Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Pure Michigan 400 Sprint Cup Qualifying (Michigan International Speedway)
Friday, August 16, 2013
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “The track has a ton of speed in it right now and Michigan is the fastest track we have on the circuit and it is living up to that today. I am sure we are going to see a track record run. Hopefully ours holds up for a solid starting spot. Either way, it’s a pretty good pickup from where we were in practice and we should be in a good spot for Sunday’s race.”
HOW WERE YOU IN RACE TRIM TODAY? “We didn’t do much of it. We will focus on that tomorrow. Hopefully a bunch of people come out and cheer us on.”
HOW MUCH DO YOU FEEL IS ON THE LINE THIS WEEKEND? “It isn’t like we weren’t trying before, it is just obviously we are down to the wire. You don’t have a lot of opportunities or wiggle room to screw up and recover from it. I think that is the biggest difference. I am not going to approach it any differently. You know your mistakes are magnified at this point in the season.”
WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT YOUR PHILOSOPHY THAT YOU DIDN’T RACE AS AGGRESSIVELY AS MAYBE WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO SEEING AT THE END OF THAT RACE LAST WEEK? “I don’t want you to be able to predict me. That is a weakness. I am unpredictable. Maybe this time I will hit him. Maybe next time I won’t. You never know.”
WHY DID YOU MAKE THAT DECISION? “I can’t tell you that. Then I would be predictable.”
WE THINK YOU ARE TURNING INTO MR. NICE GUY NOW. “Well then you need to stick around a little longer.”
WE MIGHT SEE SOME MORE UNPREDICTABILITY FROM YOU? “You never know. There is a time and a place for everything and I didn’t feel like that was the time or place. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a time or place for it in the future.”
WHAT MAKES THIS TRACK SO TOUGH? “I think it is a combination of things. It is a huge facility. We have other facilities that are slightly larger but they are all restricted. This is the largest unrestricted track we have. California is the same size but not the same banking. This track has more banking and that is why it has the highest speeds. Those high speeds are associated with unpredictability, whether it is fuel mileage, width of the track, any of those scenarios. They are all unpredictable.”
WHAT IS A SUCCESSFUL WEEKEND FOR YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE HERE? “I won’t leave here ashamed if I don’t win but for me to feel successful it would be a win.”
AS YOU RACE TO GET INTO THE CHASE. HOW ARE YOU MAINTAINING THE ABILITY TO BE A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM AGAIN? “Well, I hope my team doesn’t pick up that excuse. You either got it or you don’t. If you can’t keep it going, you never had it to begin with.”
DO YOU HAVE IT? “Well, I did last year and I think I do again this year. I think we do, not just me. I think we do. Obviously we have hit a spot that wasn’t favorable the last few months but I think that over the last few weeks we have shown something.”
IF YOU ARE GOING FOR ONE GOAL, TO GET INTO THE CHASE, IS IT NATURAL TO RELAX BRIEFLY AND THEN CAN YOU PICK IT BACK UP? “Not for me. That might be the case for someone else, but not for me.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE A BETTER CHANCE TO WIN HERE WITH FORD SINCE THIS IS SUCH A FORD TRACK? “It is interesting you say that. The Roush cars have such a legacy of running well here. One of the things we talk about a lot, especially with Ford is the trend of Penske Racing and their success at certain tracks hasn’t really changed much over the past year or two years even though we did switch manufacturers. We were very strong at Loudon, which isn’t a track that is associated as strong for Ford. I think that is more of a team thing than a manufacturer thing really. I think that certain tracks for teams are good tracks and I don’t really relate it to the manufacturer.”
ROUSH TOLD ME THAT THEY HAVE MOVED INTO SOME OTHER AREAS WORKING ON THE CAR THAT THEY FEEL WILL BE A BIG DIFFERENCE. WILL THAT HELP YOU GUYS AS WELL? “I think we are all in that situation. I think that is a good summary and I wouldn’t be so naive to think other manufacturers aren’t probably saying the same thing.”
