Sam's Town 400 Texas Truck Race

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES
Texas Motor Speedway

June 9, 2006

RICK CRAWFORD-14-Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford F-150 (Finished 3rd) - "This 14 comes alive when it comes home to Texas. Tonight it was alive. I was proud to go out there and get the lead in the Circle Bar Motel Bar & RV Park Ford F-150. It was a good race for us, and I thought we were running Skinner down at the end and here came the 30. I had no idea. But, he's strong and he's been tough all year, but we'll take third."

DAVID RAGAN-6-Scotts Ford F-150 (Finished 8th) - "It was just a pleasure to drive this Roush Racing Scotts Ford f-150. They do an awesome job and this team can win week in and week out, and I'm just been trying real hard. We had an awesome truck tonight. I just needed five or six laps to get going and last restart killed us. We were real loose to start off a run. Mike Beam, Mark Martin, Jack Roush and everybody that gave me this opportunity, I can't thank them enough for sticking by me. It feels good. I haven't felt this good in a long time. I'm glad to finally finish one of these things and build a little bit of momentum. I really like Michigan. I'm back in the 50 truck next week, and I just have to say thank you to Scotts, Jack Roush and all of those guys for helping me out. We're just happy to be here and happy to come home in one piece. This is what I need and what these guys need on the team." WERE THERE EVER ANY INSTANCES WHERE YOU HAD TO PULL YOURSELF BACK AND TELL YOURSELF JUST TO FINISH THE RACE? "Yeah. I couldn't afford to race those guys real hard there on the last couple of laps. Our truck was super-loose and I knew those guys. They raced me clean all night. It was so much fun racing with Dennis Setzer, Jack Sprague and Matt Crafton, and some of those guys. They really gave me a lot of room. I loved the long runs tonight. This is the longest race of the year and I wish we could have gone the rest of the race without that last caution. I'm just happy to be here, but real happy for these guys. They work their butts off every week and they deserve this as much as anybody."

MICHEL JOURDAIN, JR-50-Roush Racing Ford F-150 (Finished 13th) - "I'm so happy to finish and finish on the lead lap. The truck was amazing. I think we had the best truck out there. I just struggled so much in traffic early. These things just behave so different by yourself, and I think I started learning that, how it needs to be driven in traffic. It was just so hard at the start. We went to the back at the beginning, but the guys did such good pit stops that they got me track position, and I started understanding how traffic worked and I got there to pass some trucks. I just got better as the race went on." WHEN DID YOU REACH YOUR COMFORT LEVEL IN THE TRUCK TONIGHT? "To tell you the truth, I still more laps in this thing. I need a lot more laps because this is so hard and so different. Probably if the race would have been 500 miles, in 20 more laps I would have been real comfortable. But, when the truck is so good, it just makes life so much easier. I'm just so happy, and I'm looking forward to my next races. Milwaukee is a short track and I struggled there in the Busch car last year, but I've won there in Champ Car, so I'm looking forward to going there in the truck to do better. Hopefully this is a turnaround, and I'm just learning. I have so much to learn because these guys are so good." DO YOU THINK YOU EARNED SOME RESPECT FROM YOUR COMPETITORS TONIGHT? "I think it's important and I'm trying not to make too many mistakes. I think it's so important right now because I'm new to the team and new to the series, and I think it's important for me not to screw myself up much and anybody else. I'm racing them and I'm racing them clean, and I think that's so important because a lot guys that have come from my way have struggled and have had problems with people, and that doesn't help. Hopefully I entered that respect, but the best way to earn respect is through results."

TERRY COOK-10-Ford Power Stroke Diesel by Int'l F-150 (Finished 16th) - "We went for two tires there on that first pit stop, and it was a great call, and we came out of the pits and unfortunately we leave the pit box so fast and a lot of guys are still trying to get in their pit box. That kinda slowed us up a little bit and then the 60 truck came out and ran right into us. We were running down the middle of the pit road and we couldn't get out against the wall, and he ran right into us and wrinkled up the left-front fender. That kind of out us in a different pit cycle than everybody else. We had to come back in and lost all that track position. Dennis Connor and the crew did a great job working track position back, and led a few laps there and had to pit again. Unfortunately, we had to pit under green and the caution flew two laps later. That put us two laps down, but the truck was so good that we were able to restart with the leader and drive away from him by a straightaway. The truck was unbelievable out front by itself. We got back in traffic, and with the damage to the nose it was way too aero-tight and we really couldn't come back through the field like we needed. We salvaged everything we could out of a dismal night. We had such high expectations, but we have a bunch of good tracks coming up for us and we know our speedway program is really good, so we're looking forward to those."

ERIK DARNELL-99-Woolrich Ford F-150 (Finished 35th) - WHAT PUT YOU BEHIND THE WALL? "We just lost it while we were racing with the No. 11. I was loose the whole race, and I was running underneath a truck and got the air taken off the spoiler. I got loose and lost it. We hope to get back out there and just make as many laps as we can."

RICK CRAWFORD PRESS CONFERENCE

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO DO WELL? "Well, this is the home of Circle Bar Truck Corral; this is their home race track. I'm not from Texas, but I got here as fast as I could. When Tom Mitchell funds this team out of his pocket, the 14 truck rises to the occasion when it comes to Texas. And, we bring the best piece, or build one, for this particular race track. Kevin Starland and the whole Circle Bar race team gave me another bullet tonight and we shot it and ended up third."