Ford Racing Qualifying Quotes

Brooklyn, Mich. — The eighth row of the Sunday’s scheduled LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway is all Ford.

Bill Elliott posted at 38.521-second fast lap to start 15th in field of 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers. Matt Kenseth’s fast lap of 38.527 seconds starts him beside Elliott.

Brian Vickers won the pole with Kyle Busch completing the first row.

BILL ELLIOTT – NO. 21 MOTORCRAFT FORD FUSION (QUALIFIED 15TH)“It slid the nose down a little bit in [Turns] 3 and 4 and I wasn’t expecting that. Everything I had done in practice, the car has been just a little bit freer. When I got down in there I couldn’t believe it and I couldn’t get the throttle like I wanted to, but my hat’s off to these guys. They have done an awesome job.

“We went to the All-Star Race in Charlotte and were just so-so, and came back for the 600 and we really gained some stuff. We came out of there and did an Indy tire test and we feel like we gained some stuff there and it just keeps paying off week-in and week-out. We just need to keep expanding on what we’re doing, but this Ford Motorcraft bunch has done a great job.”

YOU’RE THE TOP QUALIFYING FORD AGAIN.“I’m very pleased with the progress. I think we have come a long way with what we’re doing, but, for us to unload and go from being one of the worst cars on the board to being a very respectable car on the board says a lot.”

HOW WAS THE CAR?"The car was pretty decent. The Ford Fusion and these guys did a great job. Motorcraft and everybody has helped us out on this deal for this year and believing in us to run a limited amount of races and it’s really paid off. I think David Hyder and all the guys working back at the shop have really improved this car 100 percent. From where we started the first of the year to the last two or three races, I think we’ve learned a lot.”

MATT KENSETH – NO. 17 CARHARTT/DEWALT FORD FUSION (QUALIFIED 16TH)“It was alright. We picked up a lot. We really kind of concentrated on race trim. We started practice and I was pretty happy with the car in race trim and we just missed it qualifying. We were just really slow. Even when we got our balance right we were just real slow, so we made a huge pickup from practice. We were just off. It was just kind of slow. The balance was pretty good, it just wouldn’t go any better.”

To read full interviews from the Ford Racing drivers visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36485