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NASCAR Veteran Strengthens Front Row Motorsports Leadership Team

Statesville, N.C. (February 8, 2012) - NASCAR veteran Pat Tryson will join Front Row Motorsports as the crew chief for David Gilliland’s No. 38 Ford.  The move is the latest of numerous off-season improvements for the Sprint Cup Series team and allows interim crew chief Derrick Finley to return full-time to his role of Director of Competition.

Tryson comes to Front Row Motorsports with more than 15 years of experience atop the pit box and race-winning credentials, earning victories with drivers Kurt Busch, Elliott Sadler and Mark Martin.  He most recently worked for Michael Waltrip Racing, where he served in crew-chief and consultant roles.

“We made some pretty big changes this off-season to really take this team to the next level, and adding Pat is just one more critical piece that we’ve put in place for our 2012 season,” said team general manager Jerry Freeze.  “With Jay Guy on the No. 34 car and Derrick returning full-time to the competition director role, the depth and experience of our leadership team is better than it’s ever been before.”

Tryson has worked with some of the sport’s best organizations and drivers over the years.  This season will be his first time working with Gilliland, but he is ready to step in and help the team.

“I like what this team has done in the last few years, doing the right things and making the right changes to get better every season,” said Tryson.  “Gilliland’s a competitive driver – he’s got the fire in his belly – and I’m really looking forward to working with him.”

Gilliland, who scored a season-best third in last year’s Daytona 500, is ready to hit the track next week in Daytona Beach with Tryson running the No. 38 program.

“He’s a great ‘get’ for this team,” said Gilliland.  “There’s just so much that he brings to the table with all his experience.  I can’t wait to get started.”

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant and transportation entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception.  The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Ford driven by David Ragan and the No. 38 Ford driven by David Gilliland.  For sponsorship inquiries contact Robin Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer, at (704) 904-4347.

Source: Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

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Sport Supplement Company to Sponsor Ragan, Gilliland, Pit Crews

Statesville, N.C. (February 8, 2012) - Sport supplement company Maximum Human Performance (MHP) will bring its message to NASCAR fans for the first time, joining Front Row Motorsports as a multi-race, multi-year partner in the team’s Sprint Cup Series campaigns. MHP will be a primary sponsor for multiple races in both 2012 and 2013, including the upcoming Budweiser Shootout exhibition race on David Ragan’s No. 34 Ford and the season-opening Daytona 500 on David Gilliland’s No. 38 Ford.

MHP will also be the official sport supplement line of Front Row Motorsports and an official sponsor of the Nos. 34 and 38 pit crews. Company experts will work with the team’s pit crew coach and trainers to develop nutritional and fitness plans to improve and maximize the performance of the over-the-wall crew throughout the season.

“This is really going to be a unique program,” said Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins. “Sponsors, of course, help make your race programs better across the board via funding, but this is a case where they’re also going to make our pit crews healthier, stronger and faster. Everyone knows that a couple seconds on pit road can make a huge difference on the track. This partnership is focused on getting our athletes in the best shape possible to deliver maximum performance when it matters most.”

Fairfield, NJ-based MHP was launched in 1997 by bodybuilder Gerard Dente to develop premier science-based, research-driven sports supplements to help athletes achieve their greatest physical potential. The product line is used by world-class athletes, pro bodybuilders, powerlifters, strongmen and fitness enthusiasts alike. Products are sold in vitamin/supplement retail stores and online at www.MHPStrong.com.

The deal marks MHP’s first partnership in NASCAR. With Ragan and Gilliland both being skilled restrictor-plate racers, the February 18 Budweiser Shootout and the February 26 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway provide the perfect platform to introduce the company to an audience of millions of race fans.

“I am really excited about the opportunity to work with a first-rate racing team like Front Row Motorsports,” said Dente, CEO of MHP. “This unique sponsorship will not only connect our brand with millions of NASCAR fans, but more importantly it will showcase how our supplements will help improve the performance of their pit crew and drivers. I’m looking forward to working with pit crew coach Gary Smith and seeing how improvements in the pit crews’ speed and strength translate into better track times for the team.”

“MHP could have teamed up with any team in the sport, and they selected Front Row Motorsports,” said team general manager Jerry Freeze. “In the off-season, we upgraded our driver line-up, our pit crews and shop personnel, and our front-office leadership. It is reassuring when prospects like MHP conduct in-depth due diligence and confirm that our value proposition is compelling.

“Plus, it will be even more compelling after MHP helps get our over-the-wall guys performing at their maximum performance potential. That was an area that needed improvement, and in MHP we have a partner that is going help us do just that – continually improve.”

For more information about MHP, visit www.MHPStrong.com.

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant and transportation entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception. The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Ford driven by David Ragan and the No. 38 Ford driven by David Gilliland. For sponsorship inquiries contact Robin Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer, at (704) 904-4347.

Source: Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

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Statesville, N.C. (January 24, 2012) 

The new motorsports partnership expands an existing business relationship between the Berwyn, Penn.-based company and Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins.  ModSpace is currently working with Jenkins’ quick-service restaurant company to build new Taco Bell/Long John Silver’s locations.

“I’ve been impressed with ModSpace and their modular construction concepts and the experience they bring to the table,” Jenkins said.  “Our companies share some of the same ideals, so it’s a natural fit to team up.  I’m excited they’re going to partner with us on the racetrack now, too.”

The new motorsports partnership will help with another type of “building” – the continued growth of Jenkins’ Sprint Cup team, which is coming off the best season in its young history.  The first appearance of the No. 38 ModSpace Ford is scheduled for the April 14 race at Texas Motor Speedway.

ModSpace is a leading provider of modular buildings, portable storage and services for temporary or permanent space needs.  Building on more than 40 years of experience, ModSpace serves a diverse set of customers and markets – including commercial, construction, education, government, healthcare, industrial/energy and special events – through an extensive nationwide branch network throughout the United States and Canada.

“We are thrilled to partner with Front Row Motorsports for this upcoming Sprint Cup season,” stated William Mann, Vice President of Motorsports for ModSpace.  “In the modular construction business, we understand the importance of speed while still delivering a high-quality product, so this motorsports alignment is perfect for our business model.  ModSpace looks forward to a great season from both the No. 38 and No. 34 teams.”

ModSpace has constructed buildings for renowned clients ranging from the Professional Golf Association (PGA) to General Motors, IBM and the U.S. Army.  For more information on the company and its projects, visit www.ModSpace.com.

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant and transportation entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009.  The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Ford driven by David Ragan and the No. 38 Ford driven by David Gilliland.

Source: Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

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Cup Race Winner to Drive No. 34 Ford, Gilliland Returns to Pilot No. 38 Ford

Statesville, N.C. (January 16, 2012) - Front Row Motorsports will follow up its best season in the team’s young history by bolstering its line-up for 2012, adding race winner David Ragan to drive the No. 34 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  Front Row veteran David Gilliland will build off an impressive 2011 season, returning to the team behind the wheel of the team’s second entry, the No. 38 Ford Fusion.

Ragan joins Front Row after completing a 2011 season that delivered his first Cup win (Daytona International Speedway in July), two poles, and four top-five and eight top-10 finishes.  The 26-year-old Unadilla, Ga., native is already a NASCAR veteran, first joining the national stock-car ranks at the age of 18 and quickly ascending to premier-level Sprint Cup racing.  His No. 34 team is locked in to the starting line-up entering the 2012 season, including a guaranteed starting spot in the prestigious Daytona 500 next month.

“Front Row has made great progress in the last few years, and I look forward to helping them advance to the next level,” Ragan said.  “I think the team appreciates what I can bring to the table, and I think it’s a good opportunity for both of us.  I’ve also enjoyed a long relationship with Ford and I’m glad that I’ll get to keep working with them.”

Gilliland returns for his third season with Front Row and his seventh in the Cup series.  The 35-year-old Riverside, Calif., native will return to the No. 38, the number he drove as a Sprint Cup rookie as well as the car he drove in his first season with Front Row.  The No. 38 team is also locked in to the field entering 2012.  Last season, Gilliland raced his way to a third-place finish in the Daytona 500 to start off an impressive 2011 run, in which he proved to be a force on superspeedways and road courses.

“We’ve gotten better year to year and even week to week in the time I’ve been with Front Row, so I’m excited to be back for a third year and to have David (Ragan) as a teammate,” Gilliland said.  “It’s good to be back in the ’38′ car, too.  It was my dad’s number, and I’ve also had some pretty good days at the racetrack with that number on the door.”

Front Row Motorsports, which is owned by restaurant and transportation entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, enters its fourth full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series.  The team turned in its best results in its young history in 2011, earning one top-5, two top-10, three top-15 and five top-20 finishes in 2011, including the history-best third at Daytona.

“I am committed to building a competitive race team by employing the same fundamental business principles that have worked for my other successful endeavors, and it all begins with the people,” Jenkins said.  “We took some pretty big steps in our race program last year and adding David Ragan is another giant step in the right direction.

“When you look at some of the large, storied teams in NASCAR that have been running for decades, we’re still pretty young by comparison,” Jenkins continued. “But I like the upgrades we’re making and the improvements we’re seeing, and I am confident we will be able to compete with them on a consistent basis in the not-too-distant future.  Ragan is a proven competitor and race winner, Gilliland had a really solid season for us last year, Roush Yates engines are the best in the sport, and Ford continues to provide invaluable support, so I feel like 2012 is really going to be our year to step up to the next level.  Plus, I now have two Davids to engage Goliath, and we know how that day ended.”

Sponsorship for the Front Row Motorsports entries is being finalized and will be announced soon.

