PAUL MENARD- No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion (Finished 10th) – “We had a bad set of tires somewhere in the mid part of the race and dropped back to 15th or 20th or something like that. We put some tires on and did some minimal adjustments and came right back. That bad set got us behind the eight ball. I am proud of the guys. We have had bad pit stops the last couple of weeks and they really picked it up tonight. I had a fast car all weekend long. I am disappointed with 10th place, which is a good thing I guess.”

TREVOR BAYNE – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion (Finished 17th) – “That was awesome man. We had a terrible pit stall though because we were right with the guys we were racing with and I couldn’t get it in and out and got boxed in a few times. We had to pass so many cars, like 10 or 15 a run until pit stops. Finally Reutimann helped me out and stayed over to the left in his box and that really helped us. That was incredible. These things are so much fun. I wish I could do it every weekend. It was a blast to drive and to be that fast for a first run is incredible. Donnie Wingo, everybody at Wood Brothers Racing and Roush Fenway and Ford I want to thank for giving me this opportunity. I don’t really know what to say. That was as good or better than we expected so I am really pumped about it.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Finished 2nd)  – “That was disappointing that I didn’t finish it off there. We have lost a lot of close one’s here at Texas. My Crown Royal Black guys did a great job. Doug Yates and those guys built me an awesome engine. We had a perfect restart. I really wanted the bottom and he gave me the bottom. Everything went right that whole last lap. I got on the gas and cleared him down there and I thought everything was good and as soon as I got in front of him my car just took off. I had to get back out of the gas. I am disappointed we finished second but happy we performed that well.

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Finished 5th) – YOU HAD THE TOP CAR ALL DAY UNTIL TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS, HOW DIFFICULT A PILL IS THAT TO SWALLOW.  “It is really tough. We know we have had this problem and have neglected to fix it. We have had numerous opportunities. We had bad drive train vibration problems and today it bit us. It shook the guts out of the transmission today and they still don’t know what it is. They think they know what it is, but I am not sure if they really know. "We need to continue to work on our drive train to be better each week. We had the fastest car all day and we have to be happy about that but you hate to have a win slip through your fingers like that. We had great pit stops and Greg Erwin made great calls.  It's just unfortunate that it ended the way it did."

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Finished 8th) - YOU HAD TO OVERCOME A LOOSE LUG NUT EARLY IN THE RACE. “First off, that goes to show you just how good of a car we had today. We were running in the top 10 and that loose lug nut just killed us. We had to come back in and tighten that up and then we were in the back of the field in the high 30s. After that, we just really had to race hard the rest of the night. Towards the end, we were in the wrong lane when one of the guys missed a couple of gears, so I was glad that we got that last caution. It was a good job by Drew [Blickensderfer] and our UPS team, we just need to get better on pit road.”

AFTER HAVING TO FIGHT BACK, HOW DOES IT FEEL WALKING AWAY WITH A TOP 10? “It’s some good momentum going into these last two races and it’s good to be disappointed with an eighth-place finish. I remember just a couple of months ago when we would have loved to have had a top 10. It’s good to have a fast car and we’ll go now to Phoenix and Homestead and try to do it again.”

MATT KENSETH POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN OUT THERE TODAY  “We had a pretty fast car all weekend and got some paper or something on the grille early in the race and got it real hot and had to pit under green and lost a lap there.  We just kept adjusting on the car, actually about the best we had it was then.  Everything actually lined up exactly in our favor.  You know, short run, Denny gave me the inside, which I probably would have chosen if I had had to choose one, and I got actually a really good restart.  I've been jacking that up most of the time lately, so got a really good restart.  We were side by side there, and I just couldn't quite get by him. I've lost a lot of close ones, like you said.  I think we've been second here four times, and really happy to run that good but really disappointing to be going for the lead on the last lap and not come back with a win, either.”
   
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY HERE AND HOW IT STANDS WITH ALL THE STRUGGLES YOU HAVE HAD ALL SEASON?  “Yeah, it's been an interesting day.  All our cars were fast today.  Greg probably had    I didn't see the except race for the scoreboard, but it seemed like Greg probably had the best car if he wouldn't have broke his transmission or whatever happened there.  Our pit stops were really good today.  They were better than they have been. I didn't speed on pit road today, which was a bonus.  I've been doing that too much lately. All day we had a mistake free day.  Even when we had trouble we were able to stay calm and fix our problems and get back in the lead lap and be able to pit the race right and get tires we needed to work our way through traffic and get to the front. Everything went just right today in the pits and on pit road and pretty much on the track, too.  I wish I could do the last one more time and try something different, but other than that, everything went as good as we could have expected today.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE RESTART THERE AND WHEN DENNY GOT BY YOU COMING OUT OF THRUN 2 AND WHAT HAPPENED? “We  took off, and like I said, I got a really good restart and he pulled as close as he could to me to get the wind off of me, which in lap 100 you wouldn't do that to somebody because they'd be mad, but over last ten laps that's totally fair.  I'd probably be trying to do the same thing as much as I could to get the inside guy loose and get him uncomfortable. So surprisingly my car was pretty stable and it lasted for a lap, and I just lifted real early because we were side by side and I wanted to actually keep him outside of me, and I thought if we left turn two at least nose to nose and I could get into three and still have him outside of me that we'd have a shot to the finish line. I lifted real early when he lifted, and then I got back to the gas real early, and he must have slipped a little bit, and I got a really good run.  When Mike told me clear, I was a little surprised we cleared him, and I just pulled up in front of him and starting getting off the corner.  I probably shouldn't have been holding the wheel as much as I did but wanted to get a nice run off the corner, and as soon as he got away from my side for whatever reason and got behind me, my car just took off.  It just felt like it raised the car half an inch and went straight, and I had to get out of the gas, so I had to keep from hitting the wall. Part of that is the way I tried to drive the corner and part of it was maybe from not having him outside me anymore, not having the car turning as loose as it was when he was there. I don't know, it was a heck of a race down to the finish.  Like I say, you hate it when you get beat.”
   

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