Ford Performance NASCAR Notes and Quotes
Powershares QQQ 300 – Daytona International Speedway
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Ford Finishing Order:
1st – Ryan Reed
4th – Brad Keselowski
23rd – Aric Almirola
33rd – Darrell Wallace Jr.
37th – Cole Custer
COLE CUSTER – No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – “It looks like we got collected there. I saw the 42 get turned and I think we just tried to make our way through, but there was nowhere to go. It’s a shame because we had a really good Haas Automation Ford Mustang. I thought our guys did a great job. It drafted really well and we’ll look forward to Atlanta. I know we’ve got a lot of great people at Stewart-Haas and Ford, and I think we’ll have a lot of great runs this year.” IT’S A MARATHON AND NOT A SPRINT, SO YOU CAN’T GET TOO WIGGED OUT ABOUT NOT FINISHING TODAY. “Yeah, it’s Daytona. You’re gonna have this all the time, so we’ll go to the next one. That’s all you can look forward to, and I think we’re gonna be fast in Atlanta. We’ll see what we can do.” WHAT WAS THE RACING LIKE? “I wouldn’t say people were being too aggressive. It was definitely pretty hectic. We got the third lane going a little bit, but right there at the end people were trying to make up spots for the segment and people might have gotten a little too aggressive.”
DARRELL WALLACE JR. – No. 6 Leidos Ford Mustang – “I think the 7 got turned by somebody and I saw Erik didn’t lift, so I didn’t lift and we were trying to go through the middle, and I think me and Daniel collided there. It was just unfortunate circumstances that put us there. We probably looked like a boy band group walking out all together, but I just hate it for my guys. Our Leidos team, we’re on a tight budget this year and that’s definitely not what we needed. We were pressing hard in our Ford Mustang trying to make some ground up and trying to see who we could work with and watch out for guys that were racing hard, but we just couldn’t escape this one. We’ll go on to Atlanta. We’ll get us a couple stage wins and a couple races wins this year and we’ll be back. We’ll be all right.” IN YOUR EYES WAS IT A LITTLE TOO AGGRESSIVE THIS EARLY IN THE RACE OR IS THIS THE RESULT OF STAGE SEGMENTS? “We kind of figured that it would be different, but I thought everybody would still be somewhat smart and mindful of not tearing up your equipment early and let’s go after it with three to go. But there are different mentalities out there and that’s what causes chaos. That’s all right. It’s the first race of the year. We’ll get all of the bugs out of the way. We’ll be all right. Our Leidos team is fine. This won’t knock us down. We’ll fight back hard at Atlanta and go have some fun out on the west coast and we’ll be all right.”
RYAN REED — No. 16 Lilly’s/American Diabetes Association Ford Mustang — IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE YOU STOOD IN VICTORY LANE IN DAYTONA, HOW DOES IT FEEL? “I’ve had so many people come up and tell me how amazing my first win (Daytona) was. A lot of people know that I have Type 1 Diabetes and to see what (that) win meant to so many people drove me to get back to victory lane. These guys right here (crew members), so many of them were with me last year, a lot of new guys. Having Lilly Diabetes stay with us, our fourth year, that’s something that a lot of people can’t say that they have the privilege to do. Thank you to them. What an amazing sponsor. Ford, Jack (Roush) American Diabetes Association, stood by me when things weren’t the greatest. But the end last year I said that we were going to go to Speedweeks and here we are. We’re locked into the Chase. I hope everyone at home watched it on their Xfinity X1. That right there was fun.”
YOU HAD A FREIGHT TRAIN COMING AT YOU AT THE END OF THE RACE. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE FOR YOU? “I couldn’t tell if I was clear, but I studied so much tape. I ran a Cup race last year at Talladega and I learned so much from that and I tried to apply everything I learned and take a chance. It was a gamble but if you’re going to gamble, you might as gamble on a win.”
