Category: NASCAR Cup Series

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes Budweiser Shootout — February 12, 2011

10th, BOBBY LABONTE 12th, DENNY HAMLIN 14th, DERRIKE COPE 15th, MICHAEL WALTRIP 16th, KYLE BUSCH 18th, JOEY LOGANO 23rd, KEVIN CONWAY 24th, KASEY KAHNE

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Reese Townpower / Highland Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finished: 10th How was your race tonight? “It was obvious that you had to be hooked up with somebody or you could go a lap down. We went a lap down in the first segment and right there at the end, Matt (Kenseth) was kind of the odd man out and got lapped. It was kind of weird how it is — just two by two by two by two and if you’re not in a two then you’re not going to be up to speed. A lot of it’s just trying to find the right guy to be with and stay with him. A couple guys could make you loose and some of them didn’t.”

How do you find the right drafting partner? “You find somebody that’s by themselves. If you’re by yourself, you find somebody by themselves.” Do you expect the same type of racing in the Daytona 500? “Yeah, it’s just going to be brighter because the sun’s going to be out.”

How was your first race with JTG-Daugherty Racing? “I think we ran the gamut. We got a lap down in the first segment and got it back. Had a pit road penalty, which I get about one a year so I got that over with. It’s fine, we just need a little more speed to be able to push a little harder. We could get there with the 14 (Tony Stewart) behind us, but something would happen and he would pull off. We were going to be right there in the middle of that pack if he could have stayed with us, but something didn’t work out. We dodged all the wrecks and got a car we can still use again. We’ll go with that.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finished: 12th What is your feeling about the ruling that you went below the yellow line at the checkered flag? “That yellow line is there to protect us and the fans in the stands safety and I just chose to take the safer route. A win in the Shootout is not worth sending the 39 (Ryan Newman) through the grandstands. For me, as fast as we’re running — if I get into his left rear, that car will go airborne. For me, it was a tough position. I probably should have gone high just to avoid that whole thing. I was faced with a decision and obviously I didn’t want to have contact with the 39.”

What did you do on the final lap? “I went to the inside of Ryan Newman and I saw quickly to dart down to the bottom so I moved my car down to the bottom to try to avoid contact. I thought it was a great three-wide finish, but obviously I used some pavement that we shouldn’t have.”

What did you think of the racing tonight? “I thought it was good, I thought the racing was great. It was really hard for any two groups of cars to stay up front. For me, I was hoping to put ourselves in position for the win and made a little mistake.”

Why did you go down to the bottom below the yellow line? “I didn’t want to cause a wreck, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth sending a guy through the bleachers. The rule is you can’t go below the yellow line and I went below the yellow line so that’s about it.”

Were you expecting NASCAR to call Kurt Busch the winner? “I don’t know. Half of me was, half of me wasn’t. It’s just coming to the checkered and you’ve really got no room to work with so you try to use all of the asphalt that you can. It’s just in the heat of the moment you’re just trying to do the best thing and not cause a wreck.”

Would you stay right at the yellow line next Sunday in the Daytona 500 if you were in the same situation? “It’s tough to say with the situation. In hindsight you would, maybe I would’ve had enough room anyway so it’s tough to say until next weekend.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Would you make any changes for next week if you were NASCAR? “Of course this is me involved now, but even with the Regan Smith deal way back in the day you’d like to see coming to the checkered that you can use all of the race track that you’ve got. Use the grass if you want. Unfortunately, that yellow line is there to keep us save and obviously that’s what I was trying to do. I went down there to try and keep everyone safe.”

Do you think NASCAR should make any changes with speeds? “It was fast. The track was very fast. The bump drafting incidents that we saw today was just from some people having to check up — you can’t see. The guy in second can not see anything so it’s just a tough predicament.”

Are the two-car packs an acceptable way to run the Daytona 500? “It’s an art. There’s an art to it whether it’s a big 40-car pack or it’s a two-car tandem. There’s an art to all of this. For me, it was hard. It was strategic trying to get back up to the front during the right time. Ultimately we didn’t get it done, but still I think the fans saw a great finish. It was three-wide at the line for a win and I see the Daytona 500 being no different.”

