Ford Milwaukee Truck Race
FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Tundra 200 The Milwaukee Mile June 23, 2006
RICK CRAWFORD-14-Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford F-150 (Finished 9th) - YOU WENT WITH A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT PIT STRATEGY TONIGHT SAVING A SET OF TIRES ON YOUR FIRST PIT STOP. "You never know. We started 12th and finished ninth, so we passed three trucks from start to finish. We were prepared here and had higher expectations that that. We ran our own race and it just didn't work out for us tonight like it should have. We should have gone longer, better on our runs and we didn't. We were about a 50-lap truck and it was a 200-lap race. I noticed there were a lot of different strategies playing out, and I thought we were OK with that last lengthy caution, and it never came back. The guys in the pits did a good job and it was another top-10 finish, so we'll just take it and go from there."
TERRY COOK-10-Ford Power Stroke Diesel by Int'l F-150 (Finished 10th) - "We were really good at the beginning of the race, and deep into a run we would get real tight. We adjusted on it. Most of practice we weren't very good and Dennis Connor and the entire Power Stroke Diesel by Int'l team went to work and put a little bit different package underneath it. Not much, but just a little bit for qualifying and we qualified decent, and it was pretty good in the race. Over a 50-lap run, we were good for the first 30, we just weren't good real good for the last 20 and that kind of hurt us tonight. We lost a little bit of track position on a pit stop and we just weren't able to rebound from that. It's just tough to pass, and I had to do all of my passing early when I had decent tires, and late in the run I was just kind of riding around." DID THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PIT STRATEGIES SURPRISE YOU TONIGHT? "I was. Me and Dennis Connor talked. We get a fifth set of tires for the mile-and-a-half tracks that we're going home with a stick set that we're not using them, and tracks like this, we're seeing pretty excessive tire wear and tires are pretty big, and we don't have enough sets of tires. Everybody was on little bit different strategy, and unfortunately, when you're on different strategies like that, that's when wrecks happen because you get the field bunched up, and some are on old tires and some are on new tires. You have guys with a lot of grip and guys sliding around a lot, and you end up with a lot of wrecks, and unfortunately, I think that's what caused a lot of them late in the race tonight."
MARCOS AMBROSE-20-Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford F-150 (Finished 18th) - A CAREER-BEST TRUCK SERIES FINISH TONIGHT. "This was a good track for us. It feels a bit like home, it's a flat surface. We ran much better than where we finished, which is a shame. We've got to start closing these deals off a bit better. It was a learning experience, and you can't be too upset with that." ARE YOU LEARNING WHO YOU CAN RACE WITH AND HOW TO RACE THE OTHER COMPETITORS? "Yeah, we didn't have the best truck tonight, so it was hard to race anyone because we really didn't have any clean air. I'm feeling a little bit more comfortable. I'm getting run around a bit, but it's to be expected. We're starting to run close to the front so the intensity is picking up. I've just got to get to know these guys a little bit, that's all, and they've got to get to know me, too. That's all it is."
BOBBY EAST-21-State Fair Corn Dogs/Edy's Dibs Ford F-150 (Finished 17th) - "I'm getting more comfortable racing these things every race. We just didn't have a very good truck this weekend, and to tell you the truth, we're kind of happy with the finish because it was so bad in practice and so bad in qualifying. We were just happy to come out of here unscathed and stay on the lead lap. We got lucky getting that Lucky Dog, but we can use a little luck." WITH THE SUMMER STRETCH UPON US AND THE SERIES RACING EVERY WEEK, HAS THAT HELPED YOU FIND A RHYTHM? "Yeah, this is helping out. Last week was so tough for us because we were so good, and to have misfortunes like that is just tough on everybody on the team. To be able to come back the following week and race again, you don't let wear on your mind. Everybody is just digging away, and I'm really proud of them doing that."
DAVID RAGAN-6-Scotts Ford F-150 (Finished 30th) - A CASE OF BAD LUCK AFTER RUNNING ON THE LEAD LAP MOST OF THE NIGHT. "We cut a tire, and I just knew it was the left rear, and we took a gamble and just changed left only and it turned out to be the right front. That was just a mistake on my part. We should have just gone and changed all four, but the Scotts Ford F-150 was definitely a top-10 truck tonight. We fell back there a little bit that first part and then we just needed some long green-flag runs. The last few weeks cautions have hurt us, and I know Erik is in the same boat where we both had top-10 trucks, and we just got bit by circumstances. We've got good enough teams and good enough crews that we'll rebound back. The trucks are in one piece, but it could have a been a little better."