Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
The Profit on CNBC 500 (Phoenix International Raceway)
Friday, February 28, 2014
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES QUALIFYING
FORD QUALIFYING ORDER
1st Brad Keselowski
2nd Joey Logano
6th Greg Biffle
9th Aric Almirola
21st Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
23rd Carl Edwards
28th David Gilliland
29th Marcos Ambrose
30th David Ragan
Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion (Qualified 2nd) – “Man, you win the first segment and Brad was second and we had him by a tenth that first run so I was feeling pretty good. After we made our lap we went faster in the first run and I felt good about it. I watched Brad’s first lap and he was able to pick it up the second lap. The third run I just couldn’t get going any faster, so that was tough.”
Aric Almirola, No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion (Qualified 9th) – “For the first go at that, for our team to be that prepared and to be up there in the top-12 and make the shootout is big for us. The Farmland Ford has been good. We need to be a little better in race trim but I was really happy when we swapped over to qualifying trim how good our car was. I am proud of that effort. We are looking forward to the race. Hopefully we get some race practice tomorrow.”
DID YOU ENJOY THIS NEW WAY? “I don’t know. It is different. It was pretty nerve-wracking being on the bubble and sit on the end of pit road and wait and see what happens. We made it in, and you just have to be prepared at all times. That is the biggest thing I noticed. You have to always be ready.”
Greg Biffle, No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (Qualified 6th) – “I guess it is probably easier if you have a good car and a fast speed. I could tell those guys sitting 10th and 12th must have a stomach ache thinking about what they should do – go again or not or whatever. It was interesting to say the least. As we saw, the cloud coming and then back up and then coming again, that is really what probably gave some of those guys an advantage. If the sun would have stayed out I think we would have stayed third or fourth. It clouded up really fast. We are going to see that with the clouds coming in and out and trying to get your engine cool.”
DID YOU ENJOY THIS WAY OF QUALIFYING? “I think I enjoyed it. It almost felt like less pressure than when you are one lap by yourself. It is still a lot of pressure but it felt different. I like it.”
Carl Edwards, No. 99 SUBWAY Ford Fusion (Qualified 23rd) – “We could have had the car a little better balanced but that was the trade-off. We worked on race trim. I would like to say we got knocked out of the top-12 but I don’t think we were ever in the top-12. That is frustrating. I believe we almost won this thing from 20th last year so we will put the SUBWAY Ford out there on race day and hopefully have some good pit stops. I love this place so it should be a good race for us still.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 NOS Ford Fusion (Qualified 21st) – “I like regular qualifying better. It is interesting. A few guys went faster on their second run. I think here and maybe Kansas and places like that it is going to pay off to be okay and be able to go out a second time. When we get to Vegas next week or Texas you aren’t going to see anybody go out a second time. When guys are cooling their engines off, it is a little hectic. Especially here at Phoenix because you can’t get out of the way in turn one and two, so that can be a problem. I don’t think I am as big of a fan of it as I thought I would be. I like just going out there and putting your qualifying laps down and begin done. It paid off for some guys though.”
HOW MUCH OF THE DAY DID YOU SPEND DISCUSSING STRATEGY FOR QUALIFYING? DID YOU STICK TO IT? “We did exactly what we had planned on. We did exactly what we planned it was just that we were too tight in the first run, then got it too loose the second run. It didn’t really go faster that second lap.”
David Gilliland, No. 38 Love’s Travel Shops Ford Fusion (Qualified 28th) – “I thought it was interesting and it was good. I’m proud of our guys. I think our car drove better here than it did last year. So, with all the new rules changes, I think that was a pretty good accomplishment. I thought the new qualifying format was a little bit different. It was interesting seeing everybody’s strategies. We had a 43rd qualifying draw, I think, and now looking back, I think the people with earlier draws had more options as far as to go out early or whatever. It was neat to see how it all played out and I think we learned a lot and I’m looking forward to putting it into play in the race.”
David Ragan, No. 34 Farm Rich Ford Fusion (Qualified 30th) – “We made some adjustment on our Farm Rich Ford and picked up a little speed. We stayed extra in race trim for practice because we are forecasting the weather for tomorrow and haven’t had a lot of opportunities to do a lot of testing with the new package so we spent a little more time in race trim. We would have liked to run faster but we learned a lot. Hopefully we can get on track and run a little on Saturday. I think the new qualifying format is different. It is fun. The fastest cars are still going to be fast, so I think the lineup is going to be set very fairly. We made a few adjustments and just didn’t pick up as much as we would have liked to.”
