Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at The Brickyard – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Ford Finishing Results:
2nd – Joey Logano
10th – Brad Keselowski
12th – Ryan Blaney
17th – Sam Hornish Jr.
19th – Greg Biffle
29th – David Gilliland
31st – Michael McDowell
33rd – Cole Whitt
34th – Brett Moffitt
35th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
38th – Aric Almirola
40th – Trevor Bayne
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion — POST-RACE INTERVIEW – “I got a good draft down the backstretch and I knew he was gonna block the bottom. I didn’t have a good enough run to get underneath him. All I could do was hope he missed his corner and try to get underneath him that way, but I don’t know what got into those guys lately. I guess Kyle is back. It’s frustrating. We were so close to winning here at the Brickyard. Second hurts, but I’m proud of this team. We worked hard throughout this whole weekend. We didn’t unload very good, but pushed hard and qualified second and finished second, but there are no trophies for second.”
HOW TOUGH WAS THAT LAST RESTART? “He had the superior car. He was definitely fast. I think he showed all day he was the best car, just working the strategy and it worked out good for them. We just didn’t have enough. I tried to make some runs and tried to have a good restart there at the end, which we did, but the 78 was there to push him ahead. I tried to do everything I could do. When you come here to the Brickyard all you want to do is win and that’s it. It’s either win or finish last in my eyes. That’s all that matters when you come to a race track like this. It’s like going to Daytona, it’s all about the win and we’ll have to wait another year.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “It was a hot day but that is what we do. That is part of being a race car driver. The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford had so much speed by itself and when we get running and the field would spread out, I felt like probably the 4 car and I were the class of the field. On restarts though I was just awful. Just absolutely atrocious and I couldn’t make anything up and kept losing spots. I just didn’t have a good balance between the two. I wanted balance and didn’t have it. I don’t know if that was me or the car. We just can’t seem to put it together and that is a lot of what these races are now, they are restart racing. You go hard, go hard and fall in line after a restart, get stuck in everybody’s dirty air, wait for a yellow and then race the restart. We probably had as much green flag spread out speed as anyone out there but we just didn’t have the restart speed to make anything of it.” HOW WAS THE PACKAGE OUT THERE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE? “Well, it was really hot and that is part of being a driver. I can’t complain because it is what I signed up for. Besides that, I think we were all expecting there to be more drafting than there was. I don’t think the draft was much different than last year and the penalty for being behind someone in the corner was more significant.” DID THE RESTARTS KILL YOU BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY? “Yeah, we seem to get so many debris yellows in these races that really add the restarts up. When that happened I just couldn’t make anything up and kept cycling back.” WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE UP FRONT BUT OFF CYCLE AND KNOW THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO? “It isn’t great. You are hoping to catch a break. I thought we had a good strategy to try to cycle. We ended up taking four tires and coming out behind guys with 15 laps on their tires and in 13th. If we had any kind of restart speed we should have been able to get up to second or third at the worst because tires were pretty substantial but we didn’t. The 20 car restarted behind me and he got up to seventh so that shows the restart speed he had.” DID THE MINOR DAMAGE TO YOUR CAR AFFECT YOUR RESTART SPEED? “When you can’t go on a restart everyone just runs you over so it compounds everything.” THIS TRACK IS DIFFERENT THAN MICHIGAN BUT WITH THIS PACKAGE, IS THERE A CAUTION TAKING THIS TO MICHIGAN OR SHOULD IT BE RECONSIDERED? “I didn’t see any significant gains. I saw a lot of restart racing but I didn’t see anything else.”
SAM HORNISH JR., No. 9 Medallion Bank Ford Fusion – “It was hot, that is for sure. We got behind early on because the car was really free starting out and we just had a big wiggle coming off turn four there and then it got tight and wiggled again and we scraped the wall. With the downforce package we got, it sinks the back of the car so low that we ended up flattening the right rear tire. We pitted and we stuck with it. The guys made good changes throughout the day and got our Medallion Bank Ford Fusion up there to 17th.”
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 Lilly Ford Fusion – “The heat wasn’t too awful bad. It just seemed like you couldn’t pass. It was really hard to get up there and get a run on guys. It is difficult to try to get beside guys and it was really, really loose once you caught them. I would say the Kentucky package is way, way better and it put on a way better race than what that did.” WAS THE HEAT ANYTHING MORE THAN YOU ARE USED TO? “I think it is pretty cool outside right now so we probably got lucky. It was pretty hot in there. I think the clouds helped out though for sure.”
