SERIES POINTS WITH NINTH PLACE FINISH AT DOVER
TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford F-150 – (finished 4th, qualified 20th) – “It was a lot of hard work. It felt like we had an okay truck yesterday. We didn’t qualify very good. I’ve been really struggling with the Zaxby’s Ford F-150 the last couple of times I drove it. We know we’re better than this. So, it was good to have a good solid day. The truck was really pretty good all day. We hardly make any adjustments. We made some air pressure adjustments and that was it. It didn’t qualify good, but it raced good and it stayed the same speed all day long. It was pretty good; track position was really, really a big deal. I was faster than the 33 [Hornaday] and the 2 [Sprague], I felt like at the end there. Just being behind them made my truck tight. And you saw what the 22 [Scott Speed] did there out there in clean air was pretty good for him.”
DID HAVING TRACK TIME IN BOTH THE FUSION AND F-150 HELP TONIGHT’S RACE AND SUNDAY’S RACE? “I think it helps both ways for sure. Anytime you get laps, I think there’s some things that we learned today with tire pressures and adjustments that I can definitely take to the Cup side to help us out over there on Sunday.”
COLIN BRAUN – No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford F-150 – (finished 8th, qualified 10th) – “It was a lot of fun. I certainly learned a lot. It was a pretty challenging place for me being a rookie. I was learned a lot out there every lap. It’s a tough place. It’s a place that can bite you pretty quick and certainly my crew chief Mike Beam did a great job today adjusting on our truck. My guys did a really good job on pit road. We made up quite a few spots there on pit road. That was really nice. It helped out a lot, it made it a lot easier for me.”
THE DRIVERS WERE ALL TALKING ABOUT BEING TIGHT OR LOOSE, THEN TWO TIRES OR FOUR TIRES. WHERE WERE YOU? “We did four tires every time thinking tires were important. I guess Scott Speed probably won there on two tires. We thought four tires were important and that was the right decision for us. In the first couple of runs, we were pretty tight, so we kind of swung for the fence there at the end and freed it up. We got it very free at the end, that’s for sure. It was tough to run underneath people there at the end, so we kind of had to settle for what we had and just bring home a top-10, which we need for the points deal and the rookie title. I thought there in the middle if we could have hit the set-up right, we probably could have got a few of those guys, but you don’t get that every day. Certainly the more and more experience I get here at Dover, the better I can communicate back to my crew chief Mike and we’ll have a better truck there at the end.”
RICK CRAWFORD – No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150 – (finished 9th, qualified 12th) – “You wouldn’t believe it but we were getting through turns one and two pretty good and we were really tight off of four. With my arms crossed over pedaling this Ford F-150 with Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International power under the hood and with this Roush Yates engine, this thing just wanted to drive forward and wouldn’t turn left. Kevin Starland and the whole Circle Bar race team worked really hard on this built Ford tough F-Series pick up. How about that? End the race with the points lead in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It’s going to take some consistency. I think we’re about 14 positions better than we finished last year. Business is going to be picking up.”
BRENDAN GAUGHAN – No. 10 International MAXX Force Diesel Ford F-150 – (finished 20th, qualified 27th) – “Well, it’s the third time this year that I’ve been hit by the same kid. I’m not really happy with him. Bryan Berry [crew chief] and my boys don’t quit. It doesn’t matter if we had the best Ford tonight, but we had a Ford that probably could have stayed in the top 15 with all the cautions. We had passed Rick [Crawford] earlier in the race. We passed the 8 [McCumbee] and the 59 [Musgrave] early in the race. We probably could have stayed there. We just had a Ford that was too tight. The thing that saved us was Roush Yates horsepower. It’s amazing at the end of the straightaways you and pull away. The boys never quit on me. That’s what I love about Rick Crawford, Circle Bar guys and my guys is that none of us will quit. We drove hard and we’ll go to Texas where everybody knows I want to win Texas. Especially now that I drive for Mr. Mitchell, it’s the home track for him. I finished second last time I was there a year ago. I think it’s time for me to take my lease back on Texas Motor Speedway.”
ERIK DARNELL – No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 – (finished 25th, qualified 18th) – “We were tight the whole race. Our Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 wasn’t very good. The 30 truck [Bodine] just got into the corner a little too hard and run into us, spun us out and back us into the wall a little bit. I thought we had a broken track bar; it looked like it, it felt like it, it looked like it from up top. We brought it into the garage and it wasn’t broken. We lost a couple of laps. It’s just unfortunate.”
