Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
AdvoCare 500 Qualifying (Phoenix International Raceway)
Friday, November 8, 2013
Ford Qualifying Results:
3rd – Joey Logano
12th – Brad Keselowski
18th – Greg Biffle
20th – Marcos Ambrose
21st – Aric Almirola
23rd – Carl Edwards
27th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
30th – Casey Mears
33rd – David Gilliland
34th – David Ragan
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion – “I was just way tighter than I thought it was going to be. It’s just very frustrating. We’ll just have to work harder in the race, but that’s pretty frustrating.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 17 Driven Ford Fusion – “Our Driven Ford Fusion was exactly like practice. It didn’t turn and doesn’t have much rear grip, so we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
ARIC ALMIROLA – No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion – “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and look for something different. Marcos and I are right on top of each other, but ever since we’ve unloaded our car hasn’t turned as good as we would like. We’ve been searching around and haven’t hit on anything yet.”
DAVID GILLILAND – No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion – “We were really tight in one and two, and a little free in three and four. We fought free a little earlier, but that’s not what we needed. We’ve been struggling a little bit, so this is pretty disappointing.”
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – YOU HELD THE TRACK RECORD FOR A MINUTE OR TWO. “Yeah, I thought the lap was OK. I didn’t think it was spectacular, but it’s gonna be a decent starting spot. There are still a lot of fast cars to go, so we’ll see where we end up here. Hopefully, it hangs in the top five and we get a good starting spot for this Shell/Pennzoil Ford.” WHAT DOES THIS NEW LEFT SIDE TIRE FEEL LIKE? “It kind of feels like the car is coming in sooner. What we had here before it took a few laps for the tire to come in. It seems like the tire is coming in a little bit quicker for sticker tires, so I think that’s a good thing for racing. I feel like we can be a little more aggressive on the restarts and stuff like that, so we’ll see what happens.”
DAVID RAGAN – No. 34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion – “We’ve really struggled with our Taco Bell Ford since we got here. This track changes a lot between March and November when we’re here and we’ve learned a lot about the cars, and we just really haven’t been able to apply what we’ve learned this year to our Ford here at Phoenix. It’s a tricky surface and a tricky tire, and our hasn’t been real comfortable, so it’s been tough to drive and I’m just glad today is Friday and not Saturday afternoon, so we’ll work on it some for Sunday.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “We were OK, but obviously could be better. This has been a good track for us. All of the flat tracks really have been, so we should be good for Sunday and that’s what matters most.” IT SEEMS A LOT OF GUYS HAVE TALKED ABOUT BEING TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT. WHAT ABOUT YOU? “Loose, loose, loose, but I’m always the opposite of everyone else. (laughing)”
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – “I thought my car was pretty could, but I just couldn’t see. I just missed the corner. I couldn’t turn it down to the bottom like I needed to. I just missed the bottom of the corner or else I think I would have had a pretty good lap, so that was unfortunate.”
JOEY LOGANO PRESS CONFERENCE
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “We unloaded not too bad today. We had a pretty decent Shell/Pennzoil Ford right off the bat. We made a few changes in race trim just trying to get a feel for where the track was going as it rubbered in, especially qualifying trim, and kind of went into qualifying figuring I’d qualify third. I thought the 42 was gonna be the one that beat us actually, but it really seemed the 48 was gonna be really fast. It seems like he’s been on kill mode the last few weeks and has been really fast, so, overall, it was a decent lap with a good starting spot for Sunday. I think starting on the bottom will be important also, so I’m excited about it. I think I’ve got a really good race car to try to get a couple top-fives in a row here.”
WHAT DOES THE 48 DO THAT MAKES IT SEEMS DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER WEEK? “He’s beating us by a larger amount (laughing). Last week, I ran second to him for a while and just to see the speed in his car. And then he unloads today and you watch in practice how fast his car was. It seems like when they’re running for that championship they find that extra notch that a lot of teams can’t find, so they’re obviously taking advantage of it this weekend also. I feel like we’re in the hunt. I feel like we’re close when it comes to speed, but, like I say, he’s got that next notch and he’s going really fast right now.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK HE FINDS AND WHERE DO YOU LOOK FOR THAT? “You’re asking great questions, but I don’t know that I have the answers for them. It seems like the intensity level probably picks up a little bit. I’m not saying that it doesn’t for our team or for any other team, but I think the experience they’ve had in the Chase plays into their hand and, like I said, they’re very intense, but I think they keep calm and they capitalize on every situation they’ve got. They’re doing a great job. I don’t feel like we’re very far off. I felt like last week we were a second to third-place car, but he was that next step. He was the one car that was faster than everybody. We’ve got all day tomorrow to make sure that doesn’t happen with our Shell/Pennzoil Ford, which I feel like we’ve got a piece that’s capable of doing it, but we just have to tune it in and make the right adjustments tomorrow.”