DERRIKE COPE, No. 64 Sta-Bil Toyota Camry, Gunselman Motorsports Finished: 14th

MICHAEL WALTRIP, No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finished: 15th

What happened to take you out of the race? “I started to turn a little higher than I had been entering and I don’t know if it threw Tony (Stewart) a curve because I went in — you can’t see so he doesn’t have any idea what I’m doing and I don’t know if it threw him a bit of a curve and he pushed me a little different. It just got me sideways.”

How did the two-car packs develop and what does it mean for the rest of the week? “It developed from two cars going faster than anything else. Race car drivers aren’t that smart, but we figured that one out in a hurry. It’s hard to say. Most of the time when they push you don’t wreck, but then when circumstances change it just got me loose and I wrecked. You do it lap after lap after lap and it gets a little bit hairy. If you remember correctly it’s always been hairy here so maybe it’s a little bit lesser of two evils.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finished: 16th What happened that took you out of the race? “I don’t know. Just unfortunate circumstances I guess. We’ve been doing the same thing all week — all since testing. Mark (Martin) said it, I said it — just a product of mismatch I guess. He didn’t do anything wrong, I don’t know that I did anything that I haven’t done all night. Just got screwed up. There’s an opportunity there and I think Michael (Waltrip) just had the same thing happen to him. It’s unfortunate for us and our M&M’s team. We wanted to come out of Daytona with a good start to the weekend for next week in the (Daytona) 500. Just wasn’t meant to be for us tonight of course. It would be a lot harder to swallow in the 500. I’m sure we’re still going to have some of those in the 500, but being the Budweiser Shootout, it is a ‘go-for-broke’ kind of race. The best footage of the night is probably me getting back to the garage area because I got lost everywhere. I was like, ‘Man, this gates going to be open — nope that gates not open. I’ll got right here — no.’ There’s TV cords out there so I probably split TV cords somewhere with the splitter and how low these things are to the ground. Hopefully nobody is too mad at me.” Is 206 mph too fast at Daytona? “I don’t know that there’s a problem with the speed. Maybe with what we’re doing with the speed we’re carrying, but it’s just a product of what we’ve got here. To me, there’s no relation in speed as to why we’re wrecking. It’s just the maneuvers and the by-product of the game right now.”

What does it feel like to come up on a single car when you are in the two-car draft? “It’s a little nerve wracking because you know the guy behind you can’t see so you have to make slow, subtle moves. You can’t make too fast of moves because otherwise you get spun out. I don’t know why Mark (Martin) and I — we were locked up for a whole lap and a half already. Just unfortunate that it happened the way it did and we got knocked out of the race.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) Is this type of racing acceptable for the biggest race of the Sprint Cup season? “It’s going to be what we got. It’s not going to change here in the next week or two unless we go back to the rules where you can’t push each other through the corners and NASCAR’s going to police it. It’s just what we’ve got going on and guys have to try to be careful and we’ve been trying to be careful. Eventually there’s going to be a mismatch somewhere, somehow and it’s not going to work out for the best of somebody.”

Should NASCAR do something to protect everyone from the two-car draft? “I think so. I think it would be a better race to see us all grouped up rather than the two car deals and pushing each other around. Having a better opportunity of having a crash like we did. We just saw Tony (Stewart) and Michael Waltrip have the same problem that Mark (Martin) and I did. It’s not that we did anything wrong. We’ve seen it a few times tonight. Unless we want a 10-car shootout at the end of the race, I don’t know if that would be a good Daytona 500.”

Are the higher RPMs a concern for you next weekend? “We’ll have to take the motor back and find out. We were told not to go above 8800, but tonight we were up above 9000. Good question for Mark Cronquist (head engine builder, Joe Gibbs Racing).”

Did you see any different with the NASCAR rule change today pertaining to extra air ducts? “There’s a little bit of a change. I couldn’t push more than four laps. Some other guys are pushing seven or eight laps, but those are mostly Chevrolet teams who could run their motors to a higher degree than we can. Our temperature — we’re limited at a certain degree and those guys can go further than us.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finished: 18th What happened that took you out of the race? “This just stinks for us. We had a really fast Home Depot Toyota. Felt like we had a good shot at winning the thing. I was pretty pumped up about that. We had a long ways to go in the race. I don’t even know what started it. I saw the 99 (Carl Edwards) turn sideways and then hook the 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and he hit the wall right in front of me. I got tore up in that and I think I got hit about five times. It’s unfortunate. I thought we had a shot at winning this one. I was having fun out there and thought we were going to be good. It’s frustrating, but at least it wasn’t for points. I just want to win here.”

