RICK CRAWFORD - No. 14 Power
Stroke Diesel by
International Ford F-150 -
(finished 5th, qualified
19th) - "That Ford Power
Stroke Diesel by
International Ford F-150 was
always performing and fun to
drive. We got a little bit
of damage over there. I was
trying to push Hornaday
through the wreck over there
in turns three and four. We
missed the other one. It
looks like a missile went
through our spoiler and our
nose is sort of crippled.
But Fancy [the truck's name]
didn't let me down tonight.
She took care of me and I
took care of her. I followed
my old teammate [David
Starr] to a top-five finish,
but I sure wish there was
more Fords up here because
we could of got together and
those guys were flying. My
hat is off to Roush Yates
engines. I was really strong
getting through the tri-oval
and into turn three. I
thought we had a shot to
win."
ERIK DARNELL - No. 99
Northern Tool + Equipment
Ford F-150 - (finished 21st,
qualified 1st) - THERE WAS A
REPORT THAT THERE MIGHT HAVE
BEEN A VIBRATION BEFORE THE
INCIDENT. "Yea, we came down
for our final pit stop there
and took right side tires
and had a vibration in the
lap up to speed out there.
So I was trying to wave the
9 truck off and waved him
off the backstretch and came
off high in the middle of
turns three and four and he
just got into the back of me
and turned us around. It was
pretty unfortunate. Our
Northern Tool + Equipment
Ford was awesome tonight. I
can't thank Matt Puccia and
all these guys on crew
tonight enough for giving me
a great truck and all the
guys in the shop that
worked. They did a really
good job getting this thing
quick and fast. We were fast
tonight. We were there and I
think we had a real good
shot at the win. It's
unfortunate what happened to
the other trucks early on to
some of the quicker guys, I
would have like to race with
them as well. I think that
was our race to lose tonight
and I think we lost." WHAT
IS THE RACING LIKE OUT THERE
TONIGHT? "It was definitely
a bit wild at the beginning
of the race there. We were
fortunate enough to be up
front and kind of get in
line and ride. You could
kind of see in the mirror
what was going on. Those
guys were two and three wide
and a little bit too early
in the race for that to be
happening. We were going to
have a shot to win. It came
down to the last couple of
laps and unfortunately we
didn't make it there."
SCOTT LAGASSE JR. - No.
20 JTG Racing Ford F-150 -
(finished 26th, qualified
33rd) - "We cut a right
front tire, I'm sure after
all the debris that is out
there. I'm sure we ran over
something. My crew did an
awesome job. We had a game
plan when we came here and
that was to race good. We
were racing good. Gary [Cogswell,
crew chief] and the guys put
together a heck of a truck.
I don't know about a
victory, but we were going
to run in the top 10. We
were just biding our time
there. That's racing and you
hate it [a damaged truck]
because these guys here work
so hard and the guys back at
the shop, too. We're going
to get as many points as we
can and we're going to go to
California. As a group we
made huge gains here this
weekend. For the first time
working together, I am
extremely excited about this
year because we had a truck
capable of running in the
top 10. These Roush Yates
motors are awesome. I've got
to thank those guys for
making such great
equipment."
JON WOOD - No. 21 The
Barnhill Group Ford F-150 -
(finished 27th, qualified
31st) - "I'm not real sure
what happened. Somebody got
sideways. I couldn't see
where I was going and got
drilled from the back and
that was pretty much it. It
was a matter that the truck
was pretty much flat and I
couldn't see."
COLIN BRAUN - No. 6
Con-way Freight Ford F-150 -
(finished 31st, qualified
9th) - "Well, it was just
one of those deals there
where we were running up
there at the front and we
were just trying to stay out
of trouble. We had a great
truck. Mike Beam [crew
chief] and Bobby Hudson did
a great job. They worked so
hard back in the shop. I
really feel bummed out for
them because we've got to
bring back another tore-up
truck. I guess that's what
happens when you have a
couple of team trucks
running up front that's what
happens. Odds are that you
are going to wreck and
unfortunately it happened
twice in a row."
JOEY CLANTON - No. 09
Zaxby's Ford F-150 -
(finished 32nd, qualified
11th) - "The 9 [Justin
Marks] truck spun the tires
or something like that and I
tried to be defensive and
turn left to get under him
and not run into the back of
him. Nobody has done that
before or here, to spin the
tires on the restart. And
that doesn't happen like
that. I just turned left to
get under him and he fell
off 10 car links or whatever
and I just got a good run
down the back straightaway.
I got a better run than I
thought I did and I had to
pull out of line otherwise I
would have run into the 71
[Mike Bliss]. When I pulled
out, the 60 [Terry Cook]
truck pulled out and he went
way by me at the exit of
turn three. He kind of
turned my truck down a
little bit and I got right
on the 71's bumper. I tried
to get up and back out of it
to get on the brakes and
back in line behind him and
he just stepped out and up
the race track he came. He
collected us and then got
the 60 truck. It wasn't a
good night. It was
frustrating. We had a good
truck. I'm still excited
about being over here [Roush
Fenway Racing]. We've just
got to finish the races. I'm
looking forward to getting
back to California next
week. The guys are all down.