“We’ve worked hard to build an organization that can deliver compelling value propositions for our partners, and we can win immediately on that front given our size, efficiencies and cost structures,” said Jerry Freeze, Front Row Motorsports’ General Manager. “Fortunately, a few leading corporate partners have taken notice and others are conducting their due diligence.  That’s very encouraging and bodes well for our future.”

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant and transportation entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009.  The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Ford driven by David Ragan and the No. 38 Ford driven by David Gilliland.

Source: Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

Ford Racing

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Qualified 1st) –

YOU WERE SECOND FASTEST IN FIRST PRACTICE AND FASTEST IN FIRST PRACTICE. “That was all qualifying. We focused on our race runs the first practice and had a tire issue the second practice and only made two runs. It worked out great though. I just really appreciate Matt Kenseth’s help and all of my teammates helping me the best they could today to give us the best shot at this pole. I can’t believe we got the pole. We were just hoping to start in front of Tony somewhere and preferably the top-five. The pole is a gift.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Qualified 12th) – “That was okay. We struggled a little bit today with the Best Buy Ford. We’ve kind of struggled with getting into the corner and I’ve really struggled to run the top. I think the top is the faster way to go, but I can’t get there right now. It was a solid lap. You can always pick it apart and say it was a little bit better, but we’re working hard. This hasn’t been the best day for us, but Greg Erwin and all the guys are working hard. Hopefully, that gets us a decent starting spot because it’s a long race on Sunday.”

MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion (Qualified 18th) – “I just didn’t know what line to take. I went a bit higher than what I probably should have, but we’ll take it. I’ve just got to thank Ford Racing for putting on this huge show here. It’s great to finish here at the big Ford event. We’ve got Carl with a chance to win, Ford as well, and I’m real excited about it. With Stanley and DeWalt, it’s just been a ripper year. It’s been fantastic to drive with the King and I just want to thank all of my boys and Todd Parrott on the box. It’s been a really strong effort for us.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Qualified 8th) - “I think I have a great car for tomorrow. The lap was pretty good. We struggled earlier today in qualifying trim for some reason. Gosh, I let up the gas off of four and it started to slide and chatter a little bit. I lost a lot of momentum and I don’t know if I had to lift. It was one of those things where it was like; uh oh I am in big trouble. I backed off it for a minute and I don’t know. It is so tight up there. That is probably the top of the board but who knows if it would have stuck.

DO YOU HAVE A TOP FIVE CAR IN RACE TRIM? “Oh yeah. We were probably close to being the fastest in race trim. We are pretty dang good as a team. I would say we are all in that area of top-10 somewhere.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Qualified 6th)– “I think we just missed the set up a little bit. I thought I got a pretty decent lap. It wasn’t perfect. This is a tough place to get everything because the lines change the way the car handles so much. I think we missed it a little bit but I thought we got most of it.”

TREVOR BAYNE – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion (Qualified 20th) – “I was pretty happy with that pick-up there. I didn’t expect to run a teen. I don’t know how good that’s gonna hold up. We’re fifth right now, but I think it’ll be a decent start. I’m really happy with the adjustments we made. We ran like a .60 in practice and I was hoping for a .30, but we ran a teen there. I caught a little cloud, so that was good for us, but I think we’re gonna race a lot better than we qualify either way. If we end up fifth, then we’ll really be good in the race, but I think there are obviously a lot of good cars still to go. If we can get a top 20, we can race from there. I’d prefer a top-15, so we’ll work on that, but I’m excited about this car so far and just excited to be a part of this all year long. Hopefully, I’ll be back in the 21 next year. We’ll see what happens, but I’ve just really, really enjoyed it so far. I remember a year ago when I was sitting on the pit box watching these guys and Bill Elliott was driving the car. It’s been a crazy year, but it’s been a really memorable one and I’m just excited to have been a part of it.”

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS My Choice Ford Fusion - “That was a good lap for us; it wasn’t perfect. We made some pretty big adjustments after that last practice because we knew the track was going to cool down just a little bit and maybe we went a little too far. I think we’ve got a great UPS Ford for Sunday. That’s in the top 15 and we’ll be able to go racing with that on Sunday.”

TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion (Qualified 40th) – “It feels nice to be locked into these races because we didn’t really put any emphasis on a qualifying effort today. We really just worked on our race trim stuff. That’s a pretty good lap for us and we gained a lot of speed there, but it’s not gonna shake out very good overall. Still, I’m excited about Sunday.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Fusion (Qualified 38th) – “We have struggled and have been nowhere close to where we needed to be. It’s a little disappointing when you unload that far off, but we made some good gains and we’ll just keep working on it. We’ve still got the race, but I’m a little disappointed. We’ve run really well here the last couple of years, but we’ve just struggled today. The track didn’t have a lot of grip and I know a lot of people are having issues, but hopefully we’ll get a handle on it.”

J.J. YELEY – No. 55 Ingersoll Rand Ford Fusion – “I think it’ll probably be pretty decent. The most important thing, obviously, is we’re in. We were really pretty decent the first practice and lost the balance in the second practice, so I was a little worried about what I had on the lap there. I think I probably gave it an 85 percent lap. I know I probably could have gained another tenth-and-a-half, at the same time I probably could have wrecked the thing, too. The good thing is we had a good run. I know these guys have worked their tails off all year long for me on this 55 car. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m glad that we’ve had a good run here for the final race at Homestead.”

CARL EDWARDS POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE –

ARE THINGS LINING UP LIKE YOU WANTED THEM TO THIS WEEKEND? “Yeah, things are good. Today went really well. I felt like our car was very fast in practice in race trim. I wasn’t really sure what to expect in qualifying trim, but that was a very pleasant surprise to run that well. That truly is just one lap, though, and, I mean, the biggest thing is that pit stall selection. That’s gonna be a big help the whole race. That’s something that’s hard to put a value on, so it looked like there were a lot of fast cars in practice. It didn’t look like we were head and shoulders better than anyone else, so this doesn’t dampen the amount of effort we’re gonna go out and put forth. We still have to go out and race this race. I do think that of all the tracks it would be nice to have a big advantage in qualifying at some of them, but this one you can pass at, so if there are faster race cars out there, they’ll be able to make it through the field.”

YOU MADE TWO QUALIFYING RUNS IN PRACTICE. DID YOU JUST FEEL YOU COULDN’T GET IT ANY BETTER? “Yeah, we ran the first practice completely in race trim and we felt that was the best strategy for us was to focus on race trim there, and then focus on qualifying trim the second practice. We actually had a cut in the right-rear tire after the first run in the second practice, so we had two sets of sticker tires, which we would normally run three or four runs total – a couple on the first set and then one final sticker run – but once we looked at that tire we realized we can’t use that again, we just couldn’t do it, so we made one more sticker run, so it was only two laps in the second practice. In a way, it probably helped us from tuning the thing out of contention. It was nice to just focus on two runs.”

DO YOU BELIEVE IN FATE? IT LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE LINING UP FOR YOU? “I don’t know that I believe in fate, but I do believe that things happen for a reason. I do believe that whatever you encounter you have to treat as if that’s just the way it’s supposed to be. You can’t change things, I’ve learned that, so success and failure can both be good in the end, so you’ve got to be careful for what you wish for sometimes, but, yeah, this is going really well so far and, hopefully, this helps us all race. We didn’t need to qualify poorly, get a poor pit stall, have some little thorn in our side the whole race, so this will hopefully help us for the whole event.”

DOES TODAY REPRESENT A MOMENTUM SHIFT? “I don’t know. I didn’t pay any attention to them in practice and I didn’t see where he qualified, so I still don’t know where they qualified. I guess the deal is we’ve still got to go run this race and I know how tough those guys can be, so I’m not counting anything yet. We’re just gonna keep our heads down and work hard and go get the best we can. If anything, this is just good for our morale and for everybody to go sleep easy tonight and know we’re gonna have a good day on pit road, know we’ll hopefully be able to run out front and not get caught up in anything. But, truly, I understand that we still have to go run this race and anything can happen.”

IS TODAY A PRIME EXAMPLE OF YOU SAYING ALL THAT MATTERS IS WHAT HAPPENS ON THE TRACK? “I hope so, but, truly, it is just one lap and I know it could have gone any way. If we were out there and qualified 43rd right now, it wouldn’t change the way I’m gonna approach this race. I’m not just giving you all lip service. I’m here to do a job and to do it well and it truly doesn’t matter what’s said or what happens until that checkered flag falls.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

David Gilliland - Front Row Motorsports

Father and Son Take the Wheel on Different Tracks

Statesville, N.C. (November 15, 2011) - Look for two Gillilands to don firesuits and go racing this weekend at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. David Gilliland will be behind the wheel of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford for Sunday’s Ford 400, the final race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. His 11-year-old son, Todd, will be behind the controls of an Xbox 360 console competing in “Battle of the NASCAR Kids.”

The younger “Gilly” is participating in a competition among drivers’ kids playing “NASCAR Unleashed,” a newly released racing video game. The event will be held Saturday morning at the speedway, with each child competing for a charity of his choice. Todd is competing for Sherrills Ford Optimist Park, a recreation center in the Gillilands’ hometown that suffered fire damage earlier this year. He’ll sport a white and purple No. 34 jumpsuit, patterned after his dad’s race uniform.

The elder Gilliland will run his sixth career Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, looking to end the No. 34 team’s season on a high note. The team earned a 25th-place finish on its last visit to the 1.5-mile oval one year ago – Gilliland’s best career finish at the track.

