Carl Edwards piloted his No. 60 Fastenal Ford…
Carl Edwards, No. 60 Fastenal Ford (Finished 2nd)
“Congrats to Brad. He was doing a really good job. I have to thank Fastenal, Ford and I hope folks tune in tomorrow. It is going to be a great race. The first race of the Chase and there couldn’t be a better race track to run at. It has multiple grooves and it is a really fun place. I just wish we had gotten a caution to get another chance at this one.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 6 Ricky vs. Trevor Ford (Finished 8th)
“Obviously I don’t feel like we made the car any better all day. We didn’t really ever get that track position that we needed and we could run decent lap times all day just couldn’t run up there good enough as what we needed. We started out too tight, then we were too loose the whole time. It sucks we can’t run up there with Carl and Brad like we have been every week. We have to definitely work on our stuff in practice and get it better.”
Trevor Bayne, No. 16 Ricky vs. Trevor Ford (Finished 11th)
“Our car was better than we showed today. We had one bad run and no cautions after that. We lost all our track position and then I got to pit road too hot and didn’t commit and had to go back around and lost a little bit of time there. The car was really fast so it is frustrating that we didn’t get a caution or anything to catch back up and make a run at them. I think we could have been a top five car there. It was really kind of a long boring race out there. We were just riding out there for 130 laps. They did a good job on my Ford Mustang. I just wish we would have gotten a better finish for it.”
CARL EDWARDS PRESS CONFERENCE
YOU HAD A STRONG CAR EARLY IN THE RACE, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT AND ALSO IF YOU ARE ABLE TO TAKE ANYTHING FROM TODAY INTO THE RACE TOMORROW. “I had a really fast car. I had a really good time racing with Brad early in the race, about halfway through the race for the lead there. That was a lot of fun. We just had a little trouble there on pit road and they told me to pit. I was coming down the back straightaway and the car ran out of fuel so it took us a little longer in the pits. The guys did a really good job of keeping it running and got us back out there. Then we had a really long green flag run and I think out car was fast enough. I would have really liked the opportunity to go up there and race Brad. We just didn’t get that caution.”
ON THE FIRST SET OF GREEN FLAG STOPS HE PITTED ABOUT NINE LAPS BEFORE YOU, DO YOU THINK HE PICKED UP HIS GROUND THERE GETTING NEW TIRES BEFORE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO COME DOWN PIT ROAD? “He might have but I think we lost the most of our time with the fuel. I got on pit road real slow and it took a long time to get going. You never know how things would have turned out if we would have been up there. I think we would have had a pretty good shot at him. It was really fun. I don’t know what it looked like but trying to pass him that one time was really fun. I wish we would have had another chance at that. The great thing is we had fast cars the last few weeks and that has been really good. We just didn’t get it today. I want to make some joke about Paul Menard and how I wish he was still my teammate or something like that. I gave him a little trouble about that today.”
IS IT FRUSTRATING WHEN YOU ARE HOPING FOR A CAUTION AND YOU KNOW THAT IS YOUR ONLY WAY TO RACE FOR THE LEAD? “I really applaud NASCAR for letting the race run its course. Anything can happen. You guys saw the race at Iowa with Ricky and I. You couldn’t have scripted that finish. To have it be that exciting. You never know what is going to happen and I think too often NASCAR is quick to throw cautions. I think they showed me and everybody that if there is nothing out there and no reason to throw a caution then they won’t. I think that is good. I think it lends a lot of credibility to the series and they showed today that they don’t mind that a guy is out there with a seven or eight second lead. They will let the race run its course. I think that is a big statement for them to make before the Chase starts. I think it is good.”
EVERYBODY ASKS WHAT YOU CAN TAKE FROM ONE DAY TO THE NEXT. WITH BRAD BEING ON SUCH A ROLL RIGHT NOW, IS IT MOSTLY CONFIDENCE THAT YOU CAN TAKE TO THE NEXT RACE? “Yeah, you never know. It is always good to win and perform well and good to know that you can. It is definitely two different series. I can’t tell you how many times I have run so well on Saturday and struggled on Sunday because it is so tough. They are two separate events. I wouldn’t be surprised if he runs really well tomorrow or we do the same. They are so different; the competition is so different that you have to think of them as two separate things.”
BEFORE THE FUEL ISSUE, WERE YOU EVEN THINKING YOU WERE CLOSE TO RUNNING OUT AT THAT POINT? “No, it didn’t even cross my mind. It took me a second to realize what was going on. I was pretty excited. We drove by Brad and we were out to a pretty good lead and it was looking really good. We still had some adjustments to make the car better so I was pretty excited. You never know. Brad might have had a fast enough car there at the end to still beat us, I don’t know. That kind of hurt us a little bit. Like I said, my guys are awesome. These cars are fast because of the hard work they have done. We will have to look to see why we were short today. I don’t think anyone, Mike Beam or anyone expected us to be short there.”
SOME OF BRAD’S COMMENTS SEEMED LIKE HE WAS SAYING THE TRAFFIC SEEMED SLOW TO HIM. DID IT APPEAR LIKE THINGS ARE IN SLOW MOTION TO YOU SOMETIMES OUT THERE BEING A CUP GUY RUNNING THIS RACE DUE TO THE RATE OF SPEED YOU ARE USED TO? “I don’t say much about that. I have been that slower traffic. I have had days like that. I remember Joey Logano’s first win at Kentucky, he lapped me twice and I couldn’t get out of the way quick enough. Sometimes when you watch those guys it looks like they are going 15 or 20 miles per hour slower than us. They are actually working harder and their cars just aren’t handling the way they want. It really doesn’t matter how fast or slow they are going, just that you stay in a lane and give warning. That is what I try to do if guys are going by me. Sometimes it is a little frustrating, in any series, when a guy goes in and washes up in front of you and it surprises you. I don’t take it for granted when we are good because I have been the other guy and man is it tough.”
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