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Ford Saturday Atlanta Advance (Edwards and Kenseth)

Saturday September 4, 2010

 

FORD FAST FACTS:
•       There are 13 Fords entered in this weekend’s race -- Roush Fenway
(4), Richard Petty Motorsports (4), Front Row Motorsports (3),
Latitude 43 Motorsports (1) and Wood Brothers Racing (1).
•       The Wood Brothers have won more races at Atlanta Motor Speedway than
any other team (12).
•       Ford has 30 all-time NSCS wins at Atlanta, which is the
third-winningest track on the circuit for the manufacturers.  The only
two tracks Ford has more wins at are Bristol (33) and Michigan (31).
•       Carl Edwards won his first series race at Atlanta in 2005 and has
three overall at the track.
•       The winningest Ford driver at Atlanta is Bill Elliott with five,
including sweeps in 1985 and ‘92.
•        Kasey Kahne is the only other active Ford driver who has won at
AMS, winning in 2006 and ‘09.

       Three Ford drivers are currently in position to qualify for the Chase
for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which begins in two weeks at New Hampshire
Motor Speedway.  Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle all held
Q&A sessions on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway to discuss their
positions in the point standings and goals for the next two races.

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion – YOU WON YOUR FIRST RACE
HERE, SO YOU MUST FEEL GOOD COMING HERE?  “Yeah, I enjoy racing here
just because of the track and the fans and the way the place drives,
and how competitive it is.  I also really enjoy it because of the
memories I have here.  Five years ago, that weekend was really huge
and changed my whole career.  Everytime I come through the tunnel I
remember that and it gives me a really good feeling.  It seems like we
have good cars in both the Nationwide and the Cup Series.  The
practices went really well and I’m just looking forward to the race.
It’s a long race and the tire, I think, is gonna make it a complex and
difficult race for the driver and the crew chief.  I think that
strategy and the way you drive the car is gonna be huge, and that’s
really fun when it’s more in your hands.  I like that.”  IF YOU HAVE A
BEEF WITH A DRIVER WHO WINS A RACE, CAN YOU ENVISION GOING TO VICTORY
LANE TO DISCUSS IT WITH HIM?  “I think I’ve done that before
(laughing).  It just depends.”  KYLE BUSCH DID IT LAST NIGHT IN THE
TRUCK RACE?  “I didn’t see it, so I don’t know.  I can’t comment on
that particularly, but I’ve gone to victory lane before to explain to
somebody about what happened, so it just depends.  It’s racing.  Every
situation is different, so I guess sometimes I would say that’s
acceptable.  But, to be clear, I’m not commenting on what happened
because I don’t even know what happened.”  AS YOU GUYS HAVE IMPROVED.
ARE THERE SPECIFIC AREAS YOU KNOW YOU’RE BETTER AND AREAS YOU STILL
NEED TO IMPROVE?  “There are a couple of things we’ve been working on
and it starts with that engine – the engine that Doug Yates and those
guys have been developing.  I think that helps us everywhere, so,
right off the bat when we unload we’re a little faster.  And then
we’ve been working really hard on some other things, but it’s not just
one thing it’s a combination and it starts with that engine.  It’s
been nice.  These last six or seven weeks we’ve run very well.   Being
fourth in points and going up is a good feeling, so we just need to
keep digging.  I still don’t think we’re as good as we can be and
that’s good because here in a couple of weeks if we can peak right
when that chase starts, it’s gonna be good.  But it’s not one thing.
It’s a number of things.”  WHAT DO YOU NEED TO IMPROVE ON?  “I need to
qualify better.  That’s a big deal.  Watkins Glen was really good.
Bristol was good and I think that showed us that if we can get that
good qualifying position, and work on those qualifying setups in
practice a little more, then even if we have something bad happen in
the race, we’re kind of ahead of the game.  I’d say for us as a team,