Comments from Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland heading into Homestead and ending the season:

“Todd’s excited for this tournament. He’s been saying since they first invited him to participate that he’s going to win. He’s been practicing and he’s ready. And the fact that it will send some support to Optimist Park will make it even better. We just moved to Sherrills Ford recently, so it will feel good to help our new hometown.

“It’s been a long season. But we’re already excited and looking forward to building and improving our team for next year. We’ve learned a lot. We had some good runs. We found some strengths in our team, and some weaknesses as well that we’re going to work through and hopefully improve on.

“Homestead was a really good race for us last year. We ran really well in our last race of the year. So I’m looking forward to going there and hopefully coming out with a good finish. A good finish from Homestead always helps the off-season seem a little shorter.

“Homestead is a great track. It’s one of my favorites, just because you can run from top to bottom, basically all over the place. And you’ve got the championship being decided, so there’s going to be a lot of energy and excitement. This is exactly what NASCAR had in mind when they created the Chase. It’s going to come down to the last race of the year. Who knows, maybe even the last lap.”

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009. The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford driven by David Gilliland, the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford driven by Travis Kvapil and the No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by J.J. Yeley.

- Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

Ford Racing

Carl Edwards, No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion — PIT LANE INTERVIEW

THAT LAST PASS GOT YOU THE POINTS TO END WHERE YOU DID. “It was a long day. It was interesting. I was real calm but it is hard to watch that 14 crew and Tony do so well. They have really stepped it up. They are making us perform the best we ever have and we are doing the same to them. I followed him for about 40 laps. It felt like I was working him over and really paying attention to what he does. I determined he is a pretty good driver. If we can win this thing beating him that would be really cool.”

Bob Osborne, Crew Chief No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion – “We finished in front of Tony. We would have like to increase the points lead but we didn’t because he was able to lead so many laps early on. We had a great car and they had a great day too. It is going to be exciting going into Homestead. We were guarding against cautions and getting caught there staying out a little longer, guarding against a caution and that let the 4 car get in front of us. It felt like we had a better car than they did. Kenny just juked me today. I will have to congratulate him on that when I see him. I can’t say enough about them. The 4 car had a great car actually. They were very fast all day long. My hat is off to them and the 14 also. It is going to be a lot of fun at Homestead.”

YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU STAND FOR HOMESTEAD. WHAT IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF YOUR MIND FOR THAT RACE? “We will go there and try to repeat what we did last year. I feel like we have a good opportunity to do that this year. The car had the speed to do it today. The way the race played out here and my decision to wait a little bit longer cost us the win today. I think we will go into Homestead trying to sit on the pole and win the race and put a dot on this championship hopefully.”

Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Crown Royal Ford — WALK US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED. EVERYONE IS SAYING IT WAS RETALIATION FROM MARTINSVILLE. “Well yeah, obviously it is retaliation for retaliation I guess. I was out of brakes and I was up on everybody and I saw him coming and I lifted at least 10 car lengths before where I would normally lift and he drove in there at 165 miles per hour and cleaned us out. I don’t know. If NASCAR is going to start parking people for being mad 25 second after you wreck and wrecking somebody then you would park somebody for that. You have someone that has been telling everybody for four or five that as soon as he got a chance at a fast race track he was going to make it hurt and wipe us out and they do nothing about it. It was so premeditated it just surprises me that they didn’t do anything. I am disappointed but I expected it. We aren’t racing street stocks at a quarter mile track so they need to figure out how to get the drivers to settle their difference in a different way and talk about it or figure it out or do something instead of using your car as a battering ram somewhere this fast.”

WAS THERE ANY TEMPTATION WHEN YOU WENT BACK OUT TO TAKE IT UP ONE MORE NOTCH? “No, not at all. I don’t stoop to that level. When we had our problem at Martinsville it was heat of the moment and he hit me eight or nine times and he hit me once. Hindsight I should have let him go and left him alone because you realize who he is and what he is and all that. You probably should leave him alone and go on. I would never sit down there and wait for somebody and take a cheap shot like that. You can hurt someone like that and that isn’t sportsmanlike and that isn’t something I would do.”

WHAT NOW? DO YOU TALK ABOUT IT? “Nothing. We go race at Homestead.”

Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 DeWalt Ford – “We had a good car today. We just needed a bit of clean air to get the nose down and feeling good. I am proud of my DeWalt team, they did a good job and we were solid all day long.”

THIS CONTINUES A REALLY GOOD SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON FOR YOU. “Yeah, it bodes even better for the first half of next season.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 43 WIX Filters Ford – “It is a credit to all the guys on the 43 and at RPM. The test was really good and we came back really good. Man, I don’t know. We lost on that one restart. I don’t know. The tires chattered a little bit. The tires were so sensitive and they chattered and got hung out. I overdrove one lap and got in the dirt and that killed us from there. Sixth is okay but I feel like we deserved better. We have to work on our pit stops. Thanks to the 6 guys, our Ford teammates coming over and pitting the last two stops. That was a big difference.”

WHAT WAS BEHIND THAT CALL? “We were bad. We were losing four or five spots on a stop. You can’t do that and win a race and those guys are pretty good. They did a good job.”

J.J. Yeley, No. 38 Vampt Ford Fusion – “The guys did a good job with our No. 38 Vampt Ford Fusion all day. We had a terrible qualifying run so we had the challenge of starting in the back. And we knew that was going to be tough with the single-file racing that we’ve seen so far here. But the guys kept making it better all day, gave us some good pit stops, and Jay Guy made a good call on two tires at the end. We were all really proud to have Scott Bates here with us. It was a really special day for him, seeing the paint scheme that he created, in person, and also being recognized on stage during pre-race ceremonies. We’re all very grateful to veterans like him for their service to our country.”

David Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford – “That was a tough race. Starting from the back of the pack, we knew we had to have a pretty good car to be able to move up at this place. But we had some issues with the suspension. The car was bouncing and we were just adjusting on the shocks and stuff all day. I’m really looking forward to going to Homestead, though. I love racing there and we’ll look to end our season on a high note.”

CARL EDWARDS PRESS CONFERENCE

CAN YOU GIVE US OPENING STATEMENT GOING INTO HOMESTEAD WITH TONY THREE POINTS BEHIND YOU, YOU ARE THE ONLY TWO IN CONTENTION AND THIS IS THE THIRD CLOSEST CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE GOING INTO HOMESTEAD IN NASCAR HISTORY. “That is cool. I couldn’t ask for anything more. It is going to be fun. It is neat to go to Homestead and race it out. I am sure these guys are going to be good down there. They are fast at the mile-and-a-half tracks. I love that place. I am proud of my guys today. They did a great job on pit road. Tony was really fast and we got our car tuned in and we were able to race with them and compete. It was a good hard fought day. I am really pumped for Homestead, I think it is going to be a good time.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW THE TRACK WAS TODAY? “I think what Tony said is absolutely correct. All those guys that came out here and spent that time helped a ton. I think Brian recognizing the issue we were potentially going to have and addressing it was huge. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. The groove moved out wider and wider. I started to remember the old Phoenix when I would drive down in one and slide up and catch some rubber. I believe after it sits awhile and we come back here for the Subway 500 in the spring, and even a year from now, I think it will be awesome. I am a convert. I was ready to put a tombstone up and say goodbye to the place, but I think it is going to be good.”

I NOTICED YOU FOLLOWED TONY FOR A BIT, WAS THAT PART OF YOUR STRATEGY AND WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY FOR THE LAST RACE? “That is exactly what I was doing, just hanging out back there trying to keep his blood pressure up. No, I was having fun. I think our car was a tick faster right then. I was watching what Tony was doing and searching around and doing what I could. That was really fun. It was neat to be able to race like that. I think if it would have gone green from there, which I know the chances of that are virtually nil, that would have been a fun race. We would have battled it out. The way this has turned out for us to be running 1-2 and racing like this is really cool.”

GIVEN YOUR SUCCESS AT HOMESTEAD, IS THERE ANY PLACE YOU WOULD RATHER HAVE THE SEASON FINALE? “There are some dirt tracks I grew up on that would be fine with me. (laughter) If we tie, we should go to one of the dirt tracks down in Florida, that would be pretty fun. Homestead is going to be a lot of fun. I really enjoy racing there. The cool thing about Homestead is we are going to go there and you will be able to move around and pass and you won’t get hung up as badly in traffic as you would at other race tracks. For the sport in general, I don’t know that there is a better place to go than Homestead to fight for this championship.”

LAST YEAR JIMMIE JOHNSON WOULD STAY OUTSIDE WHEN DENNY WAS TALKING. YOU DID COME IN HERE AND ARE SITTING WITH TONY. HOW IS YOUR MINDSET AND NERVES RIGHT NOW? “They are really good. I am fortunate I guess. There is the potential for me to get really nervous there at Homestead, you never know what will happen. The thing for me is I have always been fortunate enough to just get in the race car and go race and there is no time for me that is more calm or I feel better than in that race car. I understand what all this stuff is. I understand we come up here and answer questions and that is part of our sport. When it comes down to it though, both of us know we have to just go race each other. It is truly neat, like you said it is my first time to come into this not just tied but with a little points advantage in this final race, it is fun. I am just enjoying it. It really, truly doesn’t matter what anyone says or what anyone’s predictions are. It gets done on the race track and that is when we will see.”

WHAT WILL YOU DO THIS WEEK? “I don’t know what I am going to do this week. I don’t have a very busy schedule so that is good. I can always find something to do. I will just go hang out and do what I normally do. I will spend a little time hopefully with the guys and talk a bit with Bob and keep doing what we have been doing all year and go down there and enjoy it.”