JOEY LOGANO PRESS CONFERENCE – TALK ABOUT THE LAST RESTART? “I thought overall the day went well. You come to Indy and it’s all about the win. You either win or finish last. It doesn’t really matter anywhere in between, at least that’s the way I race when I come to a race track like this. I feel like at Daytona and Indy it’s all about getting trophies and rings and making out with bricks. Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short. I’m so proud of our team. There’s nothing to hang our heads down about. We had a good day, we just needed a little bit more. We need to find a little bit more speed in our race car. We had really good restarts and were able to cycle ourselves onto the front row, which was key. I had a good last restart, but just didn’t get the push behind me I needed. When I started pulling out ahead there I got good drive and was able to get up ahead of him and then he started pulling me back a little bit with the side draft and then the 78 was also able to get to his bumper and push him ahead and get in position into one, which is really hard to clear him on the outside, but you try. Then he got a good run down the back straightaway. I knew my run wasn’t good enough to get inside of him or outside of him. Really, all I had was to be able to just try to get him off line and I drove in way shallow on him just trying to see if I could loosen him up, which doesn’t seem to work with this package. I think the extended bumper doesn’t allow us to loosen people up to make a pass, but I was just trying to get him to wash up off the bottom and try to get me some air, and get the drive off the corner. He did wash up the corner. The plan worked. I got him to wash up, but you’re going so fast and you don’t have much motor I go to the gas and it just wasn’t going to accelerate underneath him and I wasn’t able to continue that. That was kind of my last-ditch effort. I tried one more time to do something but got loose off of one and that was kind of the end of it. Overall, it was a good day, but second hurts. It always does.”
DID THE NEW RULES MAKE A DIFFERENCE AT THIS TRACK? “I’ll let you guys be the judge of that. I was inside the car and can’t really see much, but, to be honest with you, it looks like you’ve got three laps to make something happen. After that you kind of spread out and it’s hard to make a pass. The draft on the straightaways, obviously, was larger for sure, but doesn’t make up for what we lose in the corners so it’s hard to make it happen somehow. I think we can fine-tune the package and maybe see something different, but, for the most part, it seemed like Indy out there to me. Restarts are chaos and a lot of fun, and then you had to make the most you can on the starts. Strategy was king and I thought it at one point I got lost. I didn’t know what was going on. The caution came out and I said, ‘Todd, I don’t know what’s going on out here. Where am I? What’s going on? Where do I line up on this whole thing?’ Really, all you can do is just pass as many cars as you can, just go as fast as you can and let the strategy work out as a driver and let the people smarter than you on the pit box make the calls and figure that stuff out. I know my role (laughing).”
JOEY LOGANO CONTINUED – DOES NASCAR NEED TO DO SOMETHING BY MICHIGAN TO MAKE THE CARS COOLER INSIDE THE CAR? “I would like that. I’ve got a huge blister on my foot, I know that. That hurts. I think the extended bumper cover on the back of these things doesn’t let the air flow underneath the car like it used to without it, and I think it builds the inside temperature. I’m still sweating like crazy. I’ve got sweat in my eyes, but I think that just lets the in-car temperature get hot. Maybe there’s something different with that or mandate a couple of driver hoses. I think that would be a good thing. Personally, if you can get something to cool the drivers a little bit better. After watching the XFINITY race yesterday I think it got all of us Cup guys a little nervous because the races are longer. I know we did a lot of things to our car to try to keep the driver cool, and I’m sure everybody else did too, but it just wasn’t enough. It’s just too hot inside those cars and, obviously, when we put air inside the car we’re gonna give up performance, so if we can mandate it and make everybody have it, it’s not a penalty. It’s another way to add drag, which is a good thing. That’s what we’re trying to do with this package anyway.”
DOES SECOND HERE STING WORSE BECAUSE IT’S INDY AND YOU WON THE DAYTONA 500? “Yeah, the worst part is the same guy beat me the last two times I’ve finished second. I’m glad he’s back and all, but geez oh pete (laughing). He didn’t have to come back like that. Man, we’ve been working our guts out all year and he comes right back and is doing it. I know he’s been working hard getting his foot back better and it’s impressive what those guys have been doing. That’s amazing the run they’re on. Obviously, he’s definitely gonna make it into the Chase and he’s gonna have some good points when we start. He’s got four wins. But, yeah, it hurts more just because it’s Indy. Like I said, all that matters when you come to these race tracks is winning and obviously with the guy I drive for he really wants to win these races. You don’t want to let him down and I’m sure it stings for him just as much as it stings for me. He’s been coming here a long time and deserves to get a win here. I wanted to be the guy and be the team to give it to him.”
