MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion – DO YOU HAVE A GAME PLAN SET FOR THE NEXT FIVE RACES BEFORE THE CHASE? “Really, just go racing and get the best finish we can every week. That’s what we always try to do, really, and even though we’re close to the cutoff I don’t really think there’s anything we can do different. Actually, the last two weeks, we got 10th and 11th; that’s the best we’ve done, really, in a long time. To our standards, that’s not near good enough, but that’s the best we’ve done in a long time. We’ve just got to keep trying to build on that. If we could run in the top 10 and finish in the top 10, we’ll probably be close to making it. But, if you look at last week, all he guys that are fighting for it were right up there, with the exception of one or two.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE TEAM IS HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION NOW? “I feel like we’re a little bit better, but it’s not where we want to be. I mean we haven’t been a legitimate contender to win a race in a long time, and I know this team is capable of winning races. We want to get back to that point, but, certainly, we need to walk before we can run.”
IS THIS RACE STILL A WILD-CARD RACE? “Not really. There was a time where I could pick out races and say, ‘Okay, this is a race that’s kind of a wild-card; this one’s not,’ but, to be honest with you, it’s so competitive today and these cars are so close to the same speed – we went to Michigan, for instance, and Chicago, and I always feel like those are some of our best tracks for this team, those are places where we’ve won races and been in contention to win, and we ran, like, 20th and 23rd, or something. We just ran terrible. You just never know. You take it one week at a time. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. The competition is just so tight. You might go to one of your places that you think you’re really weak at, and have one of your best runs.”
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WATKINS GLEN AND SONOMA? “I always compare Sonoma to Martinsville, and Watkins Glen to Michigan. It’s just a lot faster of a road course – you’ve got a lot more momentum, a lot more room to work, a little bit more room for error, probably one more passing zone, at least, than there is at Sears Point. I think this track is a lot more friendly for these types of cars, and has the potential to put on a lot better race.”
SO WHAT DO YOU DO TO FIGURE OUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO GET BETTER? “That’s a good question. We’ve just got to keep working on it. It starts with engineering. These cars are a lot different than our old cars, more technical, with the bump stops and the things that they let us run. And there’s not a lot we can do aero-wise or any of that. So, it starts with engineering. I know they have been working really hard trying to find some stuff to make us run better. But, as a group, we just haven’t run as good. We’ve just got to the best we can and control the 17, and at Roush and Yates we’re all given the same stuff ; we’ve got to figure out how to do it better than the rest, and figure out how to finish in front of those guys. I my opinion, we’ve all been off a little bit. We’ve just to keep working hard and try to get better, and keep trying to figure out whatever it is.”
HOW MUCH IMPROVEMENT HAS TO GO ON AWAY FROM THE TRACK, AND HOW MUCH HAS TO GONE ON AT THE TRACK? “There’s not a lot of places you can go track testing anymore with the rules, which is okay, but we’ve been trying to go to some places, maybe, that we can go within the rules and do a little bit of track testing. I’m not sure how much that helps or not. You’ve just got to use the tools that you have, and just keeping working on it and try to figure it out.”
WITH THIS TRACK BEING A LITTLE WIDER THAN SONOMA, HOW WILL THAT AFFECT THE DOUBLE-FILE RE-STARTS? “It’ll be crazier, getting into one, because it will be two- and three-wide, and maybe four-wide. And it used to be like that, even with single-file – guys would lay back and be in there two- and three-wide, so you’re certainly going to have to watch a couplke of corners until you get to the top of the hill, and hopefully it will be single-file, but there is a lot more room. It is a little more forgiving because they paved all that area instead of having that gravel pit down there, to give a little bit more room for a mistake or somebody gets sideways or what have you. One thing about Sears Point that I noticed is they ran side-by-side for most of the lap, which is weird because you thought, okay, double-file re-starts, as soon as you get to the second or third corner you have to be single-file at a road course, but at Sonoma I saw people still two-wide in the esses. I think you’ll see a lot of that. It’ll be pretty exciting for the first two laps, at least.”
