Texas: Edwards qualifying interview

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

DID YOU SEE MCDOWELL'S CRASH, AND WHAT DID YOU THINK?

"I'm glad that he's all right, just like everybody else. I went and looked at the car. That's a hard hit. That's all you can say about that. That's a very, very hard hit -- that initial hit and then everything that happened afterwards. I'm real happy that he walked away. I'm surprised that he's not hurt in any way. Like everybody said, that's a testament to the safety equipment. I still think that, like always, there's things that we can do to be better, and I think the number one thing will be to look at the car -- I got to look at it really closely, and I think there are parts of that roll cage that we can beef up more and do a better job with. But I'm glad he's all right. I'm glad I didn't have to go after THAT, I'm glad I went before it, because that would be a hard one to get out of your mind."

IS THERE SOME PRESSURE NOW TO REALLY GET A TOP-FIVE OR A WIN TO GET BACK IN THE TOP 12 AND BE A LITTLE MORE COMFORTABLE FROM HERE ON OUT?

"Nothing's guaranteed, and for me, I feel pressure to win every week that I put on myself, since I started racing when I was 15 years old. In light of the points situation, we just can't give away any more points. Our cars are so great at these mile-and-a-half tracks -- I'm very excited, I couldn't wait to come back to this race track and race. And the way things went in practice and how fast it was in qualifying, I think we've got an amazingly fast race car. So, if nothing goes wrong it should be a great weekend for us."

CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH THE LAP. AND, DID YOU LEAVE ANYTHING OUT THERE?

"I didn't leave anything out there. That was a good lap. I think I ran a 28.73 or something like that in practice, a .74. To run a 28.49, for me, was really good, considering the track was essentially the same temperature, the sun was still high in the sky. So, if I did it again I don't think I could go any faster. That was a greta lap for me. I really wanted that shotgun. That was a little painful to see Dale go that fast."

-credit: ford racing