Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Pure Michigan 400 (Michigan International Speedway)
Sunday August 17, 2014
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd JOEY LOGANO
8th BRAD KESELOWSKI
10th GREG BIFFLE
12th MARCOS AMBROSE
15th RICKY STENHOUSE JR.
20th ARIC ALMIROLA
21st DAVID GILLILAND
23rd CARL EDWARDS
24th DAVID RAGAN
41st TREVOR BAYNE
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – FINISHED 3rd
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE RESTARTS? “I had a bunch of good ones. The last one wasn’t the greatest. I got through the gear box good and had the 24 cleared and I should have pulled down in front of him and got that draft but he got up next to me and pulled me back so hard that I couldn’t get away from him. He was able to get position on me into one and once he got that clean air I knew I had one more shot. I knew I was really good into one and that was his weak point. I drove it off there and got him wiggled a little bit getting underneath him and cleared him again but he was able to pull me back again off the corner and then I got loose under him trying to maintain what I had and came in third.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – Finished 8th
“That was a good finish to come home eighth after hitting the wall. We had some pretty good adversity there with the blown tire. I am not sure why that happened. We didn’t have any indication of it and there was no real reason to. I was about the least aggressive you could be and did a run before that where I was more aggressive and didn’t even come close to showing signs of an issue. I don’t know. I think we just got a bad tire. It is hard to say but the team did a hell of a job to overcome that and get an eighth place finish out of what should have been probably a 25th or 30th place finish.”
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – Finished 10th
“You know, I guess it was a good day. We got a top-10. Really we wanted to run up in the top-five. We had a car to do that and that track position we would get loose around other cars. We still have to work on that with our race cars. We get around other cars and can’t drive them as good. It was a great day for us because we had a lot more speed than last time here. I lost the handle the last quarter of the race. I feel like we had a top-five car but the last quarter of the race the track started to slicken up and guys came on hard like the 15 and other guys. We have worked really hard and been off all year. It is a huge improvement for us.” JEFF GORDON WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE WAY LOGANO WAS RUNNING RESTARTS. DID YOU NOTICE ANYTHING WHERE YOU WERE AT? “You can’t complain if you are on the front row on a restart. If you are complaining and you are the guy on the front row then you’ve got a problem.”
MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 Black & Decker Ford Fusion – Finished 12th
We will take that. We really wanted a top-10 but we will take 12th and we were a lot better than in the spring so we have made progress and that is good. I am proud of the team for their hard work to make those improvements. We will look forward to Bristol next weekend.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 19 Zest Ford Fusion – Finished 15th
“It was a good solid top-15. We qualified 10th and finished 15th and ran right around 15th the whole time which is kind of a goal. Obviously we want to run top-10 and pass as many cars as we can but all in all we accomplished what we were looking to do. Our Zest Ford Fusion needs to get better still but I think we made some gains on it this weekend. I look forward to the test tomorrow and hopefully we can learn some more stuff.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 EcoBoost Ford Fusion – Finished 23rd
“We were so loose I just couldn’t drive it. It looked like Greg (Biffle) had a good run and we had speed in qualifying so that gives us something to look forward to but we were just too loose today to be able to do anything.”
TREVOR BAYNE, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – Finished 41st
HOW WAS THE CAR? IT SEEMED LIKE YOU WERE MAKING YOUR WAY STEADILY FORWARD BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. “The car was OK. We had something we could work with. It’s pretty easy to get through those first 10 to 15 cars, but when you get to about 25th, the pace picks up and it’s more difficult to pass. We were almost to that point and we were just going to keep working on the car and try to get it to turn better. We could have had a top 20 day at least but we got caught up in somebody else’s mess. It kind of stinks but you’ll have that from time to time. I hate that it’s happened a few times in a row now. I hate that for these guys who work so hard and hopefully next time we don’t have that kind of luck.”
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE INCIDENT? “I’m not really sure. I couldn’t really see much in front of me. I was following the 7 car or whoever was in front of me and the next thing I know three cars slid down in front of us, I got on the brakes hard and couldn’t get it slowed down in time. It wasn’t much of a hit but it doesn’t take much to damage these things.”
JOEY LOGANO THIRD PLACE PRESS CONFERENCE — JOEY LOGANO, No 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – TAKE US THROUGH THE RACE AND THE LAST FEW LAPS. “I had a really good Shell Pennzoi Ford. My guys did a good job all weekend. We had a fast car when we unloaded and showed that in qualifying and practice all week. I woke up this morning and felt really good about it. When Todd (Gordon) feels really good about it I know we will be alright. We took off in the beginning of the race and led a lot of laps. We kept tightening the car up and getting better. By the end we got it right where it needed to be and then just restart after restart after restart. I won every single restart except the last one and here I am. That is kind of frustrating but I almost had him there and I rode around in fourth hoping for a restart because that is the spot you want to be. Then I realized we weren’t going to get another restart and went for third from there.”
WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM TODAY BEING RIGHT THERE BUT NOT WINNING? “That we can win a championship. I really feel like we can do that. That is the message I want to put out there and I want to put it out there for my team, that we are strong enough to do it this year. I think we showed it today. We need to find a little more speed to keep up with one car today. We were the second best car. The 24 was the best because he was good on the long run and we weren’t as good on the long run. We are close. We still have to keep working hard and find that next level here in three weeks now to be this strong in the Chase but right now we are in the hunt and doing what we have to do. I said after Pocono and we finished third that it doesn’t matter because wins are the only thing that matter. We like the momentum. It is good to go into the Chase with momentum and top-five and top-10 finishes which has moved us up in the points but that is why I raced so hard at the end there. I was trying to get that position. I almost got him in turn one but wasn’t able to clear him and got pulled back on the straightaway again.”
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE ON THE LAST RESTART? “My strong point was turn one all day. I was really good getting into turn one and that was kind of the 24’s worst spot. It kind of worked out for me. I got a good run off the corner and was able to draft on him on the straightaway and thought it was my one shot. I knew I had about four, maybe five laps tops before your tires get hot and you lose all your mechanical grip and it is really hard to pass cars. I drove it off in there and tried to get him a little free, which I did, and got underneath him and then he was able to pull me back and then after that Kevin (Harvick) had a really good run on the top and I was trying to hang on. When a car gets on your door like that you are swatting flies inside your car. I lost a position to Paul (Menard) and then they were gone.”
AFTER THE JUNE RACE, YOUR TEAMMATE SAID HE FELT LIKE HENDRICK WAS FAR AHEAD, LIKE A YEAR AHEAD ON ENGINE DEVELOPMENT AND POWER. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CLOSED THE GAP A LITTLE BIT TODAY? “Yeah, we’ve closed the gap. I don’t think we’re a year behind. Do I think the Hendrick Chevy’s are the best motors out there right now? Yes, I do. But I think this race track caters to the Ford motor a little bit more than normal. We’re good on the high rpm stuff. Not slowing much in the corners. This is kind of our wheelhouse. Then for the Hendrick Chevy’s, it seems like the bottom end horsepower is where they got it. That’s not speed. That’s race‑ability stuff, you’re able to get that spot on somebody off the corner. We’ve closed the gap, worked a lot on it. We’re coming. We’re coming. We’re just not there yet.”
