Ford Performance NASCAR Notes and Quotes
Pure Michigan 400 – Michigan International Speedway
NSCS POST RACE
Sunday, August 28, 2016
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd Brad Keselowski
4th Ryan Blaney
10th Joey Logano
11th Greg Biffle
24th Trevor Bayne
25th Aric Almirola
27th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
28th Brian Scott
35th Chris Buescher
37th Jeffrey Earnhardt
39th Landon Cassill
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – Finshed 3rd
“It was a typical crazy restart at Michigan here at the end. It is about getting a good launch and push. It looked like Kyle got a good launch and maybe something happened to the 24. I was able to give him a push, a really hard push, and got sideways there and was able to get the lead. The 42 just drove away. Those two cars, the 42 and 24 were pretty close. They both had a lot of speed. We were right there though, just a notch behind.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – Finished 4th
“We were up towards the front most of the day and some runs were better than others. It is kind of a decent day for us. It is nothing to complain about. I thought we were in a decent spot there that last restart and it didn’t work out great. Congrats to Larson. That is cool to see a rookie winning. These are the days we need. These are the days this team deserves. We always want to win in Ford’s backyard but we will go on to Darlington and try to get it done there.” WHAT WERE RESTARTS LIKE DOWN INTO TURN ONE? “It was tough. I was trying to push the 24 and the 4 was pushing me and kind of creating a big bottleneck. It is unfortunate it didn’t work out the best it could have. They are always crazy. Everyone is pushing to get the most they can. All you can do is hold on.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – Finished 10th
“We kind of ended on a down not there. I don’t know. We lost our track position early in the race which hurt us and then we got our car balance fixed but it is so hard to pass. To get back up there was challenging. We came back down pit road there at the end to take four and somehow I guess the 4 car hooked our air gun and send the rear air gun flying and we lost time in the pits. We were the last car on the lead lap on that last run and got back to 10th so I am proud of the effort this weekend. The pole was nice we just weren’t as competitive as we were in the spring race. Our car drove the same, everyone just got better.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford Fusion – Finished 35th — YOU ARE STILL FIVE POINTS UP, DO YOU THINK YOU DODGED A BULLET TODAY? “Yeah, we did. The guys worked really hard on our Dockside Logistics Ford to get it back out there. I know it isn’t fun opening a hood of a race car that is as hot at it is and trying to work on it. Kudos to my guys for keeping their heads down and working at it and getting it fixed. Usually when you have engine trouble you are along for the ride. It ended up being something a little bit more simple than I guess we originally figured. We got back up and running and made some laps and made a really terrible day into just an okay day. Now we get to go to Darlington and I am excited for that. I was excited for here. Even with the troubles we had the balance was really good so it is a shame we didn’t really get to participate today.” DO YOU KNOW WHAT WENT WRONG? “Not quite at the moment. We will have to get it back at the shop and tear it down and take a look at it and diagnose from there to see if it was a freak accident or something we need to look at going forward.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE – TALK ABOUT THAT ENDING OUT THERE.
“You could see these restarts here at Michigan just get really crazy towards the end. I was watching on TV, they get really crazy at the end. The 42 had a good run. The 24 was really good. We were a third‑place car most of the day. On long runs, we were maybe the best car. For most of the day we were a third‑place car. Finished where we deserved. At the end I gave Kyle a really good push. Looked like Chase spun his tires a little bit. Next thing you know, we were off to the races. I got up to second. I wasn’t as fast as Chase, wasn’t able to get by him. Kyle was able to drive away, which was kind of the tale of the tape there on the short run. All in all a really strong day for the Miller Lite team. I think we would have been a little bit better if we could have got the sun to stay out. The clouds came out in the end. We were at our best when the sun was out. All in all, a lot to be proud of. A heck of an effort. Seems like every time we come here, we want to win so bad, we run third or fourth every time, which is really good in the Sprint Cup Series, but it’s certainly not the win we’re looking for. Good and bad, I guess.”
WHEN LARSON CAME INTO CUP, DID YOU THINK IT WOULD TAKE THIS LONG FOR HIM TO GET HIS FIRST WIN? YOU, CHASE ELLIOTT AND KYLE UP THERE BATTLING FOR TOP THREE, HOW MANY MORE YEARS DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE THE THREE OF YOU BATTLING FOR WINS? “Well, I think I’d be speculating to answer both. I don’t know really if I could give a good one on that, give an answer as to how long I would have thought Kyle would have won. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he won in his first two or three starts, and wouldn’t be surprised if it took him 10 years. There’s no guarantees at this level. There’s too many pieces. Being a great driver alone is not enough to guarantee success. Everything has to come together. You have to have a lot of good fortune. You have to have a great team behind you. Everything has to click on any given day for you to win. Doesn’t matter who you are, what driver you are, those things are never a guarantee, for better or for worse. As far as the future, I look forward to racing him and Chase and Ryan Blaney and all those guys for years to come. Hopefully they’ll be exciting finishes like this one was.”
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE THIRD CAR AND FIRST PLACE? JUST A LITTLE PACE? TALK ABOUT THE FUEL STRATEGY THAT SEEMED TO MOVE YOU UP IN THE FIELD EARLY ON. “Yeah, we used a little bit of fuel strategy. Nothing extreme. But we just had a really good long run car. It seemed to me, Why pit? We stayed out on those really long runs and kept gaining spots, climbed all the way from 18th to fourth or fifth there, which was really, really good. It’s what you need to do at this level. But as far as what we were missing on the short run, it’s hard to say. Probably if I had to guess, maybe just a little bit of front downforce. Looks like we’re a little bit behind there. That would be my guess as of now.”
WAS KYLE AWARE YOU WERE THE ONE THAT PUSHED HIM AND GAVE HIM THAT THRUST OUT FRONT SO HE COULD TAKE THE LEAD? “Yeah, I would assume so. I just said, Congratulations, good job. I didn’t want to crash his Victory Lane. Certainly realize he paid his dues, deserves his success. Credit for that. I would assume so. Kyle’s pretty smart. He knows who’s behind him and so forth.”
DID THE PACKAGE WORK? IF SO, WHY? IF NOT, WHY? “I think this package is pretty strong. I like it a lot personally. It’s not entirely my decision. It’s not perfect, that’s for sure. There’s a lot of stuff to still work on. I think it’s a small improvement in showcasing driver talent to win races. The guys that ran up front today absolutely drove their butts off today. I saw Kyle and Chase, and everybody. Their cars were sideways, sometimes smoking the tires through the corners. I think that’s what this racing is built on. I think that’s a good direction to go towards. So I’ve been a big fan of this package all along, and hope to see it move forward, along with some other project that the sport is working on to continue to improve the quality of racing for our fans and the future of our sport.”