HOW COOL IS IT TO BE BATTLING EACH OTHER FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND ALSO BE SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER AND RACING EACH OTHER SO TIGHTLY THE LAST FEW WEEKS? “This is kind of strange to say right now because we are battling and it is a zero sum game, one of us will win and one of us will lose, but it is neat to me that Tony and the guys on the 14 have been running so well and have won so many races and are performing at such a high level. It is going to mean more if we are able to beat them in this championship because of that. To be racing these guys at their peak, for us I can say completely truthfully this is the best Chase we have ever had. We haven’t gone out and got the trophies we have in other Chase’s put we have performed better than we ever had. If they beat us they are beating us at our best and that is pretty neat.”

YOU’VE BEEN A PART OF ALMOST ALL THE CHASE’S. HOW WOULD YOU RATE THIS BEING ON THE INSIDE LOOKING AT IT? “It’s the best points battle I have been a part of at this level. It is fun for me. I still don’t understand why we are both running so good. It seems like subconsciously we are both able to dig down and our teams are able to give us what we need and everyone is performing at a real high level. It has been neat that this battle has brought out the best in us.”

YOU GUYS HAVE RACED HARD WITH EACH OTHER. HOW MUCH HARDER DOES IT GET. WHERE IS THAT LINE AT? “Heck, I’m gonna trip him when we walk out of this room. No, I think we are going to go race as hard as we can and both of us I believe want to win this thing because we are the best out there next weekend and that is all we can do, go out there and race hard like we have for years. There would be nothing better than coming down the last lap, side by side, racing for the win. That would be really fun.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON’S RUN OF FIVE STRAIGHT TITLES CAME TO AN END TODAY. CAN YOU PUT THAT IN PERSPECTIVE? “I would say that if anyone is going to go out and do it again it would be those guys. They have as good a shot as anyone at starting again next year. It is very impressive. I agree with what Tony said.”

KASEY KAHNE HAS SCORED THE SECOND MOST POINTS IN THE CHASE. HAVE YOU NOTICED HIM TURNING IT UP? “He kind of snuck up on me as well. I didn’t realize that statistic. We got to work with those guys really closely when he was driving a Ford and he is a really impressive driver. Those guys are going to be tough for a long time if they can find a groove and he can stick with one team and have people rally around him. I think he is going to be really tough for a long time.”

AS PRECIOUS AS THE POINTS ARE. WAS IT AT ALL DEFLATING WHEN YOU REALIZED AT THE END THAT KASEY HAD THE RACE AND YOU DIDN’T? “Yeah, but I felt that the strategy we went with, we had to do it that way. To pit early with him and leave the opportunity be to be a lap down and mired back in the field if there were a restart I believe Bob did the right thing. If we would have had a caution there at the end, I felt like our car was a little faster than his and we would have had a good shot at the win still. I would have loved to won this race for sure. That is what we all do this for. We still did our jobs. I think we did a really good job today. I am not certain if we had the fastest car but we performed well with it and got a good result.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Ford Racing

Carl Edwards, No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Qualified 9th)

WERE YOU HOLDING BACK AT ALL WITH HOW CRAZY IT IS OUT THERE? “Yeah, it is definitely slower. It was pretty exciting out there. I saw David Gilliland, I was most impressed with him. He almost hit the fence, went all the way back and almost did it again. This is pretty neat. If it were like this tomorrow it would be a really fun race. I think it is going to cool off tomorrow and be a lock down high speed race track. Now it is up to the crew chiefs.”

Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 DeWalt Ford (Qualified 3rd) “It felt horrible, treacherous and nasty. I hope the sun comes out. I think we will start in the first half of the field. If you can beat the championship leader it is pretty cool. I tell you what though, I am really thankful for DeWalt, Stanley and Ford and everyone else that supports me. Our team is getting better and better each week. We have had a good couple of months and I am looking forward to 2012.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 43 WIX Filters Ford (Qualified 2nd) “That was insane. The track is way different than what we had yesterday and the Wix Filters Ford was fast. Greg Irwin and everyone at RPM did a good job. Marcos put a good lap up and explained to us what the track was going to be like. I am not sure that will hold up, it wasn’t a great lap by any means but it will be a good starting spot at least.”

Travis Kvapil, No. 55 Aloft Hotels Ford (Qualified 37th) – “It is a whole different race track than yesterday. Even in practice yesterday at noon the track had a lot more grip. I guess it is just a little warmer and greasier obviously. That is the slowest lap we ran all weekend and I can’t believe it made the race because it was horrible and really slippery with the back end of the car. We squeaked it in so I am happy. We worked hard yesterday and had good speed.”

IF CONDITIONS MIRROR THIS TOMORROW, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? “The thing is I think it seems like the tire is really hard and the groove is really narrow, it is only like one and a half lanes. It is hard enough to get around in this heat by yourself slipping and sliding, let alone to try and run two or three cars wide through a one-and-a-half groove track. There are going to be a lot of wrecks tomorrow, I really think so unfortunately. It might spice up that championship battle.”

JJ Yeley, No. 38 Vampt Ford (Qualified 44th) “It was a slippery lap. There was too much Ford horsepower. I think we may have missed the boat. Yesterday as the evening went on it seemed like scuffs were the way to go but now the sun is out and the track is very slick. I am not so sure that we may have needed to be on stickers. The beauty of this weekend is the No. 38 Ford Fusion is locked in on speed and there was no need to put ourselves in jeopardy. We will work hard on getting a good lap and put ourselves in position for a good finish Sunday.”

David Gilliland, No. 34 Aloft Hotels Ford (Qualified 46th) “Our car was really good last night we felt like and it felt like there was no grip today at all. Something with our car didn’t like the sun at all. Hopefully it is sunny and not raining tomorrow and we get a race. We have some work to do but I think the guys will figure it out.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER PRESS CONFERENCE

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP OUT THERE TODAY? “You kinda watch everybody out there to see how quick the race track is going to be and it was a lot different than yesterday. After being on a race track that had so much grip. I messed my first lap up and just tried to basically back my second lap down to get a clean lap in and see where that put me. I definitely knew there was a chance of it getting beat. I was surprised it held up as long as it did with the guys that were behind me. It is really cool to have Ford with the first three cars and I am excited about tomorrow. I think our car will be really quick. We were good in race trim and more than anything we have to see how the track plays out now.”

WERE YOU SURPRISED WITH THE DEGREE THE TRACK CHANGED AND WAS IT A MATTER OF GUESSING RIGHT ON THE SET UP? “It was definitely a huge surprise. Obviously the sun is out and it is warmer but for as much grip as the track had yesterday you would think maybe it would be a little slower. At night last night I think the quick time was like a 25.50 by Carl so to be almost a second slower was a huge surprise. I was in the hauler watching the first 10 or 15 cars run and you see Jimmie go sailing off and almost get in the wall. Every car seemed to get looser and looser. At that point you have what you have. We tightened it up from yesterday. Marcos put up a good lap and fed back what the track was like so I went in there with an expectation and my first lap was worse than even I expected. It was definitely a lot different than yesterday.”

MARCOS AMBROSE PRESS CONFERENCE

TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP OUT THERE. “It was pretty sketchy. I was pleased to get through it really. It was a lot slicker than yesterday with a brand new surface and tire I don’t think anyone knew what to expect. I was pleased with my lap. We used our scuffs. I think the front two used sticker tires out there. All things considered I think we took a conservative approach to it and it paid off.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR TOMORROW? “It depends what the weather does. We have some rain forecast and it might clean that rubber off and we have to start again, who knows? We have to really watch the weather. It seems there is a lot of grip here when the sun is down. It felt great yesterday afternoon. The track was fast and we were and today with the sun out it was a disaster. It was really slick. I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring. If it is cloudy then you can expect fast speeds and happy drivers. If the sun is out like this then it could be a handful.”

MATT KENSETH POLE PRESS CONFERENCE

TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP OUT THERE TODAY. “It was good. We watched everyone else and obviously there were a lot of people low on grip and it looked like the track and cars were a lot looser than yesterday. Everyone had a different strategy. Jimmy (Fennig) had a strategy to go fast in the first practice to go out late. Even though we knew the temperature would be hotter he thought the track could be faster with more cars having run on it. A lot of people chose the opposite strategy and worked on race setup in the first practice and did their qualifying stuff in the second practice to go out early. He had a plan and made the right adjustments. He thought it would be looser today. I didn’t get all there was to get out of the car. It was just that good. They made all the right choices there.”

WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE TOMORROW? HAVE YOU SEEN A GROOVE COME IN? “You know, it has been kind of a moving target, at least for me it has. The first practice yesterday I thought the track was different than the last practice when it was almost dark. Conditions were different today being in the middle of the day and warmer. It is a moving target I think. It depends if it rains tonight and a lot of things. There is still basically one good groove and it has widened out center of one and two and off. You can run side by side there. The middle of three and four is getting wide but I don’t think you can run side by side all the way around at a competitive race. Hopefully after the Nationwide race when cars are forced to run out there with two-wide restarts and lap and traffic and things like that, hopefully it will come in.”

BASED ON WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN SO FAR, DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE GUYS THAT HIT IT AND GUYS THAT MISS BASED ON THE TRACK CHANGING SO MUCH? “I am not really sure to be honest with you. I didn’t expect qualifying to be as all over the place as it was today. That surprised me a little bit how different the speeds were and everything. You always have that risk at a new track that a couple guys will hit it. The biggest keys to this race are going to be I think you start with qualifying and then after that it is pit stops and restart strategy. The tires don’t fall off at all. They don’t really drop off in speed at all. It is going to be who can figure out how to keep their car up front. Who can be in the bottom on restarts and get good restarts and take advantage of the restarts when someone is in a bad position. I think that is going to be a big deal. I caught cars yesterday. You get two or three car lengths behind them and you just can’t do anything more. Hopefully that will change if the track widens out.”

