Ford Racing NNS Notes & Quotes:
NNS O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
Saturday Nov. 1, 2014
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
2nd Joey Logano
3rd Ryan Blaney
10th Dakoda Armstrong
13th Chris Buescher
17th Ryan Reed
36th Trevor Bayne
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – FINISHED 2nd
“We had a good Discount Tire Ford. The long run is where we got beat and that is when they got by us there right before that last pit stop and was able to put some ground on us and able to hold it that last run. We just have to figure out how to get the long run going. We were good up to 15 or 20 laps but then got so loose you couldn’t hang onto it and he drove away. We will have to look into that a little bit.”
YOU LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE HAVING FUN BATTLING WITH KYLE BACK AND FORTH “It was pretty fun. Kyle and I have raced great with each other since I started my career and we were teammates. It is kind of cool to still be able to race like we did before, race each other hard but clean, it is a lot of fun racing like that. I would rather beat him though.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Snap-On Ford Mustang – FINISHED 3rd
“We were a lot better on long runs and we were really tracking those guys down at the end. It is a shame we had to pit again. I just took off too tight there at the end to be able to run with them and run them down. I can’t say enough about these guys at Team Penske. It is a group of guys led by Greg Erwin who comes out three or four times a year to call shots at the race track and you can see the progress. We are getting better. WE finished fifth at Kentucky and then fourth and now third. I wish we had two more. They did a great job and I am happy to have Snap-On on it and I am just really proud of these guys. It is a pretty good day, we just needed more in our short run speed.”
TREVOR BAYNE, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang – Finished 36th (Accident on Lap 50)
“It is never good to pop a right front tire or whatever we did there. Whether it was a line or tire, I think it was a tire, it is never a good time but especially not when you have the best car you have ever had in your career. That thing was on a rail. I have never had a car so dominant, especially at the Nationwide level. It was easy today for the time we were on the race track. The first couple laps I was really loose and needed a small adjustment but man I think we had a great shot to win this race today with our AdvoCare Mustang. My guys have worked so hard all season long and they deserve a win and some cowboy hats here. I don’t even know what to say about it. It just blows your mind that something like that can happen on such a great day. We will have to keep working hard.”
JOEY LOGANO AND RYAN BLANEY POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – “We had a pretty good car. We were able to be pretty fast on the short run and made a mistake and slipped through our box early in the race but was able to recover from that and get back up to the lead. Kyle (Busch) and I had a heck of a race, that is for sure. We were able to catch up to him and pass him but then after about 20 laps or so it was like a light switch, the car would just switch to loose and he would go by me and drive away. That is what ultimately beat us, having a long run like that at the end. He was able to get us by two or three seconds before the pit stop and then able to hold on to that the rest of the race. We just needed a caution or something to be able to have some fun at the end but overall we are still racing for the owners points and we were able to lose a little bit but not a whole bunch. We cut our losses as much as we could and should be able to go from there. Jeremy, my PR guy over there, said that was my third second place finish in a row and that didn’t make me feel too good. It is good and bad, but more bad.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Snap-On Ford Mustang – “We had a good car. I don’t know if this place fits my style too much because we ran really bad last night in the trucks. But this has been a fun race track. We were the opposite of Joey. We wouldn’t fire off very well but we ran really fast at the end of runs. The run before that green flag stop there we were catching both of them and I knew we had to pit again and we didn’t really have great take-off speed on new tires. I knew that would hurt us. Maybe if we could have gotten ahead of them on the pit stop we might have held them off but I doubt it. I can’t say enough about Greg Erwin and everyone that helps on that 12 car. It is pretty neat. They get a group of guys to go to the track and we have gotten progressively better each time. It is cool to see that and really neat to be a part of.”
HOW SIMILAR WERE YOUR AND JOEY’S CAR SET-UPS? “They were fairly similar. We had some things different with track bar, air pressure, all that stuff which kind of would show up with short run speed and long run speed. That kind of was a little different but we were fairly similar and we tried some stuff. I think we started the race fairly similar, I am not sure how close, but we were pretty close.”
