BOB TASCA AND MOTORCRAFT / QUICK LANE MUSTANG PRIMED FOR CHAMPIONSHIP CHASE AS 2011 FUNNY CAR SEASON OPENS

DEARBORN, MI – February 24, 2011– At some point, every driver faces one in their career. A defining moment - a moment where the competitor becomes a champion and a quest becomes a championship. Bob Tasca, driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers Ford Shelby Mustang Funny Car faced what he feels was a defining moment at Pomona at the season finale last season.

Tasca faced a first-round match-up with Matt Hagan, the NHRA Full Throttle Series Funny Car points leader. John Force, another Ford driver, needed Hagan to be defeated in the early rounds to stake his claim to the championship title. In the spirit of One Ford, Tasca delivered and shortly thereafter Force hoisted a record 15^th championship trophy.

“What a feeling,” said Tasca, who broke into a grin months after the actual run. “To win that race is one of the greatest moments I have had behind the wheel, even higher than winning races. You knew what was on the line and you knew that there was a championship in play and we fired off as Force calls it the ‘big shot heard around the world.’

“All the credit has to go to John, because at the end of the day, he still had to win two rounds. His team did a tremendous job the whole year and John just defies the test of time as a driver. He has unbelievable experience, he is just tremendous behind the wheel, and he won the championship, so hats off to their program. It was a defining moment for the One Ford concept coming together. It was also a defining moment for our team. When our backs were against the wall, the world was watching, and we had to step up and deliver that victory to deliver a Ford championship. The One Ford approach paid off in 2010 and if you are a betting man I think it is going to pay off in 2011 too.”

The question now becomes how Tasca will translate that moment into success throughout the 2011 season.

“I think it’s just picking up where we left off,” Tasca said. “This is the first time we ended a season with the tune-up that we’ll start a season with. Over the last three years we’ve gone through a lot of transitions with different set-ups and combinations and we made that One Ford announcement last year, and it was a huge momentum boost for our program. Just for Marc (Denner, Co-Crew Chief), Chris (Cunningham, Crew Chief) and the guys to roll into Pomona with basically the same set-up we left with, with some minor changes…we are running the all-new JFR (John Force Racing) Ford chassis. We did a lot of testing at Palm Beach (International Raceway) and had some of the quickest 330 times of my career, so we’re real happy with how that car’s reacting, and really, truthfully just can’t wait until Pomona.”

Tasca isn’t far from the top. He enters the 2011 season fresh off a fifth-place finish in the standings last year with three career wins under his belt.

“We have gone through so many evolutions of our program,” Tasca said. “Literally, we started from scratch (in 2008) where we did not own a race car and didn’t have any motors heading into the first year. Then we evolved the tune-up and last year we spent all off-season testing a combination, which we were excited about, but then we made the One Ford announcement where we put the BOSS 500 engine in our car, which I couldn’t be happier about.

“Therefore, this off-season we were able to test the motor that we are going to run the whole year. The off-season is the time to collect that critical data and to work on our big speed and big ET tune-ups and put that in our back pocket for the end of the season when the championship rolls around.”

Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing on the Web
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/MQL_Racing

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/MQLRacing

Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/motorcraftquicklaneracing

Motorcraft/Quick Lane Notes
- 2011 marks the fourth year Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD) brands Motorcraft and Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers are a sponsor of Bob Tasca III and Tasca Racing.
- Motorcraft continues its relationship with NHRA, having sponsored Hall of Fame NHRA driver Bob Glidden and drag racing legend Kenny Bernstein, among others, in the late 80s and early 90s.
- Motorcraft products strike the perfect balance of precision, quality and pricing.
- Manufactured to strict specifications, they install quickly and give the confidence of doing a job right the first time. Motorcraft is the preferred choice of Ford Motor Company.
- Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers provide the services your car or truck needs most, performed by factory-trained experts and on your schedule. You will never need an appointment and you will get service while you wait, even on evenings and weekends. They will take care of any make, or model using quality Motorcraft parts.

- Quick Lane offers routine maintenance and light repair services, such as oil and filter changes, brake repairs and tire replacement for all makes and models.
- Quick Lane’s nationwide network will surpass 600 facilities in 2011. Visit www.quicklane.com to find one of the Quick Lanes in Southern California.

