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Kansas: Ford - Roush Racing's team quotes

Wood ends Roush Racing's Craftsman Truck Series drought Jon Wood, driver of the No. 50 Ford, picked up his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory today at Kansas Speedway wining the 167-lap race with the help of pit strategy. Wood ...

Wood ends Roush Racing's Craftsman Truck Series drought

Jon Wood, driver of the No. 50 Ford, picked up his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory today at Kansas Speedway wining the 167-lap race with the help of pit strategy. Wood took over the lead on lap 140 when Brendan Gaughan was forced to pit for fuel and went on to lead the final 28 laps, while Carl Edwards, his Roush Racing teammate, completed the one-two sweep. Wood's first truck series victory came in his 48th start and ended Roush Racing's winless streak at 32 races when Greg Biffle last piloted a Roush Ford to Victory Lane (Phoenix, 2001). With the win, Wood also vaulted Roush Racing back into the top spot in all-time series wins with 29.

JON WOOD -50-Bob Graham for President Ford F-150 (Finished 1st)

"This team has just improved so much from last year, I really can't say enough about it. The Roush guys are one-two, and it's really cool that we've got a great sponsor on this race. I can't say enough about Bob Graham."

TALK ABOUT THE CAUTION FLAG WHERE YOU CAME INTO THE PITS A LAP LATE BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T SEE THE PIT-OPEN FLAG. "I looked and the flag wasn't out or something. I guess I was just confused. It just made it more fun and exciting. I know I passed every truck at least five times. The only thing I was worried about was my radio not working. That happened last week and it happened again today. Man, what a great truck. I saw Mike Bliss try to cave in his decklid at Homestead and I think I got my pretty good."

TALK ABOUT THE ONE-TWO ROUSH FINISH. "That's the best person to see on your bumper and the worst person to see on your bumper. That's great that we could both run as well as we did. My hat's off to Carl, he raced me clean all day, everybody did. It was a great race. It was a great day and it's been a great weekend. We've been really fast and I knew going into today that we were going to be really good."

HOW TOUGH IS IT RACING YOUR TEAMMATE FOR THE WIN? "It's really cool to race him. The guy has an incredible amount of talent. To finish one-two like that, with him being a rookie and me having a brand-new team like I do. I kept saying at the beginning of the year that this was going to be a different team, but nobody seemed to listen to me. Now I guess they will."

TO MAKE YOUR WAY FROM THE TAIL END OF THE FIELD, THE TRUCK MUST HAVE BEEN PERFECT. "It was. I passed so many trucks all day long. It was frustrating at the time, but now that it's all said and done, I think it's cool because I went to the back so many times."

JOHN MONSAM , Crew Chief-50-Bob Graham for President Ford F-150

"This is such a great win for Roush, one-two, I couldn't be happier. Jon wood is tough."

YOU'VE WON BEFORE WITH RICK CARELLI, MIKE BLISS AND DENNIS SETZER, AND NOW JON WOOD. "Every win is special, but this one, this is his first win. Those other guys, it wasn't their first win ever. That's what makes this so much better. This is fun for all of these guys. Some of them have never won a race and are new to this team or have been with me for a little while. These guys are cool."

DID YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE GIVEN THE RACE AWAY WHEN YOU DIDN'T PIT WHEN THE PITS FIRST OPENED? "I was worried about that, but we made it back. Being a winner is what it's all about. Everybody likes a winner."

An emotional Eddie Wood addressed members of the media in the No. 21 Motorcraft hauler after his son, Jon, won for the first time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Eddie watched the race in the team's lounge, along with Judi Moritz of Motorcraft, Dan Davis of Ford Racing and Don Hawk.

EDDIE WOOD , Father of Jon Wood - No. 50 Bob Graham for President F-150

HOW DO YOU FEEL? "I cannot talk. I had Judi up there from Motorcraft, Dan Davis from Ford and Don Hawk. It was like a little family up there. It was great. He's come so close and for it to finally happen is just so good. I can't talk. It's been over 10 minutes and I still can't talk."

WHAT DO YOU DO NEXT WITH JON? "I don't know. He's my son, but he belongs to Jack (Roush). It's up to Jack. Jack got him here, so whatever Jack wants to do next is fine with me."

BOB GRAHAM IS ON THE TRUCK. "Yeah, Bob Graham came on board for a couple of races. He's down here in Florida and is a democratic candidate (for president) and that really worked out well. They went back to our old colors of red and white with the gold number. I hope it was good for Bob. I don't know a lot about politicians and politics and stuff like that, but he's got my vote. He helped them get to this race. I understand he's a working man's man and there are a lot of working people in this garage and the truck garage and everywhere. I think he'll fit in well."

HOW GOOD OF A DRIVER IS JON? "He looked pretty good today. He's been racing karts and everything. I'm happy for Jon and Carl (Edwards) - one, two for Roush. The cool thing is it put 'em back ahead of Jimmy Smith. That put Roush Racing back ahead of Jimmy Smith and the Dodges, so that's pretty cool. Jimmy will be here in a little while. I'm sure he was out there. He'll be headed in here."

IS JON COMING TONIGHT? "No. I don't think I would want to be around Jon tonight, he might get you in trouble (laughing)."

HE HAD TO START FROM THE BACK TODAY. "Yeah, they had a problem and had to start from the rear and he actually came from the rear three or four times with the way the flow of the race went. That's what made it special. He and Carl had the best two trucks and they finished one-two. I think it's just a great thing for Roush Racing and Ford Motor Company. Without their help, that couldn't happen. It's just good for the family. We're the Woods. They're the Roushes, Ford Motor Company. It just doesn't get any better than that."

WHERE DO THEY GO NEXT? "They go to Kentucky next week. I think that's a Ford sponsored race, so that will be really exciting going into that. The first race track that Jon ever ran a Cup car or a car fast was at Kentucky three years ago in my car, so that's kind of a special place for him, too. Kansas was really special also because we almost won a Winston West race out there with him. The very first race that he got in with Roush Racing two years ago, he almost won it. It was always almost, but didn't quite get it, but today it all came around."

WHAT WILL THIS DO FOR HIM? "I don't know. He's just Jon. All he wants to do is race. He doesn't care about anything else. That's all he's about. That's all his world is - racing. I just want to thank Jack and Geoff (Smith) and everybody at Roush Racing for sticking in when they didn't have any sponsorship and kept going. There's a lot to be said for those guys because it's hard to do this without money."

IS THERE A SPONSOR FOR KENTUCKY? "Yes, Bob Graham is on the truck for Kentucky."

CARL EDWARDS -99-Roush Racing Ford F-150 (Finished 2nd)

"Man, that's what we needed. I hope Jack Roush is watching right now. I couldn't be prouder of everybody on this team. We work together as one unit, and congratulations to Jon wood, he needs that. I'm proud to see him over in Victory Lane."

HOW BAD WAS THE HEAT TODAY? "It was pretty bad. I was all right. I work out every day. Cowboy (Kevin Starland) keeps us in shape. Everybody works hard, and running second, it was a cool 72 in here."

YOU SEEMED TO HAVE TROUBLE ON THE RESTARTS. "We had ignition problems. It started in Happy Hour, and we thought we had it fixed. Roush engines, we hardly ever have any problems with the engines. On the restarts, it would not go. You could switch the box and it would finally take off, and then on the long runs, it was dead on the end of the straightaways. I could get Jon in the corner a little bit, but I couldn't get him on the straightway. If I had to follow one guy to Victory Lane, Jon Wood is the man. This is awesome for Roush Racing."

-ford racing-

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