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TEAM REPORTS (DAYTONA, FLA.) - FORD/NATIONWIDE POST-RACE NOTES


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MATT KENSETH - No. 17 Kraft/Ritz Ford Fusion - (finished 5th, qualified 14th) - "It was a good race, we made it through without wrecking anybody. It was pretty cool and I'm excited about it." DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING TODAY THAT CAN HELP YOU TOMORROW? "No, not really anymore, but it never hurts to be on track. It's a whole different car, different aero package and tires, so there's not much that you can transfer." AT THE WHITE FLAG, YOU WERE IN THE TOP 10, BY THE TIME THE CHECKERED CAME, YOU MOVED UP TO FIFTH. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE SHUFFLE? "Well, my car was kind of tight in one and two all day, so I found my line and stuck to it and a lot of guys bailed out and went to the bottom. We got a good push from that 41 [Bryan Clauson] car and got back up there." ARE YOU PLEASED WITH THE RESULT? "I'm really pleased. Our car wasn't that great most of the day, we made some adjustment and got a decent finish."

GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion - (finished 7th, qualified 25th) - "We knew our CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was not the best race car out there, but my crew guys did an awesome job making adjustments to keep us near the top. They worked real hard and the car was starting to come around near the end and we just ran out of time. I brushed the wall on the one caution that caused some damage to the right rear, but it wasn't enough damage to take us out of the race. The guys fixed it and we didn't have any problems after that. We had a good top 10 run and that's a good way to start the year."

DAVID RAGAN - No. 6 Discount Tire Ford Fusion - (finished 9th, qualified 28th) - "It was a fun day. I got to run on the top, the middle and on the bottom some. Hopefully, it will help me a little bit for tomorrow. Our Discount Tire pit crew did an excellent job. I think we picked up a spot or two every time we came down pit road. That makes it tough when the cars are so equal out there on the race track. A good pit crew really helps a lot. It was a lot of fun. There was a lot of slippin' and slidin' out there and I can only imagine what July is going to be like when we come back here. It should be a good race tomorrow." ON THE LAST FEW LAPS. "Everybody there at the end is trying to pick-up that extra spot. We drove 99% conservative the whole time from the first lap to 120. Everyone is racing hard and everyone still wants to take care of their race car. They get excited and I think I'm right there with them. You're pushing and beatin' and bangin' and taking your car to the limit. That's what it's all about. We put on a good show for the fans and I wish I could have had a little better track position and contention for the win. It's a top-10 finish and we'll take it going to California." DID THE RACE MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS? "Yeah, I knew we wouldn't get in a tight pack all day and get single file and ride a lot. I think tomorrow you'll see some of that. The tires aren't very good here and you just can't afford to run two- and three-wide all day long without taking the chance of tearing up a bunch of cars."

KELLY BIRES - No. 47 Clorox Ford Fusion - (finished 12th, qualified 31st) ­- "The car didn't draft as good as we wanted to but the guys did a good job on pit road. We stayed clean all day and we found the right line at the end of the race. I wish we had a few more laps and I think we would have had a better finish. We came here to get top-15 finish and that's the way we wanted it to go heading into California. I'm just proud of everyone that worked on my Clorox Fusion here at the race track and back home in the shop."

MARCOS AMBROSE - No. 59 Kingsford Hickory Charcoal Ford Fusion - (finished 39th, qualified 33rd) - "It's been a bad day. It's not the way you want to start the season. We scrubbed the wall just a little bit, and then cut a tire about seven or eight laps later. We came in and fixed it and went back out, and then we lost the sheet metal. We did everything but crash again, came in and fixed that. Then we cut another tire. We've called it day. We'll go back to the shop, set a plan and see everyone in California next week."

BOBBY HAMILTON JR. - No. 25 Smithfield Ford Fusion - (finished 22nd, qualified 38th) "We were tight, tight, tight there at the end and couldn't get going to get up there at the front near the end." DID YOU RUN LIKE YOU EXPECTED? "We kind of hung back there and wait for all the big stuff to happen and when it was time to go, we were just too tight to get up there."