Edwards Leads Ford Qualifying Effort at Brickyard

CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 UPS Ford Fusion (Qualified 2^nd) – “That was a really good lap for us. I am just proud of everyone for coming together and working together. Everyone at the shop, Chad Norris, Bob Osborne, all the engineers and everyone here at the track who said, ‘Alright, lets put everything we can into this for the next seven weeks.’ I know this is just the first lap of our run toward the Chase but that is a good lap.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 43 Eckrich Ford Fusion (Qualified 4^th) – “We only made one qualifying run toward the end of practice.  We spent most of our time in race trim, just trying to get me some laps.  With this being my first time here, it’s tough.  It’s exciting to come here with all the history that this place represents, so I’m tickled to death to run our Eckrich Ford Fusion here this weekend.  The most challenging thing is trying to get up to speed, trying to tell Mike Ford what I need to go faster.  But all the guys on this 43 team have done a good job this weekend.  I think we’ll have a pretty good starting position for Sunday’s race.”

GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 American Red Cross Ford Fusion (Qualified 5^th) – “I have been good there all day long but my car just didn’t get to the bottom and that just killed me there on that turn. It was probably a couple tenths. I don’t think I would have beat Denny but would maybe be second or third right now. I think at times you are going to get real tight at the top and that could cost me five or eight or 10 spots by the time t his is over. It was not the lap I was looking for. I thought the car would have a little better grip than that. I could tell when I went into turn one that it was sliding the nose a little bit but I didn’t quite get to the bottom in three and four, mostly in four and that cost me a little bit. It was still a decent top-five run for now but we will have to wait and see.”

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion (Qualified 18^th) – “I think the car was on a little more than I was right there in qualifying. When you are leaving pit road the last thought in your mind is that we have to make the show on time and aren’t locked in and that causes you to leave more on the table than you want to. I am sure every driver on pit road thinks they could have done better and I am one of those drivers. You can’t really see in turn one here and when you land you know if you drove hard enough of if you could have gone harder. That was a comfortable qualifying lap. If you feel good when you get out of the car and you aren’t shaking like a leaf then you know you left some on the table. I don’t know how much I could have picked up. It wasn’t too bad but I think there was more in it today. I don’t feel like I got every ounce out of it right there.”

DAVID GILLILAND, No. 38 Big Machine Records Ford Fusion (Qualified 31^st) –  “I think that was not bad for us overall. We aren't a fast as we'd like to be but it was better than we could be. All in all this track is pretty weather sensitive and we went out in the heat. We were better this morning when it was cooler. The car drive good there and I think we will be good tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.”

DAVID RAGAN, No. 34 Scorpion Coatings/Al’s Liners Ford Fusion (Qualified 37^th) – “I don't think that was a very good lap for us. We struggled a little off the truck this morning. We are trying to get in enough laps in race trim and qualifying trim but that wasn't the direction we wanted to go back and forth. It is what it is. We came here to race and I wish we had more practice time to spend. That wasn't that great of a lap.”

CARL EDWARDS POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE

CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion (Qualified 2^nd) – I HEARD YOU ON PIT ROAD TALKING ABOUT THE EFFORT PEOPLE HAVE PUT IN FOR YOUR TEAM, TALK ABOUT THAT AND YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT TODAY. “This is huge for us. I think it is a testament to our whole team and everyone at the shop and their ability to rally around a cause. After Loudon we were all scratching our heads and met on Monday and Bob finally let us in on all the stuff he was struggling with and we realized two things about him; how tough he is and his ability to perform through everything he had been going through the last year or so. Second I learned how humble of a guy he is to be able to say, ‘Hey, look the best thing is to have Chad going forward and however I can help is how I want to help.’ That is pretty amazing for a guy to be able to do that. To come here two weeks later and have a qualifying effort like this says a lot about Bob, Jack, Chad and all the engineers that have put their effort into this. I know it is just one lap and anything can happen in the race but it is really good. I also have to say that Scott Borchetta from Big Machine Records came down and talked to me before qualifying so I am going to have to ask him to do that each week now. He is good luck. He is letting me introduce Justin Moore before his concert before the race. I am pretty excited about getting to go on stage and introduce my buddy before he plays for everybody. It is a fun weekend and I am glad it got started that way.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALIFYING WELL HERE IN TERMS OF TRACK POSITION? “I don’t know. I don’t think I have every qualified well here until now. It seems like it would help though.”

IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE LOOSER, MAYBE MORE RELAXED. HAS THE CHANGE HELPED AND IT IS A CLEAN SHEET FOR THE ENTIRE TEAM? “Maybe, but it might just be that we had an off weekend and I don’t know what the different levels of – you are in denial, then bargaining, then acceptance – I think we accept that we just have to do it. There is nothing really to say so part of that I think is just that this is all kind of new. Somebody asked me what it is like working with Chad and I said, ‘I don’t know. I don’t even know him.’ This is all new. We are just going racing. So yeah, that might make us looser to know we have nothing to lose at this point. Maybe you are over analyzing it or maybe there is something there. I don’t know.”

TALK ABOUT WHAT WENT INTO TODAY’S RUN, WHAT MADE IT HAPPEN FOR YOU. HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE SUCCESS? “That is a good question. It starts at the shop. Today specifically was just what we talked about earlier. All the guys got together and worked toward this common cause. Monday at noon we knew what our plan was this weekend as far as who was going to be working where. Everyone has worked really hard for the last 12 days or however long that is to make this happen. It is just one lap. Anything can happen but this is the first step toward our comeback to make the Chase and I think everyone did a good job. It is about people. Jack Roush is not afraid to work and make change and I am really happy that this is going well so far.”

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