JOEY LOGANO CONTINUED –WHAT DO YOU THINK KYLE BUSCH’S CHANCES ARE AT A SWEEP? WHEN YOU SEE A GUY WIN ONE OF THE OTHER RACES DURING A WEEKEND DO YOU THINK THEY HAVE MOMENTUM FOR THE CUP EVENT? “Yeah, the momentum definitely carries over. When we are able to win a Nationwide race that confidence definitely carries over. He has won a lot of truck and Nationwide races and a couple truck races here too I believe. It is a track that definitely fits his style. I feel like it fits my style also. He has a fast car tomorrow. I was able to kind of look at the times a little before we left and I think we all see, or at least the drivers understand, how much the track changes from practice to a race so you have to take that with a grain of salt and maybe not live by the scoreboard on that one. I think he has raced here enough to know what he has to do from practice to the race and obviously he has. I don’t think he had super good speed in the Nationwide practice but obviously was good in the race today. You can’t count him out when you come to Texas. That momentum will carry over. He has a lot of competition in the Cup series that is going to be wanting to keep that from happening.”
WHEN YOU ARE LEADING KYLE BUSCH IN A RACE, DO YOU HAVE THE SENSE HE IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU BREATHING DOWN YOUR NECK? “I would hope so. That is the race. We are all going to do that. That is a racers mentality. When someone is in front of you, you want to pass them. Obviously you have to be smart about it though because you can overdrive your stuff and beat your stuff up. When you come to a track like this where there is a lot of tire wear you have to be a smart racer to win at this race track I feel like. I think the natural instinct of a racer is to be in kill mode, try to go pass everybody and that is what is natural. I think you have to use your head a little bit when you come to tracks like this that have a little tire wear.”
RYAN BLANEY CONTINUED – HOW IMPRESSIVE IS IT THAT A ROOKIE (CHASE ELLIOTT) WILL LIKELY WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “It is awesome. I grew up racing with Chase, I raced late models with him since we were 13 or 14 and it is cool to run those and K&N cars and trucks last year and Nationwide this year. It has been neat to see us grow and him on the verge of his first championship. That is really cool. I wish I was in that position to win the truck one but we are struggling on that side. I like to see friends who you race with as a kid succeed and that is pretty neat. That is really cool”
JOEY LOGANO CONTINUED – IT ISN’T EASY TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP AS A ROOKIE RIGHT? “Yeah, for sure. I think Chase has impressed everybody. Coming in as a rookie you see a lot of guys that have speed but make a lot of mistakes but Chase races really smart and it is something we all know we will be racing against him – I will be racing against him the rest of my life, I know that much. This is the first time I have ever sat up here and been the oldest person here, it is a weird feeling to me. I remember when I was 18 and first started racing Nationwide. It is cool that he has been able to go out here and be damn close to doing it. I am rooting for him. I like the younger wave coming into the sport. I think it is a good thing for everybody to be able to get that younger demographic coming into the sport. It has been a long time since a young wave of drivers came into the sport and it is cool to see these guys come in and have success. It is something neat to see.”
RYAN BLANEY CONTINUED – TALK ABOUT YOUR SUCCESS THIS SEASON AND WHAT IT HAS MEANT TO YOU. “It has been a lot of fun being able to run with the 22 bunch with Jeremy Bullins and then doing these couple races with Greg Erwin and the 12 bunch. It has taught me a whole lot and we have had good runs. I am fortunate to be a part of it and go for the owner’s title in the 22. It has been cool to be a bigger part of it this year than last year. I only got three races in it last year and Joey and Brad did the majority of it but it has been cool to have the bulk of it this year and run the Nationwide Series more and it means a lot to me that Mr. Penske and everyone will let me run that many races. It definitely makes you feel good as a driver.”