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 97 Extenze Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finished: 23rd

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finished: 24th Did you have any indication that there was a problem while you were out on the race track? “No indication. The Red Bull Toyota was fast, we were upfront and we were good with (Clint) Bowyer and then really good with Carl (Edwards) pushing. It was just a matter of figuring out how to pass for the lead. We were working on it. We were getting closer and closer and something just gave up under the hood. We’ll have to really look into it because it’s way too early in the race when we have a 500-miler coming up next week.”

Were there any surprises on the new surface tonight? “It was really what I was expecting. The thing that was a little different was that everybody was expecting the same so as soon as it went green you picked up a car — you picked up your partner. So it was more of pack of two cars kind of. We got away a little bit. I was really good with (Clint) Bowyer and then he ditched me. I think he wanted (Dale Earnhardt) Junior. Then I got with Carl (Edwards) and me and Carl were actually pretty fast and we were working on passing Junior and Bowyer. It’s disappointing to be out this early, but hopefully we’ll get it figured out and be strong next week.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES

February 12, 2011

REGAN SMITH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET

ON THE CRASH:

“Things happened pretty quickly out there so I am not exactly sure what happened,” said Smith. “Our crew chief (Pete Rondeau) said that the No. 88 (Earnhardt Jr.) got into me. But I have a feeling that somebody tagged him first. As I said, I am not really sure what happened. The one thing I do know is that I was having fun and felt that we were getting a better hang of the situation when we got wrecked. The first segment I was just not able to hook up with someone and make it work. I hate crashing a car, but it was still good experience as we plan our strategy for next week’s Daytona 500.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER/DUPONT CHEVROLET – FINISHED 6^th

ON THE PAIRED RACING

“It’s interesting. It has its own excitement and interest that’s all new that all of us are trying to get adjusted to. But it’s wild out there; it really is. It’s a lot harder than it looks and it’s just trying to get the right guy to either push or push you. Right there at the end we had the right guy I thought, but he kept hitting the rev-limiter and every time he did he fell off me do I just having to back up to him and back up to him. We just couldn’t go anywhere. But we had a good, fast race car so I was excited about that.

IT SEEMS LIKE THIS IS A WHOLE NEW LEARNING PROCESS

“Oh, yeah; for everybody (including) the fans, for NASCAR, for us, it’s pretty crazy.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2^ND:

FIRST IN LAST YEAR’S DAYTONA 500, SECOND TONIGHT, HOW DIFFERENT IS THIS TRACK FROM LAST YEAR? “Well the racing is a lot different. I hope it was exciting to watch because it’s so much different than what we had before. I had a really good time tonight. Johnny Morris was here from Bass Pro Shops and obviously McDonalds and Lift Master it was their first race with us so that was a great way to perform for them. I wish I could have pushed a Chevrolet to the front. Kurt (Busch) and I are really good friends though away from the race track.

“We live just a block or so away from each other. And once Juan (Montoya) got wrecked you know I came on the radio and I told Lauren my spotter, I said listen Matt Kenseth or Kurt Busch will be the next two most loyal guys out here to me. So it just worked out that I got behind Kurt and I don’t think he had a very fast car but we put ourselves in the right position right there at the end to win it for him so I’m really happy for him.”

WHAT DID YOU SEE OUT THERE FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT? “Well, you know, we talked about it before that you use the Shootout and the Duel 150 to kind of determine where you need to be on the last lap.

I think you saw there that third place is kind of the place to be. You know that the guy in second is going to make the move to win. You just have to hope that the guy in fourth will stay on the guy in third. It worked out well. I am really happy for Kurt (Busch). I am good friends with him away from the race track. Once Juan (Pablo Montoya) got crashed (his teammate), I didn’t have a teammate out there. I told my spotter that we need to either get with (Matt) Kenseth or with Kurt. That would be the two most loyal guys to me. It just happened that Kurt wound up in front of me on the restart and I just shoved him around there and it worked out in the end. I am really happy for Bass Pro Shops, McDonald’s, Coke, Lift Master, there first race with us. It was a good night. I hope it was exciting for the fans to watch because it was a completely different kind of plate racing than we have had. But from the driver’s seat, it was actually really exciting to push two-by-two and do the side draft. It is awesome the runs you were able to get so I hope the fans enjoyed it.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 WIX FILTERS CHEVROLET – FINISHED 3^RD:

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE OR WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY IN THAT CLOSING LAP? “Well I knew I was a sitting duck. I wish it would have been just a two-car battle instead of a four-car battle but that’s selfish of me. I want to thank WIX first of all for the opportunity and to come here and sponsor us for this race, everybody from Chevrolet and everybody else. I didn’t know what to expect other than the fact that I knew it was going to happen off of (turn) four. I didn’t know if he was going to go high or low and I didn’t know if I was going the right way, pointed in the right direction that the No. 22 and the No.1 were going to go. It’s a unique race and I’m glad we got back to the finish line in the way we did. That’s the least scratched car we’ve ever had at a superspeedway in my history at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: WHEN YOU GET HOOKED UP WITH ANOTHER CAR, HOW GREAT IS THE SPEED DIFFERENTIAL TO PASS SOMEONE WHO MIGHT HAVE LOST THEIR PARTNER? “It looks like they are blowing up, they are going so much slower, that you have to really be careful.  You go by them so fast that it is pretty amazing how fast you go by them. Then when you get detached it is pretty tough to realize how much slower you are going when you actually come apart from one another?”

IN THIS NEXT WEEK, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE NASCAR TO RESPOND TO THE SPEEDS, RPMS…ALL THAT STUFF? ‘It doesn’t really matter to us. We have to do a little bit better on some rev limiter stuff and we’ll be ready to go either way.”

HOW MUCH HAS THIS RACE MADE YOU RETHINK ABOUT PLATE RACING? “It’s different. When the pace picked up there at the end, we were up on the rev limiter and couldn’t go anywhere; that was what was holding us back. It actually just started there with 15 laps to go and had to manage that. I couldn’t push like I could with the No. 31 (Jeff Burton) in front of me with the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon). All-in-all, we have good stuff and we are right in there, we just have to do a little bit better on the rev limiter and we’ll be good.”

DID YOU REALLY PULL THE WIRES OUT OF IT? “I couldn’t reach it, but I would of, I will promise you that. I would have pulled them out. They gave me the green light, but I just couldn’t reach it.”

HOW MUCH DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT HOW YOU COULD WORK WITH SOME CARS AND NOT WITH OTHERS? “Yesterday in traffic during practice, I worked just fine with the No. 24 too, it is just when it is up on the rev limiter like that…I was hitting it half way down the straight away and all the way to the end and we were just getting further behind.”

WAS THIS A GOOD TEST SESSION? “Oh yea, I think everybody was looking forward to tonight for sure. It is one of those deals where we needed tonight to figure out some things and we know what we need to do. All we need to do is change one rev chip and we’ll be ready.”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH: ON THE RACE:  “Obviously we are disappointed with the finish. We are going to need to go back and analyze, figure out what didn’t work out. Kevin (Harvick) and I, for whatever reason, Kevin’s car pushed my car better than Clint’s car pushed my car. We need to figure that out. I don’t know why that was. I thought Kevin and I were in great shape. Once we got separated, he didn’t push me the car in front of him as well as well as he pushed me and I didn’t get pushed by Clint (Bowyer) for whatever reason. It is a car thing. That happened late in the race so, game over. We ran well. It is driving me nuts leading these laps and doing all this stuff and not winning races. We did a lot of that last year; it is not my intention to do it this year.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – FINISHED 4^TH

WHAT DID YOU LEARN OUT THERE? “It was a whole new game for sure. Interesting and fun to do something different. You can definitely tell the speeds are up so I am not sure what NASCAR’s opinions are going to be about all this. You had the three-four wide thing at the end of the race and that is what the fans came here to see. Exciting night for sure.”

WERE THERE CERTAIN GUYS YOU WORKED BETTER WITH OR WORSE WITH OR WAS IT ALL THE SAME? “As the races go on, everybody is going to understand how to make this work. Greg (Biffle) and I had worked really well together and came up through the pack. When I had a chance there near the end to work with him, I made sure that I did. Your friends change. It is whoever is close enough to you to work with you. Greg and I went out of our way to work together and it worked out for us.”