MRN VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW
TAKE US THROUGH THE FINAL LAPS: “Oh man, Herm, my spotter, he is as good as it gets, particularly at a restrictor plate race. He was my eyes and ears. I have studied so much of this and for every right move I made tonight I’ve made a wrong move. I tried to apply everything I’ve learned and done wrong and try to do everything right. I thought if I could run two perfect laps and throw as many blocks as it took in those laps that we would be standing right here. Man, this is what we work for. To see these guys this fired up in victory lane. I know how many hours they have put in. You want to put the race car that deserves to be in victory lane, in victory lane.”
YOU SPUN WITH 15 TO GO. HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO GET BACK UP TO THE FRONT SO QUICKLY? “Well, these guys right here. We didn’t get too much damage but we still had to get all the grass out of the grille and they busted their buts and never quit. I told them before the race that we started on the front and may go to the back row and might to back and forth all day long but as long as we stay at it we will have a shot at it.”
HOW WAS THE LEVEL OF INTENSITY FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE? “I started out pretty aggressive and made some mistakes and ended up in the back of the pack. I knew if I was there at the end it doesn’t matter where you are at, you will have a shot. I reminded myself of that, took a deep breath, bided my time and found my way to the front at the end. Everyone was so aggressive. This new format is breeding a lot of aggression, there is a ton of incentive.”
ARIC ALMIROLA — No. 98 Fresh From Florida Ford Mustang — “I thought for sure we were gonna put a Ford Mustang in victory lane, especially our Fresh from Florida Mustang because it was strong. I put myself in a position I wanted to be in and I was kind of content right there just to chill and get ready for the end of the race, but we had some sort of mechanical failure right there. I had to bail out of the draft. Something in the front end or something in the steering, but I’m not sure what really happened. I couldn’t drive it anymore. It wouldn’t even go in a straight line, so I don’t know. We failed a part or a piece. It’s disappointing. I thought we had a really good shot to win. Every time we come to these races with Biagi we have fun and we run up front and today was no different, but unfortunately something happened.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI — No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang — “We seem to run up front a lot in this race, but we just can’t quite bring home the win. The Discount Tire Ford Mustang gave it a full effort today. I’m really proud to see another Ford win at least, but I wanted it to be me. That’s just all we had. We needed a little help on that restart and we had I think the 3 and the 62 behind us and I guess something happened and he ran out of gas, I don’t know. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if I had somebody behind me. That would have been exciting. A race like this sometimes you just feel good to survive. There were a couple instances where I didn’t think that was gonna happen. It was an interesting day.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED HOW AGGRESSIVE YOU HAD TO BE TONIGHT? “You always have to be aggressive at these places. That’s what it takes. NASCAR took away a little bit of rear downforce to make the cars harder to drive and I think mission accomplished.”
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT STAGE RACING? “Big time. I learned a lot. I’m glad I ran in this race, but I’m not gonna tell you. That would be dumb.”
DID YOU THINK THE STAGES HAD AN IMPACT ON THE RACE? “No, because we kept wrecking at the stage markers. I don’t think we were wrecking because it was the end of the stage, I think we were wrecking because the cars are hard to drive. To some effect they should be hard to drive. That’s a tough spot for NASCAR. You don’t want to make the cars too easy to drive because then the race is not as good. But if you make the cars too hard to drive, then sometimes you don’t have the drivers that can actually do it. Personally, I prefer the cars be this hard to drive becuase I think it makes talent rise to the top and gets rid of some of the buy-a-ride guys that really shouldn’t be here, so I think that’s good. If you keep making the cars this hard to drive, we’re gonna see more talent make it to the top levels than some of the buy-a-ride stuff and more guys that are very talented get opportunities. Although it was a little bit of a blood bath and a little bit ugly, I think you have to have days like this to keep the competitive balance and keep the sport whole.”
WILL THERE BE A FEELING OUT PROCESS WITH THESE STAGES? “Everybody is gonna learn and adapt. That’s evolution, right?”
