GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Qualified 12th) – “You’re not pleased when you’re half-a-second or so off of the pole speed because that’s a big deficit to make up. Our car drafts really well, so I’m excited about the race tomorrow. The 24 car is certainly fast. We saw that in drafting practice. It looks like he’s the class of the field. The 3M Fusion car is gonna be pretty good. It definitely looked like we were running in the top five in drafting trim, but it might be a stretch for us to win here tomorrow.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY – No. 26 Sharp Aquos Ford Fusion (Qualified 27th) – “I don’t know. It normally qualifies well, but it just didn’t have the speed right there. You want to start good here because if they have a wreck early on then you don’t get caught up in it, but I feel pretty good about our car.”
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion (Qualified 16th) – “That was alright. It’s almost as fast as our fastest teammate so far and that’s a lot better than normal for us, on average, at these restrictor plate tracks. That’s on the better side of our previous performances, so I’m pretty happy with it.”
DAVID GILLILAND – No. 38 M&M’s Ford Fusion (Qualified 2nd) – “That’s as close as you can get, but we’re real proud of our team. We’ve got a great race car. This car is a little more racy than the one we had here before, so I’m real excited that it went that fast in qualifying and I’m really looking forward to the race.” IS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO GAIN ONE-THOUSANDTH OF A SECOND? “No, I did everything I know to do. I’m real proud of all the guys. The M&M’s Ford Fusion has been good since we unloaded it here and Todd Parrott and all the guys have done a great job.” HOW CONFIDENT WERE YOU AFTER THE POLE AT DAYTONA? “We’re real confident for Sunday. That’s the biggest thing is the race. Our M&M’s Ford Fusion has been real good. We were concentrating more on race stuff. Last year when we came here we sat on the pole, but we were really focused on trying to get the pole and really didn’t worry about too much race stuff, but this year I’ve got a little more experience drafting and we’re really prepared for the race.” THE SPEEDS ARE A BIT FASTER WILL BE IT BETTER FOR THE FANS? “I think Talladega and Daytona are always exciting for the fans. I think two miles an hour isn’t really going to make a difference for the fans. Everybody is gonna be bunched up and everybody is so close in the Nextel Cup Series, I think it’ll be a great race come Sunday.”
MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion (Qualified 17th) – “It’s a pretty easy day for the driver. You just sit there and drive around for two laps. Pretty much anybody could qualify these things. There’s really nothing to it from a driver’s standpoint, it’s more of a team thing – getting all of the little stuff done on the car as best you can, but it is an impound race so you’ve got to have it ready for the race.” HOW BIG IS IT TO QUALIFY WELL? “If you’re not first, it doesn’t really matter to be honest with you. It doesn’t matter if you’re second or 32nd with how the draft works. As long as there’s not a wreck in the first few laps, it doesn’t really matter where you start here.” NASCAR DIDN’T CHANGE THE PLATE DESPITE HIGHER SPEEDS. WHY? “I think it’s the same plate we raced last fall and the racing was good. The cars are handling very well with the new asphalt. There’s a lot of grip and it’s real smooth. The cars are handling really good, so I don’t think they’re going too fast.”
BORIS SAID – No. 60 No Fear Ford Fusion (Qualified 10th) – “It feels good because yesterday we were really struggling with our Ford Fusion. We have Sobe No Fear Energy drink. All of the fans have been really supportive, buying cases so we can run more races. We have Circle K on board this week, so you can go there and buy it, but we were really worried last night. But last night we went out in the infield and hung out with the Cajuns, had some funny frozen drinks and a good time. This is just an awesome place. I sure didn’t want to go home today. I mean, I want to stick around for the fun tonight and I can’t wait tomorrow to race this thing.” WHAT ABOUT THE RACE? “I have no idea. All we did was work on qualifying. They put you in that situation. When you’re not in the top 35 and you’re going for those seven spots, the only important thing is to make the race, so that’s all Frankie Stoddard and the boys did. He was nervous last night because we just didn’t quite have the speed yesterday, but we didn’t do all the little qualifying tricks so we were really nervous. But the car had a lot of speed today. I really want to thank Doug Yates and everyone at Roush-Yates Engines because these things are the best. They can overcome the shortcomings of a driver when you get on these straightaways, so we had a great engine today. I’m just happy. Hopefully, that will put us in the show. That’s all we were worried about.”
EDDIE WOOD, Co-Owner – No. 21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion (Ken Schrader did not qualify on speed) – “We’ve dodged bullets the last three weeks, but sooner or later one of them is gonna hit you. We threw everything we had at it, but it just wasn’t enough.”
NOTE: This marks the first time since April 2000 that the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford has not qualified for a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race. Ironically, that race was the Diehard 500 here at Talladega Superspeedway.
ROBBY GORDON – No. 7 Jim Beam Ford Fusion (Qualified 45th, Provisional) – “I watched Dale Jr. qualify earlier today and then I watched Jeff Burton qualify and I listened to their comments afterward and I just kind of smiled because I knew we had the same stuff built into our car for racing and it really wasn’t gonna help us – it’s things you do with your body to make enough downforce, so you can get down underneath somebody – side draft them – and hopefully clear them. We’ve got that built in and it’s stuff you just can’t change for qualifying. If you qualify good, you don’t have it for the race and the most important thing is having it for the race at the end of the day. We qualified right where we thought we would. We thought we’d do an .80 and we did an .85, so we had our expectations checked at the door. We knew where we were, but after watching yesterday’s practice and how I could start at the back of the pack and work my way to the front, I’m excited about tomorrow’s race.”
DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion (Qualified 11th) – “I think going out a little late probably hurt us, but this just all goes back to the AAA team – Jimmy Fennig and everybody back at the shop. They’ve worked really hard on the superspeedway program as you can tell. You’ve got a lot of the Roush-Yates Ford engine Fords up top, so we’ve got a good race car and we’re looking forward to Sunday.” YOU WERE FIFTH AT DAYTONA. CAN YOU BACK THAT UP HERE? “We definitely can if we stay out of trouble. Jimmy Fennig has prepared a great race car. If we do what I need to do; my spotter and I are gonna get some more practice today in the Busch car, so, hopefully, we’ll put on a good show today for the fans and definitely, we’ve got a top-five car for tomorrow.”
RICKY RUDD – No. 88 Snickers Ford Fusion (Qualified 5th) – “We’re really pleased. The guys on the Snickers Ford and everybody at Yates Racing worked really hard. We concentrated on draft practice and stuff and probably left a little bit on the table maybe, but we’re happy. It’s not a front row spot, but we can at least see the green flag fall.” A BUSY DAY. YOU’RE HEADED TO VIRGINIA. “Yeah, I’m gonna go catch a flight right now and head to Norfolk, Virginia for the induction ceremony they have going on for the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. I’m real excited about it because there aren’t many race car drivers in that state hall of fame. It’s a pretty big honor to be chosen, so I’m real excited about it.” AND THEN TOMORROW YOU MOVE INTO SECOND PLACE ON THE ALL-TIME STARTS LIST IN THE SERIES. “Yeah, it’s just kind of odd how it all shook out at the same time. That’s kind of strange timing. It wasn’t planned by any means, but if everything works out right tomorrow we’ll be behind Richard Petty in all-time starts and it’s just an honor to be close to that company. He’s way far out ahead, but we’re honored to be in that second spot.”
DAVID GILLILAND PRESS CONFERENCE – “It’s been a great track for us. Just coming out here with Todd Parrott and Robert Yates Racing engines, they do such a great job on our restrictor plate program. We always look forward to coming to these races. We came up a little bit short today on the pole, but we’re real excited. We worked on more race stuff. Last year when we were here we worked a little bit more on qualifying stuff to try and really go for the pole, but we’re excited and really looking forward to Sunday. We feel like we’ve got a great race car. It drafted very, very well and it sucked up really good, and I’ve got a little more experience than the first time I came, so we’re real excited and looking forward to Sunday.”
ARE YOU SNEAKING UP ON A TOP FIVE OR A WIN? “Yeah, we hope so. I definitely learned a lot since the first time I did a restrictor plate race, so we’re looking forward to putting that all together and putting together a good run for Sunday. We definitely feel very, very good about our chances. This is the same car that we had at Daytona and it was really, really good, so we’re excited and really looking forward to Sunday.”
DID YOU TRY TO IMAGINE HOW MUCH ONE-THOUSANDTH OF A SECOND IS? “Yeah, I’ve thought about it a little bit today. It’s nothing. It’s just amazing that on a 2.66-mile track that a Ford and a Chevy can run that close, so it’s pretty wild. You just kind of go back and think, ‘Well, could I have done anything different?’ But, really I couldn’t think of anything else. It was just real close and Jeff is obviously doing a little bit better in the points.”
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION ON THE RADIO WHEN THEY TOLD YOU ABOUT THE TIME? “I was happy to go that fast, really. It’s amazing to me still that you could tie on something like that – on a track this big with the wind and everything else that just comes into play. Todd Parrott came over the radio and told me we tied, so he was a little in shock too.”
IT’S ALMOST A YEAR SINCE YOUR BUSCH WIN. HOW HAS YOUR LIFE CHANGED IN THAT TIME? “The biggest thing is it’s gotten a lot, lot busier. I never imagined it could be this busy, but it’s gotten busier and I’ve learned a lot going to all these different tracks and a lot of them for the first time, so I’m looking forward to going to a lot of them again. I’m just trying to take it all in and learn as much as I can.”
THE CAR WAVERED A BIT ON THE LAP. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO TAKE BACK? “No, I’ve gone over it a couple times in my mind and there was really nothing. The car was very solid. You’re just kind of along for the ride and it would have been hard to do much better.”
HOW DO YOU LIKE RESTRICTOR PLATE RACING? “I like it. We seem to be very competitive on the restrictor plate tracks and, as a racer, you want to be as competitive as you can each week, so coming here we always look forward to coming and feel like we have a legitimate shot at a really good finish. I like it. The first time I came here, I just kind of fell to the back and tried to learn for 500 miles, and then we went to Daytona and I tried to race a little bit and felt very comfortable, so it’s just something you have to learn I guess. The biggest thing for me is just having confidence and knowing when to pull out and when not to and who to follow and who not to.”
HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE PROGRESS RYR IS MAKING? “We haven’t been as good as we’d like to. We had a great car at Texas. We struggled the first couple of intermediate tracks and then we built a new car to go to Texas and we felt really good about it. We didn’t get to qualify, but we were really good in practice. We’ve really been struggling with the car of tomorrow stuff and we’re not the only teams that are struggling. There are a couple of teams that have it figured out, but we’re working hard. Doug and Robert have really stepped up and they’re trying to hire some more people. It’s a tough deal, but I feel like we’re going in the right direction. We’re doing a little more testing now and working on trying to get a complete package like some of the other teams have.”
ARE YOU DISCOURAGED AT ALL TO RUN THE SAME TIME AS JEFF AND NOT WIN THE POLE? “No, I mean, last year I was on the pole here and I didn’t lead the first lap. The outside lane actually seems to go better. I’ve been on the pole here and Daytona and the outside lane was better both times, so, aside from not actually having the pole, I think the outside of the front row is the best place to be.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE IN THE CUP RACE? “I think you’re gonna see a lot of three-wide racing and probably a little bit of four-wide racing. It’s just so smooth and you feel like you have so much control over the car, so I think it’s gonna be a lot of real close racing.”
