Carl Edwards Finishes Seventh at Darlington to Lead Ford Cup Teams
Ford Finishing Order:7thCarl Edwards13thGreg Biffle18thRicky Stenhouse Jr.20thAric Almirola22ndJoey Logano29thDavid Gilliland32ndBrad Keselowski34thMarcos Ambrose37thCasey Mears39thDavid RaganDAVID RAGANNo. 34 Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts Ford FusionIt looked like we got some trash on our grille, so we came down and we knew we were gonna lose a lap or two, but we were fortunate and we caught a caution so our penalty wasnt gonna be that bad. We got some water put back in it and pulled some tape, and went back out and it skyrocketed temperature-wise again, so I dont know if weve got something clogged up in our radiator duct work or the radiator itself, but we lost water a second time. I think it just lost a little bit too much water and got a little too hot. The engine ran great all night. Our car was just way too tight to start the race and we didnt get any cautions to work on it. Every single stop we were too afraid to pull rubbers and do big adjustments just because we didnt want to spend a lot of time on pit road. Its unfortunate not to finish the race here, but Im proud of our guys. We worked hard and had a decent car. Well take some time to recuperate and get ready for the All-Star Race. THATS THE NATURE OF THIS SPORT. YOU GO FROM WINNING LAST WEEK TO NOT FINISHING THIS WEEK. Yeah, thats how it goes sometimes. Thats a character-building weekend for sure. Youve just got to work hard and stay focused and keep the right attitude. This is a very long season, so this isnt it.CARL EDWARDSNo. 99 Geek Squad Ford FusionWe struggled a lot tonight and we ended up coming back to seventh, so Im proud of our effort. But its like Jimmy and I talked about, were just missing something. We have been really good at this size of race track and I thought our Geek Squad Ford was gonna be really good. Qualifying was great, other than my mess up, but it was just a struggle all night. Thats a long race when youre just hanging on to the lead lap and trying to make something happen. HOW MENTALLY HARD IS IT WITH THAT MANY LONG GREEN FLAG RUNS? I like the long green flag runs because you really have to dig down deep and focus really hard. Its kind of fun because you take your mind off everything else and its one of the most enjoyable parts of the job are those long green flag runs. But it is tough when your car is not that great. Kyle and those guys are so fast and Jason Hedlesky and Jimmy, I could tell when their voice gets at a higher pitch and theyre telling me, Hes a straightaway back. Hes three cars back. Its pretty stressful, but at the end I had a lot of fun on the restarts.GREG BIFFLENo. 16 Meguiars Ford FusionIts a little disappointing. I know its different being out front. The car will drive a lot different, but we still dont have the grip that we need. Were missing it ever since the season started with this car. Weve got to figure it out. ITS DIFFICULT TO WORK ON IT WHEN YOU HAVE A RACE WITH SO FEW CAUTIONS AS WELL. Yeah, but that wouldnt have really helped. Weve tested and practiced and are still struggling, so its something you cant really fix on a pit stop. Well just have to keep working and try to figure it out.CASEY MEARSNo. 13 Geico Ford FusionWe honestly werent that bad. We werent great, but I thought we were pretty good. Early on we had a tear-off on the front of the car that blocked the whole thing and we had to come in and get that off because it was overheating, so that put us a lap down. Then we left a right-rear tire loose and had to come in for that and were four laps down. And then there at the end we were just trying to get the wavearound and get a lap back and we got three-wide and I think the 27 got loose and got into us. Its unfortunate, but the good thing about this weekend was that we had speed. I was pretty happy with the progress we made as a team. We just didnt get a chance to show it.ARIC ALMIROLANo. 43 Smithfield Ford FusionThats not the result we wanted at all. That was a tough night. We fought hard, but just werent quite good enough. We were slipping and sliding all over the place, so well regroup and go to Charlotte and have another go at it. It makes things really difficult when you dont have very many opportunities to work on your car, but it is what it is.