. I think everybody is pretty used to it, plus we all tested a few weeks ago at night so I don’t think it’s too big of a deal.”

DOES THIS TRACK TAKE ON MORE IMPORTANCE BECAUSE IT’S THE LAST RACE BEFORE THE CHASE STARTS? “I think they’re all equally important. Obviously when it gets down to the end you always look towards that last race, but every race in the first 26 pays the same points and they’re all equally important.”

HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR START SO FAR? “The year has been pretty good so far, but there’s a long ways to go and it’s easy to get things turned around and go the wrong way. I think it’s something that you’ve just got to keep working on every week and try to keep everybody working hard at it and try to keep your stuff running good.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS QUALIFYING HERE? “For an impound race qualifying somewhat tells you what you’ve got for a race setup, so I think it’s important but I don’t think it’s the end of the world. Four hundred laps at a track like this is still a long time. I think you can start in the back anywhere in a Nextel Cup race and if you have a good enough car, you should be able to find your way toward the front by the end. So it is a good two-wide track where you can do a lot of good racing and if you do qualify bad, you still have a chance to do decent.”

HOW IS PIT ROAD HERE? “It’s a pretty nice pit lane. It’s pretty easy to get on and pretty easy to get off, so there’s quite a bit of room. For a three-quarter mile race track it’s a good pit road.”

Mark Martin, driver of the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion, is fifth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings and has one Cup victory at Richmond International Raceway. He spoke about a number of issues prior to Friday’s practice session.

MARK MARTIN – No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHERE YOU’RE AT RIGHT NOW? “I feel real good. These guys have done a great job on our AAA Fusion and I’ve been able to drive really fast cars and things have gone well.”

RUMORS ARE ALREADY STARTING ABOUT NEXT YEAR AND WHICH DRIVERS WILL BE WHERE. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE NOT BEEN IN THAT SITUATION? “I’ve never have had to deal with it, so I couldn’t tell you. I know in 1982 I didn’t have a sponsor and that was bad. In 1983 I didn’t have a good car to drive and that was bad. Then I got fired, so compared to that it’s been real good.”

CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT YEAR TO YEAR? “It’s something I can’t relate to. I’ve been with Jack Roush for 19 years and we’ve had our difficulties and our challenges and our problems, but they haven’t been known as those other things.”

WHAT ABOUT CHARLOTTE TEST AND THE REPAVING JOB? “I think the surface is gonna be OK. It should be a lot better in five years, but I think it’ll be OK the first time out.”

WHAT ABOUT MAYBE AS MANY AS 11 PIT STOPS DURING THAT RACE? “I kind of think that’s ridiculous, but it is what it is.”

WILL DRIVERS HAVE TO CHANGE THEIR DRIVING STYLE FROM BEFORE AT CHARLOTTE? “That’s not hard. You do whatever you need to do to make your car work as good as you can. That won’t be any problem. It’s a nice paving job and the track is gonna be OK the first time out of the gate I think.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TIRE FOR CHARLOTTE? “As far as I know it’s not something we’ve used before, but I couldn’t tell you. It’s not really a major deal. The tire is a little bit too conservative – just a little – but things have a tendency to change sometimes. If it changed towards being more aggressive, then it would be just right. Whereas if it was just right and it changed towards being more aggressive, then we would have a disaster on our hands. I think Goodyear has done a great job and the pavers did a great job. The race track will be the greatest track in the world in five years and it’s a good one now. That’s about the best compliment you can give a brand new paving job is that it’s a good one now. It’s not bad. It’s one of the better for new pavement that I think we’ve experienced so far.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON REPAVING TALLADEGA? “I’m sure sorry that they’re doing that, but it’ll be alright. That’s what they want to do. I’m not sure why. If it’s my track, I wouldn’t pave it. Nobody was complaining about it being a problem. It’ll be alright. It’s not a major deal. It won’t change things as much as it will on most tracks, but that will just make it easier to run five cars wide. We need to discourage instead of encourage.”