Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Camping World RV Sales 301 Cup Post Race (New Hampshire Motor Speedway)
Sunday, July 14, 2013
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion (FINISHED 4th) – “That was a grueling race for sure. We fought hard all day and came home with a fourth so that was a decent day. I thought we had a shot at it. The 18 and 78 were really good and I hadn’t been around the 55 all day until the end but man that last run he was definitely fast and deserved the win. Great job to them. It was a decent day for the Miller Lite Ford Fusion, we just needed a little bit more to win.”
A TOP-FIVE FINISH IS KIND OF WHAT YOUR TEAM NEEDED RIGHT NOW. “Yeah, it is a solid day but not the win I want for sure. It is still a solid day though and something to be proud of.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion (FINISHED 8th) – “That was a hell of a battle. I am pretty proud of how everybody fought really hard the whole time and we ended up with a top-10. The car was not as good as we finished and we made some things happened on the restarts which we haven’t been able to do for awhile, so that was really nice. I had a good time out there and we were able to get a good finish out of a crazy day, so that is good.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion (FINISHED 5th) – “Out Smithfield Ford Fusion wasn’t very good all day. We really struggled and Todd saw that track position was really important so we took two tires on one of those cautions and that was really bad so we came back down pit road and took four tires when everybody else stayed out and that gave us the opportunity when everyone else came to pit to make it on fuel and we stayed out. That was a great pit call by Todd Parrott and all these guys on this Smithfield Ford Fusion did a great job and that is nice. It is a great way to go into the off weekend.”
RICKY STENHOUSE Jr., No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion (FINISHED 34th) – “We struggled a lot which was pretty disappointing. We came up here and tested and we didn’t really get any faster when we tested here but we felt we had a decent package to come back with. Really all our Roush Fenway cars struggled. We ran right there with Greg and Carl. Greg had a couple runs where he was up front but for the most part we were all pretty close, just not close enough to the front. We tried getting our track position by staying out and restarting fifth on no tires and that didn’t work out for us. So then we took four tires there at the end and could make the outside work and then I think we got up to 16th and would get trapped on the bottom and you can’t get up to the top. So that is what kind of got us back to where we were.”
HOW ABOUT THE ACCIDENT OUT THERE WITH THE 10? “I haven’t seen a replay of what happened but Scott said the 10 might have got into me, or the 93 or somebody. I thought it was the 93. Its not the first time you get crashed on accident. I have crashed people on accident as well. It is part of it. It is the first crash we have had in a long time so we are pretty lucky that we have been making it to the end of these races. It is kind of what has kept us where we are in points. We didn’t have a good car anyway today.”
RESTARTS WERE WACKY TODAY, MORE SO THAN USUAL? “Yeah, it was no different than any other race here at Loudon I think. You try to get as much as you can on the restarts and we went three-wide a couple times on the very bottom and you could roll the bottom for a little bit even on the apron and gain a couple spots and then you would have to slide up and get in line. It is just a product of Loudon. It is hard racing. I think it is fun if your car is good but when you are struggling with your car it is a little difficult. We still have some work to do on the short tracks somewhere in the front end to get our cars to turn as well as the other guys.”
DANICA SAID SHE THOUGHT HER BRAKES LOCKED UP AND SENT HER SIDEWAYS. “Yeah, my brakes were going out all race really. I didn’t have good brakes and I was complaining about it all race. I don’t know if anyone else was having problems with it. In practice we had some problems of getting in the brake and it darting left pretty quick with the front end suspension and the way the geometry is. It is all part of it. We will take the weekend off and go to Indy.”
DID YOU EXPECT IT TO BE AS TREACHEROUS OUT THERE AS IT WAS TODAY? “Yeah, shoot, when I restarted up front I got loose and got into the 5. It is just a fine line at this race track of driving too hard or not driving hard enough. It is like the tires have a certain amount of grip but when they go, they go. You are just trying all you can do to keep it off the person on the outside or inside of you. It is a difficult track and it definitely pays to get a good setup and we didn’t have it today.”
ARE YOU MAD OR IS THAT JUST NEW HAMPSHIRE? “It is just part of it. Like I told these guys, I have been wrecked before and wrecked people myself. Fortunately we have been able to finish a lot of these races and that is what has kept us in the points of where we are. We haven’t run well enough to be in the top-20 in points I don’t feel like. It is unfortunate to end the day with a crash but the guys fixed it and we got back out there and made the most of it and didn’t get a DNF, that is always good.”
