Martinsville II: Biffle post-qualifying interview

GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Qualified 3rd)

"I tell you, I got axle-hopping on my warm-up lap there and thought I was gonna not get to qualify, and then turned around and got it going. I've never gone that fast here, so I really didn't know what I was doing, but I got it right up front there, so we'll take it. I went in and watched the lap-tracker, which is probably worse. I was green all the way until about 50 feet before the start-finish line, so it was a good lap and the car is real fast. I just need to take care of it on Sunday."

IS IT A CASE WHERE YOU GO INTO SUNDAY JUST READY TO RUN YOUR OWN RACE?

"I know how angry you are about the 48 possibly winning the fifth title, so I'm not gonna do anything to that 11 car starting in front of me (laughing). I promise you."

IT'S BEEN EIGHT YEARS SINCE FORD HAS WON HERE. IS THERE AN ODD REASON FOR THAT?

"I think a couple things come to mind. One, as a company, we haven't been that good here - and when I say we I mean Roush Fenway. If you look back, it's really been Yates and Roush Fenway that have carried the Ford banner, so they haven't had multiple teams throughout the sport like GM and some other manufacturers have, so it's really limited to us. As a company, we haven't run that good here, so that's probably some of the reasons why Ford hasn't been in Victory Lane. I don't think it has anything to do with the vehicle itself, it's just probably us as an organization and getting better at this place. Richard Petty Motorsports has definitely helped our program this year and our short-track program has gotten a little bit better. That's why we've all run a little bit better here this weekend - myself and Carl and David. We all qualified fairly well and hopefully we'll break that streak."

DO YOU HAVE MORE OPTIMISM THAT YOU CAN DENT THIS POINT DEFICIT?

"Absolutely. I'd love to finish second or third or fourth in points. That would be great. Obviously, winning the title is our goal first and foremost. It would be a feather in our cap to finish in the top four, so if I can stay up front this weekend and learn something from that 11 car and learn something from Marcos, that's what I need to do is pay attention, learn, pick up on what I can and try to save the brakes and stay off the curb and be there at the end. I like to think we have a chance to win here. We certainly had a chance to be on the pole and it was really, really close. Gosh, it gives me great excitement to know that we might have a chance to win here."

WHAT KIND OF ENGINE DO YOU NEED HERE?

"I think you want something that accelerates real smooth. That's what's real important - for the power to be real consistent coming off the corner. When you put the gas down in the middle of the corner with low RPM, you don't want that engine to really come alive halfway off the corner and have your foot all the way in it. I think something that has throttle response and responds well and accelerates up off the corner, but, you're right, when you have good tires on it you want all the power you can get. When it starts to get later in the run, you want something that's maybe a little easier. You want something that's real consistent, though, for probably not spinning the tires."

-source: ford racing