Ford Performance NASCAR Notes and Quotes
Event: Toyota Owners 400 (Qualifying)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile D-shaped oval)
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
2nd Ryan Blaney
4th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
5th Joey Logano
6th Kevin Harvick
8th Clint Bowyer
9th Kurt Busch
15th Brad Keselowski
21st Danica Patrick
25th Aric Almirola
28th Landon Cassill
29th Trevor Bayne
30th David Ragan
32nd Matt DiBenedetto
RICKY STENHOUSE JR (No. 17 Fifth Third Ford Fusion) — Qualified 4th — “That was fun. Our Fifth Third Bank Ford has been really solid since we unloaded today. We felt like we had a top-five capable car in qualifying if we hit it right. In practice we were able to do it in one lap – make our good run in one lap – first round we didn’t have that in us and had to run two laps. Then we ran two laps in the second round because the first lap was too close to the cut off line. I think more laps than the 21 and 20 and those cars that beat us. We just had more laps than they did. Other than that, I thought we made gains on it and I am pretty happy with where we are right now. The car felt really good in race trim today and we have two practices tomorrow to try to dial it in better. Practice is tough here, it is hot and slick.”
KEVIN HARVICK (No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion) — Qualified 6th — “It is definitely an improvement for us from last time. The first couple rounds we were a little bit free. The last round we were a lot free in a lot more places. Still a good session for our Busch Light Ford and we can race ‘em from there, so that is a good thing.”
JOEY LOGANO (No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion) — Qualified 5th — “We just lost a little bit there the last run. We got loose into three and four, missed it the first lap and did the same exact thing the second lap. it is so frustrating when you win the first two rounds and the one that pays the money you are not there. That is always frustrating. I guess we have decent speed in our car, it is just frustrating. I don’t know what else to say. It just sucks.”
RYAN BLANEY (No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion) — Qualified 2nd — “I wasn’t quite sure how hard to go because I was in there a little bit shallow the second lap and I knew that I regretted it right away and tried to get more and that cost me time off two. Three and four we got in good and moved up and I guess a bunch of other cars did that and picked up. I don’t know where the 20 ran. It was a solid effort though. We weren’t great the first round but kept getting steps better each round which we have done a really good job of this year. I thought that is where we struggled a lot last year. We didn’t improve last year, we would go backwards. This year we are improving round to round. It is just communication and knowing what we need to change in our car. That is something to be proud of. That is a lot of second starts now. I really want to race the Clash at Daytona. That is my biggest thing right now. it is upsetting me that we can’t get a pole. I think our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion is good, we will find out in race trim.”
CLINT BOWYER (No. 14 Haas Automation Demo Days Ford Fusion) — Qualified 8th — “Man, I missed it. I barely hung on to that top-12 and was able to go on. I am telling you, this place has lost a ton of grip in the last year or so. It is very easy to over drive here. You feel like it has that flight in it and you are crawling out there and you try to get that much more getting into the corner and it is slipping and sliding and you get to the gas quicker and the car rotates and feels like it is ready but if you go it blows the tires off it, especially off four. Discipline was the name of that game there. Having a good balance is very important on this track. Everybody knows that the ends it seems like you get to tightening the entrance up and then it is plowing center and you are whining and complaining on the radio. We will take that though. it was a good group effort having three cars up there for SHR and I appreciate everybody at Ford and Haas for the effort.”
KURT BUSCH (No. 41 Mobil1 Annual Protection Ford Fusion) — Qualified 9th — “I wanted to get the best lap in coming to take the white in round three and I got a little bit loose coming to take the white. That hurts both laps. I knew we would be a tenth behind the pace. To make the final round and have a shot at the pole, that is all you can hope for.” HOW HARD IS IT NOT TO OVERDRIVE? “The pace feels so slow when you are running those 40’s and you want to go and attack and run a flat but you can’t. It takes discipline to get the best grip level out of the car and it is easy to over drive.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion) — Qualified 15th — “We just didn’t have it today. We have to take a look and diagnose it. The last few times we have been here we haven’t qualified all that great but we have raced really well. Hopefully that is the case on Sunday with the Detroit Genuine Parts Ford. We will find out.”
TREVOR BAYNE (No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion) — Qualified 29th — “I struggled everywhere right there. We were just sliding around. The track is supposedly a little cooler than practice but it felt like it was 100-degrees hotter. I had no grip. I tried to move my line out just a little like my teammate did in practice. Ricky made some speed running the middle in three and four. I tried that and it didn’t work. I tried the bottom and that didn’t work. We had a lack of grip there, front and rear really. It is hard to make adjustments for a second run to go faster. I am confident in these guys. The AdvoCare team will get it figured out in race trim. We will be fast on Sunday when it counts. I am mad we made a second lap there and went slower. We did two laps on our tires that we didn’t need to do.”
ARIC ALMIROLA (No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion) — Qualified 25th — “It is slick out there. The sun was probably beating down just as much and the track was just as hot in practice. With two Xfinity practices between when we practed and qualified the track had a lot more rubber down and is really slick. The car was a lot more up on top of the race track> I am disappointed that we missed the cut there to make the top-24 but of all race tracks we go to, this one, if you get your car driving good and roll the middle and drive up off the corner – which is what everybody wants – you can pass a lot of cars here. We have our work cut out for us with this Smithfield Ford Fusion. It is a big weekend here for us with Smithfield headquarters about 40 or 50 miles away. We have our work cut out for us tomorrow to make sure our car rolls the middle and when I push the gas down it has to go straight.”