Television

Saturday, Feb. 26 ESPN2 will televise qualifying highlights at 11:00 PM - 1:00 AM ET

Sunday, Feb. 27 ESPN2 will televise three hours of eliminations from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM ET

Satellite

Friday, Feb. 25, 8 – 8:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 3 / Transponder 20C

Saturday, Feb.26, 10 – 10:30p.m. (ET), AMC 3 / Transponder 20C

Sunday, Feb. 27, 10:30 – 11 p.m. (ET), AMC 3 / Transponder 20C

(Downlink: 4100MHz, vertical; Transmission: MPG2; HD: 720p; Data Rate: 40.461470554 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 29.27 Ms; FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 36 Mhz)

This is a Digital HD Feed. Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Sunday.

About Motorcraft
Motorcraft® offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended and approved by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to underhood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer exceptional value with the highest quality and right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford and Lincoln dealers, independent distributors, and automotive parts retailers and are backed by Ford Motor Company’s Service Parts Limited Warranty. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.

About Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers
Quick Lane® provides automotive quick services for all makes and models. Quick Lane’s nationwide network of 600 facilities, each providing the convenience of an aftermarket company (no appointment necessary, service while you wait, evening and weekend hours, competitive prices) with the confidence of a major automotive manufacturer (quality parts, factory-trained technicians). Quick Lane® is a registered trademark of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.quicklane.com.

About FordParts.com
FordParts.com allows repair shops, body shops, fleets and do-it-yourselfers to purchase online over 280,000 Genuine Ford and Motorcraft parts quickly and easily. As well as the convenience of ordering parts online 24/7, FordParts.com provides full line catalogs with VIN look-up, parts pricing, inventory availability, FedEx over-night shipping, and technical illustrations of over 22,000 parts and assemblies. For more information, visit www.fordparts.com.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 163,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion Wins Daytona 500

FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE DIVISION 2011 RACE SEASON KICKS OFF WITH SPRINT CUP VICTORY

DEARBORN, Mich., February 20, 2011 – There have been big wins and championships for the Motorcraft brand in its long and storied motorsports history, but never has a season kicked off quite like 2011.

Trevor Bayne, a 20-year-old NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie making just his second Sprint Cup series start, piloted the Wood Brothers No. 21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford Fusion to victory in the Daytona 500. The victory was the first for the Wood Brothers since 2001 when Elliott Sadler was driving for the team.

“Our first 500, are you kidding me,” said Bayne, who became the tenth Ford driver to win the Daytona 500. “To win our first one? Our second ever Cup race? I can’t thank the guys that worked with me enough. There were 10-15 different drivers that helped us get across that line. Wow. This is unbelievable. Ford, Motorcraft, Quick Lane, the Wood Brothers, there are a lot of people to thank. It is just amazing. How cool is it to see the Wood Brothers back in victory lane. We have Leonard [Wood] here and he is the man. Thanks to the fans. I have never been to a race track with so many people. To win on this platform is incredible.”

“We’re so tickled to be here,” said Wood Brothers Racing co-owner Len Wood. “Ford Motor Company has stood behind us for 61 years now to be exact. We’ve been Ford all of our entire racing and to be a part of NASCAR, like I say; this is the greatest feeling you can have. You think, ‘Well, what’s your biggest win?’ Well, this is the top of the stack right now.”

Motorcraft is now in its eleventh season as a sponsor of Wood Brothers racing, and Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers is now in its second season with the iconic NASCAR team.

"Congratulations to Trevor Bayne and the Wood Brothers on an outstanding start to the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season,” said Brett Wheatley, Director of Marketing, Ford Customer Service Division. “We are proud of our long-standing relationship with the Wood Brothers, and today’s Daytona 500 victory will be a highlight that we will look back on for years to come. Motorcraft and Quick Lane are thrilled to be associated with such a tremendous group of people and with a team which has such a rich and successful history and one that continues to build on that legacy."

The Motorcraft / Quick Lane program with the Wood Brothers is one of two season long motorsports sponsorships by Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD). FCSD brands Motorcraft, Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center and FordParts.com are also partnering with Bob Tasca III and the Tasca Racing to compete in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series with a Mustang Funny Car.