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – A NUMBER OF DRIVERS WILL NO DOUBT BE POINTS ARCING THIS WEEKEND. WILL THAT HALP CREATE A BETTER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN HERE? “Yeah, it is. Fortunately, the guys up front aren’t points racing. They’re trying to win every week. We are, too. We know that’s the way to get the most points is to win. We’re running as hard as we can, but we’re trying to stay on the course, not break anything or not get involved in a wreck. We’re doing all we can do to win races.”
DO YOU LIKE THIS PLACE? “I love this place.”
WHEN A DRIVER LIKE KYLE BUSCH IS BEHIND YOU IN POINTS, THAT MUST MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO RACE CONSERVATIVELY. DOES THAT WORRY YOU A LITTLE BIT? “We’re certainly not racing conservatively; we’re racing to win. But, we’re not going to do anything stupid. But. Certainly, we’re racing to win, and try to stay on the course, not hurt our car. I race Kyle for position all race at Pocono, we were around each other all day – we ended up beating him at the end, but only by one spot. We know we have to stay in front of those guys. It’s tight back there, and we’re doing all we can do.”
THERE WAS A LOT OF CONTACT AT POCONO LAST WEEK. WAS SOME OF THAT BECAUSE OF THE NEW DOUBLE-FILE RE-START RULE? “That probably has a little bit. But the thing about what happens is, when you’re double-file is somebody loses a little momentum or gets a little wiggly or something happens, and then there’s so many cars in the general vicinity that there’s nowhere to go. So the guy runs into the guy, this guy runs into that guy. They’re trying to stay tightened up to the rear bumper so that you don’t leave a gap for somebody to pull in front of you, then when somebody has a little issue, then you run into them. So, more cars in the general vicinity when something minor happens – a guy slips or a guy gets a little run or something happens. It probably led to some of the little bit of chaos off of the re-starts.”
SO, DO YOU CHANGE YOUR STYLE? “I’ve tried not to change my style. I just try to keep the momentum up and keeping the right line. But about three re-starts last week I lost a bunch of spots, and two re-starts I gained a bunch of spots. So, was I even? Close, but would rather have been the other way around, but it’s always going to happen. One line is going to predominantly, off each re-start, run better – usually not always the same one, but whoever gets the better jump and who’s got the preferred groove in the corner coming up. That’s the key.
HOW IMPORTANT IS HAVING A FEEL FOR THE CHICANE HERE? “That’s important. A lot of passing can take place there, but you’ve got to be careful getting through there as well. You can get off the track easy. That’s an important part of this race track. A lot of passing takes place there.”
HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU ABOUT FINISHING THE RACE ON SUNDAY? “We’re real concerned. That’s our first priority, is finishing, not hurting any parts of the car, the brakes and the gearbox and things like that. And then, secondly, track position is everything here.”
YOU TRAIL YOUR TEAMMATE MATT KENSETH BY ONE SPOT IN THE STANDINGS. HOW FRIENDLY WILL IT BE ON THE TRACK BETWEEN THE 16 AND 17? “The good part about it is – if there is a good part – is Matt and I are both in the Chase right now, so it’s not he’s 13th and I’m 12th or vice-versa and we’re fighting for the last spot, so ultimately it could come down to that at the end. Matt and I race very good together. We’re trying to be as courteous as we can on the race track to each other, but we also know that it may come down to one of us not being in it. I hope that’s not the case, though.”
HOW CRAZY WILL TURN ONE GET ON THOSE DOUBLE-FILE RE-STARTS? INSIDE OR OUTSIDE? WHERE’S THE BEST PLACE TO BE? “The far inside is probably going to be the best spot to be so that nobody runs into you. When you’re in the middle, the second, third or fourth or fifth groove going around turn one, the further up the race track you get, the more chance you have of running out of real estate.”
