CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Finished 7th) – “It started out really bad. I’d like to be happy with seventh place, but I’m not. We needed two or three more positions to beat Kasey for 10th in the points. I really wanted to be there at the banquet, but I’ll give a quick version of my speech. Thank you Aflac and Ford and all of my fans for sticking with us. I know it’s been a tough year, but we’ll be back next year. We’re gonna be alright. It’s just frustrating.” A LOT OF SIDE-BY-SIDE RACING TONIGHT. “It was a fun race. I owe this man $20 bucks (Kasey Kahne). I bet him we’d beat him in the points, so insult to injury. But it was a good race. This track is awesome. It would be fine with me if they don’t ever touch this thing – don’t mess with the pavement. The tires are good, it’s slippery. That’s fun.” IS IT JUST A CASE OF FIGURING THINGS OUT FROM DAY TO NIGHT? “I’d rather be better at night like we were. I felt like we had a car that with a little different track position, I think we had a car that maybe could have won, so that’s good. That’s a good way to finish the season, at least being competitive.” WHAT ABOUT JIMMIE WINNING FOUR IN A ROW? “I can’t believe Jimmie did it. It’s unreal. I really just believed that something would happen and Mark would be able to get him just because it’s so amazing the luck that they’ve had. I know it’s not all luck, but there’s luck that goes with it and they’ve had amazing performance and amazing luck and my hat’s off to them.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY – No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Finished 14th) – “We had a better car than we’ve had at the mile-and-a-halfs. We didn’t finish very well because the wing broke – one of the end plates broke and the car was just so loose at the end of the race. It’s hard to hang onto it when all the parts are there and when you lose something it’s even harder. We actually had a better car than we’ve had in a while, so we didn’t end as good as we wanted to, but it certainly could have been worse.” YOUR THOUGHTS ON JIMMIE WINNING FOUR STRAIGHT TITLES? “I remember hanging out with Jimmie in 2001 and sitting on his boat dock, just hanging out and drinking a beer. Both of us were just in awe that we were even in the Busch Series at the time, so for him to do what he has done is incredible. I will say that as much as he wins and everything happens, Jimmie’s one of those guys you want to hate, but he’s one of the best guys out here. I think that he is very deserving of what he has.”
MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion (Finished 13th) – “Today there was maybe a little bit of improvement, not much – Charlotte and Texas and some of those tracks were better. We didn’t run very good as a group today, really. Carl, I think, ran okay, and the 44 ran okay, but the rest of us didn’t run that great.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 44 Ford Drive one. Ford Fusion (Finished 10th) – “I’m just proud of everybody on the 44 team to get two top-10s and three top-15s in three races. That’s good. I wish we could’ve had this all year. It was a lot of fun. I thank Ford for allowing this to happen, and everybody that sponsored this 44 car to keep us going, and I’m looking forward to next year.” YOU SEEMED TO GET STRONGER AS THE RACE WORE ON. “Yeah. We just worked on it. It seemed like we got a bad set of tires one time. We didn’t change anything, and then put another set of tires on and one adjustment and we were fast again. Other than that, we just kept picking them off. I wish our car had been just a little stronger late, like 10 laps to go on our tires, it really started to fade there. But. I’m proud of everybody.” WHEN YOU END A SEASON ON A HIGH NOTE LIKE THIS, DO YOU KIND OF WISH THERE WAS ANOTHER RACE NEXT WEEK, TOO, OR ARE YOU READY FOR A BREAK? “I’d rather run every week, but this team needs a break. We need to get everything in order and be stronger next year.” BIG ADVANTAGE TO GET IN A FORD THREE TIMES THIS YEAR BEFORE STARTING 2010? “Big time.”
RICHARD PETTY – No. 44 Ford Drive one. Ford Fusion – CAN YOU COMMENT ON AJ ALLMENDINGER’S THREE RACES IN A FORD? “It’s been good. Hopefully, this is just what’s in the future for us with Ford because he stepped up about six, eight positions by just getting into a Ford. So, hopefully, in the future, we’ll be able to make it even better.” HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO GET THOSE THREE RACES IN BEFORE STARTING 2010? “We don’t go in completely blind, just partly blind. At least we’ve got a little bit of experience with it. It helps the driver and the crew and they’ll be able to translate it better to the rest of the crew.”
DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Finished 34th) – HOW WAS THE FR9? “We didn’t have the car handling well enough to be a contender, but the engine performed great. It got great fuel mileage. So, it’ll be interesting to see what Doug Yates and the guys say when we get back to the shop, but it performed fine.” HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO RACE THE FR9 THIS YEAR BEFORE GOING INTO 2010? “It gives them all winter to look at it. I think we’ll be good to go in Daytona for the FR9.”
BILL ELLIOTT – No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion (Finished 16th) – “We ended up having a little mishap there in the pits. I got a lap down pretty early. Got fortunate and got that back. Man, I just wasn’t good on short runs. The longer I ran, the better that thing got. It was awesome there at the end. But, we gave up too much track position, so we just need to get better on those short runs.” CAN THIS BE CONSIDERED A SUCCESSFUL SEASON FOR YOU, THE WOOD BROTHERS AND THE 21 TEAM? “Oh, absolutely. Last year we couldn’t finish in the 30s, and this year we were consistently in the top-20s. I mean, we’re out-running teams that are mega-bucks, and that’s what we need to continue to do.”
