GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (qualified 6th) – YOU WERE FAST IN PRACTICE AND IN QUALIFYING, BUT YOUR EXPRESSION INDICATES YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD GO EVEN FASTER. “Yeah. The sun came out when I went – my luck – and then I just didn’t have enough heat in the tires. I’m really good about getting heat in the tires. I feel like I really pay attention to that, but coming to get the green I didn’t get heat in the tires, and I drove in down there and I went all the way in to the wall – when I was coming to get the green. And then the first lap I just had no grip. That was my fault. So the second lap I just didn’t know how much to expect, so I had be a little top-toeish on the second lap. And the car had more grip on that lap right there by a solid tenth. I just didn’t get all I could get.”

 

BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT’S A GOOD STARTING SPOT FOR SUNDAY. “Well, race trim is different than qualifying, but I feel like we’re going to be decent for Sunday, certainly. We’re going to be good, I just don’t know how good.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 44 Ford Drive one. Ford Fusion (qualified 16th) – IS IT A LITTLE EASIER THE SECOND WEEK IN A FORD THAN THE FIRST? YOU PICKED UP THREE-TENTHS FROM PRACTICE. ARE YOU LEARNING SOME THINGS AS TIME GOES ON? “I think each week in these three weeks it’s going to be something new – these are three different race tracks. We’ve got to keep learning. It’s a process. It’s so hard. All of us, we just wish we could sit on the race track and it would be great, but we know the potential is there, and that’s what’s important. We had a great run last week, and that was a great start. Coming into this week, same thing – we didn’t start off very good, and we kept getting it better, and hopefully that will put us inside the top 20 somewhere, and from there on we can just keep building and getting better.”

ERIK DARNELL – No. 96 Valvoline Ford Fusion (qualified 33rd) – YOU WERE TWO-TENTHS FASTER THAN YOU WERE IN PRACTICE. THAT’S ALWAYS GOOD. “Yeah, but I think the track picked up, too. The guys worked hard on our Valvoline Ford Fusion in practice and got it to wear it was driving pretty decent; we’re just still a little bit off speed-wise. But, again, that was a pick-up from practice, which is a good thing. It felt like the car drives really well. We were just a little bit too loose in qualifying to go any faster than we did. But, we’ve been making improvements on it every time out. Hopefully, we can continue that tomorrow and run well in the race.”

 

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (qualified 39th) – “It was a pick-up from practice. You know, we weren’t that great right off the truck, and we made a few adjustments, and, like I said, it was a small pick-up. Hopefully, we can hang in there in the top 20 or 25. We’ll work on our UPS Ford tomorrow, and we can go race.”