Tasca and the Motorcraft / Quick Lane Shelby Mustang will kick off the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle season with the Winternationals next weekend at Pomona, Calif.

Trevor Bayne Pushes His Way Into the Spotlight in Thursday's Gatorade Duel at Daytona

As the sun set at Daytona International Speedway Thursday evening, Trevor Bayne and one of his car owners, Eddie Wood, stood in the garage, discussing the just-completed Gatorade Duel and watching as their crew worked to repair the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion, damaged on a last-lap crash.But instead of frets and frowns over a wrecked car, there were smiles all around. In just his second official run in a Sprint Cup car and his first at Daytona in NASCAR’s elite Sprint Cup Series, Bayne had given the No. 21 a ride reminiscent of the days when Hall of Famer David Pearson was at the wheel.

Bayne drafted all day with Jeff Gordon, who sought him out for a partner. The pair raced at the front of the pack throughout the race but wrecked coming to the checkered flag, spoiling what could have been a spectacular finish.

But as Wood pointed out, the car is repairable, and Bayne had established himself as a driver to be reckoned with – and worked with – in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

“This is cool, ain’t it?” Bayne said, with a big smile on his face.

Wood agreed, saying it indeed was cool to see his family’s iconic race car back in contention for a Cup victory, even if it was in a non-points qualifying race.

“It feels really good to be a factor,” Wood said. “I hate it that we got torn up at the end, but we were a factor for the whole race, and we’ll fix this car and be ready for Sunday.”

Bayne seemed most impressed that a future Hall of Famer like Jeff Gordon would come to a rookie like him for drafting help
.
“Jeff came to us and said, ‘Got a buddy?’” Bayne said. “I told him we didn’t, and he said, ‘You do now.’”

Bayne made himself much more valuable as a drafting partner by paying close attention to the first of the two Duels. He noticed that fellow Ford driver Matt Kenseth was able to maintain the pushing position for laps on end by occasionally moving to the right and thereby getting some cooling air flow to his engine.

Bayne adopted the strategy, and it worked for him too.

“You could move to the right, and the [water] temperature dropped 10 degrees in two corners,” he said.

Bayne said the only problem he had in his 150-mile qualifying race was that he and Gordon tended to be a little slow getting up to speed on restarts. And that turned out to be somewhat of a factor in the last-lap crash, which left him with a 19th-place finish after qualifying third and running as high as second place in the Duel.

“Everybody is racing like it’s the last lap of the big race, so when we got down to it we were three-wide at the end with a big run, and I think we just ran out of real estate there and [Gordon] came off the wall and got us,” Bayne said. “I hate it for all these guys because we were doing awesome, but that’s part of it.”

Wood said that while crashes are part of racing, this one was a relatively minor setback. “We’ll do some work on both sides and the nose, and we’ll be ready to go,” Wood said.

Bayne will line up 32nd for his first Daytona 500, but based on his performance on Thursday – and Jeff Gordon’s post-race comments – he won’t be there for long. “I really had a blast working with Trevor Bayne,” Gordon said. “He’s a good kid. He’s a heck of a race car driver. They’ve got a fast race car.”

Sunday’s 53rd annual Daytona 500 gets the green flag shortly after 1 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX.

Tasca Blog: Back on Track

I just got back from our first test session in Palm Beach, FL. It was great to be back at 300MPH again! We made 27 runs and compiled a lot of very useful data. Our quickest run was 4.09et at 310+MPH, our fastest MPH to date. Pomona is coming up fast but on our way out West we're going to stop for one last test session in Las Vegas on February 17th through the 19th. Pomona kicks off on February 24th.

The off season flew by and I really can't wait to get the 2011 season underway. I've never been more confident about the start of a session than I am for this one. Our team has high expectations on what we can achieve. All of my crew members from Jeff who runs my hospitality to Lee who runs the merchandise and Show Car operation have all signed up for another season with Tasca Racing.

Chris Cunningham and Mark Denner, my Crew Chiefs, have a really good handle on this Ford Boss power-train and I've never been more confident behind the wheel.

