Biffle And Keselowski Prove Fast In Fontana
MARCH 23, 2013
FONTANA – Denny Hamlin may have recorded the quickest time in Friday's qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Auto Club 400, but it was the Roush Fenway crew on Greg Biffle's No. 16 3M Window Film Ford that was most impressive.
Hamlin covered the two-mile superspeedway in 38.410 seconds, a speed of 187.451, to edge Biffle by 0.048 seconds. But that's only part of the story.
Eight minutes into the two-hour practice session, Biffle blew engine. His crew completed the change with eight minutes to spare and by the time Biffle made it back out to the track, three minutes remained in the session.
“That was spectacular lap considering everything we did,” said Biffle, who made his Cup debut at Fontana in 2002 and won the 2005 race. “The crew worked really hard. We made some adjustments from that lap and were able to put down a press fast lap.
“Obviouly, the car is pretty close.”
Brad Keselowski was third quickest in his Penske Racing Ford, but will also have to change engines. As a result, both Biffle and Keselowski will start at the rear of the 43-car field on Sunday.
Biffle said his and Keselowski's engines woes could be common.
“I don't have all the details,” he said after the run, “they're actually taking the engine apart now. I think they are thinking it is the same issue and something mechanical … inside the engine at the bottom of the engine.
“I wish they would have done it right away but maybe I will sleep better finding out what it is.”
Points leader Keselowski said the crew will change his engine overnight.
“The car is extremely fast and I am ready to get going. I am a little nervous about the engine issues the 16 (Biffle) and 2 (his) cars both had in practice and hopefully those will subside for the race and we will start in the back,” said Keselowski. “Is that the first time that has ever happened?
“If it is one particular item then I guess it is easier to fix it, assuming that can be done in the time frame available but I think it is too early to tell on that as well because those engines aren’t scheduled to be tore down until tonight and tomorrow morning.“
Joey Logano was sixth fastest in the field, giving Ford three spots in the top 10.
Casey Mears was 11th, Marcos Ambrose 21st, Aric Almirola and Carl Edwards 23rd and 24th, Josh Wise 20th, just ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with David Gilliand in 34th ahead of Michael McDowell.
Scott Riggs (38th), rookie Timmy Hill (39th), and David Ragan (42nd) complete the Ford lineup.
Keselowski had expressed concern about the engines before practice.
“There is no doubt that this new car is so fast that we are carrying more speed that we have ever carried pretty much at every track,” he said. “It puts a lot of stress on the engines. There is a certain gear ration we use to dictate what RPM band the cars are in and to this point in the season we have been using last year’s model which has put more stress on the engines with more speed.
“I think it pushes the teams to make their stuff a little better and that is what this sport is about, constant evolution.”
Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Brad Keselowski heads into Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway with a nine point lead in the Sprint Cup Series standings over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Keselowski's move to the top spot this week is the first time Ford has led in 2013, but last season either Matt Kenseth or Greg Biffle were leading the points after 22 of the first 26 races with Biffle holding the top spot after Richmond before the points were reset for the Chase. In 2011, Carl Edwards led the standings for 21 weeks and was the series leader after 15 of the first 26 events. Keselowski spoke about the lead and more during his media time at the track Friday afternoon.
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – YOU ARE OFF TO A GREAT START, TALK ABOUT RACING HERE AT AUTO CLUB AND THE SOLID START YOU GUYS HAVE HAD. “Yeah, it has been a solid start. We have done everything but win a race. That is where our focus is at this weekend for sure. We’ve certainly got a strong, consistent start but we have been in position on the final restart of each race to win and have come up just a little bit short. Hopefully we can close that out this weekend. I think we have got the car to do it and the team to do it. We are ready to get on track and get going. We have practice and qualifying here today and I am curious how this race is going to play out. I honestly think this is going to be an exceptional race. I think this new car, the Generation 6 car acts and reacts a lot like the Nationwide car does. You combine that with a track that has multiple grooves in the corners and a car that I think has a potential to draft really well and I think it could be a great race. I am pretty optimistic about it. I am glad I am running the Nationwide race because it will be good experience before hand. There are a lot of things to look forward to for sure.”
HOW MUCH WILL AERO PLAY INTO TIGHTENING UP THE CARS HERE? “A lot. It plays into spreading them out and bringing them together. This track is almost in the sweet spot of age where it is just new enough where it hopefully won’t need to be repaved for a long time and just old enough where it produces tire wear and the ability to run multiple grooves in the corners. That ability to run multiple grooves kind of eliminates some of that dreaded aero push that you feel in the corners. If you are in another lane you don’t get that. The fact that it is a big long track as far as straightaways are concerned when the cars merge back into each others pass aerodynamically they are going to draft really well. It should be interesting to see how that plays out.”
PLANS FOR THE EASTER WEEKEND? “I am one day at a time, not even one week, one day. I haven’t thought that far, I probably should. I don’t have any plans so far.”
WE HAVE ALL SEEN YOUR NEW MILLER COMMERCIAL. HOW DID THAT COME TOGETHER? “After last year I had a lot of fun at the banquet and after the Homestead race and I felt like personally that countering that with a responsibility message was not a bad thing to do. I jumped at the opportunity when Miller gave it to me to do something responsibility wise. I think it is a great spot as far as that is concerned. It is good for the sport to have sponsors that activate and put drivers out into the mainstream. I think we all reap the benefits of that. Hopefully we will continue to see more of that. I think we have a lot more commercials in the sport five years ago and that was really healthy for it. I am glad to see Miller step up and do that and I think it is really healthy for all of us.”