WHERE ARE YOU LACKING SPEED? “When you add drag, you’re on the throttle more. And then we also have less power than we had last time we were here, so when you’re on the throttle a lot your car is kind of topped out. It’s kind of as fast as you can go, so you’re not slowing down much in the corners which means you don’t have as much throttle response when you go back to the gas. That drive off and that’s how you kind of accelerate underneath somebody and tried to do that in the short chutes. Our cars don’t have that right now because of the power that was taken away, and that’s what we’re racing. That’s OK. Don’t take me wrong, it’s not a bad thing. We’re trying to work out a way to make our package the best racing we can get, not only on mile-and-a-halves, but two-and-a-half miles or short tracks. We’ve got to go all these different directions and figure it out. It’s hard because for the draft to really come into play, I think you’ve got to be wide-open. If you’re not wide-open all the way around, then handling is gonna come into play, which means you need clean air in the corners. So it’s kind of like in-between right now. We kind of need one or the other, I think, with the package to make close, tight racing, I believe. That’s my thought, but I don’t know that.”
WHERE DO YOU RANK THIS IN CAREER DISAPPOINTMENTS AND HOW NICE WOULD IT HAVE BEEN TO DENY KYLE A WIN IN SUCH A BIG RACE? “I don’t care who we beat as long as we win. I want to beat everybody. I want to deny everyone a win because that’s what our job is. Good for them. They’re a great group of guys. I’ve known them for a long time. A lot of them was my XFINITY team when I was over there, so they’re a great group of guys and I’m friends with most of them and I’m proud of them. It’s really cool. I’m jealous of them also because I want to be in that Victory Lane right now. It hurts. Is it the all-time biggest disappointment in my career? It’s not that bad. I can think of a lot worse things that could have happened today. I’m still walking. I’m still breathing. It’s a lot better than some people are doing, so I count my blessings and thank God for that.”
JOEY LOGANO CONTINUED – IS THIS REMARKABLE WHAT KYLE HAS DONE SINCE HIS RETURN? “What is he, four out of five the last few races? That’s pretty damn good. It’s all right, I guess (laughing). Apparently, he’s been watching while he was getting ready and he’s a man on a mission, that’s for sure. We just have to hope we slow him down a little bit before the Chase starts. Right now, it’s fun and we’re just trying to win races and having a good time. In a few weeks it’s gonna get very serious, not that it’s not right now, but it’s gonna get very serious when it comes to Chase time and the pressure is gonna pick up and that’s when we’re gonna find out who has the strongest team and who is the strongest-willed guys out there. I’ll put all the money in the world on my team.”
HAVE YOU AND ROGER BEEN FACE-TO-FACE YET? “No, I haven’t seen him. I was just angry on the radio. He was happy. He was saying I did a good job. I know it stinks and a lot of times it’s hard to take the high road when it stinks, but Roger is a great leader and he’s a great guy to have on your side. I haven’t seen him yet, but I’m sure I will when I get out of here.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion (Finished 12th) — “I thought the car was pretty good for us. Track position was so huge for us today. We finally got it and it was good then. We had older tires and that hurt us a little bit when we stayed out. On that last re-start it was all about who was going to give you a push and we really didn’t get any help. It didn’t work out for us. Overall, it was a pretty solid day. This kind of finish is very encouraging to me and the whole team.” DURING ONE STINT YOU SEEMED TO GO MORE BACKARD THAN THE REST OF THE RACE. “We lost some momentum and you lose track position and we lost so many spots. It’s just so hard to pass those guys, especially when everyone’s on fresh tires.” WHAT ABOUT JEREMY BULLINS’ CALL TO STAY OUT AFTER THE LAST FUEL STOP? “It was a good call. It was the only way we were going to get a decent finish. That was the right call for sure and he did a good job making it.” HOW DID YOU GET OVER YESTERDAY’S XFINITY RACE DISAPPOINTMENT? “I didn’t really sleep that much last night and I was thinking about turn 2 over and over. I thought about it more than I should. You just learn from your mistakes and focus on today.There were some things that happened yesterday that I applied today and it worked out.” HOW HOT WAS IT OUT THERE? “Luckily it was overcast today compared to yesterday when it was really sunny. But it’s definitely hotter in the car with this new rules package.” TALK ABOUT HAVING THIS PAINT SCHEME AND FINISHING WELL IN IT. “Maryn Winters and her family were here all weekend. She rode with me on the track during intros. It’s really cool to be part of this JDRF deal. It’s my first year and it’s interesting to learn about type 1 diabetes and good for me to learn about all the kids who have it and battle it. It makes you appreciate things more. It was great to have a good finish for them.”
