Ford teams race notes, quotes

TREVOR BAYNE PUTS FORD RACING IN VICTORY LANE WITH MANUFACTURER'S 12TH DAYTONA 500 TRIUMPH

• Today's win in the Daytona 500 was the 600th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win for Ford Racing and its 12th overall in "The Great American Race."

• Trevor Bayne became the 10th different Ford driver to win the Daytona 500.

• Trevor Bayne registered the first win of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career with today's win in only his second series start.

• He becomes the seventh driver in NASCAR history to make the Daytona 500 his first NSCS victory.

• Bayne is the 75th different driver to win a Cup race with Ford Racing, and the first since Jamie McMurray won for the first time with the manufacturer in 2007.

• The win by Wood Brothers Racing is the first by a Ford team other than Roush Fenway Racing since Dale Jarrett won for Robert Yates Racing at Talladega in October 2005.

• It also marks the first win for a non-RFR team in the Ford Fusion since it became the manufacturer's flagship model in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2006.

• The last NSCS win for the Wood Brothers was with Elliott Sadler at Bristol on March 25, 2001 - which happened to be all-time win No. 512 for Ford Racing.

Ford Daytona 500 Race Winners (Owner): 1963 - Tiny Lund (Wood Brothers) 1965 - Fred Lorenzen (Holman-Moody) 1967 - Mario Andretti (Holman-Moody) 1969 - LeeRoy Yarbrough (Junior Johnson) 1978 - Bobby Allison (Bud Moore) 1985 - Bill Elliott (Harry Melling) 1987 - Bill Elliott (Harry Melling) 1992 - Davey Allison (Robert Yates) 1996 - Dale Jarrett (Robert Yates) 2000 - Dale Jarrett (Robert Yates) 2009 - Matt Kenseth (Jack Roush) 2011 - Trevor Bayne (Wood Brothers)

*

MARCOS AMBROSE - No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion

WHAT DID YOU SEE FROM YOUR SEAT? "Not a lot. I saw the 00 spun out and I just checked out. I was going pretty straight and they all started running over the top of me. I thought I had it saved and then I got spun down on the bottom, and then Jeff Gordon finished me off. We're gonna get back out with the Stanley Ford Fusion. We're excited to be at Daytona, it's just a shame it ended this way."

IS THIS AN ISSUE NASCAR WILL HAVE TO ADDRESS BEFORE TALLADEGA? "I don't know. I'm just driving the race car. Whatever the rules are and whatever we're doing I'm gonna be part of it, but it's ruined our day. It's been unfortunate for Stanley. It's my first race for this team and it's just a terrible way to do it." HOW WAS THE RACING OUT THERE? "It's really close. Everybody is trying to find partners to work with and pull away. I think everyone is just trying to work out how to do it. Today, I was just trying to make sure I didn't drop off the back without finding a good partner and got caught up in a mess, too. I was trying to play it safe and it didn't work out too well for me."

*

ROBERT RICHARDSON, JR. - No. 37 Front Row Ford Fusion

WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE? "You know, it is crazy. That is what is happening today with that two car draft. Everyone is still trying to figure it out. I was running with my teammate Travis Kvapil and I was getting pretty tight off the corners and he was locked onto my bumper. I was trying to keep it out of the wall and he was still attached to me. The rest is history. I hate it. I hate it for Front Row Motorsports and everyone else that gave me an opportunity to run this race. It is definitely not Daytona racing. This two car draft stuff is pretty tough to deal with and try to get a handle on and trust the guy behind you. I am okay though."

IS THIS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO GET ADDRESSED BEFORE TALLADEGA? "If they were going to address something, you would have thought it would have happened before this race. There are definitely some things they need to change to get it back to pack racing like it used to be. It is our job as racers to try to get away and break the mold a little bit though too. Hopefully by Talladega they will have something figured out so that all the cars can get back to big pack racing again."

*

MATT KENSETH - No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford Fusion

"We were pretty beat up and it was pretty hard to control. I should have known better. I should have just stayed in the back and hoped for a lucky dog or a wavearound, but Mark did a wavearound that time so we were trying to race him for the lucky dog. I was driving up there in traffic where I knew I wasn't capable of doing with a car pushing me. Greg was trying to help me out to get me back on the lead lap, so we were coming up through the middle and he was pushing me. Logano put on a big block, so I had to get on the brakes and slow up for him and Greg couldn't quite slow up and just got me turned around."

