(On different aspects of the car) "You do have to be a little bit more deliberate on the line you take through the turn. The cars aren't quite as forgiving. Especially when we came here for the US 500 last year: the temperatures were a little cooler, you had a little bit more downforce, and you didn't even have to hesitate about running flat her right away. Whereas now, you still have that little bit of effort to force yourself to keep that foot down there."

(On keys to the race) "There are so many concerns when you come into a 500 mile race, the biggest being durability. For us, taking the lead with about 20 laps to go last year, and then having an engine failure in the lead with about five laps to go was pretty tough. But Ford has made huge steps forward from last year to this year both in terms of horsepower and reliability."

(On what to expect during qualifying) "I think by yourself I don't know if you can achieve this much speed. I know I tried to do my runs by myself, but it was quite difficult. Even if you don't want you end up in a tow down the straights. I don't know how fast we can go in qualifying, but I think it will be 232... 231 (mph)."

(On the track surface) "I think the track was pretty smooth, even better than last year. I don't have any problems with bumps. Actually, I don't feel any bumps. It seems quite nice."

(On the tunnel blockers) "Before we got here, I think it was a big concern and everyone was running more carefully feeling the cars and not running close together until they could build up the confidence and setup the car for the track. I think people are starting to get more comfortable and the speeds are up. I think for the race, still, we need to be careful. You can run fast behind one, two cars. I ran close and the car changes. It definitely will not be as comfortable as last year. I think we need to be careful at the start, and when we run a lot of cars together."