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Ford Qualifying Results:
2nd – AJ Allmendinger
3rd – Carl Edwards
8th – David Ragan
9th – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
15th – Greg Biffle
19th – Matt Kenseth
24th – Marcos Ambrose
30th – David Gilliland
31st – Travis Kvapil
32nd – David Starr
DNQ – Tony Raines
DNQ – Andy Lally
DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion – “We’re prepared. We know what’s in front of us. Qualifying here tonight is just the beginning. It’s obviously a good tone-setter for the rest of the week and allows us to pick a good pit stall. Hopefully, we can wind up here in the top 10, but 600 miles is a long race. You’ve really got three stages, you’ve got the first 150 or so laps – the middle part while the track is changing – and then when it gets really cool in the evening. We feel like we’ve got a good game plan and we’re ready to go try and win this thing.”
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – “The car was pretty good, but it just slid the nose a little bit in three and four. I just chattered the front tires, but I thought it was gonna be way faster than that actually. It’s a long race and we know that it’s cooling down fast, so we’ll get bumped down but that’s the way it goes.”
DAVID GILLILAND – No. 34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion – “It wasn’t really the draw it was a reflection of our speed in practice. We brought the same car back from last week and it was just a little bit different today. We just didn’t quite get the speed out of it at the end like we wanted. I feel like we learned a lot in the Showdown and were able to bring it back with no scratches, so we feel like we’ve learned a lot and we’re looking forward to the 600. I think we’re gonna have a good car. We finished seventh last week in the Showdown and hopefully we can capitalize on that finish and parlay that into a good finish for the 600.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 U.S. Air Force Ford Fusion – “The U.S. Air Force Ford is really quick. I’m proud of Mike Shiplett and all the guys and I think we’ve got a good race car. The mile and a half program hasn’t been our best. We’ve been struggling with it a little bit and haven’t been as good as our teammate, Marcos, and a lot of the Fords, so I thought last week in the All-Star Race we got better. We still weren’t as good as we wanted to be, but we learned some things. We came back here with a different plan to work on setup and, so far, at least in qualifying trim, it was pretty good. That will at least get us in the top five or top six, which, for 600 miles it doesn’t really matter at that point. You just want to start up front and now we’ve got to work on Saturday to make the car better and then stay there on Sunday.”
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Scotts EZ Seed Ford Fusion – “We’re fast and that’s a car that we didn’t plan on bringing to this race. I don’t know if you saw it, but I tore up the other car. This one is fast, so we’ve got a fast Scotts EZ Seed Fusion and it looks like we’ll probably be third. That will be a great starting spot. We’ll get a great pit stall and it’s a great way to start off our 600 weekend.” IS THIS CAR AS GOOD AS THE OTHER ONE? “I think this car might be better actually. I didn’t know that the car I tore up had been torn up at Phoenix and it raced at Martinsville and got beat and banged up there. I didn’t feel so bad after that, but this one that we’ve got now is a brand new car and it’s neat.” CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN MISSOURI? “I’m really proud to be from Missouri, and I’m extra proud after what I’ve seen here the last week. The whole state of Missouri and Oklahoma and Kansas for that matter, everyone has really joined up and volunteered. There are firemen and first responders and hospitals. A couple buddies of mine took their tractors down there to Joplin and they made a base at a church and they went out and helped people get trees off their houses and gather up their belongings. It’s a tragedy. We’re praying and thinking of them and as we learn more, we’ll know who we can help more.”
MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 DeWalt Ford Fusion – “We’re just gonna pay the price. We’re not gonna qualify well. We just didn’t get it right this afternoon when the track was hot and it is what it is. It’s a long race, but every spot counts.”
DAVID STARR – No. 95 Jordan Truck Sales Ford Fusion – “That was big. I thank everyone for the opportunity. Our Ford Fusion was awesome. Doug Yates and the engine horsepower was great. Wally Rogers, my crew chief, I can’t believe that I’m gonna be in the Coca-Cola 600. It’s just awesome. The car was good in practice, but you just never know. I said, ‘Man, are you sure we’re gonna be in the race?’ And Wally said, ‘Yes.’ I’m just glad to be here and look forward to racing on Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600.”
TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion – “It was OK. I’m not happy with our pickup versus our practice. We were pretty decent and picked up three-tenths from practice, but it seems like we should have probably got five or six. I was nervous. This is a tough field because there are a lot of good cars. I went into turn one and the car bottomed out a little bit. We had been fighting being too tight in turn three all day, so I didn’t want to carry too much speed into turn three and get the splitter on the track and get tight because I knew that would kill our lap. I was a little conservative and that showed in our lap time, but I didn’t want to go too far and put in a bad lap.”
RICKY STENHOUSE, JR. – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – WHAT’S YOUR EMOTION? “I’m relieved to get this thing in. I knew the car had the speed. Our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion was fast in practice. Whether I could put it all together was a different story and we were able to, which was good. I didn’t imagine we would have a lap that good, but we’ll definitely take it. I left a little bit out there because we just had to get in. These Wood Brothers guys did an awesome job and I just can’t wait to get in the race on Sunday and just try to make all the laps we can. It’s a long race. I’ve got a lot to learn. That was just qualifying, so, hopefully, on Saturday we’ll have a good practice and a good Nationwide race. Our Fastenal Mustang was fast in Nationwide practice and, hopefully, have a good race and get into Sunday and just really learn a lot.” CAN YOU EXPLAIN BEING THE LAST CAR OUT AND THE EMOTIONS? “I was gonna ask what we had to run to get in, but nobody ever told me so I figured they didn’t want me to know. We just went out there and took what the car gave us. Like I said, if we were in the show I think we could have had a little bit more out of that, but that was plenty