Besides my trip to Palm Beach, the last few weeks have been very busy. I spent time in Charlotte getting some last minute items approved. I also spent a week in Dearborn attending a product review.

I am one of a handful of people that Ford's leadership team takes through their future product line up to get feedback. I have been on this committee for many years and I can say I have never been more excited about the future of Ford than I am right now. The product line up that we are selling today and the ones coming in the near future are not only best in class but world class!

After that meeting I flew home for a few days and then back to Dearborn for a meeting with Mark Fields, President of the Americas. It was a financial review with the top 300 executives in the company. John Force, Robert Height and I were there to deliver the championship trophy to the Ford Team. Each of us got an opportunity to address the leadership team on how the One Ford approach to drag racing helped secure a championship for Ford.

We also explained how the sport of drag racing delivers on the phrase my grandfather coined back in the 60's, "Win on Sunday Sell on Monday!" I can tell you first hand Ford truly values the sport of drag racing because of the loyalty of our fans.

While out in Dearborn I also got a chance to visit the Detroit Auto Show. In my opinion, the hit of the show was the all new Ford Explorer and the Focus. Check out the links below to see for yourself.

Explorer: http://www.ford.com/suvs/explorer/

Focus: http://www.ford.com/cars/focus/2012/

I can't wait for Vegas then off to Pomona to officially start the season. See you at the track!

No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane driver Trevor Bayne Q & A (NASCAR Media Day)

TREVOR BAYNE – No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion – YOU’LL BE RUNNING BOTH SERIES THIS YEAR. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? “We’re really excited for the upcoming year. We checked the box for the Nationwide Series, so to be able to run for that championship, I think we’re gonna be really competitive. They’ve built a really solid team around me. I’m gonna be in the 16 this year, which is one of the primary cars, whereas last year I was kind of a fifth team that was just thrown in there, so I know our Nationwide deal is gonna be strong. The way this Cup deal came about was just being there in the Nationwide Series and running strong there and showing some potential. Then when I made the switchover to Ford Racing and Roush last year, the opportunity came about with the Wood Brothers because Roush was working on supporting them a little bit and Donnie Wingo had just switched over and Bill Elliott was the driver at the time and they just said, ‘Hey, if you want to come over here and drive this thing one race, come on over.’ So the reason I went there to run Texas was to get approved for Daytona and this race we’re gonna run now. At the time, I thought it might be a fifth Roush car or something, but it ended up going really well at Texas and the Wood Brothers were like, ‘Hey, we’ll keep moving forward here.’ So it’s a really awesome opportunity and I love the Wood Brothers team. If I could just drive there forever I would be happy because they’re just racers. Eddie and Len Wood, they like to hangout at the shop and be a part of it. Leonard is always there working on projects. I always tell Leonard, ‘It’s no wonder you guys won so many races.’ This guy is smart. He’s in there building carbon fiber R/C cars and all kinds of stuff, so it’s just a racer’s dream to drive for the Wood Brothers. It’s a famous car and to make my debut here at Daytona with them, I couldn’t ask for a better situation.”

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT THE RULE TO RUN FOR ONLY ONE TITLE? “I love it. I was hoping they didn’t take away the Cup drivers altogether because that’s just competition. We want to race against the best and that’s the only way we’re gonna become the best is if we’re racing against them and bettering ourselves all the time.But I also like the point that we’re gonna be able to shine as champions now. One Nationwide regular is gonna win the championship this year and I think that’s really cool and gives us something to look forward to, and it just gives us some credibility moving forward. It’s gonna help us build a brand as we’re moving up to Cup because you can sell a champion. I think that’s really important, but I love that the Cup drivers are still around because it’s the best of both worlds.”

HAS DAVID PEARSON GIVEN YOU ANY ADVICE YET, PARTICULARLYABOUT HOW TO RUN AT DAYTONA? “I haven’t got the chance to talk to David much yet. I was actually testing during media tour and that was the first time he kind of came back around, so hopefully he’s gonna be down here and I can talk to him because that’s a smart guy. I got to talk to Bill Elliott a little bit last year when I was in Texas about even this race and those guys have a lot of knowledge. They just know so much about it. Obviously, it’s a little bit different now but the rules of physics in racing still apply, so everything that they tell you is true. But I think the best learning tool is experience, so some of the stuff they were telling me I was trying to be as big of a sponge as I could, but I didn’t have enough pores to soak it in because they were feeding me so much, so I think once I get out on the race track and I know what to expect, then I can go back to them and even learn more and ask more questions.”

