Ford Performance NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Federated Auto Parts 400 – Richmond International Raceway
NSCS Post Race
Saturday September 12, 2015
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd Joey Logano
4th Aric Almirola
8th Brad Keselowski
16th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
23rd Trevor Bayne
28th Sam Hornish Jr.
31st Greg Biffle
33rd David Gilliland
35th Brett Moffitt
38th Cole Whitt
40th Jeffrey Earnhardt
41st Reed Sorenson
42nd Michael McDowell
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion – Finished 4th
ARIC, YOU CAME UP JUST SHORT OF BOTH A RACE WIN AND MAKING THE CHASE. TALK ABOUT THE EMOTIONS OF THAT. “It is tough. This is what we race for. We race to win races. We race to run for a championship. This race team, we got to do it last year and we had an engine failure at Chicago and feel like we had a lot more to show in the Chase last year. We wanted another shot at it really bad. We have a really, really good race team and am disappointed we didn’t get Smithfield and Ford into the Chase again.”
“I am disappointed for sure. We have a really great race team at Richard Petty Motorsports and great sponsors. We had Waffle House on the car tonight and I told all the guys if we won we would go get free waffles but we just came up short. I am really proud of all my guys. We worked our guts out all year long and tonight was no different. I feel we have overachieved this year and really maximized our results week in and week out. I am disappointed to come up a few spots short but we gave it all we had and that is all we can do. We will go race these last 10 races and try to get a victory. Winning is good no matter when it is, regardless of the Chase or not, we will try to go stink up the show and get some wins in the last 10 races.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – Finished 3rd
“It was a really great run for us tonight. I thought we were decent in practice but didn’t think we would be that good. We weren’t in the beginning part of the race but then as we kept going I felt like we got our Shell Pennzoil Ford faster and Todd made great adjustments. We got behind on a strategy call when we stayed out and we hung pretty good and I think we were 10th at the end of that run and then worked our way back toward the front. We had a shot at the win at the end but those restarts. We don’t know what the rules are on the restarts because they are different every week. Once week it is not okay to jump the start and the next week it is okay to jump. I try to understand the rules but I can’t figure it out. We will all be lost together.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – Finished 8th
“That 20 car was fast. He was a rocket. We were just doing all we could to keep up and didn’t have enough to keep up. Toward the end I thought we were probably a second or third place car and I was trying to get more than I should have on pit road and got us a speeding penalty. We drove back up to eighth but needed more laps to get to second or third but it was a good effort.” YOUR THOUGHTS GOING INTO THE CHASE? “You have two feelings. One is that we should be in the Chase because we are a good team and the other is not to take it for granted and it is a good feeling and it is time to capitalize on it. We are here to take that next step now. We have to be good every week now and win races and not get too far ahead of ourselves.”
“We are ready to go. We have some momentum with the top-10’s lately but we need to turn some of those into wins and we know that. We have 10 weeks though to make that happen. We want to be in the Chase and we want to not take that for granted but on the other side we aren’t just happy with just being in it. We want to do more than just that. That is what we are here to do, to make some noise and hopefully bring home a second championship.” IS THERE ONE THING YOU REALLY NEED TO FOCUS ON GOING INTO THE CHASE? “Well, we have great consistency, we just need to get wins.”
DAVE PERICAK, director, Global Ford Performance – “We feel really good going into the Chase. The two guys that we have are running strong, the Penske organization is running strong and they have been building momentum throughout the year. The real racing is going to start now and I think we are all ready to go.” ARIC ALMIROLA NARROWLY MISSED OUT, BUT YOU MUST BE PROUD OF HIS EFFORT TONIGHT. “It did. We have a lot of faith in Aric and in Richard Petty Motorsports. They have been making improvements all year long and Aric gave it everything he had tonight. He showed that he is one hell of a driver and is a big key to our future for sure.”
