Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
Budweiser Duel Race #1 – Daytona International Speedway
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Ford Finishing Results:
3rd – Joey Logano
12th – Michael McDowell
19th – Brad Keselowski
20th – Aric Almirola
22nd – Trevor Bayne
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “I was trying hard. I tried to get a run from the 4 there. I backed up to him and got a push, and I had a good run, but once you get to a certain point on these guys it gets close enough and it pushes their car ahead. I tried staying out of the 88’s way and I got almost underneath him and then the 24 pulled me back, which kept me from getting underneath him and that was the end of that. It’s fun. I told my spotter at the end of the race we’ve been working hard over the off-season getting better at this stuff. That’s as close as we’ve been to winning a speedway race with this format and this big pack drafting, so we’re doing the right things. We’re getting closer. I’m getting more positive about the 500 as we keep going, so that’s good.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO START UP FRONT FOR THE 500? “It’s nice. It’s nice to get a good pit stall. I guess we’re gonna start fifth for the 500, so it’s a good starting spot. We’ll get a good box. The 500 you go back and forth a few times, but it’s safer up there and we’re just gonna have to work hard and race hard to stay up there.”
WHAT WAS THE RACING LIKE TONIGHT? “Calmer than the Shootout the other night, which is to be expected. We want to race these cars in the 500, so we want to somewhat take care of them, but we were having some fun out there at the same time. We learned a lot. The racing wasn’t as crazy as it was the other night, but it was still some good racing.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL – No. 95 Thrivent Ford Fusion –
WHAT DID THAT FEEL LIKE AT THE END? “I know I made a lot, but I knew I needed to make up a lot. I think I was 21st coming to the white and I just kept it hammer down and it was unbelievable.”
IT LOOKED LIKE THE RED SEA PARTING WHEN YOU SPLIT A COUPLE CARS COMING TO THE WHITE AND THAT GOT YOU GOING. “Yeah, I just had a good run and had to make a hole. I couldn’t lose my momentum and I had to go for it. I’m just thankful. These things can go either way and we had a really fast Ford Fusion. We had some issues on pit road, which got us in the back there on that last restart, and we just had to go. I’m thankful to Thrivent and everyone at Leavine Family Racing, K-LOVE. This Ford Fusion was fast, we just had to get in the right line at the right time.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO MAKE THIS RACE BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T IT’S A BIG BLOW FOR A SMALL TEAM LIKE YOURS. “It’s such a huge race. It’s hard to put in perspective what this means to a race team, especially a small race team like this. For us, this is a big deal. This is as big as winning the Daytona 500, just getting into it because of what it means for our partners and what it means for our race team. I’ve missed a few and I’ve made a few. I’ve been on both sides and I’ve been fortunate to have some great runs here and been unfortunate to load up and drive home four days early. You never take it for granted. I’m extremely thankful. I’m gonna have to watch that last lap over and over again because it was unbelievable.”
HOW INTENSE WAS THAT LAST LAP? “When I crossed that white flag I was thinking, ‘I have to do this.’ I don’t know what we’re gonna do, I don’t know how we’re gonna do it, but we’ve just got to do it. You can’t make these cars go faster. I had a run that was building and there wasn’t a gap and I made a gap. I tore up both sides of the race car in the process of doing it and had to block some people, and probably upset a few people along the way, but this race is so important for us to make, so important for our partners, Thirvent Financial, K-LOVE, Ford, everybody at Leavine Family Racing. For Bob and Sharon, they spend a lot of their own hard earned money for us to go racing and I’m very thankful to have the opportunity to drive it.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion –
DID YOU LEARN SOME THINGS FOR SUNDAY? “You’re always learning. We didn’t tear our car up. I wanted to win the race and we kind of got shuffled a few times, which kept us from pulling that off. We needed a little bit of speed, too, but it was a decent night – not great.” A LOT CALMER RACE. “Yeah, the Duels are usually always calmer. That’s part of the fun.”
TREVOR BAYNE, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion – “I was just talking to Larson and I don’t know what happened yet. I haven’t seen it. It just took off getting into the corner. He said he got tight and pushed up into our left rear and packed air and spun us out. Obviously I haven’t seen it yet but it stinks. We saw the 17 get loose like that in the Unlimited and now we did. It was unexpected and stinks to tear up a race car. I felt really good running second early in the race but we couldn’t get any help there at the end. Every time we made a move everybody would ditch us. We just have to get more help. I think we had a quick race car at the beginning but I had help and you have to have that here.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion – “We had a pretty good car at the beginning. We just never really had the speed that we thought we were going to have. The car drove okay but not exactly what we wanted. We will have to go back and look at some things and maybe work on it to get ready for the 500. We got some damage there and it never really drove as good after that and it wasn’t as fast and never drove as good. I am not really sure what happened but we will go back and work on it and get it ready for the 500.”
COLE WHITT, No. 35 Speed Stick Ford Fusion – “It was a good night, good for Speed Stick and Ford. To be the second highest Ford is good. The 2 helped me for a little while and then kind of bailed on us. A couple guys helped us pretty good. I think we earned a little respect for the 500 and that is good. We need these guys to work with us and they were starting to do that tonight and I am proud of that.”