YOU DON’T SEEM TO HAVE ANY JITTERS ABOUT BEING ON THIS BIG STAGE. “I don’t know. When you set your expectations and you finally get there, it doesn’t come as asurprise, I guess. Since I was five years old I wanted to be here at this point, so now that we’re here, this is where I wanted to be so we belong here and I think we’re gonna try to make that statement thatwe’re not just here to run a race, we’re here to stay. I know that’sa strong statement because we haven’t been on the race track yet, butI think we can. I think we’ve got the opportunity to do it. I’ve got all the support around me with Ford Racing and Wood Brothers and Roush on the Nationwide side, and getting double seat time this weekend, I’m really looking forward to that because I like to stay busy all the time.”

DALE EARNHARDT CAME HERE LIKE HE OWNED THE PLACE IN ’79 AND DROVE IT LIKE HE DID. “I think as a race car driver that’s the mentality you have to have. Sometimes it gets me in trouble because I’m so worried about performance and being the fastest in practice and qualifying on the pole that you set unreal expectations and that sets you up for disappointment, but I think as long as we set those real expectations, kind of like we did at Texas,and you meet those expectations, you’re just gonna get better and better. I think you have to set those expectations so you can meet them and keep bettering yourself all the time.”

ARE YOU RUNNING FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR IN CUP? “I would like to. I would love to be able to say I was a Cup Rookie of the Year, but I don’t know what they’re gonna do yet. I’ve been asking them and prying at them. I think they are gonna build something to make it easy for somebody to run for Rookie of the Year. Whether it’s this year or next year, I don’t know. They may be more forgiving on how many races I can run,or whether you’re designated to run that series for points or not then you become a rookie. I don’t know what they’re gonna do, but I would love to one day run for Rookie of the Year, whether it’s this year or next year. I’ve got 17 Cup races scheduled so far, but if somebody wants to come on for four more, we’ll do it. I think everything is open-ended right now. Our Nationwide deal, our Cup deal. You’ll see my styling Herbie the Lovebug-looking suit when I come out here. It’s all solid white. I think David Pearson will have some respect for that – a solid white car. I actually think Ford is on the car for this week promoting the Mustang, and our Cup deal is really open-ended. We’ve sold 17 so far with Ford Racing, Motorcraft, FordParts.com and Quick Lane have all come on and kind of combined to help us get those 17, but now we’re looking to build on that. As many as we can run, I would be more than happy to get behind the wheel.”

JEFF GORDON SAID RACING TOOK HIM AWAY FROM A LOT. DID YOU MISS ANYTHING DURING YOUR TEEN DAYS THAT YOU REGRET? “My birthday is on the 19th and is on the day of the Nationwide race and I’ll be 20, so my teen years are kind of over now and I definitely see what Jeff is saying.It takes a lot of sacrifice, but that’s why only a few get to do this every weekend. It’s missing birthday parties when you’re five years old to go to the go kart track, but looking at it now, there’s nothing I would rather do than be sitting here ready to run the 500. I don’t count it as a loss for having to do those kind of things. At the time, it may seem like the end of the world when I hang out with friends, but this has been my dream, so to stay focused and stay driven, I think it’s good for kids to have these kind of goals. Some of the activities they do participate in they shouldn’t be (laughing),so I think it’s good to have these kind of goals and get there.”

HOW DO YOU LIKE BEING HERE AT 8 AM? “Every Tuesday I get up and do that Sirius radio show at 8:30, so I’m kind of used to getting myself going. If I could sleep in until 12 every day, that would be the way I would have it, but that’s not reality anymore. The problem is I still stay up until two every night. I haven’t fixed the night part yet, but I’ve fixed the morning, so, really, I just lose sleep instead of going to bed earlier.”

