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NASCAR Trucks: Ford driver notes and quotes, Daytona post race

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
MICHAEL DOKKEN-31-Brevak Racing Ford F-150 - WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR VANTAGE POINT? "Everybody checked up in the front and hit the brakes, and got I into the back of somebody and somebody got into the back of me and turned me around. It was all over from there. I got piledrived by a few trucks from behind. We were early in the race, but we were running good. I just wanted to finish the race, and it just didn't happen that way." THE FIELD BUNCHED UP REAL QUICK. HOW WAS THE DRAFT WORKING? "It was working real good, and it sucked you up real quick. It felt like we could run with anyone. It's just hard to tell at the beginning of the race, but the truck felt real good." WERE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE SIZE OF THE DRAFTING PACK? "I guess when we run that close together, everybody seemed to be checking up going into the corners. I don't know why, and a couple of trucks in front really checked up and started the whole thing." DO YOU PLAN ON MAKING THE TRIP TO HOMESTEAD? "We'll see. We're going to try, but we need some sponsor. We had a good truck here, and I'm sure we'll have a good truck at Homestead."

NATHAN HASELEU-99-Roush Performance Ford F-150 - WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR TRUCK? "It was free after the pit stop, and I don't know if the tire went down, but the truck went sideways coming out of the corner. I had no time to save it. It was just over with. I don't know what happened for sure. We'll have to take a look at the truck when we get back home." HOW DO YOU REBOUND AFTER THIS? "I'm going to be glad to get out of here and go to Homestead, tracks I'm familiar with and go racing. We need to hold our heads up high. We knew there would be some bumps in the road, but we wanted to get this first one under our belts." WERE YOU NERVOUS? "Not at all. It was a blast. It's just too bad this happened to our Roush team." HOW WAS THE TRUCK IN THE DRAFT? "It was OK. It handled no differently than it did yesterday. It was totally comfortable. We came in and pitted, and the handling just went away."

RICK CRAWFORD-14-Milwaukee Electric Tools Ford F-150 - "I had fun. I led my first laps at Daytona and finished in the top 10. It's a pretty neat deal. You can't win a championship that way, so we have a lot of work to do on the Ford F-150, but I think all the guys on the crew will get the job done. We'll beat up on them a little more in Homestead." WHAT ABOUT THE DRAFT? "I had to draft with a Dodge and got hung out to dry at the end. I had myself in position to run good, but we were up on the (No.) 1 truck and he blew up. WHAT ABOUT PIT STRATEGY? "The boys did an awesome jobs in the pits. I think we came out in the top 5 each time. They put us in a position to win, the chips just didn't fall our way on the last restart."

LARRY GUNSELMAN-63-Waterloo Tool Storage Ford F-150 - "I'm pretty aggravated right now. There really wasn't any reason for that accident. It should have never happened. The trucks that are not racing against anybody are being stupid. People need to use their heads. You're going so fast here that somebody could get hurt. The Waterloo Tool Storage Ford was running great, and I'm really proud of the guys for making the race. I've got to thank the sponsors for getting us here, but that was our only truck, so I don't know where we go from here. Now we've got to figure out how to go to Homestead. I'm just really disappointed because that didn't need to happen." HOW WAS THE DRAFT? "It was good. The trucks were stable and you could drive them. It's not bad, but you need to use your head. You're coming up on people so fast that you need to use your brakes to make sure you don't wreck the field. You just need to be careful, and that didn't happen at the end of the race."

TERRY COOK-29-HotJobs.com Ford F-150 - "We're definitely happy right now. The guys put together an awesome truck considering that we didn't put this deal together with Ford until the first of January. We were testing down here in the middle of January and here we are in the middle of February racing, so to come out of here as the highest Ford is definitely an accomplishment. That's says a lot for our team." HOW NERVE WRACKING WAS IT? "The race itself is more mentally fatiguing than it is physically. You ride up on these guys so fast that you have to roll off the throttle and ride the brake and you start bump drafting. You need to be on your toes because you can be three-wide in the middle of the corners. It's like a funnel coming off the corners; it comes down to two lanes." YOU SWITCH TO A 12:1 MOTOR IN HOMESTEAD. WHAT WILL THAT DO TO THE TRUCKS IN TERMS OF HANDLING AND POWER? "Ernie Elliott is building our motors, and he already has two 12:1 motors ready to go. We'll take our Homestead truck to Lakeland Speedway on our way down there and test it. We're excited to see how that will affect passing on the flatter tracks." THE TOP THREE TRUCKS SEEMED TO PULL AWAY ON THE LAST TWO RESTARTS. "It gets pretty hairy out there. The lapped trucks, with a little bit of damage, are just off the pace, but they're fast enough to stay in the draft, and it was unfortunate for us because we got caught trying to pass them at the end while the top three pulled away. We couldn't stay in line if we wanted to get past the lapped trucks."

DERRIKE COPE-86-National Wild Turkey Federation Ford F-150 - "It was just guys slowing up in front of you. It's a lot of inexperience. It was a fun day. We had a good truck. It's just a shame we dad that early incidence because we had a good truck. I was just being careful, but it was just one of those days. NASCAR didn't have any communication at all, and that cost us another lap. It's just a fitting end to a miserable two weeks." WHAT ARE YOUR IMMEDIATE PLANS? "I'm going home to do some TV for FOX on Sunday, and I'm going to address the next two weeks to see where I'm at next."

MORGAN SHEPHERD-21-Derek's Sports Bar & Grill Ford F-150 - "We should have been in the top four or five, but we had a cover on the rear that came loose, and we had to come in and pop rivet it down. We had to make a green-flag stop to fix it, but we got lucky because everyone had to make a green-flag stop later. At the end, we only changed two tires to try to come up through there at little better, but I got hung up by some lapped trucks. WHAT WAS IT LIKE RACING WITH THESE GUYS? "There's a lot of inexperience. It's a good series for a new driver to learn, and once they get settled down, they'll be all right." WHERE GO YOU GO FROM HERE? "I don't know. We don't have a sponsor or anything, and we're just here trying to put things together. I don't have anything definite yet."

CHUCK HOSSFELD-50-JR's Garage Ford F-150 - "That wasn't the way we wanted to finish our first truck race. I'm a little disappointed, but I'm more concerned about Mike (Heiser). I lost my brakes after I spun out, and when I came into the pits I couldn't avoid him. That's where my thoughts are now. I'm ready to leave Daytona, and then we need to focus out attention to Homestead to try to rebound. We still have 23 races to go, and the rookie and points battles are far from over."

NOTE: Mike Heiser, jack man on Hossfeld's No. 50 team, was taken to the infield care center after the contact in the pits and was released with minor cuts and bruises.

Text Provided by Ford

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