Edwards Leads Ford Qualifying Effort at Richmond

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Scotts eZ Seed Ford (Qualified 8th)
“That was a good lap. I think we will be okay and that will be a good starting spot. A couple hundredths would have made a big difference, but that was a good safe lap. We have to go back and look hard at race trim. I don’t know that we have made up our minds on what we will do in race trim, but this is a good day for us. I think that will put us eighth or ninth, which is a good day for us.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford (Qualified 23rd)

“I really don’t know where that will put us. This sun and these clouds are making it really hard to say. If the sun came out for like it is right now then we would stand a chance of maybe being a top-15. It is so much faster than we ran in practice, I have no idea where it will leave us. The car had way more grip than I expected and I thought we could have been a little faster.  In race trim I feel really good about the car. When we switched to qualifying we were terrible and couldn’t get chatter and slide taken care of. Maybe we have something figured out, I am not sure.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 34 Gander Mountain Ford (Qualified 39th)
“This track is getting faster and we picked up quite a bit from practice. It was a little tight out there. I am happy with the pick-up we got though, but I wish there was more of it. I feel really good about our car in race trim. We have been struggling qualifying and need to do better but our 10-lap average in race trim is really good, like 10th overall, so we will go on that and pass some cars.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford (Qualified 33rd)

“I am not a fortune teller but I would say that puts us probably 25th-28th if you want me to guess. We really struggled in the first practice in race trim. I don’t know if  we could have been much worse but we had it reasonable by the end of the second practice. I think we have some work to do tonight to get more competitive. I don’t know. We are maybe 10th at best where we are now. I think we have some work to do.”

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford (Qualified 27th)
“That was a good pick-up from practice. I think our UPS car has some speed. I always want a little bit more but I think our car is pretty fast. I look forward to Saturday night. The track had a lot of grip and I might have left a little out there on the table but I would say that is a solid lap and I think our car will be fast Saturday.”

WHAT WILL BE THE KEY FOR SUCCESS FOR YOU SATURDAY NIGHT?
“We have to get our rear tires to hook up on these long runs. We have always fought for so many years because it gets free throughout the run. That is going to be the ticket. The guys that win these races on the short tracks put the power down without spinning the rear tires. We worked hard on that in practice and I wish the race was tonight.”

ANDY LALLY – No. 71 Interstate Moving Services Ford (Qualified 42nd)

"We picked up a little bit of time from practice.  We we're ok.  We improved the front like we were trying to, but lost some forward bite and that is probably where we left a little time out there.  We made a change before qualifying that was a big plus.  We didn't get to tune on that too much.  This is my first time at Richmond.  A new driver here works the good grip off of the tires before he gets a legitimate shot at going fast.  We had a good second session, the guys worked hard on the changes and we really hit on it.  We will make a few adjustments to the car for the race, but it won't be too far off what we ran in qualifying."