HOW GOOD CAN YOU GUYS BE ON THE CUP SIDE?“I want to be realistic, but I’m also an optimist, so I’m gonna say that we’re gonna be really competitive. I think setting those high expectations will make us perform better. I think we have all the equipment. We have the support from Ford Racing. They’ve really stepped up their game this year. They sat us all down and said, ‘Hey,what is it gonna take to win races and championships?’ Just to see that kind of support from a manufacturer is huge. To know Roush Fenway is behind me as a driver on the Nationwide side and anything I need is gonna really help me to move forward. The Wood Brothers,they’ve poured their heart and soul into this. You can see a lot of excitement going on and they said they haven’t felt this excited going to Daytona in a long time, so to hear that it gives me a little boost to see the confidence they already have in me after one race. Hopefully, we can just build on that, but I think we can be competitively a top 15 team. I don’t know that because we haven’tbeen on the track yet, but given our run last year, if it’s anything like Texas, then there’s no doubt in my mind that we can be a top 15 team every week.”

YOU HAD A ROUGH STRETCH IN NATIONWIDE LAST YEAR WITH ACCIDENTS. DO YOU FEAR THAT CAN HAPPEN IN CUP AND YOU’LL GO THROUGH A LEARNING PROCESS? “It was tough in the Nationwide Series last year. It started here on lap four or seven and we were already wrecked. I don’t want to say that’s part of it because it’s not, it doesn’t always happen, but I definitely think there’s a learning curve. You look at guys like Joey Logano and now look at what he’s doing, so there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s gonna be a learning curve, so to have those 17 races this year to prepare for hopefully a full season next year, that’s a perfect scenario to learn. But Ithink we can avoid some of that, too, by running good. If you stay upfront, then you’re generally out of trouble, especially on the Nationwide side. When you’re running 15th-20th, you’re probably gonna get crashed just because that’s where you’re around, so as long as we stay competitive and stay up front, I think we should be OK this year. On the Cup side, I’ve already gotten to know a lot of the drivers, so I don’t really see it being a problem of them looking down at me and saying, ‘Hey, I need a caution, let’s find the 21 car.’ I’ve been there before, but I think running the Nationwide Series and having them run with me has really built a lot of confidence and respect between us.”

ANY CUP GUYS YOU GO TO FOR ADVICE? “There are a lot. Jimmie Johnson has always been out-of-his-way-nice to me, and that’s something you wouldn’t expect a five-time champion to do, but everytime I see him, whether I’m walking down pit road and he’s on the other side, he always comes to me. Even at Texas, I was standing there before qualifying and he’s like, ‘Hey, just keep your blinders on and stay focused on your goals.’ He’s incredible at being able to block out everything, so I’ve got to take that advice and run with it. Kevin Harvick, believe it or not, has played an instrumental role. A lot of younger guys think he pushes them around, but, for some reason,we’ve clicked. He called me over to his trailer at the first Dover and he’s like, ‘Man, I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel like I want to help you.’ He was talking about setting a pace for myself and not racing every lap like it’s the last lap. That’s my competitive nature. I want to lead every lap. I want to be the fastest every lap, so to have a guy like that kind of tell me, ‘It’s OK not to be the fastest every lap, just be the fastest on the last lap.’ That’s the kind of stuff that helps. And obviously Carl now that he’s my teammate. As soon as I started talking to Roush he called me up. He was like, ‘Man, we would love to have you.’ It’s almost like he was talking to me as Jack would. He’s like, ‘Come on over. We want to have you and help you.’ So he’s just been really awesome about it so far.”

DOES IT KIND OF SURPRISE YOU WHEN YOU ANSWER THE PHONE AND IT’S CARL EDWARDS ON THE OTHER END? “I’m not gonna lie it does, but getting to know these guys they’re really personable people. They’re awesome. They treat me just like my buddies do at home, so it’s really cool to see that and it’s weird because my buddies at home are like, ‘Dude, you were just on the phone with Carl Edwards? What’s that?’ I just lost that kind of perspective of it because I’m in it everyday. I’m in Mooresville a lot and I’m around the shop and I’m just used to it, but when you get outside of that immune system, everybody is like, ‘Whoa, this is a big deal.’ So it’s cool to see that people still think NASCAR is big deal because it is and it’s awesome.”