SIX FORD F-150S IN TOP-10
TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 6 K & N Filters Ford F-150 – (finished 1st, qualified 11th) – “It was pretty awesome. It took our K&N Ford half the race to get the track position and the right adjustment in it. We started practice yesterday and really weren’t any good. I expected to come here to be a contender. This is the truck we won with in Michigan with and finished second in Kentucky. We had a good note on it an always had speed every time we take it to the race track. We were 10th or 15th yesterday off the truck and we ran a lot of laps and made a lot of changes. The team really busted their tail in practice yesterday and the team engineer made all the right moves yesterday. We didn’t spend much time on qualifying effort and then got ready for qualifying. We started the race and it was a little too tight, but I felt like a lot of that attributed because to the fact that I was back there 10th and having a lot of traffic.
Mike (Beam, crew chief) told me what the truck was doing and wanted to do some air pressure adjustments. That first stop, we made an air pressure adjustment off the tires and really lift the truck up and really brought it to life. The lap times we could run in the long haul were just amazing, we were three-tenths better than everybody and my truck was just driving good and we didn’t make any adjustments on the second stop, just made a fuel run. I want to say, that I mentioned it in both the TV and radio interviews that I was thinking the last 10 or 15 laps about Bobby Hamilton and the champion that he is. It’s pretty special to come to his home turf and win in front of his home crowd and get the guitar is pretty special.”
DID YOU KNOW YOUR TRUCK WAS THAT FAST? “I wasn’t sure. I knew our truck was so good at the end of practice yesterday. Mike, my crew chief told me before the race that if up there a bit, that we could really dial in with air pressure and so I believed in that. This track was pretty tough, for some reason everybody was sliding around and didn’t have a lot of grip and complained about being really tight in the corners. You have to be really disciplined in being a driver not driving in the corner real hard, not charging the corners, not using a lot of brake. But once I found my rhythm, then we had our truck adjusted after the first stop. We had some really good lap times and after the second stop and we started racing in the long runs. We knew that it was just a matter of time. My truck settled down and started running consistent lap times. I’m just glad we raced green until the end. My truck was so good that I didn’t want to get caught up by a short run in the end.”
MIKE BEAM – No. 6 – Crew Chief – HOW DID YOU SEE THE RACE FORM THE TOP OF THE BOX TONIGHT? “We knew he had a good truck yesterday and I’m sure Travis said that. When we got started, I was a concerned about where we were at. We were saving two sets of tires to the end and we made pretty good adjustment there on the first stop. We came around and thought about adjusting some more but it started taking off and Travis did a good job.”KVAPIL (continued) YOU’RE CLOSING IN ON MIKE SKINNER’S LEAD. “I guess we took a big chunk out of it today and from a couple of weeks ago at Indy. We know our best shot at getting the championship is to win races. That’s what we're going to have to do. We’re not going to run Skinner or Hornaday down finishing in the top-five. We know we’ve got to go out there and win races because those guys are going to finish in the top-five every week. We’ve got to lead laps and lead as many as we can and win. It was still take Ron (Hornaday Jr.) and Mike (Skinner) a few bad races here for us to really get close. We still have 10 to go, a lot can happen in 10 races. We need to race our own race for the championship and win races is what were going to have to do.”
TALK ABOUT GOING BACK TO BRISTOL. “It’s going to be a challenge with the new surface and the new configuration. We had a test there a couple of weeks ago for the truck series. We felt really confident when we left there. We went back to the shop; the team looks at the data and tries to bring it back a little bit better. We’ve got a good truck that we’re taking back there. We feel really confident with the team right now. We know what we need to take to the race track every week. We know exactly what direction to go and the changes. We’ve got a good plan set when we go to the race track. It’s a pleasure to drive for a team that’s so well planned out, spending so much time developing trucks and bringing them to the race track. Bristol is place where anything can happen; you can win the race and still caught up in a wreck not of your doing. I’ve won there in the past and I’m really excited to go back and looking forward to winning the next one with our team.”
