Ford Daytona International Speedway Busch Race
FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Orbitz 300 (Busch) February 17, 2007 Daytona International SpeedwayDAVID GILLILAND-25-FreeCreditReport.com Ford Fusion (Finished 20th) - "It was just a long day. Our car was just tight and never could really get it out of it. We were OK if we could get tires. We'd be OK for 15 laps or so, and then it would start getting tight. It's hard to complete and finish off the passes here, and you have to be able to get off the corners good. Ours was tight and you just had to lift."
MARCOS AMBROSE-59-Kingsford/Bush's Baked Beans Ford Fusion (Finished 16th) - "We kept dropping to the back and just running in the second pack. We were running at the back end of the first pack just trying to stay out of trouble and we over adjusted on it the last stop, which is a shame because I really think we really had something for the top 10 there. We were mostly comfortable. We set the car up in qualifying for some grip, and I think it really paid off in the race and it helped us a lot." YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR FIRST BUSCH SERIES START. "If you would have told me before this weekend that I could finish all of the laps in race and finish in the top 20, I would have jumped up and down and taken it without even starting. I'm really proud of the guys for sticking with me. I'm a rookie out here on the race track, especially here at Daytona. I had to learn the ropes and they gave me a nice, safe car to drive - a stable car to drive - and getting a top-16 is just brilliant for us. I'm just really pleased with that."
MARK MARTIN-06-Dish Network Ford Fusion (Finished 5th) - "That was a blast. Green-flag racing is what it's all about. We got those long green-flag runs and the Dish Network Fusion worked well, but we needed one more adjustment. I tried helping out Carl there, and I felt like he might have kinda been a teammate, so I was trying to help Carl. I was trying to help Carl, and I wish Carl, when I had him behind me, would have stuck with me. I thought he could push me better than I could push him. I didn't handle quite good enough; we needed one more adjustment. I really want to thank everybody for letting me participate in this thing."
GREG BIFFLE-26-Oreo Double Stuf Ford Fusion (Finished 10th) - "That wasn't bad. Unfortunately, we had to take tape off of the bottom grille. I don't know if that's what made it tight or what, but I was way too tight at the end to do anything. I think I could have run up there in the top five. That one long run, I was way too hot and was just cruising along. I had a fast enough car to drive up there with them, but I couldn't have anybody in front of me." COMMENT ON THE LONG STRETCHES OF GREEN-FLAG RACING. "I think it's the tire. The tire is so hard that nobody can race each other is basically what it is. Everybody is too afraid to race each other. You saw what happened when we got racy - there were big wrecks. Everybody knows that and everybody just says, 'OK, I'm going to go as hard as I can go, but I'm not going to get three-wide just because it won't stick."
MATT KENSETH-17-Arby's Ford Fusion (Finished 12th) - "We were really good until we pitted. On that last pit stop we just had something happen to the car, and I don't know what. It was pretty good and then it just went to junk. I don't really know what we did there to end the course. We never had a caution. We just couldn't get a caution to work on it again. I think we had one of the fastest cars, us and the 5 and the 21 ended up being good there at the end. I think we had a car that could challenge, we just got messed up on that pit stop somehow with our adjustments."
CARL EDWARDS-60-Scotts Ford Fusion (Finished 3rd) - "My hat's off to Kevin Harvick; they picked up right where they left up. Our Scotts Fusion was just a little tight. What an exciting race. The way the Goodyear were, it made it a real race and I got to do some slide jobs and wiggling around. I hope the fans enjoyed it because we sure had a good time."
TODD KLUEVER-16-3M Ford Fusion (Finished 14th) - "It was OK. I thought we had a better car than that. I was a little disappointed in the end result. We worked hard all day, but I just hate the hard tire. It's not really racing. Daytona is supposed to be fun and exiting, and that was pretty boring if you ask me, and I was driving in it. We were just way too tight getting off of turn two, and it hurt us. It seemed like everything I did today was wrong. The outside line would go and a bunch of cars would pass me, so I'd get up in the outside and then all of a sudden it would slow down and the bottom would start going. It's one of those days where it seemed like I couldn't do any right. Fourteenth isn't what I was really hoping for when we came here, but it's better than being wrecked because we drive through two of them that we probably should be in."
