DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 Discount
Tire Ford Fusion (Finished
8th) – “We certainly have a
better car than eighth-place
right now, so my gut ells me
we need to go back racing
and try to pick up some more
spots. I think track
position means a lot with
all the lapped cars and it’s
still tough to pass. You’ve
got to time your passes out.
Everybody in the top 10 is
so equal, but I feel like
our Discount Tire Ford is
better than an eighth-place
finish, but sometimes we’ve
gotten greedy and it’s cost
us four or five spots.” CAN
YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE
WITH CARL? “You know the
rain is coming. It sprinkled
for 20 laps and we could see
it on our windshield. He’s
running for everything he’s
worth. He doesn’t want to
give up any spots and I want
to get all I can. My car was
tight. If my car would have
been a little better, I
could have gotten by him
pretty easy. We ended up
getting around him and it’s
fun to race teammates like
that. I just wish it was for
first and second instead of
sixth and seventh.” IS THIS
THE BEST CAR YOU’VE HAD
HERE? “Yeah. We had a great
car in the fall last year
and finished sixth, so this
is equally as good. Track
position is more important
than it ever has been with
the limited horsepower that
we have and the top 10 is
equal. When you’re passing
lapped cars two or three a
lap, it just makes it
tough.”
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16
CitiFinancial Ford Fusion
(Finished 13th) – “I had a
great car and I’m getting
better and better about
saving it until the end –
saving the brakes and I even
saved two sets of tires. We
had a long ways to go when
everybody pitted and we got
off cycle. We had new tires
sitting 13th and it was ours
to have, but the weather
didn’t cooperate. We sort of
had a strategy of what we
were gonna do, so this
really bums us out because
we had a lot better car than
we’re we finished.” YOU TALK
ABOUT SAVING BUT THAT’S HARD
WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN THE
RAIN IS COMING. “I looked at
the radar and I saw that one
clump that came through
earlier today and I figured
once that was gone we were
pretty much free and clear,
but that obviously wasn’t
the case.”
BOBBY HAMILTON JR. – No.
25 Curly’s Ford Fusion
(Finished 17th) – “We’re a
top-10 car but we’re 17th
because of the rain. I think
we’re better than that, but
I don’t think this is going
anywhere. Overall, we put
our tightest set (of tires)
on right at the beginning
just to get it out of the
way and, of course, that was
our longest run so that got
us behind, but we’re just
waiting on Mother Nature.
We’re good if it goes back
to green, but it’s pouring
right now and I think we’re
gonna end up 17th.”
KELLY BIRES – No. 47
Clorox Ford Fusion (Finished
20th) – YOU GOT SOME
REAR-END DAMAGE IN A WRECK
THAT WASN’T YOUR FAULT.
“Yeah, it’s a Bristol thing.
There was a wreck ahead of
me and I checked up, but the
guy behind me drove through
me. We were running solid
there and I believe we would
have been top 10 here, but
that just got us behind. We
had to take tires on that
stop and then take fuel only
the next time to try and get
track position back. We
didn’t expect it to go green
that long and we got a lap
down. Our biggest goal
coming into this race was to
just get out of it clean and
to come out of it with a
top-20 finish is OK because
we can’t control somebody
else running into us. It’s
just Bristol. I know he
didn’t mean to do it and I’m
sure it won’t be the last
time something like that
happens here.”
MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 59
Kingsford Charcoal Ford
Fusion (Finished 19th) –
“I’m pleased because I made
it past lap 100 without
tearing the fenders off.
I’ve tried, but I haven’t
done a very good job of it.
We’re really excited. We
want this race to restart
because we feel like we’ve
got something for them. I
feel really comfortable in
the car today and I think
our team is really moving
forward. We’re being
aggressive and racy out
there and that’s what you’ve
got to do at Bristol. You’ve
got to grab it by the teeth
and not let go.” CAN YOU
COMPARE WHERE YOU’RE AT NOW
AT A PLACE LIKE THIS THAN A
YEAR AGO? “I’m way more in
control now. I feel like
I’ve got some rhythm here
and I’m able to absorb
everything that’s going on
in some chronological order
at least in my head to not
get too spun out, and that’s
really hard to do here
because everything is
happening so fast. You’ve
got to really know what’s
important and what’s not.
You’ve got to be able to run
a really loose race car and
ignore it. That’s the way it
works.”
CARL EDWARDS – No. 60
Scotts Ford Fusion (Finished
14th) – “If it goes green
again, we’re great. If it
doesn’t, it’s not good. I
really thought we’d be
racing right now. I didn’t
think this would stop us, so
we’ve got fresh tires. Two
guys in front of us do, but
everyone else has 60-lap
tires, so it could be good
and the car is actually
pretty good. We were just
holding on with old tires
and fell back a little bit.”
YOU HAD A GOOD BATTLE WITH
DAVID RAGAN. “Yeah, it was
more fun for me holding him
off than it was for him, who
couldn’t get by. I knew we
were racing to the rain and
I just couldn’t let anybody
go. I thought he’d get by me
any second, but he kept
getting shuffled. In
hindsight, I probably should
have just let him go to
begin with, but that’s how
it went.” HOW FRUSTRATING TO
HAVE THIS STOP AND GO WITH
THE RAIN? “That’s just part
of it. I don’t like that
part of it, but it’s the
same for everyone.”