DAVID STARR – No. 10 International MaxxForce Diesel Ford F-150 – (finished 4th, qualified 27th) – “Our International MaxxForce Diesel Ford F-150 was pretty awesome tonight and today. It was pretty good when the race started, we were a little loose when we qualified earlier today, but our Ford F-150 was pretty good. It was right there. When we were pitting, we kept loosening the truck up because it was a little tight. But Dennis Connor (crew chief) said the left side tires have absolutely no wear on them. Right before the last pit stop, Dennis made that great call and said only right side tires. We were tight right through the center of the corner. We knew that the left side tires didn’t have much wear on them, we made a track bar adjustment and right side tires with air pressure adjustments. We knew that if we had track position that we’d have a shot at it. And the truck came alive and I wasn’t able to hold off the guys that had four Goodyears on. Travis (Kvapil) did a heck of a job. I think he only took two right side tires and (Ron) Hornaday and (Mike) Skinner, they could hold it better on the bottom. It was a great day for Circle Bar Racing and my teammate Rick Crawford. He had a great day. I think there were four or five Fords in the top-10. It was a good day for Ford and Circle Bar Racing. It feels good to be back in the top-five, where we belong.” THE TEMPERATURE WAS A FACTOR HERE TODAY. WHAT IS IT LIKE FROM THE DRIVERS SEAT? “I always say that you’ve got to be on top of your game, obviously. I train in the middle of the day, back in Texas when it’s real hot. I run in the middle of the day and try to workout outside when it’s hot. You have to take advantage for situations like we were in today. The only thing that hurt me was that I was on my back for the past six days with the flu. After qualifying, I went to the emergency care center just to get some fluids in me. I felt good, it’s the best I felt all week long, but I just needed a little bit more spark. It wasn’t too bad when I was out there. It didn’t bother me. I know it was hot all day, but it felt pretty good inside the truck.”
RICK CRAWFORD – No.14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150 – (finished 6th, qualified 28th) – “Look at that, six Fords in the top-10. These F-Series pick-ups are Built Ford Tough and all the guys driving a Ford in the top-10 made some bold moves tonight. Congratulations to Travis (Kvapil) and the Roush Yates combination under the hood. We’ve got one, too; it brought us from 28th to sixth. So, a good job by the Circle Bar Racing guys and Power Stroke Diesel by International. The truck was fun to drive, always exciting and I really had a good time tonight in my F-Series pick-up.”
JON WOOD – No. 21 Bush’s Baked Beans Ford F-150 – (finished 7th, qualified 25th) – “It seems like the only thing we’re lacking right now is our qualifying effort right now. It hurt us today and two speedways so far. With these races so short, it’s tough to get a good track position.”
ERIK DARNELL – No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 – (finished 9th, qualified 8th) – “I’ve got to thank crew chief John Quinn and all the guys on the Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 and they worked their tails off this week. We were terrible in practice yesterday. I think we changed everything but the radiator cap on the truck this morning. We qualified eighth this morning and it was a good truck during the race. We were in the top-five in our first run and then we put on the second set of tires. I don’t know what the deal was, but it was a bad set of tires. I went from a top-five truck to the point where I couldn’t even get out of my own way. Then slid all the way to the back. Our last pit stop, we had to put our first set of tires back on, which had 40 laps on the already, so we were just fighting the guys with fresher tires at that point. I’m just happy we were able to bring home a top-10 tonight.”
JOEY CLANTON – No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford F-150 – (finished 10th, qualified 4th) – “We fought the same thing we fought in practice, brake problems and having no brakes. We needed to get rolling and our Zaxby’s Ford F-150 was doing great. Once we got running, I think we were running just as fast as the leaders. We just needed time to get rolling, get out of traffic and get a little air on the nose. It was good. I could pick the gas up and just drive it up off the corner and it was just as good. The sun kind of changed the line. I think some of the guys had dark shields and I had a clear shield and couldn’t see off of turn four. I think I brushed it once. All in all, pretty good. A top-10 and top-rookie finish; it’s what we need.”
DANNY O’QUINN JR. – No. 50 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 – (finished 17th, qualified 12th) – “We kept the truck in one piece. We were too tight today. We made some good adjustments on our Ford F-150, but it just wasn’t responding to the adjustments that we made. We thought we could be a little better than we were, but that’s part of racing, I guess, being my first time in a truck. It was tighter than I needed, so we’ll go to Bristol. Matt Puccia (crew chief) and everybody on the Northern Tool + Equipment team, they gave me a good piece, we just needed to free it up a little more and we know that for next time. I just have to thank Northern Tool + Equipment and everybody for jumping on board.”