WHO WERE THE OTHER THREE GUYS? “Just actors. I met them and they are good people. I follow a few of them on Twitter. They were cool dudes.”
AND THE WAITRESS? “She is a singer. She is actually really good. She has a hit out here in California.”
DID YOU GET HER NUMBER? “Maybe. She will be at the race track this weekend.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PARITY YOU HAVE SEEN BETWEEN THE THREE MANUFACTURERS SO FAR? “I would agree that there is a lot of parody right now and I think Jimmie (Johnson’s) comments I haven’t seen but he is probably right with the exception being the restrictor plate tracks where I think it is pretty obvious the Chevrolet’s are a little bit ahead of everybody else. I think on the non-restrictor plate tracks there is a lot of parody and it is really a case of each team and how strong they have come out with their package.”
WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT HERE, HORSEPOWER OR HANDLING? “I am not really sure which one will be more important this weekend. We are still learning how this car will react to this style track. We haven’t run a two-mile track yet. This is the fifth weekend and fifth different style track. I am learning with you guys. In general this used to always be a handling track over horsepower but that might be different with this car.”
ANY CONCERN ON THE ENGINES WITH THE SUSTAINED RPM’S? “There is no doubt that this new car is so fast that we are carrying more speed that we have ever carried pretty much at every track. I would not be surprised at all if we broke the track record this weekend because of that. That isn’t a bad thing but it puts a lot of stress on the engines. There is a certain gear ration we use to dictate what RPM band the cars are in and to this point in the season we have been using last year’s model which has put more stress on the engines with more speed. Maybe that is a good thing too, I don’t know. I think it pushes the teams to make their stuff a little better and that is what this sport is about, constant evolution.”
YOU ARE JOEY LOGANO’S TEAMMATE. WHAT IS YOUR INTERPRETATION OF WHAT IS GOING ON BETWEEN HE AND DENNY HAMLIN? “All I saw is they got in an incident at Bristol. I don’t know any of the history before that. I haven’t asked Joey, I can tell you that. Maybe there was some and maybe there wasn’t, I don’t know. My interpretation is Joey had a really fast car and got spun out and didn’t get to achieve the result I think he felt like he was capable of and I felt like he was too. As a driver I know that is frustrating. He has had great cars and little things keep popping up to hold him back. It is very reminiscent of where I was at the start of 2011. I know how that eats at you and you just get madder and more frustrated. Maybe that was good. Maybe that was the release he needed last week and maybe he can put that behind him and capitalize on the strengths he has.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK THESE FEUDS DO FOR THE SPORT? “I hesitate to say it is just feuds. I think it is authenticity. It is emotions shown with authenticity. Whether it is joy or anger that is what the fans crave. They want to see us be human and humans are emotional. They want to see it done in an authentic way. Certainly a fight is one way but I think of some happy moments too. I think of Darrell Waltrip doing the Ickey Shuffle. Those are things that stick in my mind. I don’t think it just has to be a fight. I think a fight is a water cooler conversation but I just think fans enjoy seeing us show emotion and doing it in an authentic way.”
WERE YOU TAKEN ABACK AT THE CRITICISM YOU GOT LAST YEAR FOR YOUR CELEBRATION BEING IRRESPONSIBLE? “No, not really. I believe in life and balance and if you are going to have some fun you have to balance that with something else. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun doing the commercial, but it is good to spread the message that when you do have some fun to do it in a responsible way. I have no regrets.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AT AMERICAN IDOL? WAS IT AWKWARD SITTING THERE? “I learned a lot and I think it is good to get out of your element and American Idol is certainly not my element I can tell you that. It is good though. Fox is a partner of the sport and Ford is a big partner of American Idol and when the opportunity came open I thought, ‘why not, let’s try it.’ I have to admit I had a lot more fun that I thought I was going to have. It is just good for any of us in the sport to kind of branch out and bring people in from other areas.”
DID YOU GET RECOGNIZED AT ALL? “Yeah there were fans which was cool. There were a lot of people there you wouldn’t expect to see. It was definitely a younger demographic which I think we could always use in this sport. It is interesting to see their reaction and the difference in culture between that world and ours.”
YOU HAD TWO TOP-TEN FINISHES AT MARTINSVILLE LAST YEAR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT GOING BACK THERE IN TWO WEEKS? “Martinsville is a place where I have really mixed emotions about. Early in my career that was a place where I really couldn’t find my ass to be honest. Now the last few times we have been there I feel like we have been exceptionally strong. We didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to last fall and started in the back but by the end of the race we came on really well. I think going back to Martinsville we are a lot smarter, I am a lot wiser as to what I need and I think this year I have to be honest I am going in feeling like we can win the race and might be one of the favorites. We have really turned a corner at that race track and I am really encouraged by it.”
YOU ARE THE BEST PERFORMING FORD SO FAR, IN THE POINTS LEAD. WHAT IS WORKING SO WELL FOR YOU? “I can tell you it is a big weight off our shoulders to come out of the gate so strong. It is a quick way of quieting all those that said when we switched to Ford we were going to be in a lot of trouble. That is really big for us at Penske Racing and big for me personally. It shows the strength we have at every layer, whether as a company, as a team or as a driver and crew chief combination. It is something I am exceptionally proud of. Looking at that and knowing we still haven’t reached our potential as far as our Ford relationship is concerned – and that will probably take some time – it makes me feel like when we do reach that potential that we can be an elite team for years to come.”