HOW MUCH OF A FAVOR DO YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE DONE FOR CARL BUMPING HIM FROM THE OUTSIDE LANE TO THE INSIDE ON THE START? “I have no idea where Carl qualified. That was my plan. I thought man if we can sit on the pole, that will really help him. (laughter) I have enough problems to worry about. I can’t really worry about his. The bottom is probably going to be an advantage to get started but it is still 300 miles and I think at some point in the race every car is going to be in the top groove for a little bit.”

AS IT TURNED OUT, YOUR QUALIFYING RUN PUT TONY (STEWART) ON THE OUTSIDE AND CARL ON THE INSIDE. “Yeah, I planned that. I am that good.” (laughter)

IS THIS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT MAKES YOU THINK MAYBE YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO SNEAK BACK INTO THIS THING? “I don’t know. It feels good to sit on the pole and qualify that good. We have won three poles and I think that is more than half of my career total I think. Jimmy and the guys have been giving me really fast cars and in a way that is encouraging but in a way, I hate to say is disappointing, but if you look at Martinsville and how I self-destructed there and Talladega with David breaking on the last restart. All that stuff happened and knowing our stuff is fast enough to be in the hunt but we aren’t in the hunt which I feel is my own fault. It is frustrating yet it is fun to have fast cars every week. Each week we have had a car capable of running top five and we haven’t done that ever since the Chase has been implemented, especially with this car. One lap is going to be different that 300 or whatever it is tomorrow. Hopefully we can keep it up tomorrow. They still have to have a problem. If they have a problem and we run in the top three then you can say we maybe have a chance. If neither of them have a problem and run like they have the last 10 weeks then we are out of it.”

I KNOW YOU HAVEN’T BEEN ON TWITTER MUCH THIS WEEK. KASEY KAHNE ASKED IF YOU ARE TAKING THE INSIDE OR OUTSIDE TOMORROW. “Kasey tweeted me before Martinsville and we were going to try to hook up as drafting partners at Martinsville. I am going to surprise all you guys tomorrow. I will let you know on the one to go lap. I can’t let my strategy go til then.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

2011 NSCS David Gilliland - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

Phoenix Is Like Home but New Configuration Poses Challenges

Statesville, N.C. (November 8, 2011) - David Gilliland is always comfortable going to Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway. After all, the one-mile oval in the desert is one of the tracks he cut his racing teeth on. But the Kobalt Tools 500 race weekend will be his first trip to the track since it was reconfigured after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series raced there in February. The track has a new surface, new elevation changes and a change in the angle of the “dogleg” on the backstretch.

For the February race, the No. 34 team arrived in Phoenix with a strong car and high confidence after finishing third in the Daytona 500, but Gilliland’s Ford Fusion suffered damage in a multi-car accident. He went on to finish 22nd.

In 11 total Sprint Cup starts, Gilliland has a top-15 and two top-20 finishes at the one-mile oval with a best result of 15th.

Comments from Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland heading into Phoenix:

“Phoenix is like a home track to me. I raced there a bunch back in the West Series and had a win where we started from the pole. So I love going there and feel comfortable going there. Of course, it’s going to be different this time because they’ve reconfigured the track so it’s going to be kind of like going to a whole new track.

“One of the things that everybody is saying is that there’s only one groove on the new track. That’s obviously going to make things even more challenging because it’s going to make it that much harder to pass. I guess they’ve been bringing in some driving-school cars to run a bunch of laps around to rubber in a second groove before this weekend. Hopefully that will help. If not, it’s going to be a fight to get into the bottom groove. Anybody up high is going to be hung out to dry.

“We came to Phoenix pretty confident last time (in February). We were coming off our third-place finish in the Daytona 500, we had a really good car and were really happy with it in practice. But we picked up some damage from a wreck that we got a little piece of and it really messed with the car and took away some our competitiveness. So, we’re hoping this time we can go back, keep our nose clean and really have a good run at a place where we know we can run well.

“Phoenix is definitely close enough to home (Riverside, Calif.) that we’ll have family and friends there. It’s always cool going out west. It just gives you that feeling of being home. Like I said, I raced there in the West Series and also a little in Nationwide before moving up to the Cup Series. I always look forward to going back.”

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009. The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford driven by David Gilliland, the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford driven by Travis Kvapil and the No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by J.J. Yeley.

- Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

Ford Racing

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion –

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion – “I think it’s okay. In race trim we were okay. I wasn’t real happy with it in qualifying trim, but there we had it pretty decent. We were just missing the balance a little bit. I just didn’t quite get it, so somebody is probably gonna run a little quicker than that, but, overall, it was a good lap.”

NICE TO NOT KNOCK YOUR TEAMMATE OFF THE POLE. “I think that lap is okay. I know all the fast cars are still behind us, but I felt like I got all of it, but we just missed the balance a little bit and I couldn’t keep the gas down as long as I needed to. Overall, it was a good lap. It was a lot better than what we were in practice.”

HOW HARD HAS IT BEEN TO BOUNCE BACK AFTER MARTINSVILLE? “It’s never easy, especially when you don’t know what’s gonna happen the last three weeks. We had some bad luck at Talladega with David breaking, so you never know, but in a way you feel like you blew up a whole season of work in 20 minutes, so it’s hard to get over that. Yet, there are three races left. We’re down but not out and we’re gonna go work as hard as we can, try to run up front, try to win some races and hopefully climb back in it.”

TREVOR BAYNE – No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion – “I wish I would have gotten more out of that run. I thought for sure I had a top-five run going, but the track gained so much grip through one and two everybody picked up a lot and we only picked up a little bit. We went faster than practice, but it just wasn’t fast enough. I’m frustrated with that a little bit and that’s good because we’re still top 10, but I thought for sure it would be top five. Still, that’s all right.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion – “We wanted to be a little better than that, but I came to the green and I was a little loose. I thought, ‘I better be a little careful my next time through here,’ and I was probably a little too timid down there through three and four, but it is a good starting spot. We focused hard on qualifying here. We had an opportunity to go out there and sit on the pole. We’ve got the top three spots are Fords, so now we’ll just work on the race trim. There couldn’t be a better race track for us. This is a fun one. We’re gonna work hard tomorrow and run that Nationwide car and hopefully learn a little bit for the race on Sunday.”

YOU LIKE THIS TRACK. “It’s nice to be sitting here disappointed in seventh. I think my average qualifying is steadily increasing. We were 21st average for years and now we’re getting better and better, but I think it’s the Ford power. The Fords are so great here and Jack Roush’s Fords run so well. I’m the odd man out there. I got shown up by my teammates pretty bad, but, hopefully we’ll have a good, solid race.”

TONY IS A COUPLE SPOTS AHEAD OF YOU. “Five hundred miles, we’ll see what happens. I think it is gonna be a good race. Those guys have been good. A lot of the guys up there in the Chase have been good. You couldn’t pick a better place to come to to just race it out. This is gonna be a good one. I love this place.”

MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion – “I just had to look at the speeds after qualifying because we didn’t quite get to the bottom on either end of the track. I’m proud of my guys though. We’ve had a good day here. We’re gonna start in the top 15 and I’m looking forward to seeing if we can make it stick.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion – “The track temp is close to the same as practice, but we were too free. I was too loose on the gas, but, overall, it was a good pickup for us. I think we picked up over two-and-a-half tenths, so that’s good. As long as we keep going in that direction all weekend, it’ll be a good weekend for us. The car drives really well. It’s in the race track good and I feel like we have an opportunity to have a good weekend here.”

TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion – “We made a few adjustments there trying to make it a little better and I feel like we kind of stepped over the edge. We were too tight at the end of practice and right there the car was just way too loose for qualifying and we just didn’t have any speed. We actually slowed down from where we were in practice and everybody is picking up quite a bit. Luckily, we’ve got tomorrow to work on it and we’ll go after it hard and get a good result on Sunday.”

J.J. YELEY – No. 55 Ingersoll Rand Ford Fusion – “I’m really proud of all the guys that work on this Front Row No. 55 with Ingersoll Rand being on the Ford this week. We unloaded and the car was really comfortable to drive and had a lot of speed and because of that we didn’t run too many practice laps. I was very happy with our last run of the day, which fell down to about 27th overall in practice, but I knew the car had some more speed. To me, it was still a very conservative lap out there. That’s hard to say when you go out there and you barely lift when you go around this race track, but with the cool temperatures the race track has a ton of grip and makes it a lot of fun to drive. I’m just real happy for these guys. They continue to make it better for me every time I come back and drive the 55, and I’m looking forward to when we go to the next mile-and-a-half.”

MATT KENSETH AND DAVID RAGAN PRESS CONFERENCE (2nd and 3rd-place press conference)

DAVID RAGAN – “I didn’t expect to have a shot at the pole. We had a pretty good car in practice. I thought we’d be comfortable inside the top 10, but just had a good lap and hit my marks. Our team made a few small adjustments prior to qualifying and it just paid off, so it’s cool to see all of the Fords up front, but, hopefully, we can be up there at the end of 500 miles. That’s our goal.”

MATT KENSETH – “My lap was pretty good. It was better than practice. We were tight the whole time in practice and changed some stuff and was just a little too loose in qualifying, but, obviously, it was a good lap and a good spot to start Sunday.”