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion – WHAT’S YOUR OUTLOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND? “I hope we run well. We need it. Right now, we’re, I think, 200 points ahead of the Chase cutoff, and this race is an important one, just like the four after it. We just need to have a good, solid run in our Aflac Fusion. It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain today or tomorrow, so we’re going to focus on qualifying trim today, the whole day today. It’s the first time we’ve done this in years, so my first lap out there will be a qualifying lap.”
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT WITH THE DOUBLE-FILE RE-STARTS HERE? “Last week was awful for my time, the double-file re-starts were. I’m hoping this week this race goes as it has in the past – there won’t be too many re-starts. Those double-file re-starts seem to breed more re-starts. It could end up being a one- or two-lap sprint races at the end, so that could have a huge impact. I hope it doesn’t, but it could and we’re prepared for that. I’m prepared for that.”
BECAUSE YOU’LL BE IN QUALIFYING TRIM ALL DAY TODAY, IS THAT AN INDICATION OF HOW IMPORTANT YOU THINK TRACK POSITION IS GOING TO BE HERE? “That’s a great point, and it’s more important everywhere we go. Our team has worked hard on race trim since the day I started racing here in the Cup series. Like I said, it’s been years since we started practice in qualifying trim at Watkins Glen. So, I think it’s more important than ever. It’ll very important Sunday.”
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE CHASE, IS THERE A TRACK WHERE YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE? “Last year I felt like we performed very well at all of them. Phoenix, I think we ran fourth there. Martinsville, I was third, I think. Those tracks haven’t given me the best finishes – Martinsville is probably the one I probably have the worst finishing average at that track compared to the rest of tracks in the Chase. But, that finish was good – I think it was third, you’d have to check that out, but I think it was third. And we ran really good at Martinsville this year, so I feel pretty good about that one. That’s the one I’m most concerned about, but I feel better than ever. Talladega, obviously, that’s one that you really have to pick your battle there during that race, so if you want to fight for the win or do you want to hang out and save your car, I learned a lot last year that race and how terrible it went. So, those two tracks, I’d say, are the ones to me that are the wild-cards, the ones that’ll be bottlenecks for me in the Chase.”
ON THE RE-START HERE, DO YOU WANT THE INSIDE OR OUTSIDE GOING INTO TURN ONE? “I don’t know; I couldn’t decide. I thought a reason I was doing so terribly at Pocono was because I kept getting the outside, and then I got the inside and it was just as bad. It’s such a chaotic mess if you’re in the fifth, sixth row, somewhere back there, in these double-file re-starts, that there’s no telling which line is going to be best. I have to say at this track, probably, statistically, I would guess that the inside lane, the right-side lane will be the best one to be in. But, I mean, there’s just no telling what’s going to happen. There’s no telling.”
DOES THE COMFORT LEVEL WITH THE NEW CAR CONTRIBUTE TO THE AGGRESSIVENESS ON THE TRACK? “My comfort level hasn’t changed with this car. It just depends on the race track. That’s maybe a good idea there; this car, you can run into more stuff and keep truckin’. Maybe that’s part of it. Maybe people are more likely to slide the thing down in there and bang off of somebody’s car. I don’t know. It’s insane. I think it probably has to do more with people’s contracts being up in the air and sponsors and everything squeezing for every bit of exposure that we can get. It’s like the whole economy, everyone in the market is, I think everyone’s aware of that and I think everyone wants to get the very best finish they can – more than ever. People are racing for their careers and their team’s existence. I think that’s why you see this type of racing.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT DEALING WITH THE CHICANE HERE? “The first time I came here and tested, I put it right in the sand out there, the gravel. The chicane, or the bus stop, back there looks very simple, but what makes it difficult is that you’re coming from the highest speed portion of the race track and then you’re braking, and at the same time you’re braking, you’re trying to set up this corner and it’s got curbs. If you get the rear-axle hopping or you get a little loose and hit that curb just wrong and lock up the brakes or whatever, so much energy built up, you can’t get it slowed down for the left-hander, and it ends up being pretty exciting. Plus, it’s a great place to pass, but if the guy doesn’t give it to you, now you’re both going in there side-by-side and there’s just no room. That makes it pretty exciting.”