CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Ford Fusion (finished 6th) – It was a good day, a good points day. That’s all we could do. We ran well all day and that’s a good step for our team.” HAVE ANY ISSUES WITH ANYTHING? “The tires got better all day, so by the end it was fairly normal race. I really enjoyed it.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion (finished 4th) – “We didn’t run good all day, really, but all the DeWalt guys did a great job. Chip [Bolin, crew chief] and Chris [Andrews] up there made all the right adjustments and the DeWalt guys got me in and out of the pits quick when we needed to, and made the right calls on track position, too. Overall, it ended up being a great day, but it was really a struggle.”

NOT SPECTACULAR, BUT A SOLID DAY. “The finish was spectacular, the day certainly wasn’t. We didn’t have a very good handling car, really, all day, and kind of got lost at the beginning of the race and didn’t know what to adjust, and Chip and Chris kind of went nuts. The small fuel cells and all the cautions we were able to make a lot of different adjustments during pit stops because we had a lot of pit stops. From hard work and not giving up by the guys we were able to salvage a good finish out of a not-so-good day.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH TIRES? “From what I saw the racing wasn’t great just because the tires were real hard and you couldn’t run side-by-side. When you got along side of somebody you were just scared to death you were going to wreck. It was hard to drive by yourself, but it was almost impossible when you were side-by-side. I think they did a really nice job on the race track. I think the racing is going to be great here in the future, it’s just going to take for them to ease up a little bit on the tire, make it a little softer where we can race a little better.”

JON WOOD – No. 21 U.S. Air Force Ford Fusion (finished 29th) – ON HIS CUP DEBUT. “I wish I could do it again. To be honest with you, Cup racing is a lot more giving than taking. And I’m going to say that I’m fortunate that I spent the majority of my time in the Busch Series because I have learned to take a lot and not give a lot, and it’s easier to give than take. So, getting into a Cup car now, I know how to race respectfully – at least I think I do, I didn’t touch anyone all day. I did everything they asked me to do. I could’ve raced harder, I could’ve forced some issues that I didn’t, but I did what they told me to do, and that’s it.”

THIS IS THE LONGEST RACE IN WHICH YOU’VE EVER RUN. DID IT SEEM LONG? “Nope, it seemed as short as it could be. I don’t care what anybody says, these cars drive wonderfully. It was be the Fusion part. Everybody talks about Cup cars not driving well; my Fusion drove great. And it was fun to have all the Air Force people here and not get into any trouble, I didn’t say any cuss words on the radio, and just had a pretty decent day.”

HOW MUCH MORE WILL YOU KNOW GOING INTO YOUR SECOND RACE THAN YOUR FIRST? “A lot. If I could do it over again, I think I could run top 20. I did a lot of things that I didn’t know to do, and I did them wrong. And that comes with no experience whatsoever. No matter how many Busch races you run, you still can’t prepare for some of the scenarios you’re going to be put in in a Cup car.”

EDDIE WOOD – Co-owner and spotter, No. 21 U.S. Air Force Ford Fusion – HOW DID YOUR SON DO IN HIS CUP DEBUT? “He did exactly, probably for the first time ever, he did what he was told to do. We told him to just take it easy and to race the track and not to race people and to get some points. We need some points because we haven’t finished the first two races, and he did exactly what we told him to do. We had to pull him back, I have to be honest with you, we had to keep pulling him back all day long. I apologized to Ernie [Cope, crew chief] with 10 laps to go, ‘I’m sorry if I keep telling you to tell him to be patient. Just race where we’re at.’ Because where we were in the lineup, we really couldn’t advance a lot, so the thing we had to gain was staying out of trouble, and he and Ernie really did a good job together. Ernie kept him calmed down, because he wanted to run harder, and we just wouldn’t let him. But that’s okay. We got some points, got his first race out of the way, and now it’s over.”

HE’S NEVER RUN A RACE THIS LONG BEFORE. HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT FOR HIM TO BE ON THE TRACK AT THE END? “That was important, too, to run all day. Because he made mention on that last caution that, ‘Man, I wish I could start the race right now with what I’ve learned today.’ That’s how it works. That’s how you learn. You don’t learn watching, you don’t learn by people telling you this and that, you learn by doing. I’m so proud of him. Like I said, he did exactly what we told him to do. He took care of the car, they made good adjustments all day to keep the car like he wanted it. Now that it’s all over, I was glad that he got to make a lot of green-flag stops. That’s good for him to learn that part. It’s different coming in in a Cup ar than it is in a Busch car. That part of it he got to come in hard and learn the feel of that and the pit stop and all that with the best people in the world around you. These drivers that he’s racing against are the best in the world, so I’m just proud to be here.”