ARE YOU GUYS BETTER IN PERFORMANCE AT THIS KIND OF TRACK AS OPPOSED TO SHORT TRACKS? “I don’t think we have an incredible advantage. I don’t think we have any advantage. I’m sure all of you guys have done it, but if you guys ever stand in tech it would be hard to argue that anybody has an incredible advantage over anybody else as far as the car or templates or aero or horsepower. But our stuff does run well at these tracks most of the time. It seems everybody groups the mile-and-a-halfs, but I hate grouping them together because we run pretty good at Dover and Michigan and those tracks as well, so it seems like the higher speed tracks we run maybe a little better than some of the other tracks, but I don’t think we necessarily have an advantage.”

DAVID RAGAN CONTINUED – “I don’t think we have an advantage. Certainly, I think these style of tracks fit our engine package, they fit our cars, we have good notes, good simulation to make good, quality adjustments. The races that are one mile in length or more are on the schedule more than any other, so we certainly pay attention to those more, but we’ll see how that advantage looks tomorrow and Sunday.”

HOW DO YOU RACE AGAINST JIMMIE AND CARL AT A TRACK LIKE THIS? IT’S NOT MARTINSVILLE. “Hopefully, we’re in front of them and we’ll let them play their own games and we’ll be up front worrying about ours. I think Matt’s still in the championship hunt, but we’ve got to go out and just try to win the race and we’ll let them do whatever they want to do. Hopefully, we’re in front of them and don’t have to worry about their race.”

MATT KENSETH CONTINUED – “Yeah, I didn’t know I was out of it yet, but every Sunday when they drop the green it’s one against 42 and I don’t think that changes where you are in points. If everybody’s got equal opportunity and the same rights out there for real estate and to race and to try to win and get the best finish they can for their respective team and sponsors, then you wouldn’t want to be raced or race anybody any different just because it’s coming down to the championship. It’s still a race.”

DAVID RAGAN CONTINUED – HOW HARD IS IT TO BE SO CLOSE TO A POLE AND HAVE SNATCHED AWAY BY A TEAMMATE? “I’d rather a teammate beat me than anybody else. At least it stays in the family, but anytime you’re close to a pole you want it bad. Anytime I’m close to qualifying 10th and if I get beat by one-thousandth I’m still mad, so, obviously, it’s cool to sit on poles, but it’s even cooler to have fast race cars and have a good starting spot for Sunday and that’s what we did. A top five starting spot, we’ll get a good selection on pit road and hopefully have some momentum into tomorrow’s practice and into Sunday. We’ve been fast the last few weeks and we’ve had some crazy things happen to our 6 team, so we just need to get that off of our backs and get a solid run. This is just the start of the weekend and I’m proud that we got a good qualifying effort and I can’t wait until Sunday.”

GREG BIFFLE PRESS CONFERENCE (Pole-winning press conference)

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – “It was a great lap for us. Our car was really, really fast right off the truck. That’s just a tribute to my team and how hard they’ve worked and how far we’ve come as a team this season. It was a great lap. We had been fast all through practice and made about six qualifying attempts at it, but it was a pretty uneventful lap. I felt like I could have got back to the gas a little bit sooner in three and four. I’m sure everybody felt like that, but one one-thousandth of a second is not a huge margin to beat David by.”

WHAT ABOUT ROUSH GOING 1-2-3. “That’s really exciting that our race cars are that good. It’s just a tribute to our driver lineup, the guys at the race shop, Doug Yates with the engine shop how far they’ve come with this FR9 – all those things are a big factor in our cars being up front at these mile-and-a-half race tracks. We had a really, really fast car at Charlotte a few weeks back and this car is really no exception.”

HAVE YOU PUT MORE EMPHASIS ON QUALIFYING THIS YEAR? “Ever since Matt (Puccia) came on board we’ve put a little more emphasis on qualifying and also there are two things that play a factor in that. One is the draw for qualifying goes off practice speeds, so it kind of forced our hand to come here on Friday and start in qualifying trim, which we never do. We come here and start in race trim historically all the time, and then switch to qualifying – make two or three runs and be ready to qualify. Then wherever you drew, you drew. It was luck of the draw. You could go out sixth or you could go out 43rd, so, basically, not NASCAR but the rules have forced us into getting a good draw for qualifying, so it’s up to us and we have to come here in qualifying trim. I made a total of seven laps today – now eight – the whole day. That’s all I’ve done today and I get a little apprehensive, I get a little aggravated because I want to make laps and I like to drive the race car more than eight laps, but I understand what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to get a starting spot for Sunday, we’re trying to get a good qualifying draw and have to wait for tomorrow. It’ll be a restless night tonight waiting for tomorrow to when I can go out and make 10-lap runs, so that’s been a factor in us qualifying better. We’re spending more time on qualifying because of the way the qualifying draw is.”

SO YOU HAVE NOT BEEN IN RACE TRIM TODAY? “None. A lot of guys do that now. I think probably over half the field probably.”

IS IT A PLUS TOMORROW THAT YOU CAN JUST CONCENTRATE ON RACE TRIM? “Yeah, that definitely can be something we can focus on. We kind of anticipate that tomorrow is all race trim and getting the car to drive really well is the most important thing. We’ve got to keep an eye on weather and all those things in case it looks like we might lose some practice and it forces our hand to practice some today in race trim, but that didn’t look like it was gonna be an issue, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

-PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

David Gilliland - Front Row Motorsports

Driver Learned State Slogan Applies to Impact with Wall, Too

Statesville, N.C. (November 1, 2011) - Texas Motor Speedway is a favorite stop on the racing circuit for driver David Gilliland, but he learned the hard way on his last visit that everything really is bigger in Texas – including the wrecks. In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ April race at the Fort Worth oval, the driver of the No. 34 Ford blew a tire and hit the wall hard. His car was not repairable and he finished 42nd.

Gilliland is ready to put that memory behind him as he returns to the 1.5-mile tri-oval for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500. He has a top-15 and two top-20 finishes in 10 career starts at Texas.

Comments from driver David Gilliland heading into Texas:

“I like Texas. It is definitely one of my favorite racetracks. Earlier in the year it was one of my hardest hits I think I remember taking after blowing a tire. Hopefully we’ve got that behind us now, I feel like we’ve got that under control and I’m looking forward to going back there. We’ve got a lot of friends and family out there and it’s just a great racetrack. It’s really fast, a mile-and-a-half and it’s just somewhere I really enjoy going.

“We actually had our car working pretty good for us that weekend before we blew the tire. We had made some good progress making it better during practice and during the race. But that was the early part of the year when we had some brake-cooling issues and that’s what ended our day early. Those issues are behind us so I’m really looking forward to going to Texas and having a good weekend.

“Things are really heating up in the Chase right now and the competition is really tight among the top few chasers. We really saw the tensions running high at Martinsville and I think we’re going to keep seeing it these last three races. So, we just kind of have to watch our backs. We’ve got some guys ticked off at other guys and we might see more paybacks in these last few weeks. We just need to stay out of that and keep our nose clean and bring home three solid finishes to close out our year.”

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009. The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford driven by David Gilliland, the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford driven by Travis Kvapil and the No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by J.J. Yeley.

- Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

Ford Racing

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion – WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE 18 CAR?

TALK ABOUT THE TEAM REPAIRING THE CAR AND GETTING YOU BACK OUT THERE? “It’s disappointing. I obviously did a poor job today. We were really bad on used tires if we had a restart like we were in practice and we kept getting the outside every time and that’s such a disadvantage on the outside, unless you have a real fast car, which we really didn’t. It was a struggle all day. Obviously, I didn’t make good decisions and we ended up in a bad spot. I wish I could do some things over and try again, but we can’t do that. We raced hard all day. I thought we had pretty good track position at times and just couldn’t capitalize on it.”

WHAT GOT IT STARTED WITH VICKERS? “With Brian he just kept hitting me in the door. I mean, we’re at Martinsville and I gave him the bottom. Obviously, I’m not gonna roll over and let him go with 40 to go or whatever it was and he just kept driving in harder and harder and he slammed me in the door at least five times and just ran me up in the marbles and I was just tired of it, so I spun him out. I don’t know how you can’t pass somebody here without running into him every single time when he gives you the bottom and the fastest lane, but obviously he couldn’t and I was trying to get every position I could at the end of the race.”

YOU WERE RUNNING IN THE TOP 10 MUCH OF THE DAY. DID THE VICKERS INCIDENT RUIN YOUR DAY? “Well, that didn’t help anything, but that didn’t really do it. We kept getting restarts on the outside and on used tires our car would not restart fast. I really don’t know why, we would just be extremely loose and I just couldn’t get going. We were really falling back in that run. After that I thought maybe we were gonna be okay and when I got under the 18 there, like I said, I honestly don’t know what happened. I thought I left him enough room, so I don’t know if I slid up into him or what happened, but somehow we hit off of two and it cut my tire. Of course, that ruined my day, along with his and whoever else got unfortunately collected in that mess.”

