Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
CampingWorld.com 500 Qualifying – Talladega Superspeedway
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Ford Qualifying Results:
6th – Trevor Bayne
9th – Ryan Blaney
10th – Joey Logano
11th – Brad Keselowski
17th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19th – Greg Biffle
21st – Sam Hornish Jr.
25th – Aric Almirola
27th – Michael McDowell
34th – Cole Whitt
35th – Bobby Labonte
38th – David Gilliland
40th – Josh Wise
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 Cheez-It Ford Fusion – “I feel pretty good about the Cheez-It Ford Fusion. It was good in drafting and that’s what tomorrow is gonna be like, so it’s not a great spot to be starting 19th because it’s kind of in the middle of the whole thing, but we’ll work our way to the front. This has been a good race track for us and the restrictor plate program the last couple of years has been pretty good, so we’ll see what we can do.” IS THE PLAN TO STAY OUT FRONT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE? “It will be. We’ll see how our lane goes and see if it goes three or four-wide at the start, and see if we can get to the front and make momentum. If not, then maybe we might ride for a little bit and stay where we’re at, and maybe wait for pit stops to decide when to go.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “I think we’ve been good here year over year with the Miller Lite Ford. It’s always hard to say how you are in practice and even qualifying here to drop the green and where you start doesn’t seem to make a big difference. Obviously, we have decent speed in our car to be in the final round of qualifying and that’s something to go racing with.” YOU WON THIS RACE A YEAR AGO. CAN YOU REPEAT? “I think so. Everything has to be just right. You have to get the right push at the right time and the right circumstances and execute the day and I definitely feel like we’re capable of doing it again.” YOUR THOUGHTS ON BRIAN’S PERFORANCE TODAY IN THE TRUCK RACE? “He did great, he really did. I was just really happy to see him run up front. I was disappointed it didn’t finish off, but he did everything I could ever ask him to and more.” YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FINAL LAPS WHEN HE WAS LEADING? “I really thought he was gonna win it. I was nervous and excited for him, but disappointed it didn’t work out.”
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “I don’t know what happened there. We just lost a little speed from run one to run two and I’m not sure why. We’ll start towards the front and be OK. Qualifying here isn’t really a huge deal, but definitely having the track position by the end of the race will be important. We’re gonna run hard. We’re in a great position with the two wins that we got that we can run hard and race for a win. There aren’t many other cars that can race like that, so I’m excited about being able to take advantage of the opportunity we earned.”
RYAN BLANEY – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – “Obviously, you want more speed, but we can’t complain. We’ve got four Fords in the top 12, so that was really good to know we have that speed and are surrounded by teammates. That’s good to have and makes you a little bit more comfortable. I think we have a good car for tomorrow and we’ve got a pretty fast one. We’ll just try to stay up front most of the day and hopefully avoid any troubles and maybe we’ll be in a position to make a run towards the front at the end.”
TREVOR BAYNE – No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion – “I’m extremely happy. This is no effort by me to do this, it’s all about the team. It’s nice to see what’s happening at Roush Fenway Racing. Across the board I think we’ve made progress and to have something like this happen is what our team needs. Even though superspeedway qualifying isn’t meaningful to most people, I told them on the radio that I appreciate it because it shows the effort they’re putting into the race car – a single lap to see how fast your car can go is pretty cool stuff.” THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TOMORROW TO NOT ONLY RUN UP FRONT BUT WIN. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? “It really is and we’ve got to execute. I think we’ve been really fast here in the past and been up front and got wiped out, so I don’t know that there’s a safe place here, but you just really have to pay attention ahead of time to things happening and see what people are doing, what their tendencies are and how aggressive they’re being. You just have to be careful and smart. I don’t know what that means because you can still be smart and get wrecked, but I like to be at the front. I feel like that’s your best opportunity and just take care of this thing. If it’s got that kind of speed, there’s no reason to get it in any bad positions.”
