MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 59 STP Ford Fusion – (finished 3rd, qualified 3rd) – PRESS CONFERENCE - TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE. “I’m bitterly disappointed. I feel like we really dominated today’s race. I made an error down pit lane, I just couldn’t see the pit exit and we sped. I went down and had a look at it and it’s still hard to see. I’m just really disappointed, I feel like the race was ours today and I tripped over myself. I’m real sorry for my team and STP and JTG Daugherty Racing for, I let them down, I guess. It’s a shame.”
ARE THESE THE WORST CONDITIONS YOU’VE DRIVEN UNDER? “It was it tricky. For the first time, for these guys to have a race in the rain, we actually got a race in. That was a good thing. It felt really slow and the car was slipping around. Getting up to speed there when we first put the wets on, I thought I’m real trouble here because I’ve just got no grip. Obviously, I had no grip, better than everyone else because we did pretty well. It was treacherous, it was tricky but I think all the drivers kept of the race track for the most part and we got a race in, which is important. I think to NASCAR’s credit for not running rain races very often, that they did a pretty good job.”
WHAT TURNED THE RACE AROUND? “We had a great day going. I just sped down pit lane. Actually, I took off too early. I couldn’t see the end of pit lane. I just couldn’t see it. The line on the race track, I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t see the cone. I waited until I got passed Pruett and counted to three and took off and I must have just jumped the line but 20 or 30 feet. I’m bitterly disappointed that I let everybody down with that. I feel robbed about it, to be honest with you. I feel like we just dominated today. We controlled the race from the front. It’s just a real shame for STP and JTG Daugherty Racing. We’ve got great things on the horizon, but I just feel a little jinxed. I feel like I need to win a race. I’ve come here twice, dominated and came up short both times. So, I’m gonna have to have a few beers or something to reconcile myself tonight and hopefully, I’ll wake up tomorrow with a hangover and feel a little better. Right now, I feel very disappointed and hopefully, that goes away.”
BUT THE RAIN, YOU HAD NO CONTROL OF. IF THIS STAYED GREEN, COULD YOU HAVE WON? “If the race kept going or the rain had stopped. They couldn’t keep the race going, it was too wet. I commend NASCAR for making the call to stop that race because it was getting dangerous out there. We had a lot of car, whether Patrick [Carpentier] and the 5 [Ron Fellows] had to stop one more time, if they didn’t, we would race them hard to the end. We still feel like we’re in a good position, but I really let them down. I guess, I could be mad at NASCAR, but I’m not. I’m mad at myself for making a mistake. It’s hard to see that cone, I guess a lot of guys got penalized for doing the same thing but it’s just the way it goes.”
DID YOU LEARN SOMETHING THAT WILL BE HELPFUL NEXT WEEKEND AT ANOTHER ROAD COURSE RACE? DO YOU LIKE HAVING THE ROAD COURSE EVENTS BACK-TO-BACK? “I’ve learned that I don’t want to race in the rain in a NASCAR again. It’s really tricky. Maybe if there is inclement weather again down the road, NASCAR won’t be so frightened to put us out there on wets because we got a race in. Everyone was safe and it was a decent show, I guess. The tires held up and the cars held up. I thought for sure we were going to have electrical problems with all the water that was coming in the car but anything that got wet was me.”
DO YOU FEEL JINXED UP HERE? “I feel jinxed full stop. I’ve come along way to be part of NASCAR and I’m two and a half years into this deal and haven’t gotten a victory. I’ve got second, third, fourth, fifth, whatever, but that win has alluded me. I guess if you keep knocking on the door, it will come. I feel comfortable out there, I feel like I belong. I feel like if we keep at it, the win will fall our way, but right now, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. I haven’t had this good a race and not won twice in a row before at a track. It’s usual. This place has been great to me. We’re going to come back next year, I’m sure and try and break that win. Then we’ll be off. But who knows. I’m disappointed but life goes on. I’ve got two health girls back home. I’m looking forward to getting home and seeing those girls tonight and play in the sandbox tomorrow and have a swim and forget about life.”
WOULD YOU BE IN FAVOR OF RACING CUP IN THE RAIN? “I think it’s okay. We demonstrated today that we can get a race in and the tires are decent and the cars run. Maybe some of those Cup guys don’t want to run in the rain, who knows. I’d be happy to run a Cup car in the rain, not problem.”