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CAR MIDWAY THROUGH? “On the longer run we were pretty good once we got past halfway through the race and then that particular run when we had all of that stuff happen we just got real loose and I couldn’t keep up and I couldn’t get off the corner and kept falling backwards.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – “It was crazy. We just got back to 15th and I’m so thankful. I got it backed into the fence on my own, the brakes just didn’t work. People were just rooting and gauging and everybody knows it’s late in the year and we’ve got to go. That’s why they’re driving like that. I didn’t put a scratch on my car, except for myself when I backed it into the fence. We finished 15th, so I’m pretty happy.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Scotts Ford Fusion – PRESS CONFERENCE

“That’s just a gift to have finished in ninth and have the day we had. Did Tony have to come in and pit? I saw on a replay it’s like he cut a tire or something and had to pit and came back through the field somehow. That was our strategy. We were gonna do the same thing we did last week and just cruise around the back and wait for everything to work out. It was a lot of work. We did not deserve to finish ninth. I’m just proud of my guys for sticking with it. Bob did a good job of keeping me calm and now we go to Texas. I’m really excited about Texas.”

IS THIS A BIGGER MIRACLE THAN KANSAS OR EQUAL? “It’s unreal. We were so bad. With about 200 laps to go I was thinking, ‘Okay. The Cardinals didn’t give up the other night.’ That was a little motivation. ‘The Missouri Tigers didn’t give up the other night.’ That was more motivation. I had become okay with the fact that we were probably gonna finish 20th or 25th. I was thinking already about Texas and how we were gonna have to go there and everything we were gonna do, but my guys stuck with it and we got very, very fortunate. I’m just glad we can move on.”

THOUGHTS ON TONY FIGHTING HARD TO STAY ON THE LEAD LAP EARLIER IN THE RACE. “I think credit needs to be given to his crew chief because I raced around Tony for the first 100-150 laps and I thought his car was as slow as mine was at that point, so they did a really good job of turning the balance of that car around overall. It looked like he was struggling a lot.”

CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT WENT WRONG AND WHAT WENT RIGHT, AND IN VICTORY LANE TONY SAID YOU BETTER BE WORRIED AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO HAVE AN EASY THREE WEEKS. DO YOU HAVE A REBUTTAL? “He’s wound up. He won the race. We’ll see what happens at Texas. I feel like we’re gonna go there and we’re gonna have as good a shot to win as anyone. This track has just been really, really tough for me, so I think this is one of those days where everything went wrong and everything went right as well, and, fortunately, the timing of all those things worked out so we finished ninth. I think Tony and those guys, they’ve obviously won three Chase races so when I sat in here on Friday I told you guys I thought he was one of the guys that could win this race and be a guy that you’d have to beat for the championship and I think he’s proving that right now. But, yeah, we’ll have fun. We’ll go race hard. They’re gonna have to race us, too, so I’m excited about the next three races.”

WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN THE BLACK FLAG CAME OUT AND WAS THEN RESCINDED? “I had forgotten about that. My spotter, Jason (Hedlesky), NASCAR was telling him for me to pass the 31, so Jason was yelling at me, ‘You’ve got to pass the 31,’ so I drove around the outside of Burton right as the green was coming out. I’ve got to give credit to Burton because he probably had no clue what was going on. I could tell by the way he was driving me that he thought about turning me around down there in turn one, so I’m grateful that he didn’t do that and I’m grateful – whether or not there was a communication error or what was going on – I appreciate NASCAR looking at it and realizing they told me to do what they were black-flagging me for. It’s not very often they rescind the black flag like that.”

A LUGNUT ISSUE, YOU WERE LAPPED TWICE AND YOU FINISHED NINTH. IS THIS LIKE A VICTORY? “Yes. We talked about it beforehand. If we could just come out of here with a top 10 and the points lead, that’s like a win, so I’m very happy with the result. I’m not happy with the performance. We struggled in a bunch of different ways today, so we’ve got to work on this. We’ve got to figure out exactly what causes us to struggle here. It looks like a couple of our teammates figured it out and we’ve got some homework to do before we come back next time.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 AdvoCare Ford Fusion – “That’s Martinsville. It was a really good car. I think we just needed something small to win the race, but the car was so good. It was really good. I was proud of all the guys. We’ve got to work on our pit stops a little bit because we kept losing a couple of spots, but what really hurt us was I got put three-wide on the outside and got into one and that shoved the fender over the tire and we got a yellow, and from there on back we were at the back of the pack and everybody is just gauging back there. Doug gave me a great motor and everybody at the engine shop. The car was good and that’s all you can say.”

A VERY PHYSICAL RACE TODAY. WHY? “It was unbelievable. It was insane. That’s the way NASCAR is now. Everybody is desperate. We’ve got to fight for everything we can get out there. Sponsors, points, money, etc., so everybody is trying to get everything. It’s the end of the year. It just seems like if it’s just me, but it just seems like this year is tiring. Everybody is tired and you put that combination together at a place like Martinsville and things are gonna happen.”

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion – “It was just a real crazy race. I felt like we had a top 10 car. We were able to pass some cars from the get-go and made good adjustments from our practice on Friday, but just didn’t have the luck. We were just cruising around there and someone wrecked someone on the front straightaway and bumper-tagged and we had a small piece of sheetmetal go through our radiator and we had to go behind the wall and change it. But, other than that, our car was fast. Our team did a good job. We just didn’t have luck today.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Fusion – “We were in good shape. We didn’t have a scratch on it. We were just trying to keep the fenders on and blew a right-rear tire. We had to pit. We tried to stay out and do the wave around, got our lap back, we had to pit under green but it looked like it was going to make the cycle. We were making up a lot of track position there, but we just blew a tire and our day is done.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

2011 NSCS David Gilliland - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

Fast Car Was Derailed by Blown Tire in April Race

Statesville, N.C. (October 25, 2011) - David Gilliland returns to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway looking to pick up where he left off in April – before he had an unfortunate encounter with the outside retaining wall. The driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Fusion had a good-handling car but suffered significant damage when a blown tire put him up against the fence early in the race. He eventually finished 33rd.

Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 will be Gilliland’s 11th career start at Martinsville. His 19th-place finish last year for Front Row was his best result to date at the .526-mile oval and the best-ever finish for Front Row Motorsports at the track.

Comments from Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland heading into Martinsville:

“Last time in Martinsville we had some tire issues and some brake-cooling issues and it made for a really long weekend. We’re going to have a better shot at it this time. We worked on our brake-cooling package on the front and we haven’t had problems since. So, we’re definitely going in there this weekend with a lot more confidence. The car drove well last time, actually. We just had tire issues.

“Martinsville is a challenging racetrack. I’d be lying if I said it was a favorite of mine. It’s a piece of cake when you’re by yourself, but when you get 43 cars out there, it gets really tight really quick. But I know for a fact we’ll be better this time. So, I’m excited to go back and get another shot at it and improve our results.

“Martinsville is also a big ‘payback’ track. Because you’re not going the high speeds of a superspeedway or even a mile-and-a-half track, it’s a little easier if a guy owes somebody to get him back without causing too much damage or hurting him. So, that’s another thing you kind of have to watch out for. Some guys have certain intentions when they hit the track and if you happen to be nearby, you might get collected as an innocent bystander. So, you’ve definitely got to be on your toes.

“We had a strong car last weekend at Talladega. Travis (Kvapil) and I worked really well together. Our Ford Fusions were really fast paired up and it felt great to push our way to the front and run up there for most of the race. It’s too bad we kind of got backed up at the end because I think we really had a chance to finish up front. We just ran out of room on those final laps and had nowhere to go.”

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009. The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford driven by David Gilliland, the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford driven by Travis Kvapil and the No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by J.J. Yeley.

- Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release

Ford Racing

David Gilliland, No. 34 World Hunger Relief Ford (Qualified 42nd)

TONY STEWART SAID THAT YOU GUYS AREN’T GOING TO BE ABLE TO HOOK UP LIKE YOU HAVE IN THE PAST. “Yeah, we aren’t. It is such a tight points battle right now and we are going to try to help the Ford guys out all we can. We are going to go that route. Our teammate Travis made the race and in the past he has had to do stuff to ensure he made the race and had to go behind the wall sometimes and change the oil and stuff like that. This time he is not doing anything like that so we can make a plan to work together and stick together. We are One Ford. That is the goal for this weekend. I feel good about it. Tony was great to work with those last couple of races and you never know what will happen. If you get down to the end and he is out of a partner and something happens to Travis, we are 100-percent comfortable working together, with each other. You never know what can happen on into the race. As far as our initial plan, it is to work with Ford.”

SO WILL YOU HELP IF CARL OR SOMEONE LIKE THAT NEEDS IT. WILL YOU HELP THE CHASE GUYS? “Yeah. I worked with Carl at Daytona and we worked really well together. He was really comfortable with us working together. We have kinda built a rapport with those guys. So much can change throughout this race as you guys know. When it gets down to the end, we are going to leave our options open.”

SO YOU CAN HELP SOMEBODY IN THE COURSE OF A RACE. YOU AREN’T BANNED FROM WORKING WITH ANYONE? “No, we aren’t banned. When you lay out your initial plans you have to think of the big picture and Ford does a lot for us and we would really like to see a Ford win this championship.”

DID THAT DIRECTIVE COME FROM FORD RACING? “You know, obviously they would like to see that. We are here to help them just like they help us if we can.”

Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Jeremiah Weed Ford (Qualified 11th)
“It drove good. I hope it drives good going that slow. Qualifying is pretty uneventful here for the driver. It seemed like our speed was reasonable and that should probably get us 15th or so hopefully.”

David Ragan, No. 6 UPS My Choice Ford (Qualified 8th)
“Our UPS Ford has some speed. Drew and the guys, this is all about them on qualifying days at Daytona and Talladega. Our job is to try not to go out and make a mistake. Our car was fast and drives real nice. The engine shop has been doing a good job, it has good power. I think we have a fast car and it will be in the top-10 for sure and have a good starting spot for Sunday.”