IN TERMS OF SIDE DRAFTING IS IT MORE OR LESS WITH THESE NEW CARS AND HOW HAS IT BEEN AT THE VARIOUS TRACKS? “That is part of the learning process for sure. So far the tracks that we have been at, Daytona was as much side drafting as I thought it was going to be. That might change this weekend with this being the first two-mile track and longer straightaways you have more opportunity to do that. So far I haven’t seen a huge difference compared to last year’s car. I am still learning. It could be out there and I just haven’t found it yet. In general I think that the cars handle really well and have a ton of grip. Sometimes I think they have too much grip. That is not necessarily a good or bad thing because we are all learning and there is a certain grip threshold that puts on the most competitive races that fans want to see and that is the spot we are all trying to find and dial in. It is going to be different at each track. It is hard to create a package that is perfect for every track but I don’t think we are far off and we are certainly further ahead than either I thought we were at the beginning of the season.”
WILL YOU RELY ON YOUR SPOTTER MORE HERE BECAUSE THERE ARE FOUR LANES? “I think you look at this track and with so many different especially when someone runs the top that you can really easily clear them through the center of the corner and they can be in a very compromising position by the time you get to the corner exit and that is all in your blind spot. You definitely rely on a spotter here more so than any other track. Especially if it turns into a race with a lot of drafting down the strightaway. I would put this track maybe one step below Daytona and Talladega as far as how much you rely on a spotter.”
CAN YOU UPDATE US ON YOUR TRUCK TEAM AND HOW INVOLVED YOU ARE ABLE TO BE WITH YOUR SPRINT CUP RESPONSIBILITIES? “I have Ryan Blaney driving the truck. I have two trucks this year, one with Ryan Blaney and the second one that is split up between me and Joey Logano and Ross Chastain. We might even sneak in Dave Blaney for Eldora. I think we are all looking forward to that race weekend. I keep hearing how he is one of the winningest drivers there. If he is listening, no pressure Dave. We are really excited about the program we have with two full time trucks. That program is my way of kind of giving back to the sport with trying to provide opportunities for future drivers and not just that but crew members and car chiefs, mechanics, over the wall guys. To see that program run is a lot of fun for me. Hopefully to see it be successful is really the end goal. That will provide future opportunities for all those people. That is what I really want to see. Not just for my own brand but for theirs as well. As I look at that I can’t micromanage that program because I have a lot of other commitments and I think that is good. I think that means that any success that the group has they have earned on their own and I want it to be that way. Hopefully that will happen and hopefully I provided the resources they need to do just that.”
HAVE YOU GIVEN JOEY ANY ADVICE ABOUT THE DISTRACTION OF GETTING INTO IT WITH DENNY HAMLIN AND KEEPING HIS EYES ON THE PRIZE BECAUSE IF HE IS DISTRACTED IT ISN’T HELPING YOUR EFFORT EITHER? “Not really. He is obviously younger than I am but I think it would be foolish to underestimate him and his maturity. I think he has a good handle on that himself.”
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS:
2nd Greg Biffle
3rd Brad Keselowski
6th Joey Logano
11th Casey Mears
21st Marcos Ambrose
23rd Aric Almirola
24th Carl Edwards
31st Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34th David Gilliland
42nd David Ragan
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion (Qualified 3rd) – “The Miller Lite Ford is pretty fast. I am not a really good qualifier so you know if we qualify well we are going to be a threat. It is a good sign.” WHAT DID YOU FEEL OUT THERE AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT SUNDAY? “My car was really good and it has a lot of grip in qualifying mode. In the race they tend to have a lot less grip and I would expect that to be the case this weekend. The Gen 6 cars go through the corner really well when they are in clean air and all those things. I would expect that with this track getting so wide and with multiple grooves that you will see that. Quite honestly I think this will be one of the best races of the year.”
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 3M Window Film Ford Fusion (Qualified 2nd) – “We went through a lot of work after getting only a few laps on the race track. That was a heck of a lap and the guys had to have this car just right to do that. That hopefully won’t hurt us for the race. We have all day tomorrow but lost a tremendous amount of track time today and the guys worked really hard to change this engine out and obviously the new one is running really good.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AA Southern California Ford Fusion (Qualified 6th) – “I felt like I left some on both ends. I overdrove one end and under drove the other end. You are out there trying to estimate what the grip level is going to be and we were just a little off. The car did everthing it was supposed to do. It is always tough. I think we have a really good Auto Club Ford that can go out there and win this thing this weekend. We will tune her in tomorrow during practice and we are going to start toward the front so we will only have to pass a few cars.” YOU ARE REALLY BUSY OUT THERE WITH THE SEAMS AND BUMPS AND WIND AREN’T YOU? “Yeah, there are a lot of seams, especially off of two. You are going across them so quick and it makes the car jump around and you are chasing it. It is a lot of fun and makes it a little hairy when you go into race trim and are racing guys. It is fun. I consider this one of my favorite race tracks to come to and race. It is fun to move around and go anywhere you want. I think with this new car too with the bigger hole in the air and more drag that the racing is going to be awesome. I can’t wait.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 NOS Ford Fusion (Qualified 31st) – “We were really loose in practice so we made a lot of changes throughout practice and seemed to get a little better. We thought the race track was going to free up a little bit and thought we would go faster. We thought we needed it a little tighter yet but we got it too tight in one and two. Three and four felt pretty good. Yeah, we won’t do that again. I wanted it tighter. I thought that we needed it tighter and I asked for a little too much I think. Driving it a little harder made it even that much tighter. It wasn’t perfect but we will work on it tomorrow.”
MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 MAC Tools Ford Fusion (Qualified 21st) – “I don’t feel too good about that. We will have to just keep fighting. We have a great team, we have just had a sluggish start to our year so we have to pick it up.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 SUBWAY Ford Fusion (Qualified 24th) – “I ended up taking the top and I wanted to run down to the bottom but we were just a little tight. Three and four was awesome. Our SUBWAY Fusion, we will get it tuned in tomorrow and be all right on Sunday. I am real frustrated right now. I thought we would run better than that. I thought we would run three-tenths faster than that in qualifying. I think Greg has a really good shot and we have had great luck with Fords here and especially Jack Roush’s Fords so hopefully we can get one in victory lane.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion (Qualified 23rd) – “We needed a little more. I am a little disappointed in that. We will get it though. All these guys on this Farmland team will work on her and get this Ford Fusion running better for tomorrow. We did mostly race trim today so I feel like we have a pretty good direction on what things we need to do for tomorrow for race trim. We will go from there.”
David Gilliland, No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford (Qualified 34th) - “We had a good pick-up. I’m proud of the guys. We changed 15 things before qualifying. Tires are so hard. We practiced on one set of tires, and they really fall off a lot here. This track is pretty abrasive on them. But I’m proud of Frank and all the guys. We picked up, I think, 1.3 seconds from practice, so we’ve definitely got something to build on for tomorrow.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford (Qualified 42nd) - “The guys have been making a lot of changes all day but we still didn’t have the qualifying run we were hoping for. And at a track like this, you really only have one shot with the one lap because the tires fall off so much. But we’ll huddle up, talk with our teammates, and we’ll work on it some more tomorrow.”
GREG BIFFLE POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE
TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP OUT THERE TODAY. “That was a spectacular lap considering everything we did today. We were fortunate enough to get an extra hour of practice here and unfortunately we had about eight minutes of practice today before qualifying. The guys worked really hard to get the engine changed. I got out with three minutes to go to make a lap and we made adjustments from that lap and we were able to put down a pretty fast lap. Obviously the car is pretty close. I am anxious to get some track time. I can’t wait to see how my car runs and hopefully we will get that right tomorrow. We are going to get a good pit stall for the race and we will have to start at the back so that is unfortunate but I am proud of the team for how hard they worked and the car that we are going to have for the race.”
DID THEY DIAGNOSE WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE ENGINE? IS THERE CONCERN WITH KESELOWSKI’S ISSUE AS WELL? “I don’t have all the details. They are actually taking the engine apart now. They were going to do it after qualifying. I wish they would have done it right away but maybe I will sleep better tonight finding out what it is. We feel like the issues could be common between the 2 car and my car. I think they are thinking it is the same issue and something mechanical, something parts wise inside the engine at the bottom of the engine I think. I will know and we will know here after we take it apart but right now we are sort of guessing.”
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PASS 40 CARS ON SUNDAY? “Same way I did at Bristol. This ought to be a lot easier. I started at the back at Bristol – we started 29th and in 60 laps I was 9th under green. It was a heck of a run for us. Hopefully we can do the same thing here. This race track has a lot more room and I wouldn’t say is easier to pass but there is a lot more opportunity to pass than last week. Certainly we aren’t going to do it in a short amount of time. Definitely it will take probably 100 laps at a minimum or maybe 50-75 laps to get our way up through the field. Hopefully we can. Maybe some pit strategy too. We will see what we can come up with.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH THE SPLITTER? “We haven’t. We did more so at Las Vegas than here. Here we have been pretty good on that, although we have only had seven laps or so total of practice. Qualifying the car was really good. There were no issues qualifying.”
HOW ABOUT HANDLING THE SEAMS? “They are difficult to go across. What will happen is you get down in the corner and if the car starts to drift or get a little tight and gets to that seam then the car kind of wants to skate across it. It is the same for everyone though and they aren’t as bad in three and four kind of as they are in one and two. One and two are a little tricky and that is what gives a race track character and makes it challenging.”
WHEN YOU ARE IN THE RACE DO YOU WANT YOUR SPOTTER TALKING TO YOU A LOT, A LITTLE OR JUST GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEED? “I am middle of the road on that. What I need and keep me up to speed on what is going on around us.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
YOU GUYS HAD AN ENGINE CHANGE AND WILL START FROM THE REAR BUT TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP TODAY AND YOUR CAR FOR SUNDAY. “The car is extremely fast and I am ready to get going. I am a little nervous about the engine issues the 16 and 2 cars both had in practice and hopefully those will subside for the race and we are both going to start in the back. Is that the first time that has ever happened? There should be a stat man in here for that. Ford isn’t here? He is at home on Twitter looking this up right now isn’t he? It is unfortunate but we will have a good time hopefully racing to the front.”
HOW TOUGH IN THIS DAY IN AGE IS IT TO TAKE A CAR THAT MAYBE ISN’T A TOP-FIVE CAR AND FINISH IN THE TOP-FIVE? “You know, right now it is pretty early with this Gen 6 car and so I don’t think anyone really knows who the favorite is to beat. I know we might have the points lead but I think it is too early to label any one team ahead or behind. You see a couple trends so far and Kasey Kahne has been really fast. Matt Kenseth has been fast. Denny and Kyle (Busch) have been really fast. It is so early that it is hard to tell and have a real scope of who the guys to beat are out there. In any professional series to get to the top is a hell of a challenge and there is always somebody trying to pull you down. Right now I wouldn’t say it is the hardest it has ever been because it is a new car and new opportunity and you see the strong teams capitalizing on it.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN THE ZONE A LITTLE WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING? “Things are falling our way and we are doing a great job of executing and it takes both. You can have all the luck in the world and screw up your end and it means nothing or you can do everything right and not have any luck and it doesn’t mean anything. All those things are coming together now and I hope we aren’t using it up too early in the season because the Chase is when it really counts. It is a pleasant surprise to start the year with runs this solid and the chance to lead the points this early in the year, especially with the change from Dodge to Ford. That gives us something to hang our hat on.”