GARY COSGWELL – No. 59 STP Ford Fusion – Crew Chief - A ROLLERCOASTER OF A DAY, YOU LED THE MOST LAPS, GOT CHARGED WITH A SPEEDING PENALTY AND FINISHED THIRD AFTER NASCAR CALLED THE RACE. “We obviously had the best car for these track conditions. That was really pleasing. This was my first experience in the rain, ever. The car was pretty good everything was going really well. Then we pitted and got that penalty. But really, at that point, we had such a lead, we were so far ahead of most of the field, it really wasn’t going to hurt us that bad in the end. We were in position to be leading again once everybody pitted. Obviously the race got called short. I’m not sure the how sound the thought process was between at what point in time is it raceable or not raceable. That’s all new to NASCAR. It’s new to everybody. But at least in our case, it’s pretty unfortunate the way those decisions went down and we ended up finishing third instead of winning.” DOES THE MONTREAL RACE OWE THE TEAM AFTER THIS YEAR AND LAST? “I feel like Montreal owes us, yeah. We’ve been in position to win and had the best car twice and couldn’t close the deal. There’s always next year.”
BORIS SAID – No. 25 No Fear/Team Smithfield Ford Fusion – (finished 5th, qualified 7th) – “I’m pretty happy. We didn’t have a mark on our car. We finished fifth. We made a mistake and the rules are so new and we thought NASCAR was going to let us decide when to put dries on so, we gambled on it drying out, so we put a full dry set-up on. So, we weren’t set up best for the rain, but all in all, it was a good day and the car was great. I had a blast.” THIS IS YOUR KIND OF RACING. “Yeah, it’s my kind of racing, but you really need to be set up right and the tires, as old as they are, they’re a little hard, so was zero grip out there. All in all, I’m surprised how well everyone did and how few accidents there were. In the end, people were wrecking under caution because you just couldn’t see. The cars were hydroplaning. All in all, it was a great day, except we didn’t win.”
CARL EDWARDS – No. 60 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion – (finished 6th, qualified 18th) – “Racing in the rain was a lot of fun. I’m glad we didn’t wreck. I’m proud of my guys they did a good job having the car ready for the rain. I just wished it wouldn’t have started raining so hard and we could have raced a little longer. I think we maybe would have been a tick better, but that was good.”
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – (finished 8th, qualified 16th) – “I kind of was looking forward to this because I’ve never raced in the rain, but I don’t think I will be from now on. It was a lot of fun. It got a little hairy there when it started raining so hard. The car would hydroplane bad down the frontstretch and I mean a 140 or 150 miles an hour hydroplane is not very safe. It made it hard to see there at the end. It was raining so hard and everything was getting so wet. The guys said there was an inch of water in the right side of the car, laying on the floorboard, in the car. So the car started to fill with water and we were going to start having electrical problems, well not us, but probably everybody soon. But it was fun. It was a lot of fun. I’m glad I made history today. The first time we raced in the rain.”
DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 Discount Tire Ford Fusion – (finished 13th, qualified 30th) – “It was interesting. Certainly, I don’t have road course racing figured out on dry tracks, must less wet tracks. It was a learning experience. I went as hard as I could that I knew 100 percent that I wouldn’t run off course and I think that was our saving grace. We weren’t fast by any means, but we were pretty smart, conservative on the pit stops and everything else. We just did the best we could with what we had to work with. It was a learning experience. NASCAR did what they had to do to get this race in. I credit them for trying. We all learned a little bit and the next time we race in the rain, it will probably go a lot easier.”
BRAD COLEMAN – No. 27 Scott Towels/Walmart Ford Fusion – (finished 21st, qualified 9th) – “All you can do is smile because, in my opinion it was a pointless race. We were running seventh when it was dry. We had a great car, an easy top 10. Then it started raining and we were running in the top 15, then all of a sudden, it just down poured. And you can’t, quite literally, see in front of you. When I was going down the straightaway, I had to get next to the wall and the only part that I could see. I could barely see the wall. I had to look at the wall and follow it down the straightaway. It wasn’t safe. It’s sad that that happened. The Scott Towels Ford Fusion was really fast. We had an easy top 10 in the dry.”
KELLY BIRES – No. 47 Clorox Ford Fusion – (finished 24th, qualified 26th) – “It was out of control out there. I don’t know if the tire was so old or not, but it was just way too out of control for what we’re trying to do. We made the right adjustments to where we could at least run competitively. I wheel hopped it one time and got off the track which lost us about seven spots. And then no one knew what they’re pit road speed needed to be because of the difference in the tires, so we got nailed there on pit road, exiting. We couldn’t see anything so we had to stop because we couldn’t see out of the windshield. Just safety reasons, then they threw the caution and we lost quite a bit of spots there at the end. We were going to have a good day, I thought. I couldn’t see. It was a safety thing, we had to pit under green and they threw the caution a lap later and it just bit us. All in all, the Clorox Fusion is in one piece after this, the first time racing in the rain. It was interesting.”
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