FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Silverado 150 Qualifying

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Silverado 150 Qualifying, Page 1 October 25, 2001 Phoenix International Raceway

RICK CRAWFORD-14-Milwaukee Electric Tool Ford F-150 (Qualified 3rd) - YOU PICKED UP ONE TENTH FROM PRACTICE. CAN YOU ATTRIBUTE THAT TO YOUR EXPERIENCE HERE IN THE PAST? "I think we ran a 37 in practice and we backed it up with a 27 in qualifying. We were quicker than we were in practice, and that's always good. Among the top runners, they all have experience here, so that's doesn't mean much once you narrow it down to the top 10. We have a good, strong race team that has really picked up the pace in the latter half of the season, so we're starting to expect things like this. If this time doesn't hold up for the pole today, we'll just have to put it in Victory Lane tomorrow." YOUR TEAM HAS MADE A SIGNIFICANT CHARGE IN THE SECOND HALF OF TH SEASON, BUT WITH TWO RACES LEFT, HOW MUCH EMPHASIS IS ON GETTING YOUR FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON? "We're looking at two wins. We've got Ray Stonkus as the crew chief and Ernie Elliott motors under the hood, and I feel that combination is good enough to at least challenge for the win each week. We're really working our tails off and I'm here looking to get them two wins. We'll probably be a little disappointed if we don't." HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT DO YOU EXPECT LAPPED TRAFFIC TO PLAY IN TOMORROW'S RACE? "There's a place to pass and then there's not a place to pass and if you know that, you can get through lapped traffic pretty easy. They'll hold you up sometimes, but one day it will be their day and they'll be looking out for me. But, tomorrow I'll be looking out for them."

JON WOOD-50-Eldon Ford F-150 (Qualified 8th) - YOU LOOKED DISAPPOINTED WITH THAT RUN WHEN YOU GOT OUT OF THE TRUCK, BUT IT WILL END UP IN THE TOP 10. "I was pretty disappointed when I got out of the truck because we slowed up two tenths from our practice times. I just didn't think that that was going to get it done. Then I saw Biffle's run and he was no better than I was. That told me right there that maybe we were not all that bad. We went out really early and didn't know what the track was and we almost ended up spinning out. I think that all these later guys had a chance to adjust their stuff. We're going to race good." YOU HAVE THE ROOKIE STRIPE ON YOUR TRUCK, BUT YOU'VE RACED HERE BEFORE. "I was here in a Winston West car and they're two totally different things, so you can't compare them."

GREG BIFFLE-99-Eldon Ford F-150 (Qualified 11th) - IF YOU'RE NOT ON THE POLE, YOU NEVER SEEM SATISFIED. "We'll end up 15th and that's definitely not where we want to start. It's just unfortunate because we were third in practice earlier. I got loose in Turn 2 and tried to pick up the throttle and get on the pole, but we ended up back there." YOU'VE BEEN ON THE TRACK MOST OF THE DAY EITHER IN THE CAR OR THE TRUCK. DID YOU THINK THAT WOULD HELP YOU GET A FEEL OF THE TRACK AS IT CHANGED? "Those two animals are completely different. We were fifth in Busch practice, which is pretty respectable, but we think we're pretty good in the Busch car." YOU OPTED TO DRIVE THIS TRUCK RACE OVER THE ONE IN TEXAS, BUT YOU'VE NEVER WON HERE BEFORE. "I don't like racing at Texas in the trucks too much. Yeah, I won there, but it's pretty fast and aerodynamically, the trucks aren't as much fun to drive there as they are at a place like this."

TERRY COOK-29-Power Stroke Diesel Ford F-150 (Qualified 12th) - "We qualified right where we were running. We thought that we would pick up more time qualifying. We adjusted for what we thought the change in the weather would do the track. We're just lacking a little bit of mechanical grip right now. I think we have a handle on it and we'll be a lot better in race trim. In terms of qualifying speed, we were lacking a little today." WILL YOUR STARTING POSITION MAKE YOU MORE APT TO USE SOME PIT STRATEGY TOMORROW? "I think the thing with pit strategy, I think that Happy Hour will determine what we do for pit strategy. If we're struggling after Happy Hour, then definitely we'll look hard at it. We kind of screwed up at Chicago, though. We probably had a good enough truck that we didn't need pit strategy to win the race, but we went for it anyway and it ultimately hurt us. I think we need to look at that after Happy Hour to see where we're running and then we'll work with pit strategy to see if that can help us win the race."