BIFFLE THOUGHT THE ENGINE ISSUES MAY BE SIMILAR. IS IT MORE CONCERNING IF THAT IS THE CASE? “If it is one particular item then I guess it is easier to fix it, assuming that can be done in the time frame available but I think it is too early to tell on that as well because those engines aren’t scheduled to be tore down until tonight and tomorrow morning.”
BIFFLE SAID HE THOUGHT IT WOULD TAKE 100 LAPS TO GET TO THE FRONT. ANY COMMENTS ON THAT? “I feel like I can do it in 99.”
CAN YOU GIVE US YOUR OPINION ON THE LATINO PARTICIPATION IN NASCAR AND ANY ADVICE FOR THE KIDS? “It seems like every time we come here there is a larger base. You notice it. I noticed when I was driving in turns three and four that there were different writing that were in Spanish so that shows the commitment the sport has to be as diverse as we can. Certainly there has been some progress for sure in the western side of the country and hopefully that will spread more broad.”
Brad Keselowski heads into Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway with a nine point lead in the Sprint Cup Series standings over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Keselowski's move to the top spot this week is the first time Ford has led in 2013, but last season either Matt Kenseth or Greg Biffle were leading the points after 22 of the first 26 races with Biffle holding the top spot after Richmond before the points were reset for the Chase. In 2011, Carl Edwards led the standings for 21 weeks and was the series leader after 15 of the first 26 events. Keselowski spoke about the lead and more during his media time at the track Friday afternoon.
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – YOU ARE OFF TO A GREAT START, TALK ABOUT RACING HERE AT AUTO CLUB AND THE SOLID START YOU GUYS HAVE HAD. “Yeah, it has been a solid start. We have done everything but win a race. That is where our focus is at this weekend for sure. We’ve certainly got a strong, consistent start but we have been in position on the final restart of each race to win and have come up just a little bit short. Hopefully we can close that out this weekend. I think we have got the car to do it and the team to do it. We are ready to get on track and get going. We have practice and qualifying here today and I am curious how this race is going to play out. I honestly think this is going to be an exceptional race. I think this new car, the Generation 6 car acts and reacts a lot like the Nationwide car does. You combine that with a track that has multiple grooves in the corners and a car that I think has a potential to draft really well and I think it could be a great race. I am pretty optimistic about it. I am glad I am running the Nationwide race because it will be good experience before hand. There are a lot of things to look forward to for sure.”
HOW MUCH WILL AERO PLAY INTO TIGHTENING UP THE CARS HERE? “A lot. It plays into spreading them out and bringing them together. This track is almost in the sweet spot of age where it is just new enough where it hopefully won’t need to be repaved for a long time and just old enough where it produces tire wear and the ability to run multiple grooves in the corners. That ability to run multiple grooves kind of eliminates some of that dreaded aero push that you feel in the corners. If you are in another lane you don’t get that. The fact that it is a big long track as far as straightaways are concerned when the cars merge back into each others pass aerodynamically they are going to draft really well. It should be interesting to see how that plays out.”
PLANS FOR THE EASTER WEEKEND? “I am one day at a time, not even one week, one day. I haven’t thought that far, I probably should. I don’t have any plans so far.”
WE HAVE ALL SEEN YOUR NEW MILLER COMMERCIAL. HOW DID THAT COME TOGETHER? “After last year I had a lot of fun at the banquet and after the Homestead race and I felt like personally that countering that with a responsibility message was not a bad thing to do. I jumped at the opportunity when Miller gave it to me to do something responsibility wise. I think it is a great spot as far as that is concerned. It is good for the sport to have sponsors that activate and put drivers out into the mainstream. I think we all reap the benefits of that. Hopefully we will continue to see more of that. I think we have a lot more commercials in the sport five years ago and that was really healthy for it. I am glad to see Miller step up and do that and I think it is really healthy for all of us.”
WHO WERE THE OTHER THREE GUYS? “Just actors. I met them and they are good people. I follow a few of them on Twitter. They were cool dudes.”
AND THE WAITRESS? “She is a singer. She is actually really good. She has a hit out here in California.”
DID YOU GET HER NUMBER? “Maybe. She will be at the race track this weekend.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PARITY YOU HAVE SEEN BETWEEN THE THREE MANUFACTURERS SO FAR? “I would agree that there is a lot of parody right now and I think Jimmie (Johnson’s) comments I haven’t seen but he is probably right with the exception being the restrictor plate tracks where I think it is pretty obvious the Chevrolet’s are a little bit ahead of everybody else. I think on the non-restrictor plate tracks there is a lot of parody and it is really a case of each team and how strong they have come out with their package.”
WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT HERE, HORSEPOWER OR HANDLING? “I am not really sure which one will be more important this weekend. We are still learning how this car will react to this style track. We haven’t run a two-mile track yet. This is the fifth weekend and fifth different style track. I am learning with you guys. In general this used to always be a handling track over horsepower but that might be different with this car.”
