Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
GEICO 400 (Chicagoland Speedway)
NSCS Qualifying Quotes
Friday, September 13, 2013
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion (Qualified 1st) – HOW WILL THIS TRACK CHANGE BY SUNDAY? “Well, we will have to see. I am sure it will rubber up more after the race tonight and tomorrow. The temperature will be pretty cool throughout the whole weekend here and there will be a lot of grip out there. Through the weekend there will be some really fast speeds.”
IS THE BEST MEDICINE GETTING IN THE RACE CAR TODAY? “Yeah, I couldn’t wait for this day all week long. I am glad to get back in the rac ecar today and I was excited to roll out of the garage and get on the track today.”
YOUR REACTION TO JEFF GORDON NOW BEING IN THE CHASE? “It isn’t my decision who is in the Chase and who isn’t. I drive the race car and NASCAR makes the call they feel is right. All I really care about is that this Shell Pennzoil Ford is in the Chase and we have a shot at a championship. Anything outside of that I don’t really care.”
WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO LEARN AT THE MEETING TOMORROW? “We will wait and see. I am sure they will tell us what we can and can’t do and clarify it all for us and we will have some answers.”
WERE YOU AFRAID THE PENALTY MIGHT BE A LITTLE MORE HARSH THAN PROBATION FOR YOUR TEAM? “I wasn’t really worried about it at all. I was driving the car and didn’t know anything was going on until we landed here in Chicago a couple days ago and my phone was blowing up. I didn’t expect anything because I didn’t see it. I still wouldn’t expect it even after listening to everything. I think the right things happened.”
DOES PUTTING ONE MORE GUY IN MAKE IT THAT MUCH HARDER TO WIN? “It makes it one more person harder to win, yeah. It is what it is. We have to worry about our own cars. We race against 43 of them every week. Just because there is one more in the Chase doesn’t change who we race against. We have to beat them all anyway. We need to win races to win the championship. Jeff is going to be in the race either way, so it doesn’t change our plan.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “This is the week of teammates huh? It just keeps playing right along. It was a decent lap for sure and the Penske cars, we have put a lot of effort into this weekend and getting the Chase started off on the right foot. I wish we were a part of it but it shows the speed we will have. I look forward to the next 10 weeks and putting some wins on the board.”
ARE YOU A SPOILER FOR THIS CHASE? “I don’t know if I am the spoiler or not but I sure would like to win all the races and I will let you figure out what the term is.”
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE NASCAR MEETING TOMORROW? “I am not looking forward to any of it. Do you want to go in my place? You can have the inside source and I can get a nap.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT JEFF GETTING ADDED? “I don’t know. It hasn’t sunk in yet I guess. I have been trying to drive race cars and go fast. I have the truck and the Cup car this weekend and that is enough to keep my plate full. At some point you just have to put your head down and do and not think. I am in that mode.”
WHAT WAS YOUR LEVEL OF SHOCK? “I am not shocked. I don’t know if that is good or bad that I am not shocked but at some point you expect the unexpected.”
YOU MADE REFERENCE ON TWITTER ABOUT SPEAKING UP SOONER ABOUT SOMETHING ON TRACK AT RICHMOND. “I was asked not to comment further on that. I am going to respect those that asked that of me. On every given week there is always more going on than what you see.”
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 Post-It Ford Fusion (Qualified 7th) – “I feel really good about the lap. The car had more grip than I drove it and we are going to start in the top-10 and that is what we have to be doing here in the Chase. We need to run good and qualify up front and challenge for the wins. It seems like we got the start to it. I think I definitely could have been better than that. I just didn’t know how much grip the track had. My very last mock Q run of the day was terrible on grip and I was really nervous about over driving the car because if you overdrive here you screw up and start 20th and then you will have a tough day. I am pretty happy with it overall.”
YOUR THOUGHTS ON NASCAR’S DECISION TODAY? “I am not sure about all that. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. I understand the fact that the outcome was changed because of circumstances during the event and I agree that there should be some compensation made for that but I still haven’t quite had enough time to digest how we got an extra one. That is what it boils down to for me I think.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion (Qualified 8th) – “The cool weather makes it fast and the wind is a big factor. You drive down into these corners and they are a lot different because of the wind. I am excited about starting the Chase here and hopefully starting up front and I think this will be a top-10 starting position. We got an early draw but I am glad to be here in Chicago. We have 10 races to go and we have been on a roll. Hopefully we can start up front and run up there all day and get another win.”
WHEN THE DAY STARTED YOU HAD 11 GUYS TO BEAT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP, NOW YOU HAVE 12. “Yeah, as long as we are still in it, that is the key. It doesn’t really matter to me what goes on around us. We go out and are here to win races and the championship and hopefully it is one more disappointed guy at Homestead.”
WHEN YOU HEARD THE 24 WAS IN, WAS IT SURPRISING? “Definitely surprising but it is what it is. My thoughts aren’t going to change the way we race this weekend. It is something that I am not thinking about or worrying about.”
WHAT ABOUT THE MEETING TOMORROW? “That will be really good I think. I thought it was good that they waited to answer questions. I actually even heard them say that they would listen to some input and that will be really neat. That is a big deal for Mike Helton and Brian France to put it out there and show that they care this much about the integrity of the event because at the end of the day that is all we hope for, to go out there and race in an event where the best man wins.”
DAVID GILLILAND, No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion (Qualified 35th) – “These tires fall of quite a bit here. I was happy with that lap. We were loose in practice and tightened it up and we were too tight right there. We didn’t get the best draw either, going out first is never good. I am proud of our guys and the team and it is Frank Kerr’s birthday today. The guys have done a good job and I am proud of their efforts.”
YOUR TEAM IS IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOR ANOTHER REASON, CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE NASCAR RULING TODAY? “We are disappointed that last week got the focus shifted to Front Row Motorsports. We don’t feel like we changed the outcome of that race. We hate that the focus was shifted to us but I am glad it is behind us and I am looking forward to a good weekend in Chicago and putting last weekend behind us.”
MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 DeWalt Ford Fusion (Qualified 26th) – “I can’t do much more. I just hope the weather deteriorates for the cars behind us and we get somewhere decent. That won’t be enough for the top-10. We have a good race package here though and we tested here a few weeks back. I feel better about our race package than what we did in qualifying. We missed it a little bit but I was happy with my lap and thought I drove the lap well. We will see how it holds up.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 43 Eckrich Ford Fusion (Qualified 15th) – “That was a good lap for us. It is hard to believe that we are only three-hundredths off the pole and are fifth right now. That is tough to swallow. All in all the car was good. I am really happy with it. We will see where that shakes out. I thought the car drove really good. I am disappointed we aren’t closer to the top of the board.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Qualified 5th) – “That was a little loose there in one and two and I thought we left a little on the table there in one and two. I tried to make up for it in three and four and may have drove a little too hard and left something out there as well. The Best Buy Ford was really fast and we will just try to see where that ends up and see if we can carry that on to our second pole. It would be cool if it held up but I am sure some of these guys will catch us. It is a good start to the weekend and we look to carry that momentum into tomorrow and Sunday.”