WHAT HAPPENED? "First of all, I shouldn't have gone up there to start with. I asked him to try to help me get the lucky dog or get back on the lead lap and he was staying with me, but in all that dirty air my car was so beat up and the suspension was so bad that I could hardly make it through the corner. I had to let off the gas all the time. I couldn't run up there in all that turbulent air, but we caught the 20 and a couple of other cars. The 20 was by himself, slow and saw us coming. I was gonna split the middle and he went up to block so I had to slow up and when I got slowed up, I just got turned around."

HOW MENTALLY CHALLENGING IS IT OUT THERE? "It's just aggravating because you've got to either be shoving somebody or get shoved and it's just kind of an aggravating way to race. You've got to watch your mirror and keep riding the brakes and try to get to somebody, or you've got to be in front of somebody and hope they slam the brakes so you can just slam them. It's just a difficult way to race."

*

GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 3M Ford Fusion - "I don't know what happened there. I got a little sideways off of four. I don't know if the 42 wasn't pushing quite straight or what. I went sideways for awhile and got it gathered back up. Right when I got it gathered back up he hit me again and sent me into the fence on the outside. I just have to watch the replay. There is only so much you can do trying to drive these cars. I hurt my teammate four laps earlier the same way. You don't mean to do it but you have to push to stay up with all the cars. Unfortunately that is what happened."

HOW IS THE RACING OUT THERE AND WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOU AND KENSETH? "Matt's car was moving around, the air was moving it around. He was kind of stuck behind the 20 and I was trying to be easy. It looked like I bumped him and he got going and got straightened out and I started to go against him and he wasn't quite done moving around. It just takes a touch at the right time when a guy is moving and you will turn him. Just like what happened with Montoya and I. He probably thought I was gathered back up and tried to push and we weren't quite straight yet."

WHEN YOU COME BACK IN JULY DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE MORE OF THE SAME OF THIS, OR WILL YOU GUYS FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS OUT HERE? "I think we know what we are doing. We were tore up and it is unfortunate. It is luck of the draw. You have to have a good guy pushing you and your car can't be tore up. The 99 and I worked great together; the 6 and I worked great. Matt's car is torn to pieces and I don't have an excuse for Montoya at this point."

*

DAVID RAGAN - No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Finished 14th)

"I know what the rules are. I felt like the leader had the start of the race. I felt like we fired and I started to move down right before the start-finish line, but I don't think I crossed that invisible line that separates the top and the bottom. I also haven't seen the replay, but to win these Cup races you can't make any mistakes and the mistake I made hurt us, but our UPS team did a great job. I'm proud of all our UPS guys. A lot of UPS fans should be proud. It'll take us a long time to forget this one, but we'll move on to Phoenix and the sooner we can win one, the sooner we can forget it."

YOU HAD A PLAN TO WORK TOGETHER. "I was just a little bit too greedy. If I would have waited an extra split-second to start moving down, but I felt like when we crossed the plain of the start-finish line that I wasn't totally on the bottom. I felt like you could start moving over before, but you live and learn. That's a tough one to get away, but congrats to Trevor. He did an awesome job. If it wasn't for the 21, we wouldn't have been up there, so Trevor did a great job."

WHAT WAS THE PLAN ON THAT LAST RESTART? WHY DID YOU DO WHAT YOU DID AND NOT HAVE TREVOR LEAD AND YOU PUSH? "I wanted to get to the bottom as soon as possible. I think Trevor was the best pusher on the race track all day long and I just got to the bottom a little too early. You're going through your mind and thinking about not missing a gear. We were close on fuel and I was trying not to miss a beat on fuel. You don't really start thinking about winning, what you're gonna do, you just try to make sure you go through all the steps and I was just a little off on one of them."

*

TERRY LABONTE - No. 32 U.S. Chrome Ford Fusion (Finished 15th)

"I've never run one quite like that. We laid back and just tried to make sure we stayed out of trouble because the car was definitely fast enough. We had a couple different guys we could hook up with and had good speed, and then there at the end of the race for the last 20 laps we got a hole knocked in the radiator and we had to put water in it a couple times. It's a good thing the race wasn't much longer because we wer e about done, but it was a good run. These guys did a good job. It was fun."

WHAT ABOUT THE WOOD BROTHERS WINNING? "That's awesome. It is so cool, especially with the paint job they had on the car. It looked like the old David Pearson car. I'm so happy for those guys. That's just a great family and they've done so much for the sport, I sure am glad to see them in Victory Lane."

*

AJ ALLMENDINGER - No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Finished 11th)

"That's way better than last year. I said if we had a top 15, I'd be happy to leave here, especially with that race because I should have been in that first wreck. Honestly, I don't know how I wasn't in it. The seas kind of parted and we came out of it with just minor damage, so what I should have been in compared to where we finished was not too bad. It's cool for Ford to get their 600th win at the Daytona 500. I wish I could have done it. You see somebody celebrate their first victory and it makes you kind of sad because you know what you want to do, but I have no complaints. We have a good car for Phoenix and we'll be ready."

