May 7, 1999 – Greg Biffle wins pole at Memphis 200

Greg Biffle wins pole at Memphis 200

Greg Biffle, #50 Grainger Ford F-150: (Qualified first) ” It was a really
good lap. We knew that when we came in from practice we could run a
little better here and a little better there, but that was pretty good lap. The
truck was just a little bit too free and we made some tire pressure
adjustments and then I cut them in half after I watched about half of the guys
qualify who seemed to look a little free. The track was cooling down a little
bit so we made the call to cut it back some. The guys worked really hard
today and gave me a great truck. I think we might come up with a win if we
can keep our cards straight. WHAT IS YOUR KEY TO RUNNING
WELL HERE AT MEMPHIS? “I’m not sure what to say. This is a really
smooth racetrack except for some light bumps going down the back
straight. But the corners are really smooth and the track offers a lot of grip.
Our trucks work really well here. We brought exactly the same set-up truck
here this year that we had last year. But I have to commend the guys who
did a great job with the Grainger Ford. We just got off of a two week
break and they spent that whole time getting this truck ready in order for us
to bring the same truck back. This is our second consecutive pole here at
Memphis and I didn’t think that we’d go any faster this year because we’re
running a little harder tire. But that just proves that the competition in the
series just keeps getting tougher and tougher every year.” LAST YEAR
AFTER LEADING MOST OF THE RACE, YOU SUFFERED FROM
A TIRE PROBLEM. HOW BAD DO YOUR WANT TO CORRECT
THAT SITUATION FROM HAPPENING AGAIN? “Real bad. We just
made rookie mistakes last year. There weren’t any problems in the race.
Goodyear brought a great tire here last year too. We went 130 laps on the
tire! We just didn’t stop for tires. We got out of pit sequence and then we
didn’t want to end up at the back. It was our fault. We just made rookie
mistakes and this year we’re not going to make those same mistakes.” ARE
THERE ANY DIFFERENCES IN THE TRACK FROM LAST YEAR?
“Not really any difference. If anything there is a little less grip. Not quite as
much traction going forward. But that could be the harder tires that
Goodyear has brought here this year.”

Rick Crawford, #14 Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford F-150:
(Qualified ninth) “It was pretty good lap. I started saying to myself, `It
ain’t nothing but a hound dog’ because that cloud came over and I thought
that Elvis laid a cloud over on top of us for a few minutes. We thought we
had a shot at the pole. We had a quick first lap but then the second lap I
had to chase it a little bit. I had on my blue suede shoes and chased it down
in Turn 1. I think that we’ll be in the top 10 before it’s over.”

Kevin Cywinski, #31 Auto Trim Design Ford F-150: (Qualified
10th)“Well not too bad so far. We picked it up at the end of the lap of the
last practice. We found something in the shocks and picked it up. It’s still a
little short of where we want to be though. For a while I couldn’t get the
truck to turn in between turn three and four. So we changed both front
shocks and got the thing working pretty well. I think that we have a good
truck for the race. We’ll be fine tomorrow.”

Kevin Harvick, #98 Porter-Cable Power Tools Ford F-150:
(Qualified third) “The Porter Cable Ford has been good ever since we got
here to Memphis. We’ll take our second-place time (at the time) because
and it gets us right up front where we need to be and we’ll go racing
tomorrow.” IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC PART OF THE TRACK
GIVING YOU TROUBLE? “Yeah, coming out of turns three and four, the
truck was a little too tight. But I had to go for it and it worked out okay.
We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Mike Bliss, #99 Exide Batteries Ford F-150: (Qualified eighth) “I
screwed up in turns three and four. We came through one and two really
good and then you can overdrive coming into three and that’s what I did. I
kept telling myself coming down the back straight to not overdrive but I
went in too hard and the thing pushed up and I blew a couple of tenths right
there. That’s all that it was. At least I know what it was. Turn three is one
tough corner. It’s real critical to come through there well. Luckily in practice
run I’ve run well through there but I didn’t when it counted.”