qualifying is kind of our number one effort and then still all of the
stuff with the car – the setup and suspension geometry we’ve been
working on – but strategy-wise, it’s qualifying.”HOW SURPRISING IS IT YOU’VE LED ONLY SIX
LAPS ALL YEAR?  “That’s an interesting statistic and, to me, that
shows how much we’ve been able to do without a dominant car.  We
haven’t had a car yet that’s just been a world-beater during a race –
that we can lead the whole thing.  In a way, it shows me that we’re
maybe a stronger team than we have been in the past with cars that
aren’t able to go up there and dominate races.  We’re able to still
have these great finishes and make up all these points.  If we can
have one of those or two of those or three of those races where we can
go out and dominate, and we can do it in the chase, that’s gonna be
really nice.  And if we can combine that with what we’ve been doing,
it’s gonna be really, really good for us.  So it is interesting, but
that shows you how hard we’ve been working.”  CAN YOU EXPLAIN ABOUT
TIRES HERE?  “I’ll try to explain it the best I can.  When you drive
down in the corner here, there’s a certain amount of grip that you’re
looking for.  You expect to drive down in the corner and have the car
grip a certain amount, and what’s happening here is that on the entry
and exit of the corner, the tires feel really slick.  The car has to
be really compressed in the center of the corner to make a bunch of
grip, so it becomes difficult to drive because it’s like ice.  You’re
sliding and sliding until you get the car compressed in the corner and
then it turns.  I don’t know what causes that.  I don’t think my crew
chief knows what causes that, so we’ve been struggling with it.  In
the race, you’ll see guys kind of go in a little too hard and miss the
line or something and the car just takes off sliding.  It’s just hard
to drive, and I think that makes for great racing.  I like that style
of racing.  I like that type of tire.  I don’t know how they can get
it to do that at other places, but it’s neat when you drive down here
in the corner and you’ve got to pitch the car sideways and wait for it
to grip and do all that.  I think that’s a neat way to race.”  HOW
MUCH DO THEY FALL OFF?  “That’s the other question.  I think you’re
gonna see tonight in the Nationwide race, if the caution comes out and
you’ve got 20-25 laps on your tires – in the Cup race, everybody is
gonna get tires – but in the Nationwide race we’ve only got four sets
sitting on the ground, so it’ll be interesting to see.  I think you
could stay out, run a full fuel run, and a guy could almost stop, pit,
and get tires in the middle of it and beat you.  I don’t know if I’m
describing that well enough, but what I’m saying is new tires will
make up for a pit stop after a certain number of laps.  I think at the
end of the Cup race, the decision to take tires, two tires or four
tires, I think there will be people taking tires all the way up to six
or eight laps to go.  The race could be really dynamic at the end.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW TOUGH RICHMOND IS TO RUN?  “Richmond has been
really hard for us.  My first race there we ran sixth and had a car
that I think could have won the race.  That was my first time there in
a Cup car.  I was like, ‘We’re gonna dominate this place,’ and then
went about eight more races before we had a good one again.  But the
last race there I think we finished fifth and the car was really good,
we marched forward.  Coincidentally, we qualified terrible.  I don’t
know where we qualified but it was like 35th and then we ran fifth, so
I’m pretty excited about that race.  If we can come out of here with a
decent finish, then all we’re really doing at Richmond is just going
for the win.  We’ve put ourselves in a good position in points here,
so we don’t have too much stress.  That will be a more fun race than
it could have been for me, no matter which way it goes, I guess.”
WHEN YOU LOOK BACK ON EACH SEASON YOU’VE
