NASCAR Cup

Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards - Ford interview 2010-11-15

This Week in Ford Racing No manufacturer has more NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Homestead-Miami Speedway than Ford Racing with six, and all three of Ford's Chase drivers have at least one to their credit. Greg Biffle won three straight ...

Edited: Nov 17, 2010, 12:06 AM

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This Week in Ford Racing

No manufacturer has more NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Homestead-Miami Speedway than Ford Racing with six, and all three of Ford's Chase drivers have at least one to their credit. Greg Biffle won three straight Ford 400's in 2004, '05 and '06 while Matt Kenseth ('07) and Carl Edwards ('08) capped a run of five consecutive race wins at the track for car owner Jack Roush. All three drivers recently spoke about returning to South Florida.

MATT KENSETH - No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion

WILL YOU RACE THE THREE GUYS LEADING THE POINTS ANY DIFFERENT AT HOMESTEAD? "No. I've always been under the belief that no matter where you are in points you should race people the same all year long - the same way you raced them earlier in the year or the same way they'd race you if you were in that spot. I don't think that really changes. Obviously, if it's down to the last couple of laps and you're a lap down or something like that, you're probably gonna get out of their way and let them race for it, but if you're up there racing those guys for a win or a top five or a top 10, I mean, everybody out there is racing their own racing and trying to finish as high as they can in the points. That's not gonna change. It's not just about those three racing the last two weeks and that's it. There are still 43 guys and they all have their own goals they're trying to accomplish and I don't think that changes."

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT HOMESTEAD? "Homestead is pretty unique the way they reconfigured the track. We only go there once a year, so it's always a little bit of a surprise when you get there with what you're gonna have in your car or how your car is gonna handle because of how much the track has changed in 12 months. It's one of those tracks where you have to be pretty good in the middle and pretty good on the top as well and be able to run up there and use the banking. It's a lot like a lot of other mile-and-a-halfs, the things you need to be successful there, but yet the track is a really unique layout."

GREG BIFFLE - No. 16 3M Ford Fusion

WILL YOU RACE THE THREE GUYS LEADING THE POINTS ANY DIFFERENTLY AT HOMESTEAD? "No. I'll race the top three just like we do every week - with respect. We're out there to race for the same position everyone else is and do the best I can. I'll be courteous to them, respect them and try to win the race. That's what we did at Texas and came up a little bit short with the shifter breaking, but we'll just do the best we can."

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT HOMESTEAD? "Homestead is a fun place. It's the only true progressive-banking track that we really have. The bottom is pretty good and the top gets better. It's a really fun place to race."

WITH YOUR SUCCESS THERE DO YOU FEEL MOST CONFIDENT AT THAT TRACK COMPARED TO ANY OTHER? "It is one of the places that we're really confident, but about every mile-and-a-half we go to we feel super-confident."

ARE YOU HAPPY OR SAD THAT IT'S THE END OF THE SEASON? "I'm really happy, especially after what we did at Texas. We led 230-some laps. We had the fastest car there, by far, from the green flag to the checkered flag. Nobody was gonna beat us and to end the season like that with three races to go, that is a whole lot of confidence for this team for next year, knowing that we run that good and were that dominating. It's not very often this season that we've seen a car do that the entire race and not even get recognition for it because of all the things that happened at the race track. But we're proud of our team for how fast of a race car we brought and how much we've learned this season that we can apply to next year."

CARL EDWARDS - No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion

DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE POINTS BATTLE FROM 4-10, WHERE YOU'RE LOCKED IN? "I'm like anyone else, I have goals and I have to work towards a goal. Right now, our goal is to finish fourth in points and it's a battle. You've got Kyle, Jeff, Matt Kenseth, myself and we've all been running about the same speed. It's just a heck of a race for that fourth position and those top three guys have kind of run-off and hid. I know for me there's a lot of pride in finishing fourth."

ANY PRIDE WITHIN ROUSH FENWAY TO BEAT YOUR ROUSH FENWAY TEAMMATES? "Oh, for sure. We have a very healthy sibling rivalry at Roush Fenway Racing. Matt, myself, Greg, we all want to beat one another because whoever finishes the best in points gets their car put at Roush Fenway Racing so it's the first thing you see when you walk in. They put the car right there and I've been looking at Greg's car all year. I'd like our Aflac Fusion to be there. That would be cool."

WILL YOU RACE THE TOP THREE ANY DIFFERENT AT HOMESTEAD? "I think everyone will show the guys that are racing for the championship a little bit more respect. That just goes with the territory. You don't want to ruin someone's year and their shot at a title, that's for sure. If you're racing for the win, that will be hard but you almost have an advantage on those guys if you're racing them for the win because they maybe have more to lose. As racers, we're all respectful, but we'll take anything we can get."

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT HOMESTEAD? "Homestead is a mile-and- a-half and on paper it looks like a lot of other mile-and-a-halfs, but it drives different. The corners are longer in duration. It's a true 180- degree corner and the progressive banking lets you race anywhere on the race track, especially at the end of the race. Also, it kind of transitions throughout the day. It's a very sensitive track to temperature with the angle of the sun and everything, so it's a pretty tough race track."

-source: ford racing

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