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KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger) Race Winner

“What an amazing win.  To get to victory lane for Shell/Pennzoil is incredible.  This Dodge Charger was fast and I have to thank my “teammate” Jamie McMurray so much.  What an unbelievable experience – this two-car draft.  I had no idea what to expect going in.  I was just going to take it one lap at a time and see how it plays out.  I wanted to learn as the race went on how this Shell/Pennzoil Dodge raced.  (McMurray) was the man tonight.  He stayed with us.  He stayed true.  I can’t thank him enough for doing that tonight. I hope it was the show the fans wanted to see.”

TALK ABOUT WHEN YOU DECIDED TO MAKE YOUR FINAL MOVE?  “I wanted to give those guys a push hard getting into Turn 1 and I never got to them.  Then my game plan changed to take whatever I could get.  I knew the 11 was going to split away from the 39.  I was hoping he would do it soon enough.  It worked out in our favor at the end because McMurray stayed with us.  For Shell/Pennzoil to believe in Penske and me, this is unbelievable to deliver them a victory in this 22 car.”

ARE WE GOING TO SEE THIS ACTION NEXT SUNDAY FOR THE 500?  “Absolutely.  It’s going to be those two-car tandems.  No matter who you’re hooked up with, you’ve got to be able to go.  It’s going to be interesting to see what NASCAR does and if they shake out the rules.  I believe in what we’ve got.  NASCAR’s done a tremendous job to give us this package and we’re happy to race it.  Shell/Pennzoil on-board, putting Dodge back in victory lane, we’ve got AAA, Coca-Cola, a bunch of great sponsors.  And I’ve got the greatest crew in the garage.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb 12, 2011) – Greg Biffle finished fifth in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout to lead the Roush Fenway effort in the all-star kickoff to the 2011 NASCAR season at Daytona International Speedway. The finish is Biffle’s fourth top-five finish in six career Shootout starts.

The race – the first for NASCAR on the newly paved surface at Daytona – saw 28 lead changes and was characterized by various two-car packs that worked together throughout the race to move through the field.

“It’s kind of different,” said Biffle. “We’ve never done this before, pushing like this, so it’s just something new. I think it would be more fun if it was a bigger pack, but the (Daytona) 500 is going to be different.  There will be a lot more cars out there, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Matt Kenseth showed promise early, but could not find the essential dance partner late in the race and finished 13^th.

“At the end there I was the odd man out because I couldn’t get with a group of two,” said Kenseth, who competed in his fifth Shootout. “Everybody was grouped up in twos and if you can’t get with one other car in a group, you’re pretty much done and you’re just going to fall back.  It may be a little different next Sunday with more cars.”

Carl Edwards got caught up in a six-car accident on lap 27 and finished 21^st in the event.

The teams return to action tomorrow (Sunday, Feb. 13) for Sprint Cup pole day. Qualifying is set for 1:10 p.m. and will be televised live on FOX. Matt Kenseth goes out first of the Roush Fenway cars at fifth.

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Budweiser Shootout, Page 1          

February 12, 2011    Daytona International Speedway    

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Scotts EZ Seed Ford Fusion (Finished 21st) – “We were three or four-wide back there and I was going between the 88 and the 78 and I don’t think the 78 knew I was in there.  He kept coming down and I just had enough of my car in there.  I laid up against the 88 and then the 78 got me in the right-front, but that’s just everybody going to try and get the best position they can so we can go out there and race.  That’s what this race is for is to learn, but I hate that we tore up all those good cars.  We’ll have to loan them some EZ seed to take care of some of that damage on the backstraight.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE OUT THERE?  “It was pretty wild.  I’ll be tuned in watching the rest of it, that’s for sure.  I just wish we could have raced a little longer.  I appreciate all the fans coming out here.  I think this race and next week’s race is gonna be wild.  I think the fans are gonna get what they pay for.”  WHAT HAPPENED?  “We were all just battling for position.  We were at least three-wide and I had my car up against Dale Jr.’s as best I could and the 78 was on the outside.  I was in the middle and I don’t think he knew my nose was in there.  I was probably hidden by the 88 and he just kept coming down.

I was like, ‘No, no, no, no,’ and then he got me across the right-front.  I probably could have stabbed the brake and backed out of there, but I didn’t know exactly what was going on behind me.”