EITHER WON A LOT OF RACES OR YOU HAVEN’T.  HAS THAT FELT AS DRAMATIC
TO YOU AS IT LOOKS ON PAPER?  “I can tell you that I feel like my
ability in the race car has steadily gone up.  I feel like I have more
experience and what I do now is look back and think, ‘Man, I should
have won so many more races.’  If I had it to do over again, we had
those screaming fast cars in 2008.  In 2005 is a perfect example.  I
thought, ‘It’s only gonna get better.’  I thought, ‘This is easy.
We’re gonna win five or six next year and eight or 10 the year after
that.’  I thought, ‘This is great.’  Looking back, I had the golden
ticket that year and just didn’t know how to use it well enough, I
guess.  That’s not exactly what you’re asking, but it’s interesting to
look back and see how it’s gone.  I feel now I have a much better
perspective on this sport and I’m not as quick to judge someone’s
talent as I used to be.  I feel like now I’m just waiting for our cars
to be perfect and everything to click and then we’re gonna just go, so
I have more patience, but I’d sure like to have those nine-race wins
every season.  That would be nice.”  DOES IT FEEL THAT DRAMATIC?  “The
stats are all over the place, but I’m certain that I’m better than I
was in 2005 and definitely better than I was in 2008.  I think that,
for me, that six laps led this season kind of shows me that we’re able
to make more with less, and not make those dumb decisions on the race
track that I’ve made before.  I believe if we can get it all put
together, it’s gonna be really good.  We’ve just got to go do it.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW NERVE-WRACKING IT IS FOR GUYS ON THE BUBBLE?
“If you make the chase, it’s a good season.  If you don’t, that’s
really bad.  There’s enough of a point spread (between Bowyer,
McMurray and Martin) that I would assume Mark and Jamie are just gonna
go for it and hope for the best.  But for Clint and those guys, a bad
night here would be hugely stressful.  My first year in 2005 I went to
Richmond and that was probably the most stressful race I’ve ever had
in my life.  I didn’t like that at all, so I’m glad I’m not in that
position.  Hopefully, we aren’t in that position after tomorrow night,
but the way Jamie and Mark have been running, anything can happen.
They can run one-two and a couple guys could have trouble and it could
be a whole different event in Richmond.”  WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU
THAT WE’LL ONLY HAVE ONE RACE AT ATLANTA NEXT YEAR?  “I wish we raced
Atlanta every other week, maybe three times a month.  I really, really
like this place.  To me, it’s sad that we’re not gonna run here twice.
 This track is really special for a number of reason, but, most
importantly, it just puts on great races.  Hopefully, this one event
can become something that the fans really support.  I know it will
make an Atlanta win more special for the drivers, but just for the
pure fun factor I wish we raced here more.  It’s too bad.”  IS THE
PERCEPTION OF FORD’S TOUGH SEASON CLOUDING THE FACT YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN
IMPROVING AND COULD HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP?  “I’m not
too concerned about the perception.  The thing I am frustrated with is
I like winning.  All of us at Roush Fenway have been working so hard
and we haven’t won an amount that’s representative of that hard work.
The goal is, whether we win or not, my mission is just to go win the
championship.  I think in the last seven races, we’ve scored enough
points that if those were the first seven races of the chase, we’d be
leading regardless of no wins.  For me, I’ve won the most races in a
season and scored the most points in 2008.  I know what that feels
like.  I’d be just fine with going and winning that championship
whether or not we get a win.  I’ll try my hardest, but that
championship would be nice, and I think that would be fitting for Ford
with everything they’ve done by not using our tax money and doing
their business right and supporting racing through all this.  It would
mean a lot to win for Ford.”