ANY CONCERN ON THE ENGINES WITH THE SUSTAINED RPM’S? “There is no doubt that this new car is so fast that we are carrying more speed that we have ever carried pretty much at every track. I would not be surprised at all if we broke the track record this weekend because of that. That isn’t a bad thing but it puts a lot of stress on the engines. There is a certain gear ration we use to dictate what RPM band the cars are in and to this point in the season we have been using last year’s model which has put more stress on the engines with more speed. Maybe that is a good thing too, I don’t know. I think it pushes the teams to make their stuff a little better and that is what this sport is about, constant evolution.”
YOU ARE JOEY LOGANO’S TEAMMATE. WHAT IS YOUR INTERPRETATION OF WHAT IS GOING ON BETWEEN HE AND DENNY HAMLIN? “All I saw is they got in an incident at Bristol. I don’t know any of the history before that. I haven’t asked Joey, I can tell you that. Maybe there was some and maybe there wasn’t, I don’t know. My interpretation is Joey had a really fast car and got spun out and didn’t get to achieve the result I think he felt like he was capable of and I felt like he was too. As a driver I know that is frustrating. He has had great cars and little things keep popping up to hold him back. It is very reminiscent of where I was at the start of 2011. I know how that eats at you and you just get madder and more frustrated. Maybe that was good. Maybe that was the release he needed last week and maybe he can put that behind him and capitalize on the strengths he has.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK THESE FEUDS DO FOR THE SPORT? “I hesitate to say it is just feuds. I think it is authenticity. It is emotions shown with authenticity. Whether it is joy or anger that is what the fans crave. They want to see us be human and humans are emotional. They want to see it done in an authentic way. Certainly a fight is one way but I think of some happy moments too. I think of Darrell Waltrip doing the Ickey Shuffle. Those are things that stick in my mind. I don’t think it just has to be a fight. I think a fight is a water cooler conversation but I just think fans enjoy seeing us show emotion and doing it in an authentic way.”
WERE YOU TAKEN ABACK AT THE CRITICISM YOU GOT LAST YEAR FOR YOUR CELEBRATION BEING IRRESPONSIBLE? “No, not really. I believe in life and balance and if you are going to have some fun you have to balance that with something else. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun doing the commercial, but it is good to spread the message that when you do have some fun to do it in a responsible way. I have no regrets.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AT AMERICAN IDOL? WAS IT AWKWARD SITTING THERE? “I learned a lot and I think it is good to get out of your element and American Idol is certainly not my element I can tell you that. It is good though. Fox is a partner of the sport and Ford is a big partner of American Idol and when the opportunity came open I thought, ‘why not, let’s try it.’ I have to admit I had a lot more fun that I thought I was going to have. It is just good for any of us in the sport to kind of branch out and bring people in from other areas.”
DID YOU GET RECOGNIZED AT ALL? “Yeah there were fans which was cool. There were a lot of people there you wouldn’t expect to see. It was definitely a younger demographic which I think we could always use in this sport. It is interesting to see their reaction and the difference in culture between that world and ours.”
YOU HAD TWO TOP-TEN FINISHES AT MARTINSVILLE LAST YEAR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT GOING BACK THERE IN TWO WEEKS? “Martinsville is a place where I have really mixed emotions about. Early in my career that was a place where I really couldn’t find my ass to be honest. Now the last few times we have been there I feel like we have been exceptionally strong. We didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to last fall and started in the back but by the end of the race we came on really well. I think going back to Martinsville we are a lot smarter, I am a lot wiser as to what I need and I think this year I have to be honest I am going in feeling like we can win the race and might be one of the favorites. We have really turned a corner at that race track and I am really encouraged by it.”
YOU ARE THE BEST PERFORMING FORD SO FAR, IN THE POINTS LEAD. WHAT IS WORKING SO WELL FOR YOU? “I can tell you it is a big weight off our shoulders to come out of the gate so strong. It is a quick way of quieting all those that said when we switched to Ford we were going to be in a lot of trouble. That is really big for us at Penske Racing and big for me personally. It shows the strength we have at every layer, whether as a company, as a team or as a driver and crew chief combination. It is something I am exceptionally proud of. Looking at that and knowing we still haven’t reached our potential as far as our Ford relationship is concerned – and that will probably take some time – it makes me feel like when we do reach that potential that we can be an elite team for years to come.”
IN TERMS OF SIDE DRAFTING IS IT MORE OR LESS WITH THESE NEW CARS AND HOW HAS IT BEEN AT THE VARIOUS TRACKS? “That is part of the learning process for sure. So far the tracks that we have been at, Daytona was as much side drafting as I thought it was going to be. That might change this weekend with this being the first two-mile track and longer straightaways you have more opportunity to do that. So far I haven’t seen a huge difference compared to last year’s car. I am still learning. It could be out there and I just haven’t found it yet. In general I think that the cars handle really well and have a ton of grip. Sometimes I think they have too much grip. That is not necessarily a good or bad thing because we are all learning and there is a certain grip threshold that puts on the most competitive races that fans want to see and that is the spot we are all trying to find and dial in. It is going to be different at each track. It is hard to create a package that is perfect for every track but I don’t think we are far off and we are certainly further ahead than either I thought we were at the beginning of the season.”
WILL YOU RELY ON YOUR SPOTTER MORE HERE BECAUSE THERE ARE FOUR LANES? “I think you look at this track and with so many different especially when someone runs the top that you can really easily clear them through the center of the corner and they can be in a very compromising position by the time you get to the corner exit and that is all in your blind spot. You definitely rely on a spotter here more so than any other track. Especially if it turns into a race with a lot of drafting down the strightaway. I would put this track maybe one step below Daytona and Talladega as far as how much you rely on a spotter.”
