Ford teams Charlotte 500 qualifying quotes

David Ragan, Roush Fenway Racing Ford

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

DAVID RAGAN - No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion

“Our UPS Ford was pretty good in practice. We made a few small adjustments and would have liked to have gone a little bit more. I wish I could do it all over again, but our car is really fast here at Charlotte and we were afraid to really do too much. Hopefully, that will wind up in the top 10 or so and we’ll have a great car for Saturday."

HOW DO YOU LIKE RACING ON SATURDAY NIGHT. “I love racing on Saturday night and wish there were more Chase races on Saturday. I think you have a lot of fun. The atmosphere is great. The cars look cool under the lights, so I absolutely like the night racing. Night qualifying is different and it’s fun for the fans and fun for us, too."

CAN YOU WIN SATURDAY? “Absolutely. We finished second here in the spring, so I think we’ve got a car that can win if given the right circumstances. We’ve got to make the right moves and have a good, clean night, but we can absolutely win and wouldn’t be surprised.”

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MATT KENSETH - No. 17 Fluidmaster Ford Fusion

“I’m really thankful Fluidmaster came on our car this weekend. I’m pretty confident we’re gonna get beat here. I didn’t feel like I got all of it out of the car. Our Fusion was really, really fast today, but I just don’t feel like I got it all there qualifying, so we’ll probably get beat, but, overall, it’s gonna be a good spot for us to start."

WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET AS WE GET TO THE HALFWAY POINT OF THE CHASE? “It’s the same as it was when we started the Chase and the same as it will probably be at Homestead, hopefully we’ll still be in it. It’s just one race at a time and put forth our best effort from every lap of practice, qualifying and racing and all week in preparation trying to do the best job we can do."

HOW WAS THE LAP? “I left some time on the table. It was pretty good, but probably a half-a-tenth or a tenth slower than if I would have gotten everything, but, overall, it was good and should give us a good spot to start."

WHERE DID YOU LEAVE IT ON THE TABLE? “I left most of it in one and two. There was more grip there than I anticipated and I was just kind of lazy getting in the gas and wasn’t going quick enough, and then by the time I got back to three and four I had already lost some of my grip and I was a little on the tight side down there. It wasn’t a perfect lap, but we had a lot of speed and that should get us in the top 10.”

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CARL EDWARDS - No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion

“My lap was pretty good. It seemed very fast in one and two and I struggled in three and four. We’re gonna go back and watch the tape. There may be some stuff I can do better in three and four, but Bob and the guys did really well. I just hope it holds up for a top five or six starting spot. That would be huge for us in this race. We need to get a good, solid run here. We need that one good race that we haven’t had here in a points race in a long time. We really need to take advantage of this track if we’ve got a good car because it’s been one we’ve struggled at.”

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TREVOR BAYNE - No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion

“I definitely got a little bit loose in one and two, but I think I could have driven it a little bit different down there. I tried to roll out early, but stay in the gas a little bit until the center and when I did that and finally unloaded I got loose. We just expected the car to travel more in qualifying here at night, so we raised the car up a little bit and it got free. That was OK, but in three and four I got a little bit tight and lost a little bit of grip. At least we went a little bit faster than practice, so that was good. We’re top 10 right now and it was a good qualifying run for the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford.”

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MARCOS AMBROSE - No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion

“I’m a little disappointed. I thought I had a chance to run faster than that, but if you’re disappointed with a top-15 qualifying run, then something is wrong with you. You should take those days because they’re decent days. I got a lot out of turn one and two, but my problem was three and four. I just pushed the nose and might have cheated the corner a little bit on entry and paid the price.”

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GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 3M Ford Fusion

“It’s a great spot, but you want to do the best for your team and they gave me a great car. Gosh, I look at three-thousandths of a second off the pole and think of where I could have done a little better at. It was a real good lap and I’m really happy with it.”

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DAVID GILLILAND - No. 34 Tasty Kake Ford Fusion

“I feel good. We went faster than we did in practice. We have Taste Kake on the car and it drives great. I just wish I had a little more speed, but it drives really well, which I hope translates into a good race car for us. I’m very confident in the way it drives and I think we’re gonna have a great night here on Saturday. We’re looking forward to it.”

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J.J. YELEY - No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion

“It was successful in the fact that we made the race and as a go-or-go-homer that’s goal number one, but to lose speed was very disappointing. We had a good lap in practice and I was actually a little too tight then. I expected to run a .50 and I ran into one really good and just couldn’t get the car turned down. This place it’s so much about momentum and if you struggle getting back to the throttle it just exaggerates it as you go down the straightaway. I easily gave up three or four-tenths just through one and two alone.”

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TRAVIS KVAPIL - No. 55 Ingersoll Rand Ford Fusion

"We had a solid car all day. It's kind of cool having Ingersoll Rand colors on the car. It looks great on our Ford Fusion. Derrick (crew chief Derrick Finley) and the guys at Front Row just did a great job. Like I said, we had a really solid car off the truck. Just a little too tight there to go really fast. It was the best we ran all day, but there's more out there. But, for our group of cars, we're solidly in the field and that's what we're looking for."