 

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford Fusion – WHAT IS YOUR
GAMEPLAN WITH TWO RACES LEFT BEFORE THE CHASE STARTS?  “It’s the same
as every other week, go out and try to run the best we can and get a
couple of solid finishes.”  HOW IMPORTANT ARE WINS FOR YOU AT THIS
POINT AS FAR AS BONUS POINTS FOR THE CHASE?  “It’s always important,
but you try to win every week from Daytona all the way to Homestead
and we really haven’t been close to winning here in a couple of
months, but the last couple of weeks it seems like we’ve been
improving and have been running more towards the front.  Unless you’re
really, really lucky, you’ve got to get running up in the top five
cars week in and week out, and leading laps, and put yourself in
position before you’re gonna be winning races, so we’re just trying to
get better every week.”  HOW IMPORTANT IS MOMENTUM GOING INTO THE
CHASE?  “I’ve been on both ends of it and I’m not sure that it matters
that much.  It’s really what you do when you get to New Hampshire all
the way through Homestead.  You always want to run good every week.
The better you run, the better mood everybody is in and the more
upbeat everybody is, so you always want to put together good runs and
try to keep that momentum going.”  WITH THE TEAM’S AND FORD’S OVERALL
IMPROVEMENT, DO YOU THINK YOU’LL HAVE SOMETHING FOR THEM WHEN THE
CHASE STARTS?  “I hope so.  You never know what’s gonna happen each
and every week, much less 10 weeks in the chase.  You just never know
what’s gonna happen, so I think the 16 has certainly been our best car
– the fastest car with the most speed and probably the most consistent
lately.  They’ve been pretty strong and they look like they can run
with most cars any given day, but you never really know what
everybody’s got until you get to the first couple of weeks.”  YOU HAVE
A 275-POINT LEAD OVER 13TH-PLACE RIGHT NOW.  ARE YOU ALLOWING YOURSELF
TO THINK ABOUT THE CHASE YET, OR ARE YOU STILL FOCUSING ON THESE LAST
TWO RACES AS THOUGH NOTHING IS A GIVEN?  “I honestly didn’t know how
many points ahead we were until you just told me.  I don’t really look
at it.  I know if we have a couple solid runs, we’ll be in so that’s
really my focus.  It’s a busy day here at Atlanta with the way the
practices are and qualifying, so we’ve been working as hard as we can
to make sure our car has the speed in it that we need it to have for
Sunday night.”  YOU GUYS GOT SOME HELP FROM RPM AT MIDSEASON.  IS THAT
SOMETHING THAT’S STILL GOING ON?  “They’ve all been working together.
All eight teams all year have been sharing information from engineers
to chassis to car.  It’s all kind of one big eight-car team, really.
Everybody has been working together all year and that hasn’t been any
different from week one to right now.”  POSSIBLY LOSING TWO TEAMS FROM
RPM FOR NEXT YEAR, WILL THAT HURT ROUSH FENWAY?  “I don’t think so.
Everybody’s got a different view and opinion on that.  Some guys have
the bigger is better view, and other guys like myself probably think
that if you’re a little smaller and had a few less people to work on
projects, you might be better off – kind of like the Ganassi team.
They only have two teams this year and look how good they’ve been
doing, so sometimes I think that maybe thinning it down a little bit
would be better just for the race car’s performance, but I don’t know
about the business end of it.”  IF THERE’S 15 LAPS TO GO WHAT WOULD
YOU RATHER HAVE, OLD TIRES AND CLEAN AIR UP FRONT OR FRESH TIRES AND
BACK IN TRAFFIC?  “It totally depends on the track.  Here, in the past
– this tire might be a little different – but if you have more than 10
laps on your tires, you’re gonna want new tires.  You’ll want at least
a couple and, more likely, four of them, so it really depends on the
track.  You’ll go to tracks, depending on the tire they bring in,
where the tires don’t drop off much and you’d rather be in the front.”

This Week on the Frontstretch:
Mirror Driving: Rebuilding Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Penske, And The NASCAR Banquet’s Future
The Only Thing Mutual? Penske, Kurt Busch Both Stand to Lose Big
Who Gets An Early Christmas Gift? Sorting Through Potential Busch Replacements
Burned At The YouTube Stake: How Technology Brought Busch Down
2011 NASCAR Driver Review: Justin Allgaier
2011 NASCAR Driver Review: A.J. Allmendinger
2011 NASCAR Driver Review: Aric Almirola
2011 NASCAR Driver Review: Marcos Ambrose
2011 NASCAR Driver Review: Michael Annett
2011 NASCAR Driver Review: Greg Biffle
2011 Driver Review Schedule
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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Beth Lunkenheimer.

 

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