WHAT ABOUT THE RACING AND THE NEW ASPHALT?  “It’s just gonna be two cars teamed up.  It’s really difficult.  You have to really trust the guy that is pushing you.  We had our wreck right there in their normal pack, but once you get groups of cars running that last lap, it’s just all about trust.” 

ARE THE RPM’S A LOT HIGHER THAN THEY WERE BEFORE?

“The cars are going so fast that the RPMs are really high.  It’ll be interesting to see if NASCAR lets us race like this or if they change something.  Either way, it’ll be fine.  It’s actually, I think, safer for us to be out there racing two cars away from each other, rather than that pack, but it’s insane.  It’s wild.” 

WHAT IS THE CLOSING RATE LIKE?  IT SEEMS WILD.  “The problem is if you’re the guy pushing you can’t tell what’s going on in front, so you almost need to be on the same radio channel as the guy in front and that’s really hard to do.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Finished 5th) – “It’s really hard to see when you’re doing that two-car push what’s in front of you.

Jimmie made a move to the bottom down here and I wasn’t expecting him to do that and it kind of screwed our momentum up and probably cost us there at the end to get back to the front.  It’s kind of different.

We’ve never done this before, pushing like this, so it’s just something new.”  IT’S NEW, BUT DO YOU LIKE IT?  “Well, I think it would be more fun if it was a bigger pack.  I really think we’d have more fun if there was 20-25 of us together, but it’s more fun when the pack is bigger than just pushing two cars around the whole time, but the 500 is gonna be different.  There will be a lot more cars out there, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford Fusion (Finished 13th) – “It’s not really that great having a whole bunch of groups of two and when you can’t do anything without that it isn’t really that much fun.

 If you’re the pusher, you can’t see a thing and with going 207 miles an hour and pushing someone when you can’t see, it’s not a lot of fun.

At the end there I was the odd man out because I couldn’t get with a group of two.  Everybody was grouped up in twos and if you can’t get with one other car in a group, you’re pretty much done and you’re just gonna fall back.  It may be a little different next Sunday with more cars, but I don’t know.”

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Budweiser Shootout, Page 1          

February 12, 2011    Daytona International Speedway    

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Scotts EZ Seed Ford Fusion – “We were three or four-wide back there and I was going between the 88 and the 78 and I don’t think the 78 knew I was in there.  He kept coming down and I just had enough of my car in there.  I laid up against the 88 and then the 78 got me in the right-front, but that’s just everybody going to try and get the best position they can so we can go out there and race.  That’s what this race is for is to learn, but I hate that we tore up all those good cars.  We’ll have to loan them some EZ seed to take care of some of that damage on the backstraight.” 

WHAT WAS IT LIKE OUT THERE?  “It was pretty wild.  I’ll be tuned in watching the rest of it, that’s for sure.  I just wish we could have raced a little longer.  I appreciate all the fans coming out here.  I think this race and next week’s race is gonna be wild.  I think the fans are gonna get what they pay for.” 

WHAT HAPPENED?  “We were all just battling for position.  We were at least three-wide and I had my car up against Dale Jr.’s as best I could and the 78 was on the outside.  I was in the middle and I don’t think he knew my nose was in there.  I was probably hidden by the 88 and he just kept coming down.  I was like, ‘No, no, no, no,’ and then he got me across the right-front.  I probably could have stabbed the brake and backed out of there, but I didn’t know exactly what was going on behind me.” 

WHAT ABOUT THE RACING AND THE NEW ASPHALT?  “It’s just gonna be two cars teamed up.

It’s really difficult.  You have to really trust the guy that is pushing you.  We had our wreck right there in their normal pack, but once you get groups of cars running that last lap, it’s just all about trust.” 

ARE THE RPM’S A LOT HIGHER THAN THEY WERE BEFORE?  “The cars are going so fast that the RPMs are really high.  It’ll be interesting to see if NASCAR lets us race like this or if they change something.

Either way, it’ll be fine.  It’s actually, I think, safer for us to be out there racing two cars away from each other, rather than that pack, but it’s insane.  It’s wild.” 

WHAT IS THE CLOSING RATE LIKE?  IT SEEMS WILD.  “The problem is if you’re the guy pushing you can’t tell what’s going on in front, so you almost need to be on the same radio channel as the guy in front and that’s really hard to do.”