CARL EDWARDS – No. 60 Save-a-Lot Ford Fusion (qualified 11th) – THIS YEAR THERE’S QUITE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NATIONWIDE AND CUP CARS AT THIS TRACK, BUT DO YOU STILL LOOK FOR THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS IN THE CAR FOR SUCCESS HERE? “Yeah, you just want a car that’s not too tight or not too loose, that sucks up to the other cars real well. But that’s it. That’s all you’re looking for. There’s no magic feel or anything, you know?”
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion (qualified 15th) – THE NATIONWIDE AND CUP CARS ARE DIFFERENT, BUT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS TO BE SUCCESSFUL HERE? “You are, but Talladega is Talladega. It’s just a smooth, fast place. Actually, it feels like you’re just putting because it’s so smooth. But, really, the cars just drive so much the same because handling is not an issue; you’re just going around in a circle. But, you’re looking for the same thing: speed.”
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR QUALIFYING LAP? “Yeah, that was 14th right there when we went. That’s respectable. We’re six-and-a-half- or seven-tenths off the pole speed, so that’s not bad. We’ve been a second off the pole speed before, so we’re closing in a little bit on that.”
MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 59 Kingsford with Hickory Ford Fusion (qualified 30th) – “As a driver, I could put my grandmother in on qualifying day the way these cars run here. It’s irrelevant to us today. Today is just a relaxing day. We knew we weren’t going to qualify that well with our car. I’m hopeful that it’s going to draft okay, and I hope it does.”
HISTORICALLY, AT THIS TRACK, ON THE CUP SIDE, THE CAR THE COMES OFF THE TRUCK IS PRETTY MUCH WHAT A DRIVER HAS FOR THE WEEKEND. IS THAT THE CASE IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES, TOO? “Yes, definitely. There’s not much you can do when you get here – you might be able to get a tenth [of a second] out of it or so, but that’s about all you’re going to get out of it, at best.”
YOU WERE THIRD-FASTEST IN BOTH PRACTICES YESTERDAY, SO, POTENTIALLY, THIS COULD BE A PRETTY GOOD WEEKEND FOR YOU. “We just got lucky with the draft on those times there. We went out in the biggest packs, and just by chance we ended up toward the top of the time sheets. But, we just want to finish the weekend and get a strong top-15 if we can and get out of here with some decent points.”
YOU DID A LOT OF ROAD-COURSE RACING. IS THIS TRACK DAUNTING TO SOMEONE WITH YOUR BACKGROUND? “It’s daunting racing, it’s not a daunting track. It’s the racing that really gets your attention. Hopefully, we’re there at the end with 10 laps to go and running in contention.”