*

TRAVIS KVAPIL - No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford Fusion (Finished 32nd)

"We just got caught up in an early wreck and hurt the right-front wheel settings and fought it all day long. We had a couple of flat tires because of that and handling problems because of that. There was nothing we could really do. We tried fighting through it, but we just kept hurting the right-front tire - all because of that one big wreck down in three and four. That hurt the car enough to where we just couldn't quite get it fixed right."

HOW WAS THIS STYLE OF RACING WITH 43 CARS OUT THERE? "It's fine when your car is OK. It's tough, but everything was fine until we got tangled up a little bit. It's just hard to race when your bumpers are all beat up and you're broke and you're damaged. It's hard to do what you need to do to go fast."

*

CARL EDWARDS - No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Finished 2nd)

"I was doing the best I could to not wreck. Congratulations to Trevor. I can't thank Ford and Aflac and everybody enough. I did the very best I could there at the end. Man, Trevor's car is really fast. That is a fast Ford Fusion. I got under Bobby and I got to Trevor's bumper and he did such a good job of blocking down low. I started to go low and then I didn't know if I should go high or not. He won that race. He did an amazing job."

*

DAVID GILLILAND - No. 34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion (Finished 3rd)

"I am really proud of Ford and what they have been able to accomplish. To finish 1-2-3 in the Daytona 500 is amazing. Congratulations to Trevor Bayne and everything he just accomplished. I have to thank Bob Jenkins. He does this out of his pocket. He owns these Taco Bell's and it is a great day for Front Row Motorsports. This tops up as one of my best days ever for sure.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE THAT LAST LAP? "Oh man. Our Taco Bell Ford Fusion with the FR9 power was really good and it showed at the end. Three Fords up there top three is incredible. That is awesome. I gotta thank Carl. We really hooked up and made some moves there at the end. He made some good moves and we were just going."

CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT MUSH BE GOING THROUGH THAT ROOKIES HEAD RIGHT NOW? "Man, congratulations to Trevor. What an awesome day. They had a great car all weekend here and you really gotta give him a lot of credit. He drove an awesome race and has a very bright future."

*

TREVOR BAYNE - No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion - Victory Lane

"I keep thinking I am dreaming, I really do. We said a prayer before the race and we prayed a lot and this shows you how powerful God is. I am so thankful for the job that these guys did on this car. It is unbelievable. Our first 500, are you kidding me? To win our first one? Our second ever Cup race? I can't think the guys that worked with me enough. There were 10-15 different drivers that helped ups get across that line. Wow. This is unbelievable. Ford, Motorcraft, the Wood Brothers. It is just amazing. How cool is it to see the Wood Brothers back in victory lane. We have Leonard here and he is the man. Thanks to the fans. I have never been to a race track with so many people. To win on this platform is incredible.

YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO GET TO VICTORY LANE DID YOU? "It is crazy to get my first Cup win before a Nationwide win. I didn't know how to get to victory lane, but we will find our way back hopefully. This is unbelievable."

LEONARD WOOD - No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion - VICTORY LANE

"You know, sometimes you wonder if rookies are capable of winning you know? Today I told him that he had already proved to me that he could win and then he goes out and does it. Awesome job. This is one of the greatest wins we have ever had. I have no doubts about this kid now. What an unbelievable day for him and for us."

NOTING THE WOOD BROTHERS

• This was the fifth Daytona 500 win for the Wood Brothers.

1963 - Tiny Lund (This was the first Daytona 500 win for Ford Racing) 1968 - Cale Yarborough 1972 - A.J. Foyt 1976 - David Pearson 2011 - Trevor Bayne

• Founder Glen Wood competed in the Inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959 and finished 34th in a field of 59 competitors.

• The Wood Brothers have 98 all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins with 16 different drivers. David Pearson ranks first on the team list with 43 wins followed by Cale Yarborough, 13; Neil Bonnett, 9; Marvin Panch, 8; A.J. Foyt, 5; Glen Wood and Dan Gurney, 4; Speedy Thompson and Kyle Petty, 2; Donnie Allison, Curtis Turner, Tiny Lund, Buddy Baker, Dale Jarrett, Morgan Shepherd, Elliott Sadler and Trevor Bayne, 1.

• The last NSCS win for the Wood Brothers was with Elliott Sadler at Bristol on March 25, 2001 - which happened to be all-time win No. 512 for Ford Racing.

-source: ford racing