Ford Racing Truck Notes and Quotes
FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Con-way Freight 200 (Truck) June 16, 2006Michigan International Speedway
Pulling double-duty this weekend in the Truck Series and the Cup Series, Mark Martin, No. 6 Scotts F-150 was the top Ford in Truck Series practice. Martin spoke about his final practice run in the No. 6 truck as he headed out to qualify his No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion.
MARK MARTIN-6-Scotts Ford F-150 - YOU WERE RUNNING UP TOP ALL DAY, HOW IS THE TRUCK FEELING TODAY? The truck feels real good; we're not worried that much about qualifying. You know, we're not going to be up there for that, but for racing, I think we're in real good shape."
HERE AT MIS YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO RUN IN THE TOP FIVE OR TOP 10 IN ANY SERIES YOU RUN. ARE YOU HAVING FUN RUNNING ON TOP WITH THE TRUCK GUYS HERE? "The truck is just a blast, I really love it and I really look forward to doing more truck races."
Sylvania, Ohio native, Terry Cook, No. 10 Power Stroke Diesel International F-150, ran around the top 10 for most of practice at Michigan International Speedway. Cook talks about the ability to run multiple grooves at Michigan.
TERRY COOK-10-Ford Power Stroke Diesel by Int'l F-150- ALL DAY YOU WERE RUNNING UP IN THE TOP 10, IS THE TRUCK FEELING PRETTY GOOD TODAY? The truck is real good. The Power Stroke Diesel International F-series is good right off the trailer and it has been for the past couple of weeks. That's all I asked for out of the team was to look for that tenth or two better than the field and we're continuing to do that here this weekend. We didn't run a qualifying run in the second session, so I'm sure our speeds were probably down a little bit. We were more concerned about the race than qualifying. It's pretty easy to pass here at Michigan and we are more concerned about how the truck is in the long runs. So I feel like we've got it there, we're still going to make some more adjustments. We're not perfect, but were about 95 percent there."
YOU SAID EARLIER IN THE WEEK THAT MICHIGAN IS A GREAT PLACE TO RUN THE HIGH GROOVE AND THE LOW GROOVE. DID YOU FIND IT EASIER TO RUN UP HIGH OR TO RUN LOW TODAY IN PRACTICE? "I tried to run low and run on the bottom because I figured not many people run there. I was trying to find a groove that no one else runs. If someone is running the same groove as you, they can be just as fast."
Rick Crawford, No. 14 Circle Bar Truck Corral F-150, is ninth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Crawford talks about practicing at Michigan's two-mile oval.
RICK CRAWFORD-14-Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford F-150 - YOU RAN SEVENTH IN THE FIRST PRACTICE, AND DROPPED A LITTLE IN THE FINAL PRACTICE, HOW IS THE TRUCK FEELING? "We made some race adjustments the second practice. When you run by yourself, you're not gonna come out on top of the board, but the Circle Bar Truck Corral F-series Ford pickup is running good and we're trying to qualify well in the morning, and then we should be ready for the race."
YOU QUALIFY 33RD TOMORROW, DOES THAT CHANGE HOW YOU APPROACH YOUR SETUP COMING OUT MORE TOWARDS THE AFTERNOON? "Not necessarily. Once you get past 11 o'clock, the track is pretty much hot. So, if we were qualifying at nine in the morning, you may think those guys would have an advantage, but with everyone qualifying around noon, everybody is about the same."
Marcos Ambrose, No. 20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards F-150, is the first Australian native to run in the Craftsman Truck Series. The rookie talks about his first laps around Michigan and getting ready for race day.
MARCOS AMBROSE-20-TEAM AUSTRALIA/AUSSIE VINEYARDS Ford F-150 - YOU'RE FIRST TIME HERE AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, WAS IT EASY FOR YOU TO GO OUT THERE AND KIND OF LEARN THE GROOVE HERE? "Well, I think it was a little easy, this track seems to be a little more forgiving, than perhaps Dover or Texas, the last two tracks I've run on."
"This run here, we're having a great time, we started off very cautious today and we kind of chipped away at it. We had a decent run there at the end with the practice qualifying run. This weekend is about laps; again we want just as many laps as we can, get the experience. We're just really trying to finish every lap of this race. We're excited, we've got Aussie Vineyards on the side and the Aussie experience, they are here this weekend to see us run. For us, this is the beginning and I'm excited to be part of it and I'm excited for the Ford Motor Company too, it's nice to be running strong here."
YOU KIND OF RAN AROUND MID-PACK IN THE FIRST PRACTICE, AND AT THE END OF THE SECOND PRACTICE, YOU KIND OF SHOT UP TO THE TOP. WERE YOU WORKING ON A QUALIFYING RUN OR THE RACE SETUP? "I think you are being quite nice to me, we were kind of near the back of the pack weren't we? You've just got to get your head around this place and I like to creep up on it. I like to just get a feel. Some of the guys were running high and I wasn't brave enough to run up there with them. The more laps you get, the more comfortable you feel. You know you wear your tires out when you do 70 laps. We knew we were going to have a decent run there at the end and we've just got to stay patient, knowing that at the end of the practice, you put the good tires on, you put the good setup on and tap the nose and see what you've got."