Ford’s Warriors in Pink Ford Fusion will start Sunday’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 in the lead pack after Trevor Bayne qualified eighth fastest at 190.722 miles per hour on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.
“I felt like I was sitting on the sofa holding the steering wheel, but I think it was a good lap,” Bayne said, adding that qualifying success at Talladega is more about pre-race preparation than driving ability. “There’s not much you can do as a driver, just don’t hit the wall when you’re on the top and don’t hit the apron when you’re on the bottom.”
Team co-owner Eddie Wood said he’s hoping that the team’s practice strategy will pay off during the race. There was no pressure on the Wood Brothers team in qualifying as a late change to the entry list meant that every car at the track would make the race, so the team had more flexibility during practice.
“Since only 43 cars showed up, we were able to work more on the race set-up than we normally would,” he said. “The car was really good in race trim.”
Wood said he expects Bayne and the Warriors in Pink Ford Fusion to race with the leaders rather than lay back, in an effort to avoid being swept up in one of the multi-car crashes that often occur at Talladega.
“There are no plans to lay back,” Wood said. “We plan to try to stay at the front and have a good showing with the Warriors in Pink Ford Fusion.”
Qualifying for the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 is scheduled to get the green flag just after 2 p.m. on Sunday with TV coverage on ESPN.