JAMIE MCMURRAY-37-Yard-Man Ford Fusion (Finished 42nd) - WHAT DID YOU SEE FROM YOUR VANTAGE POINT? "I'm not real sure. I saw the 9 car, it looked like he got turned, and when that happens you're kinda along for the ride. It's unfortunate for our Yard-Man car; it's so early. The Daytona races and the Talladega races are about finishing and just surviving, and unfortunately, we're all racers and everybody wants to get to the front and get the lead and then be content. I had a good car, so we'll try to get it fixed and go out and see what we can salvage."
CARL EDWARDS PRESS CONFERENCE
"It's just like Dave (Blaney) was saying: it was fun. The Goodyear tires were slick enough and we got enough green-flag racing that it really became a race where you drive into the corner and have to lift off the gas and slide around. You could run the top and slide job people, and to me it was a blast."
"I think the wind was a pretty big factor at some points. You could tell driving down the back straightway into three - the wind was kinda blowing that way - and the car would take off a little bit. I think as long as everybody is just a little extra cautious, it's just a small variable. It's not really huge. I think the biggest thing is just the way the grip goes away on the long run. I think that's a good thing if you can make it through the first part of that when everybody is still in packs."
COMMENT ON HAVING MARK MARTIN AS A TEAMMATE TODAY. "Mark (Martin) is just an unbelievable guy. I've gone down both paths with Mark. I've told the story when I first came Roush Racing, man, he'd help me and he'd do anything for me, anything in the world. About halfway though my first season, I must have moved him out of the way or done something - but I kinda pissed him off, I guess - because we were at Bristol a couple of weeks later and he just flat moved me and almost wrecked me. I went over and asked him, and he said, 'Well, you've been kinda driving like that lately, so I thought that's how we were going to do it.' I was like, 'Let's go back to how we started.' I learned a lot from that and I really respect Mark a lot and it's cool of him to have helped me and he helped me right there at the end with Clint. I wish we could have teamed up and done something with Kevin. He's an unbelievable guy and I'm glad he's driving a Ford today."
DID YOU AND CLINT TOUCH FENDERS COMING DOWN THE STRETCH, AND IF SO, ARE YOU STILL FRIENDS? "Clint and I will be friends probably no matter what happens; he's a great guy. Yeah, we bumped a little bit. He got the run on me and he did it kind of early, and so I just kinda leaned on his door a little bit and tried to get a run back on him and beat him across the line, and Mark helped me out. That was cool. It's neat to race Clint like that. I really have a lot of respect for how he came up and how he races, and he's a good guy."
"What we saw there at the end of these runs, anytime you have to actually start lifting off the throttle in a race, the handling, the car and the way you drive it and all that starts to come into play. It's not just the draft and where you're at on the race track. There's still skill involved and there's still an art to running in a pack like that. It's guys like Tony Stewart and Dale Jr. and those guys that do it very well, but I think there is a bigger margin of error when the cars spread out and you have to lift off the gas, and I think that's a result of the tires giving out a little bit and being a little slippery. I enjoy that style of racing. I think you're in control of your destiny a little more."
HOW GOOD WAS KYLE BUSCH BEFORE HE FELL OUT OF THE RACE? "That's a good question. I thought he was really good, and the thing that looked so great about his car was that it was turning all the way around the corner, even off the corner, he had the four-wheel drift going and I was jealous of that for a while because mine wouldn't do it. He definitely had a great car, it was very fast and he was doing a really good job. I don't know what happened to him, but that was right there in front of me and he just pulled off and something broke. That's too bad for him."
MARCOS AMBROSE PRESS CONFERENCE
"Thanks for getting me up here. It's not often you get to come up here when you finish 16th in a race. But for us, it's as good as a win. My first time here, and I just wanted a safe race and not ruin anyone else's race and try to learn the ropes. We just stuck to our guns. We dropped to the back early on and did it two or three times during the race. I'm really proud of the guys and have to thank Kingsford Charcoal for supporting a rookie in the Busch Series. They're a long-time supporter of Busch Series racing and it's great that they give someone like me a chance. I don't sound the same as you look to others, so they're giving an international chance to, which is really nice."
"This is definitely the most nerve-wracking (race that I've ever run). These restrictor-plate races are incredible. I've never experienced anything like that and I was very daunted by the speedway itself and the competition. I'd love to have mixed it up with these guys at the front today, but I'm in no position to do that. I've got a lot of learning to do. We're really proud of where we've come from, but I haven't been able to eat all day. I've never been so nervous to be honest with you. It's an incredible style of racing. The track was slick and the tires were hard and I was just hanging on from the first lap to the last."