THIS WEEK IN FORD RACING

Darlington, S.C. — Darlington Raceway will host its lone NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event this weekend and Ford teams will be looking to turn things around after a rough night at Richmond International Raceway. Drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle look ahead to Saturday’s Southern 500.

GREG BIFFLE – NO. 16 3M FORD FUSION
YOU’VE HAD A MIXED BAG OF SUCCESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT AT DARLINGTON THROUGH THE YEARS HAVEN’T YOU?
“Oh, yeah I have. Darlington is just a special place. It’s like no other. It’s the toughest place we go. I don’t care who you talk to. It is absolutely mentally and physically one of the toughest race tracks and it’s unforgiving as well, and I guess that’s what makes it part of being tough. There’s no margin for error at Darlington and I love it. It’s really a challenging place. It’s fun to go to and we’ve had really good success there.”

HOW MUCH HAS THE RE-PAVING OF THE TRACK A YEAR AGO CHANGED THE RACING THERE?
“Well, I’ll have to admit I said they would ruin the track if they ever paved it and, believe it or not, it’s as tough as ever because it’s so much faster. It’s just so much faster. Who would have thought we’d go 200 miles an hour at that place? Years ago, I’m sure they never imagined we’d be going that fast there. It’s still just as tough and still just as hard, but it’s a lot smoother. I’ll always be fond of the old way it was, but, at the same time, I like the new way. I think we had the race probably won last year if we didn’t have engine trouble, so I’m looking forward to going back.”

IS LAST YEAR’S RACE THE KIND OF THING YOU’LL LOOK BACK ON 20 OR 30 YEARS FROM NOW AS ONE THAT GOT AWAY?
“Yeah, it’s gonna be one of them. There are a number of them, but it’s heartbreaking. These races are harder and harder to win each year and you wonder, ‘When am I gonna win my next race?’ And when you have it right there in your hands and it slips away, plus a place that’s so hard like that place is, it’s tough because you get a lot of recognition for winning there.”

YOU’VE MADE A NICE MOVE UP IN THE STANDINGS THE LAST MONTH. YOU MUST BE HAPPY ABOUT YOUR POSITION NOW.
“I really do. This is the way we started out the season. We were tied for third in points and then got into a bad down spiral with an accident and then an engine, and we didn’t run good at Martinsville, so all of those things added up in a hurry. But we’re back to our normal self with top-five finishes. We finished seventh at Talladega, which is great for us, so we’re back on track running like we need to be running. We want to get up into the top three in points. We want to be first, second or third. That’s where we want to be.”

IS THIS A GOOD STRETCH OF TRACKS FOR YOU?
“Darlington, Dover, Charlotte, those are great tracks for us and we just hope to continue to chip away at it.”

CARL EDWARDS – NO. 99 AFLAC FORD FUSION
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON DARLINGTON?
“I love racing at Darlington. Since they re-paved it, it’s made things a little bit different but it’s still a great race track. We finished second there last time and I love racing at Darlington. To get a win there, would be huge. We got to do some cool stuff with David Pearson there and we always have a blast when we go.”

IS IT BECAUSE OF THE HISTORY THERE?
“There’s the history, but, for me, the pure entertainment value cannot be higher than those races where you see them passing each other and slide-jobbing lap after lap, corner after corner. It’s just cool to race on that same race track and it’s really cool how it drives. I think it’s more technical, more difficult and more fun than almost any track we go to.”

IN THE FIRST CUP RACE AT DARLINGTON THERE WERE OVER 70 CARS. WHAT’S IT LIKE WITH 43?
“Forty-three cars at Darlington is a lot of cars. Seventy-five would be wild, and I’m sure back then there was a huge disparity in performance between all the cars, so I bet it was wild. That would be like running at a dirt track with 75 street stocks or something. That would be crazy, but it would be fun. I’d be all for opening up and having more cars, but it is a fun place.”