Ford teams Watkins Glen qualifying report

A.J. Allmendinger, Richard Petty Motorsports Ford

Photo by: Adriano Manocchia

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion

“I think I probably hit 80 percent of my marks. It’s real tough for me to get in a rhythm just in one lap. I’d much rather have that two or three lap qualifying like the Nationwide cars do. That would help me a lot, but that was a good pickup from yesterday. This is certainly not my strongest race track up here, so it seems like every time we go out we improve, but so does our competition. I think we’ve made some good strides here. We still have a lot of work to do, but our UPS team is ready to have a smart race on Sunday or Monday, whatever happens. We just need to get out of here with a top 15 or top 20 finish and not lose any points because then we can go be aggressive the next four.”

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CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Scotts Ortho Ford Fusion

“I thought I had a pretty good lap going. It felt like a pole lap until I got to the bus stop and then I came to a full stop, I let all the passengers on, I collected the toll, and then I took off again. I did my best. I put in all the effort I could after that, but I’ve just got to thank Ortho for being on board – Ortho, Aflac, Scotts, Ford. I’m excited about this race. Even if we don’t get it in tomorrow, it’s gonna be a good race. It’s one of my favorite race tracks and we’d love to get a win here at a road course.”

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MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion

“It was OK. It was maybe a little bit too conservative. I would have sort of like to have done a nine-something, but I’m really proud of my Stanley team. It’s been a lot of fun this weekend. We’ve got a great chance to win the race and I’m really happy with our race setup. I just hope it goes our way.”

IT WAS JUST OK? “Yeah, it could have been a little better, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve got the Stanley car up front and I’m just really proud of my opportunity here at Richard Petty Motorsports. I’m looking forward to a really good Sunday. We had a tough Sonoma that didn’t quite go to plan, but this weekend so far has gone great. I’m excited about our chances. I’m just really proud of Stanley for giving me the chance to come here and try to get it done.”

DOES THIS CAR FEEL LIKE PAST YEARS WHEN YOU’VE FINISHED SECOND OR THIRD HERE? “Yeah, it feels really good. I’m confident for tomorrow, I’ve just got to make sure that we keep the fenders on it, look out for the brakes, and the rest will come to us.”

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AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion

DISAPPOINTED? “ Yeah, a little bit, but to be on the front row with the Best Buy Ford here is pretty good. It’s Kyle Busch. He’s pretty good at this. I think when he gets older he might be pretty good at this sport (laughing). At least it wasn’t that close. If he beat my by like a hundredth, I know where I lost a little bit like two-tenths, but I’m proud of everybody on the Best Buy Ford and everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports. I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty cool to beat Marcos. He’s the man, so to be able to put up a lap a little bit better than him is cool. I think he’s still gonna be the guy to beat, but we’ve got a great starting spot and it’s a great day.”

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SCOTT SPEED – No. 37 Green Stuff Absorbent Ford Fusion

“Our strategy for the race tomorrow is to save our stuff as much as we can in the first half of the race and hopefully get a caution halfway through and then start to attack. For us, qualifying isn’t super-critical and the bottom line is we’ve got to make the race, so we have to put in conservative qualifying efforts at the moment. It is what it is, but the car should be good for tomorrow and hopefully all things go well and we have a good showing.”