CAN YOU UPDATE US ON YOUR TRUCK TEAM AND HOW INVOLVED YOU ARE ABLE TO BE WITH YOUR SPRINT CUP RESPONSIBILITIES? “I have Ryan Blaney driving the truck. I have two trucks this year, one with Ryan Blaney and the second one that is split up between me and Joey Logano and Ross Chastain. We might even sneak in Dave Blaney for Eldora. I think we are all looking forward to that race weekend. I keep hearing how he is one of the winningest drivers there. If he is listening, no pressure Dave. We are really excited about the program we have with two full time trucks. That program is my way of kind of giving back to the sport with trying to provide opportunities for future drivers and not just that but crew members and car chiefs, mechanics, over the wall guys. To see that program run is a lot of fun for me. Hopefully to see it be successful is really the end goal. That will provide future opportunities for all those people. That is what I really want to see. Not just for my own brand but for theirs as well. As I look at that I can’t micromanage that program because I have a lot of other commitments and I think that is good. I think that means that any success that the group has they have earned on their own and I want it to be that way. Hopefully that will happen and hopefully I provided the resources they need to do just that.”
HAVE YOU GIVEN JOEY ANY ADVICE ABOUT THE DISTRACTION OF GETTING INTO IT WITH DENNY HAMLIN AND KEEPING HIS EYES ON THE PRIZE BECAUSE IF HE IS DISTRACTED IT ISN’T HELPING YOUR EFFORT EITHER? “Not really. He is obviously younger than I am but I think it would be foolish to underestimate him and his maturity. I think he has a good handle on that himself.”
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS:
2nd Greg Biffle
3rd Brad Keselowski
6th Joey Logano
11th Casey Mears
21st Marcos Ambrose
23rd Aric Almirola
24th Carl Edwards
31st Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34th David Gilliland
42nd David Ragan
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion (Qualified 3rd) – “The Miller Lite Ford is pretty fast. I am not a really good qualifier so you know if we qualify well we are going to be a threat. It is a good sign.” WHAT DID YOU FEEL OUT THERE AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT SUNDAY? “My car was really good and it has a lot of grip in qualifying mode. In the race they tend to have a lot less grip and I would expect that to be the case this weekend. The Gen 6 cars go through the corner really well when they are in clean air and all those things. I would expect that with this track getting so wide and with multiple grooves that you will see that. Quite honestly I think this will be one of the best races of the year.”
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 3M Window Film Ford Fusion (Qualified 2nd) – “We went through a lot of work after getting only a few laps on the race track. That was a heck of a lap and the guys had to have this car just right to do that. That hopefully won’t hurt us for the race. We have all day tomorrow but lost a tremendous amount of track time today and the guys worked really hard to change this engine out and obviously the new one is running really good.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AA Southern California Ford Fusion (Qualified 6th) – “I felt like I left some on both ends. I overdrove one end and under drove the other end. You are out there trying to estimate what the grip level is going to be and we were just a little off. The car did everthing it was supposed to do. It is always tough. I think we have a really good Auto Club Ford that can go out there and win this thing this weekend. We will tune her in tomorrow during practice and we are going to start toward the front so we will only have to pass a few cars.” YOU ARE REALLY BUSY OUT THERE WITH THE SEAMS AND BUMPS AND WIND AREN’T YOU? “Yeah, there are a lot of seams, especially off of two. You are going across them so quick and it makes the car jump around and you are chasing it. It is a lot of fun and makes it a little hairy when you go into race trim and are racing guys. It is fun. I consider this one of my favorite race tracks to come to and race. It is fun to move around and go anywhere you want. I think with this new car too with the bigger hole in the air and more drag that the racing is going to be awesome. I can’t wait.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 NOS Ford Fusion (Qualified 31st) – “We were really loose in practice so we made a lot of changes throughout practice and seemed to get a little better. We thought the race track was going to free up a little bit and thought we would go faster. We thought we needed it a little tighter yet but we got it too tight in one and two. Three and four felt pretty good. Yeah, we won’t do that again. I wanted it tighter. I thought that we needed it tighter and I asked for a little too much I think. Driving it a little harder made it even that much tighter. It wasn’t perfect but we will work on it tomorrow.”
MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 MAC Tools Ford Fusion (Qualified 21st) – “I don’t feel too good about that. We will have to just keep fighting. We have a great team, we have just had a sluggish start to our year so we have to pick it up.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 SUBWAY Ford Fusion (Qualified 24th) – “I ended up taking the top and I wanted to run down to the bottom but we were just a little tight. Three and four was awesome. Our SUBWAY Fusion, we will get it tuned in tomorrow and be all right on Sunday. I am real frustrated right now. I thought we would run better than that. I thought we would run three-tenths faster than that in qualifying. I think Greg has a really good shot and we have had great luck with Fords here and especially Jack Roush’s Fords so hopefully we can get one in victory lane.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion (Qualified 23rd) – “We needed a little more. I am a little disappointed in that. We will get it though. All these guys on this Farmland team will work on her and get this Ford Fusion running better for tomorrow. We did mostly race trim today so I feel like we have a pretty good direction on what things we need to do for tomorrow for race trim. We will go from there.”
David Gilliland, No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford (Qualified 34th) - “We had a good pick-up. I’m proud of the guys. We changed 15 things before qualifying. Tires are so hard. We practiced on one set of tires, and they really fall off a lot here. This track is pretty abrasive on them. But I’m proud of Frank and all the guys. We picked up, I think, 1.3 seconds from practice, so we’ve definitely got something to build on for tomorrow.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford (Qualified 42nd) - “The guys have been making a lot of changes all day but we still didn’t have the qualifying run we were hoping for. And at a track like this, you really only have one shot with the one lap because the tires fall off so much. But we’ll huddle up, talk with our teammates, and we’ll work on it some more tomorrow.”
