ROBBY GORDON – No. 7 Jim Beam Ford Fusion (finished 5th)
– "A good points day. It should make up for missing last weekend, for sure. We’re going to race track at Michigan where I ran a top-10 the whole time we were there last time, so I expect to have a good run there, as well."
ON FALLING BACK TO 37TH AT ONE POINT AND TAKING TWO TIRES ON THE FINAL PIT STOP. "I know Gene got mad at me for coming in there under that caution, but I think that was the only way we were going to get back up there. I just used my brakes up too many times early, and there was no way I was going to do it without a two-tire call."
DID YOU HAVE A SOFT PEDAL THERE AT THE END? "Yeah, I had a soft pedal, and I knew I didn’t have enough to win the thing, so fifth was better than, what, getting spun out and finishing 36th or 38th or something like that. So, I let the 96 go – he had better brake power than I did at that point."
THIS YOUR SEVENTH TOP-FIVE IN NINE RACES AT WATKINS GLEN. "Yeah, we run good every time we’re here. We just came up a little bit short. I’m going to say it all comes back to that first pit stop where we lost 17, 18 positions, maybe even 19 positions. That hurt, and it put me over the edge. So, that was disappointing."
BIG PICTURE, WHAT DOES THIS TOP-FIVE MEAN FOR THIS TEAM? "A lot of points. I don’t know where this is going to take us back to, but our goal was to finish inside the top 20. We’ve had three absolutely horrible weeks. We overcame a lot of adversity today, and finished fifth. We’ll take fifth and go to the bank with it."
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion (finished 8th) – WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END? "I just figured the [heck] with it, I’ve got one more braking zone before the end of this race and I just went in a little deeper than I had and wheel-hopped it. Lucky I practiced going through there; in practice, you know, I went through that same gravel trap. I knew I wouldn’t lose too many spots if I did mess up, and we ended up eighth, which my guys deserve better than that, but still, a fun day and I just didn’t want to finish second. I really wanted to get ’em."
THERE WAS SOME DEBRIS ON THE TRACK. WAS THAT A FACTOR OR DID YOU OVER-DRIVE? "I don’t know. When the rear axel starts hopping, you’re essentially along for the ride. I mean, you’ve got to stab the gas and hope it quits. But, it was pretty exciting. I think that’s the same thing that happened to Jeff, going into turn one. It’s just real hard not to do that in these cars, and you can only go so hard. I could keep up with Tony, I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to catch him without really barreling in there."
BORIS SAID – No. 21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion (finished 14th) – "Mission accomplished. At the end, I think we could’ve gotten a top-10, but where the 22 car was, I had to really think about it. I kind of gave up and let the 2 car by and then made a little mistake and the 12 got by. But, still, that’s exactly what they needed – and I got to race instead of watching on the couch, and I get to take a picture away of me driving a Wood Brothers car, so it’s a pretty special weekend."
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE TEAM, AND FOR YOU? "Well, they’re in the top 35 now, so they’re in the show next week and that was the mission. So, it was a win-win for all of us.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE WEEKEND? "I’m still a little disappointed I didn’t get to race my car, because of all the work we put into it and how proud I am of our No Fear team. But, we got to race and that’s the important part."
YOU STARTED FROM THE VERY BACK. HAD YOU STARTED SOMEWHERE EVEN IN THE MIDDLE, WHAT COULD YOU HAVE DONE WITH THE CAR? "It was a top-five car, for sure."
DAVID GILLILAND – No. 38 M&M’s Ford Fusion (finished 33rd) – WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END? "We got spun out going through essess. I think we were running 12th or 13th and got spun out there. It’s just too bad, late in the race. We were just running our own race, biding our time and kept the car clean and in one piece, and got taken out there at the end.
It ruined our chance for a good finish, but I learned a lot. This was my first time here at Watkins Glen; I learned a lot and we’ll be better when we come back."
- Ford - also photos
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