FOR THIS RACE THERE IS A RESTRICTOR PLATE CHANGE AND THE VENT FOR COOLING. HOW HAS THAT AFFECTED YOUR RUN HERE? “Zero. No affect. We will be able to push all day long and run like we have all year at these restrictor plate tracks.”

YOU HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL AT THE RESTRICTOR PLATE RACES THIS YEAR. WHY SHOULDN’T I BET THE FARM ON YOU FOR SUNDAY? “Because there are 42 other cars and the B factors come into effect. Anything can happen but we will have as good a shot to win as anyone this weekend. I guarantee we will lead some laps and we are going to be fast. We are going to have some fun but crazy things do happen. Mechanical problems do bite you sometimes but we will be fine. We’ve got good race cars, good teammates, good engines and it is a lot of fun here being at Talladega.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 43 Best Buy Ford (Qualified 24th)
“That was pretty much all skill by me right there. Actually no, we didn’t qualify very fast so that was all the car then. It was pretty stable. We got on the back straightaway there and there are a couple people partying pretty hard so that was pretty good. I was pretty impressed. I think they were left over from last night. I heard them last night as well. Other than that it was Talladega qualifying. The Best Buy Ford should start mid pack to start with and end up front. That’s the plan.”

WHAT’S THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF THIS TO YOU? “Yesterday it seemed like all the stuff they did to make us not be able to push as long still didn’t help. NASCAR will figure out how to do something but the teams are so smart now that they figure out a way to still make it better. I think it is honestly how long you can run in a tandem group and whether we will do that all race or all pack up for awhile and then get with our partners and try to race at the end. We will see.”

WOULD THERE EVER BE A SCENARIO WHERE A MANUFACTURER WOULD SAY YOU AREN’T ALLOWED TO PUSH ANOTHER MANUFACTURER? “I haven’t been told that yet. Maybe I will be told that after this now. Maybe they forgot to get to me. I could easily see that though. The biggest thing is that first off, I want to win the race for myself, Best Buy and Richard Petty Motorsports. Secondly we want to get one of these Fords to win the championship and Matt and Carl are right there for it. Anything we can do to help them is what is always going to be our focus.”

Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 Stanley Ford (Qualified 19th)
“Me and Todd Parrott have been through a lot together. I have a lot to thank him for. He has been a great crew chief for me and we get on well. We’ve had a really good month with three top-10s in row and that run will put us somewhere around 15th here. We are close to AJ, our teammate, so we should be able to find each other pretty quick on Sunday and get to the front.”

YOU HAVE ‘NO BRAKES’ WRITTEN ON YOUR HAND, WHAT’S THAT ABOUT? “That is just a cue for me when I jump in the car I always tend to test the brake pedal and here that will push the pads back. I didn’t want to be that guy that pumped the pedal and forget about it. It is just my mental cue before I put my gloves on to make sure I don’t touch the brake. This stuff here is unique. The car has all this stuff in it to make it run fast and produce drag.”

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST THOUGHT ABOUT THE WEEKEND’S RACE? WHAT IS STILL ON YOUR MIND? “I just want to get to the finish. It is one of these deals here where I have had trouble finishing lately being caught up in weird accidents. Our goal here is to be in contention coming to the checkered flag and hopefully put ourselves in good position.”

DO YOU SEE A SCENARIO WHERE YOU WOULD PUSH A CHEVY? “If it is Kevin Harvick then there is no chance. We are trying to help as best we can our Ford drivers win the championship. Carl and Matt Kenseth have had a great year so far and I don’t want to get in the way of the championship and don’t want to change the outcome, I don’t want to be in the way. I think pushing a Chase contender in a Chevrolet would probably not be the best thing for your career if you have blue blood, and that I certainly have.”

SO YOU PAIR UP BASED ON WHERE THEY ARE IN THE CHASE AND WHAT MANUFACTURER IS ON THE CAR? “In the end you want to have a dance partner already set. If you can’t find your teammate or person you want to work with then it will be a scramble and you have to do what you have to do to get your car as high as you can. I don’t think that if there are 43 cars out there that I will be looking for anyone but a Ford driver to get me to the line.”

Carl Edwards, No. 99 Subway Ford (Qualified 9th)
“You know, it is Anytober and we are promoting Subway. They will sell any regular foot long sub for five dollars. Here comes the other six inches of my foot long sub, the 16 of Greg Biffle. He is 17th? Okay, we will be probably eighth or ninth and Greg will start back there and that will make it easy for us to meet up and work together. I was just talking to Mark (Martin) and the driver can’t do much on these laps. You have to just not make a mistake and get through the gears correctly. Our car was pretty good and the great thing is that working with Greg I felt like we could pass anybody yesterday. This is going to be a fun race.”

Greg Biffle, No. 16 3M/O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Ford (Qualified 18th)
“It was a pretty uneventful lap, always is qualifying here at Talladega. We got a pretty good gust of wind down the backstretch and I could feel it slow the car down. The wind is starting to pick up a little bit and I think it hurt us a little bit. Carl and I, we have a marriage made in heaven and we are going to work together in the race. The 21 car was really fast in practice, so we will see if he can knock Mark off the pole. We will have to wait and see. We didn’t qualify quite where we wanted. I think we lost a tenth with that gust of wind and Carl’s car and my car really match up on speed pretty well.”

Trevor Bayne, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford (Qualified 4th)
“I think that shows how much work the 21 guys put into these cars and they do a great job at the superspeedways and the work shows up here. It is all about speed and our car has it. I think it is a solid run for our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford. Hopefully we can keep it up there all day. Qualifying doesn’t really matter once the green flag drops with all the drafting that is going on. You will move around from the back to the front and back again. We will hang out and see who we hook up with.”

Andy Lally, No. 71 TRG Motorsports Ford (Qualified 33rd)
“It means a whole lot to the manufacturers and we have a good strong motor here. This Ford is pulling real well. We are a small team and this is a real good effort by these guys. There is no wind tunnel time on this car. We are relying on the Roush Yates Ford power under that hood and some little tricks these guys learn along the way. They have been learning a lot and we have been working behind the scenes as hard as we can. I am proud of them. They have done a good job.” DO

YOU HAVE A PARTNER STRATEGY FOR TOMORROW? “I got to work with Terry Labonte at Daytona and had a blast. To get to work with a veteran like that, you just want to keep coming back and doing it some more. If he will have me I will certainly be willing to push him all day tomorrow. We have a couple other guys we are talking to in case things get shuffled around but Terry is good people and a champion and it would be very cool to get to do that with him again.”

Travis Kvapil, No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford (Qualified 17th)
“It was a good run. It is hard to really do anything as a driver here. It is all on the team and Front Row Motorsports did a good job. This is a different car than we have had for speedway races. We wrecked our Daytona car earlier in the year and we brought this one here. I have to give a big thank you to Ford and Doug Yates for the great horsepower. The guys at the shop pay attention to all the details and so far, so good. Surely it won’t hold up for a pole but we are solidly in the show and that was objective number one for us.”

DO YOU HAVE A PARTNER FOR TOMORROW? “I think so. It all can go out the window but myself and David Gilliland are planning to work together and be there for each other all day long. We are looking for a good solid day tomorrow because that can go a long way for our fight to get back into the top-35. We want to keep chipping away at it. That is the plan.”

JJ Yeley, No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford (Qualified 28th)
“It was good. The most important thing is that we are locked in now. The biggest disappointment was that we were in full qualifying trim and had really good speed yesterday. We thought we would pick up a couple tenths today. The first lap wasn’t bad but we didn’t pick up those extra tenths on the second lap. I’m not exactly sure why but again at the end of the day the goal has been achieved and we are in the race.”

WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY FOR TOMORROW? “I think you almost have to shoot from the hip. You can sit there and plan but as soon as the green flag drops there are 40 other guys out there to disturb your plan. It is tough because there are 43 cars starting this race so there will be one guy left out, as long as you aren’t that guy you will be okay.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

David Gilliland - Front Row Motorsports

No. 34 Team Asks Fans to Make a Difference with $1 Donation

Statesville, N.C. (October 20, 2011) - David Gilliland will be driving for more than just points and pride this weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. He’ll be driving for World Hunger Relief, the annual hunger relief effort conducted by Yum! Brands. The logo and website of the campaign will adorn the hood and rear quarter panels of the No. 34 Ford Fusion for the Good Sam Club 500 race weekend.

Gilliland and Front Row Motorsports are asking fans to donate a dollar to the cause – an amount that can provide four meals to hungry children at school. Fans can visit www.FromHungertoHope.com and click on the “Click to Donate” button under the red “$1″ symbol or visit any participating Yum! Brand restaurant to donate in person.

Yum! Brands is the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, whose logos will also be on the No. 34 Ford at Talladega. Front Row Motorsports team owner Bob Jenkins is a Yum! franchisee, operating 132 restaurants around the eastern part of the United States.

“We’re fortunate to be able to go racing every week and do what we love,” Jenkins said. “And every time we go on track, we have the opportunity to send a message to the people who see our cars. There are a lot of people all over the world, kids especially, who can’t just go to the refrigerator or to a restaurant to get something to eat like we can. We’re happy to help raise some awareness for this campaign to help them.”

Yum! Brands’ annual World Hunger Relief campaign is the world’s largest private sector hunger relief effort, spanning 110 countries, 38,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants and over 1 million employees, to raise awareness, volunteerism and funds for the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) and other hunger relief agencies.

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009. The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford driven by David Gilliland, the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford driven by Travis Kvapil and the No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by J.J. Yeley.

- Breaking Limits Marketing for Front Row Motorsports, Press Release