Ford Milwaukee Truck -
post-race quotes
ERIK DARNELL – No. 99
Northern Tool + Equipment
Ford F-150 – (finished 4th,
qualified 13th) – “I don’t
know exactly what happened
at the end. We just didn’t
keep up with the track as
well as we needed to. Our
Northern Tool + Equipment
Ford F-150 was really good
in the middle of the race.
After our first pit stop we
took tires and were able to
drive right up into the lead
and drive away from
everybody. At that point, I
thought the truck was doing
really well. I thought we
were in pretty good shape.
We just weren’t good on the
longer runs. We started
sliding backwards a little
bit. On that last pit stop
we tried to hit it with some
adjustments and new tires
and missed it by a little
bit. We weren’t quite as we
good as we were in the
middle part of the race. We
just rode it out and
finished fourth.”
RICK CRAWFORD – No. 14
Power Stroke Diesel by
International Ford F-150 –
(finished 8th, qualified
2nd) – “I gave one away.
That’s my responsibility to
drive pit road speed no
matter what anybody else
says on the radio. We got
caught exiting pit road and
if we just have left him
alone down there and not try
to race out of the pits, we
had the truck to beat.
Johnny [Benson] knows it;
everybody here knows it. So
I just gave it away. I hate
it for the Ford Power Stroke
people down there in the
suite. It was a big
attendance tonight for those
guys. Everybody did a great
job. The pit crew did a
great job; everybody did a
great job setting up the
truck today. They worked
really hard, but we just
gave it away.”
BRENDAN GAUGHAN – No. 10
International MAXX Force
Diesel – (finished 16th,
qualified 5th) – “We had
really high expectations for
the race here, especially
after practice. Our MAXX
Force Ford F-150 was really
good. We just never had a
chance to adjust on it in
the race. We got into a deal
where we were okay off the
start but those six guys
locked everybody down a lap
and then you’re in the
melee. We made an adjustment
and it didn’t help us, so we
got pinned a lap. Then we
made the right adjustment
and felt like we were going
to be all right, but then
got into a wreck and spent
the rest of the night
playing catch-up. Thanks to
the boys for not quitting.
We got the Lucky Dog twice.
We got back on the lead lap,
which gives you a chance to
do well. My boys don’t quit.
They don’t give up and
that’s what I love about
them. We were on the lead
lap after the red flag and
we had one set of stickers
left and we were like ‘Hey,
let’s go for a top-10, come
on!’ but it didn’t work out
for us. We had good power;
Roush Yates wasn’t our issue
tonight. Bryan Berry [crew
chief] did a great job. We
just didn’t have a chance to
adjust it, which is his
forte and keep us front. But
Rick Crawford led; he looked
really good. Our Fords were
good.
KEVEN WOOD – No. 21 Air
Force Ford F-150 – (finished
21st, qualified 28th) –
“Well, we started off bad
and it showed pretty early
but we kept working on it.
We started going up on the
track bar. We didn’t adjust
the air pressure too much
and we started changing the
brakes a little bit. But
that still wasn’t our
biggest problem. We were
still making small gains out
of it. At one point there
before the red flag came
out, we were about as good
as I think we could have
been for the night without
going home and redoing some
of the geometry. Other than
that, I’m still pleased. It
was my best finish so far.
We were 23rd at Mansfield
and 27th at Memphis last
year. We’re getting better.
It’s just taking time. It
was great to have Jon here
this weekend. I can’t thank
him enough for his input on
the race this weekend. He
came up here and helped look
after all of us. I really
appreciate him being here.”
JON WOOD – ON KEVEN
WOOD’S RACE. “I think the
leap from local track racing
to this level is a much
bigger step than a lot of
people give credit for. I
would almost go out on a
limb and say that the
transition from a Late Model
to a Nationwide Series car
would be easier than racing
in the truck series. It’s a
tough bunch of guys to race.
The truck series might be
having a difficult time
having a full field each
week, but there are still 15
to 20 solid, solid trucks.
It’s a tough bunch to race.
I feel his [Keven]
frustration. This is the
second time for him and it’s
a tough place to cut your
teeth on. This is a very
technical race track and
with minimal experience, you
can’t expect anything but
the learning curve to get
the best of you.”
COLIN BRAUN – No. 6
Con-way Freight Ford F-150 –
(finished 31st, qualified
4th) – “We got caught down a
lap there when the whole pit
cycle deal worked out and
that yellow came out. I
don’t know why the 40 truck
stopped four feet from the
pit lane, but that’s what
happened. We got caught a
lap down, then we got our
lap back and got back on the
lead lap. We were running
fine coming off of turn four
and I don’t know if the 10
truck got caught in the back
of the No. 2 truck and spun
around. Everybody checked up
in front of me. I glanced
off the back of somebody and
ended up getting piled up in
that wreck. It tore the
radiator out of it, so we
had to come back down pit
lane and came in the garage
to put a radiator in it and
just went back out trying to
finish the last five laps to
beat the 16 truck.” WHY
DIDN’T YOU RETURN TO THE
TRACK AFTER THE RED FLAG?
“There was 40-something laps
left and we were
40-something laps down at
the time, so there was no
point to keep going. I
really couldn’t make up
anything and I didn’t want
to get in anybody else’s
way. These guys did a great
job getting it back
together. It’s just
frustrating. It was going to
be a good result for the No.
6 Con-way Freight Ford F-150
team, but I guess that’s
racing.” CAN YOU TAKE WHAT
YOU LEARNED TONIGHT AND USE
IT TOMORROW IN THE
NATIONWIDE RACE?
“Absolutely. I’m really
looking forward to tomorrow.
We should have a really good
Fusion and we should be in
good shape for tomorrow.”