Ford teams Daytona Duel 1 race quotes

Mike Wallace, Max Q Motorsports Ford

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

MIKE WALLACE – No. 37 Poynt.com Ford Fusion

“It’s something engine-related that happened and it won’t run. The first incident I got in the back of the 21. He checked up and I thought I did a good job of keeping from turning him around and wrecking anything. We came down pit road and taped the nose up and everything was going to be fine, but it wouldn’t go on the restart. I guess from the point of the wreck to when we went back to green something happened. It’s just disappointing because it’s the Daytona 500.”

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DAVID GILLILAND – No. 38 MHP/Power Pak Pudding Ford Fusion

“I feel good, I am fine. I cut up my hand on my helmet and I had to get it stitched. I am fine, just disappointed. It was a short day. Our Fusion had good speed and I feel confident about our backup car, so we will get it out and get it going again.”

HOW MANY STITCHES? “Just one, but it is on my thumb where it bends. I told him I would superglue it but he said a stitch would work better. I am fine. It is just really disappointing. It felt like someone got into the back of us in turn one and away it went. It was fun though. I had a lot of fun out there racing and I’m looking forward to Sunday.”

IS IT JUST A PART OF THIS RACING? “Yeah, it is. The problem is people want to push because you can make up track position, but you have to think of the guy in front of you and what he is dealing with in front of him. Two cars catch these other cars so fast and then when you are getting pushed you just can’t stop when you come up on another guy. It is kind of a process to get the whole train slowed down. It is tricky, but everybody will hopefully get the hang of it by Sunday.”

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MICHAEL MCDOWELL – No. 98 KLOVE/Curb Records Ford Fusion

DESCRIBE THIS FEELING. “It’s unbelievable. You just never know until it’s over. I was hoping it would be over five laps earlier than it was, but I just can’t explain it. It’s unbelievable.”

YOU HAD SOME HELP FROM THE 21. “Yeah. I owe him big. There’s a special bond there that you can’t break, so it’s just cool to see when you work together what you can accomplish.”

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RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 6 EcoBoost Ford Fusion

“We got a lot of experience out there and got to learn a lot. Our EcoBoost Ford Fusion was pretty good. It can run up in the draft, but maybe we need to get it to suck up a little bit better. The good thing is this is our best piece and it’s in one piece, so we can massage on it and go to the 500.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY HAIRY MOMENTS? “Not really. Everything was pretty smooth out there. I think that first wreck was a close car as far as to the back part of our car, but, all in all, it was a pretty easy day and just rode around and logged laps. We tried to get some respect from the veterans and hopefully we did that for Sunday.”

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MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion

"I tell you what, I would like a cold tile but I would really like another two laps. We got ourselves in a box there. We didn't pit the first time around and that kind of hurt us a little bit. We learned a lot for Sunday, we got a good result. We are smiling right now but it was very close to being the other way around. I am proud of my Stanley Ford team. We have great power and a good handling car. Our team is rolling. We've had a great speedweeks and we are going to keep it that way for the 500 and have a good Sunday."

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CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion

"That was fun. We went for it there at the end. We got behind Burton and we were coming down the back straight. If that caution didn't come out, I don't know what it looked like on TV but it felt like we were going to be leading off of four. I was having fun. I am excited for the race, it is going to be good." HOW CRAZY WAS IT BEHIND THE WHEEL? "It was crazy. We are going to have fun though. It is going to be a good race. I am glad we got through all this and we are starting on the pole. I got a ton of experience today and we are accomplishing our goals."

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DAVID RAGAN – No. 34 MHP/Scorpion Truck Bedliners Ford Fusion

"I learned that guys are still sliding all over the place and driving aggressive. We had a lot more to lose in that race than to gain. If we could have won it that would have been great but whether you finished third or 10th or 15th there is really no difference except maybe a couple hundred bucks. We have our eye on the 500 and we just rode around and played it safe. I am looking forward to getting our race engine in and getting ready for Sunday."