Edwards Sits on Pole for First Time since 2008
Edwards Sits on Pole for First Time since 2008
Carl Edwards captured his first pole since August, 2008 at Bristol with a fast lap time of 70.882 (124.432 mph) at Watkins Glen Saturday afternoon. Edwards discussed sitting on the pole and the reversal of fortune recently for the Roush Fenway organization in a post qualifying press conference.
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN - “This is unbelievable. I can’t tell you how much this helps our team and our confidence. I couldn’t believe it when Bob said P1. I thought he said P21 or something. Man that was a great lap. Bob and the guys did a great job and Greg Biffle and Greg Erwin helped us a lot, which was a good team effort. I am just enjoying the wave we are riding right now with Roush Fenway and Ford. We are making a comeback and it feels good.”
DO YOU HAVE A GOOD ENOUGH CAR TO WIN THE RACE? “I think it is, if it can run that fast. Like Jamie (McMurray) and I were just talking, that was kind of a conservative lap. Maybe that is my problem. I think we’ve got a car that can win the race. The trick right now is to be mentally tough. Starting up front like that with the guys behind me that are so very good. I am used to starting at the back and then being strong at the end. It will be nice to start up front and race up front and get a feel for the pace of the race. I think we will have a lot better feel for where we belong by starting up front. When you start in the back sometimes you race around back there and don’t really know how fast your car is until the end. I am excited about that, it will be great.”
WITH THE CHANGE IN THE RACE TRACK, THEY ARE SAYING THERE SHOULD BE FEWER CAUTIONS. HOW VALUABLE IS BEING ABLE TO PICK THE FIRST PIT BOX IF THERE ARE ONLY A FEW STOPS TOMORROW? “I think that the race, like you said, has the potential to be a way different race. You might not get those stops. I have a great pit crew right now, so I welcome trips to pit road right now because it seems we always pick up spots. If there aren’t any yellows and you are running 20th, it is hard to make that up. If I can get a good start and race in clean air, keep the fenders on it, and then the qualifying effort will pay off more with longer green flag runs. This week Bob and I talked about always being fast at the race, but that we needed to work on qualifying. I can’t believe it worked like this, but Bob did a good job.”
YOU PICKED UP LIKE EIGHT-TENTHS FROM HAPPY HOUR AND WERE FOUR-TENTHS AHEAD OF JAMIE ON THE QUALIFYING. WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOU PICKED UP MOST OF THE SPEED? “I don’t know. I heard a couple people questioning whether I made the bus stop or not. I thought that was pretty funny. I don’t know where we made up the speed, but the car was just fast. When you have a fast car at a place like this, it is so much fun. I just saw a clip of the Road America win on TV and that was a case where we had a fast car all day and it made it so much fun to race. If this car is as fast as I think it is, it is going to be a blast tomorrow.”
CAN YOU COMMENT ON THIS FIRST POLE FOR YOU SINCE 2008? “Yeah, they asked me when my last pole was and I had no clue. It has been a long time. It feels good. You guys know how much we have struggled and how hard things have been. To have this last month really, we have been going the right direction and it feels good. It means a lot for all those that have stuck with us. Nobody has given up and hopefully we can keep moving forward.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Qualified 31st) ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN “That wasn't very good. It will probably end up being about 30th or something so that isn't very good at all. “
DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE TOMORROW? “I don't know what we have to do. We haven't been good all weekend, so I'm not real sure what we need to do.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Qualified 35th) ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN “I thought we would go faster. I just stink here and I don't know why I can't go any faster. The car drives pretty good and I think we will race fine, we just can't seem to get going fast in qualifying trim. We had decent lap times in race practice but we can't seem to get that extra speed in qualifying.”
PAUL MENARD, No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion (Qualified 23rd) – ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN “I felt we could have been a little faster. We slowed down a tenth from yesterday but a lot of people have slowed down from yesterday. The biggest thing we are fighting right now is a brake issue we are trying to get worked out.”
ELLIOTT SADLER, No. 19 Stanley Ford Fusion (Qualified 38th) – ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN “It wasn't a very good lap. We've been struggling quite a bit this weekend. I've never really been this far off at a road course so we will continue working on it and try to get better. The good thing is that we have 90 or so laps on Sunday to make up some spots.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Qualified 4th) – ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN “It was good. When you get these one lap deals on a road course you are more concerned with messing it up than you are putting together a perfect lap. I felt like I got everything out of it that I could. To be that close to Juan and the pole at that point is good. I don't know where it will put us when we are done but I'm hoping for a top-10. When you are that close, you always think you might have been able to get a little bit more, but I'm really happy with it.”
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Qualified 7th) – ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN “I feel really good about that lap. It was a little bit of a conservative lap for me. I made a small mistake in the carousel on the back and that is probably where I lost a tenth or two. I didn't want to make a huge mistake, so I went on the conservative side and wanted to put in a good solid lap. I thought I might be able to do a 71.20 or so. Maybe I left a little too much out there I guess”
TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion (Qualified 42nd) - ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN “We got loose out there and that hurt. We have kind of been fighting that all weekend. I think this new tire has everyone in the old garage kind of spun out, literally. Definitely road racing is not my specialty. With the little team we have, we don't put a lot of emphasis on road courses, but we still want to go out there and do the best job we can. That will be the plan for tomorrow.”
DAVID GILLILAND, No. 38 Taco Bell Ford Rusion (Qualified 40th) - ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN “Man, that’s a tough thing to do, especially here at a road course. Not being in the car at all today and then having to get in and put down a qualifying lap to make it in on time, it’s tough. But I’m really proud of the guys. They made some great adjustments. I feel like the track temperature was hotter than it was yesterday and we ran the same speed. I feel like we picked up and, directionally, we have a way to go that’s going to better for the race, too. We put a conservative effort into the car for qualifying – something that was easier to drive to ensure a starting spot. So I’m really excited and proud to be racing the Taco Bell Ford Fusion tomorrow.”