GREG BIFFLE POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE
TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP OUT THERE TODAY. “That was a spectacular lap considering everything we did today. We were fortunate enough to get an extra hour of practice here and unfortunately we had about eight minutes of practice today before qualifying. The guys worked really hard to get the engine changed. I got out with three minutes to go to make a lap and we made adjustments from that lap and we were able to put down a pretty fast lap. Obviously the car is pretty close. I am anxious to get some track time. I can’t wait to see how my car runs and hopefully we will get that right tomorrow. We are going to get a good pit stall for the race and we will have to start at the back so that is unfortunate but I am proud of the team for how hard they worked and the car that we are going to have for the race.”
DID THEY DIAGNOSE WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE ENGINE? IS THERE CONCERN WITH KESELOWSKI’S ISSUE AS WELL? “I don’t have all the details. They are actually taking the engine apart now. They were going to do it after qualifying. I wish they would have done it right away but maybe I will sleep better tonight finding out what it is. We feel like the issues could be common between the 2 car and my car. I think they are thinking it is the same issue and something mechanical, something parts wise inside the engine at the bottom of the engine I think. I will know and we will know here after we take it apart but right now we are sort of guessing.”
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PASS 40 CARS ON SUNDAY? “Same way I did at Bristol. This ought to be a lot easier. I started at the back at Bristol – we started 29th and in 60 laps I was 9th under green. It was a heck of a run for us. Hopefully we can do the same thing here. This race track has a lot more room and I wouldn’t say is easier to pass but there is a lot more opportunity to pass than last week. Certainly we aren’t going to do it in a short amount of time. Definitely it will take probably 100 laps at a minimum or maybe 50-75 laps to get our way up through the field. Hopefully we can. Maybe some pit strategy too. We will see what we can come up with.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH THE SPLITTER? “We haven’t. We did more so at Las Vegas than here. Here we have been pretty good on that, although we have only had seven laps or so total of practice. Qualifying the car was really good. There were no issues qualifying.”
HOW ABOUT HANDLING THE SEAMS? “They are difficult to go across. What will happen is you get down in the corner and if the car starts to drift or get a little tight and gets to that seam then the car kind of wants to skate across it. It is the same for everyone though and they aren’t as bad in three and four kind of as they are in one and two. One and two are a little tricky and that is what gives a race track character and makes it challenging.”
WHEN YOU ARE IN THE RACE DO YOU WANT YOUR SPOTTER TALKING TO YOU A LOT, A LITTLE OR JUST GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEED? “I am middle of the road on that. What I need and keep me up to speed on what is going on around us.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
YOU GUYS HAD AN ENGINE CHANGE AND WILL START FROM THE REAR BUT TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP TODAY AND YOUR CAR FOR SUNDAY. “The car is extremely fast and I am ready to get going. I am a little nervous about the engine issues the 16 and 2 cars both had in practice and hopefully those will subside for the race and we are both going to start in the back. Is that the first time that has ever happened? There should be a stat man in here for that. Ford isn’t here? He is at home on Twitter looking this up right now isn’t he? It is unfortunate but we will have a good time hopefully racing to the front.”
HOW TOUGH IN THIS DAY IN AGE IS IT TO TAKE A CAR THAT MAYBE ISN’T A TOP-FIVE CAR AND FINISH IN THE TOP-FIVE? “You know, right now it is pretty early with this Gen 6 car and so I don’t think anyone really knows who the favorite is to beat. I know we might have the points lead but I think it is too early to label any one team ahead or behind. You see a couple trends so far and Kasey Kahne has been really fast. Matt Kenseth has been fast. Denny and Kyle (Busch) have been really fast. It is so early that it is hard to tell and have a real scope of who the guys to beat are out there. In any professional series to get to the top is a hell of a challenge and there is always somebody trying to pull you down. Right now I wouldn’t say it is the hardest it has ever been because it is a new car and new opportunity and you see the strong teams capitalizing on it.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN THE ZONE A LITTLE WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING? “Things are falling our way and we are doing a great job of executing and it takes both. You can have all the luck in the world and screw up your end and it means nothing or you can do everything right and not have any luck and it doesn’t mean anything. All those things are coming together now and I hope we aren’t using it up too early in the season because the Chase is when it really counts. It is a pleasant surprise to start the year with runs this solid and the chance to lead the points this early in the year, especially with the change from Dodge to Ford. That gives us something to hang our hat on.”
BIFFLE THOUGHT THE ENGINE ISSUES MAY BE SIMILAR. IS IT MORE CONCERNING IF THAT IS THE CASE? “If it is one particular item then I guess it is easier to fix it, assuming that can be done in the time frame available but I think it is too early to tell on that as well because those engines aren’t scheduled to be tore down until tonight and tomorrow morning.”
BIFFLE SAID HE THOUGHT IT WOULD TAKE 100 LAPS TO GET TO THE FRONT. ANY COMMENTS ON THAT? “I feel like I can do it in 99.”
CAN YOU GIVE US YOUR OPINION ON THE LATINO PARTICIPATION IN NASCAR AND ANY ADVICE FOR THE KIDS? “It seems like every time we come here there is a larger base. You notice it. I noticed when I was driving in turns three and four that there were different writing that were in Spanish so that shows the commitment the sport has to be as diverse as we can. Certainly there has been some progress for sure in the western side of the country and hopefully that will spread more broad.”