They're all enthused, but
they're down a little bit
because they expected
better. I've got to
apologize to the 6 [Colin
Braun] truck for getting
into it. I really hate it
for them because all the
guys there and the guys at
the shop are trying to get
us good trucks here and we
had 'em and we just didn't
bring 'em home."
BRENDAN GAUGHAN - No. 10
International MAXX Force
Diesel Ford F-150 -
(finished 34th, qualified
28th) - We're perfectly
fine. The Circle Bar Racing
team builds great Ford pick
up trucks. I feel bad for
the International MAXX Force
guys. Anybody that was
watching that understands
anything about racing can
understand that Kyle [Busch]
just will say 'I'll race
tomorrow' he doesn't care
about this. This is his fun
time. [Mike] Skinner was
loose and he's one of the
best drivers we got. I was
on the outside of him and
knew he was loose so [I] was
making room and Kyle [Busch]
had all the outside and
decided to stay right down
the center and cut right in
front of him. Skinner had
nowhere, tapped him and I
tapped Skinner and the whole
thing happens and he'll just
come tomorrow. Of course,
his truck is still running
and my Ford's in the pits.
It's a [bad] day and
International had a ton of
people here and had an
International truck tow my
International truck in, so
I'm not happy about that.
You could see we not only
had one of the best Fords,
we had one of the best
trucks. I don't know if we
were the top Ford in that
first run, but we got from
28th to seventh and I sat in
the bottom groove and
thought 'cool, I found a
spot.' My guys did a great
pit stop with four tires and
we got out and were sitting
there. It's just a shame
that a guy that will get out
of the race at the end of
the day and doesn't care how
many cars he wrecks and
says, 'hey, I'll get 'em
tomorrow' because this isn't
his job for a living. Those
of us who race the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series for a
living full time have
sponsors to take care of.
This is where our money is
paid for. That's not they
way we want it again. If you
watch the tape, Kyle just
didn't feel like going up to
where he was clear. He
stayed down and was tight on
the nose and I came up on
Skinner. Me and Skinner had
no place to go. He [Skinner]
is one of the best drivers
out there, I'd race against
him any second of any day.
We had one of the best
trucks out there. I think
International could have one
the Daytona 250."
BRENDAN GAUGHAN
(continued) YOU DID MAKE
CONTACT WITH SKINNER,
BECAUSE HE DIDN'T THINK YOU
DID? "I made contact with
him after he got pushed. I
was right on his outside
rear corner and I'm watching
the whole thing and watching
him as Kyle drives across,
Skinner gets moved and as he
wiggled up it was right into
my nose. It wasn't like I
hit him because I hit him,
it was after the aftermath
and then both of us went to
the wall. Fortunately,
Circle Bar builds good
trucks and Skinner's team
builds great race trucks.
He's already walked out [of
the infield care center] and
I've walked out, everybody's
okay. Once again, a guy
that's still in the race,
he'll come out and say 'I'll
get them tomorrow' while the
rest of us that do this full
time are sitting with trucks
destroyed." DID THE RACE GET
ROUGH AS IT WENT ALONG? "No,
it didn't get any rougher
than the start of the race.
I went from 28th to seventh
and followed Mike Bliss and
he did a great job. The
trucks move around a lot and
that's what makes the
Craftsman Truck race so fun.
But after the pit stop, guys
made some adjustments. Some
guys made adjustments and
moved a couple spots. Guys
were stuck in the middle. It
didn't get any rougher than
it had been. It was a great
Craftsman Truck series race,
I just wish we weren't towed
into the garage."
P.J. JONES - No. 63
Diversified Ford Partners
Ford F-150 - (finished 35th,
qualified 29th) - "I was
just riding along and my
truck was awesome. We
started on the last row and
I moved up to 16th or 12th
or something like that. I
was really trying to stay
two wide and not try to get
in the middle of this
three-wide stuff. The only
option I had was to stay to
the right and the guys
started to stack up. I must
have broke a full line or
something because there were
a lot of frames in the
cockpit a little bit. It
probably wasn't as bad as it
looked. I guess we need to
thank Bill Simpson and
Impact Racing for that one
[a burned firesuit, with no
harm to the driver]. The
truck was handling real
well. I was just trying to
be patient and be up there.
I was okay with two wide but
then they started three wide
and I was like 'uh-oh', but
then it's like what are you
going to do or you get run
into. Unfortunately, I don't
know what happened they
started stacking-up and we
were in the middle of it.
Mike Mittler is awesome. He
brought this truck down
here. He's been in the truck
series since day one. I won
the very first truck race
together and to come back
here tonight it was awesome.
I hope to get out there
again; it was awesome." WHAT
WERE YOU THINKING DRIVING
DOWN THE BACK STRETCH IN
FLAMES? "I was thinking,
'boy, I hope this thing
stops pretty soon' because
there were so many flames
that I couldn't tell when I
was stopped. I already had
my hands on the seatbelt
thinking 'do I release now?
Are they going to slide into
me?' That was kind the thing
of where were we going to
stop because I didn't want
anyone to run into me. There
was a lot of flames - it was
pretty incredible. I don't
know if we broke a fuel line
or oil line but it instantly
went up into flames. I just
want to thank Diversified
Partners and Mike Mittler,
Dave Porter and all the guys
that helped us get down
here, it was awesome. They
did a great job."