JAMIE McMURRAY QUALIFIES THIRD AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

JAMIE McMURRAY – No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (qualified 3rd) – “That was really good. The car just didn’t seem to have very much grip in qualifying trim this morning. I thought we were one of the best cars in race trim of the 25 or so cars that did race trim. But, just qualifying wasn’t there, but Donnie Wingo definitely earned his money today. I’m really excited that they were able to make those changes and get the car driving as well as it is.” ON CREW CHIEF DONNIE WINGO. “I missed Donnie, and I’ve said over the past couple of months: I’ve compared every other crew chief I’ve ever had to. And, mainly, just because we communicate better than any other crew chief that I’ve had, and he seems to get me. It’s going to be just an awesome season for us.”

 

JAMIE McMURRAY – No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Fusion – ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP. “That was a big improvement from where we practiced. I thought we had one of the better cars in race trim, of the cars that did race trim. And then when they put it qualifying trim, it just drove like crap. And so they made some good adjustments, and it actually had a lot more grip than what I expected in qualifying, so I was pretty happy with that.”

 

WHAT STOOD OUT ABOUT THE TRACK TODAY? YOU DIDN’T GET A CHANCE TO TEST THIS YEAR. “After being in Daytona for so many days it was just nice to get on a track where you felt you got to make a difference, it wasn’t just totally up to your crew. It’s weird not testing. When we tested out here at Vegas or at Fontana every year, it’s kind of odd, but since we haven’t tested it, once you get on the track it just doesn’t seem that much different than what it did in the past.

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (qualified 5th) – “I’m pleased so far. Qualifying there, I made a mistake, a pretty big mistake. I got up off the bottom in three and four. That hurts. That burns inside because I know I’ve got a car that probably could be on top of the board right now. But, we weren’t that good in race trim, which is kind of unusual for us. We were really good in qualifying trim and not very good in race trim. We just haven’t got the balance yet. But, if a car will go like that in qualifying, normally you’re going to be alright in the race.”

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 Ford Fusion (qualified 13th) – “I think we’re steps ahead of where we were last year, but I think everybody improves. We’ve still got some work to do. I think that we’ve got a solid car for this weekend. It’s not the best, but we’ve shown improvement from the first practice to qualifying, it picked up some. But, yeah, we’re improved, definitely, as a team, but we know what we need to do from not only Daytona and California, but all the way to Richmond. I think that’s important in making the Chase.”

 

BOBBY LABONTE – No. 96 ASK.com Ford Fusion (qualified 16th) – ARE YOU HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU’VE SEEN SO FAR WITH YOUR CAR AND YOUR TEAM THIS WEEKEND? “I am, personally, just because of the fact that we came around so late as far as making this deal happen. Even though I know that a lot of the guys didn’t go test, which put everybody in the same position – they can’t go test at a lot of the tracks, nobody came here to test, nobody went to Vegas to test, except for maybe a tire test. But I didn’t go anywhere to test. To strap myself in this car with all of this horsepower this morning – obviously, Daytona is restricted – I was looking forward to this day for a long time. I am pleasantly pleased with everything, so far. The car feels good. I still have a long ways to go as far as a driver figuring this thing out – it’s different from what I’ve had in the past. But, I’m excited about it and hopefully it will just get better.”

 

TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 28 Farmers Insurance Group Ford Fusion (qualified 37th) – “The speed was a huge disappointment. We had a pretty good car in practice – I think we were 15th. But, right there, coming to the green, the front end started vibrating real bad, like it had a loose wheel. It just ruins your concentration, your focus, and you’re not really confident in your car. After we got it back in here, it looked like at least three or four of the splitter braces broke and the splitter drug really bad, and I’m sure that didn’t help our speed by any means. But, it was a big letdown. I’m disappointed we didn’t have better showing than that. It was basically the same speed we had in practice, and I know the track is a lot, lot faster right now. So, I’m bummed out about that. Luckily, I think we’re okay, but we just have got to do a better job than that.”