Ford Finishing Order
6th – Matt Kenseth
8th – David Ragan
14th – AJ Allmendinger
18th – Carl Edwards
21st – Greg Biffle
22nd – Ken Schrader
25th – Tony Raines
29th – Marcos Ambrose
33rd – David Gilliland
35th – Trevor Bayne
37th – Travis Kvapil
DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Finished 8th) – “It was a long day, but I felt like we had a top 10 car going into the race. If we could have caught a couple of lucky breaks, we might have had a shot to finish in the top three or four. We got hung out there on one of the green flag pit stops and got caught a lap down. We were fortunate to make it back and pass a lot of cars to end up in the top 10. It was certainly a good run. I thought there with about 100 to go I was like, ‘Man, we’ve run good all day and we’re gonna finish 20th,’ but the UPS Ford was very fast. Drew made some really good pit calls toward the end when things were cycling through the green flag stops to be on the good side of things. It was a good day and our car was a top 10 car, so it was good to finish there.” WHAT ABOUT THE RACING TODAY? “Everybody wants to race each other very hard here. With the tire and the amount of rubber that it threw in that second groove, if you stayed in the second groove for more than about a half lap, you just lost a lot of ground. Everyone was real protective of the bottom and we were fortunate that our UPS Ford held up and didn’t cut any tires. Thank the Lord for a good day and it was fun.”
MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Finished 6th) – “I thought we ran pretty good. It was probably one of our best runs at Martinsville. It was just circumstances. I guess it was my mistake early and it was just circumstances as to why we didn’t run any better. Really, that’s about the best we’ve performed. There were times when we had a top-five car and times we didn’t, so, overall, it was a good run.” IT TOOK YOU MORE THAN 200 LAPS TO FINALLY GET BACK ON THE LEAD LAP. HOW DID YOU STAY FOCUSED ALL THAT TIME? “What are you gonna do? If you try to do more than you’re capable of doing, you’re just gonna mess up and make it worse.”
DONNIE WINGO, Crew Chief – No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion (Bayne finished 35th) – “We knocked a whole in the radiator. The duct work came back in and hit the radiator, but that’s what happens at Martinsville. They all got bunched up there at one time and we got hit from behind and knocked into somebody else. Then when we came in for the pit stop he got all bunched up again and ran into the back of somebody which knocked a hole in the radiator. It was as simple as that.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Finished 14th) – “My guys did a great job all day with the car. The good thing is we were so loose to start the race on that first run. I thought we were in trouble and they fixed it to where we were a top five or top seven car all day. At times, I thought we could win, but this sport just kind of kicks you in the gut every now and then. I don’t know. If we would have stayed out one more lap and then the yellow comes out, we probably finish fifth or sixth. I’m disappointed with the finish. I hate saying it and having to look at how we ran and take good knowledge that we were there, but it was an OK day.” ARE YOU ENCOURAGED OR DISCOURAGED BY TODAY? “You look at the finish and, unfortunately, that’s what pays the points and pays the money and you walk away discouraged. In our heart, we know we were really bad to start the race and we were able to fix it and make it good, so we can do it. I ran with some of the best ever here at Martinsville between Denny, Jimmie and Jeff. I was there, so at least I’ll have confidence with that. We just need some good luck.”
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Finished 18th) – “Today wasn’t physically tough, we just weren’t very fast. We struggled all day, but we’ll get ’em. I had power steering, but at low RPM it wouldn’t work. We had something wrong with the gearing of the belt or something.”
MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 DeWalt Ford Fusion (Finished 29th) – “I was a victim. I don’t know what McDowell was thinking. I got stuck on the outside and lost 20 positions just trying to get to the bottom and he just jacked me up and put me in the fence around lap 100. We weren’t even a fifth of the way through and it was uncalled for and unfortunate for us. It made for a very long day.”
TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion (Finished 37th) – “We started off pretty bad for us. The car had a lot of wheel spin on exit and we got a couple laps down early, but caught some breaks and got back to one lap down. We got the car driving really good and then the rear end gear broke on us. It’s just a bad luck thing. It’s something you prepare for and make sure you’ve got the best stuff in it when you come to a place like this, but, unfortunately, we still had problems with it and it’s going to make for a long day for us.”
