FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR NOTES AND QUOTES
Date: Friday, July 14, 2017
Event: Overton’s 301 (Cup Qualifying)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile oval)
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
10th Kurt Busch
11th Brad Keselowski
13th Kevin Harvick
14th Joey Logano
16th Ryan Blaney
17th Matt DiBenedetto
18th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20th Clint Bowyer
22nd Aric Almirola
28th Trevor Bayne
29th Landon Cassill
31st Danica Patrick
33rd David Ragan
Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion: Qualified 10th
“I feel like we just can’t find that extra grip. We are just dealing with what we can find, trading and borrowing. We are tight here and loose there and so we trade and end up opposite. Not quite sure how to find that extra speed in it. We just keep chipping away. It is a flat one-mile track with certain things you have to do here that you don’t do at other places. Thanks to Gibson and these guys for working hard and building aero and mechanical grip. We are trying to cover all the bases here. We don’t give up on this team.”
Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion: Qualified 11th
“We were just a little too tight with the Worth Ford today. We made some adjustments there for the last run but it didn’t do what we were expecting. We wanted to go out again and give it another shot but we just ran out of time. The main this was being too tight though. I know this Wurth Ford team will go to work on it and we will see what we can come up with tomorrow in practice and be ready to go come Sunday.”
Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion: Qualified 13th
“Our car has just been really loose ever since we put our Busch Ford in qualifying trim. We didn’t have any of that in race trim and the car was pretty decent. In qualifying trim it has been quite a handful. We’ll work on that. I’m glad that we didn’t put another cycle on the tires. It seems like the cycles on the tires affects how the car handles. Might of made it there, it just depended on how it fell. I don’t think we would have done only one or two spots better in the next (final) round anyway. We’ll start 13th and go from there.”
Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion: Qualified 14th
“We are just struggling for speed again. That is all. Trying to get balance in our car. It has been a struggle and it is a struggle again this week. We will see. Hopefully we are better in race trim. We weren’t that bad in race trim earlier today. I think we are better than that. We will see how tomorrow goes and when the sun is out and if that changes the game at all. We just aren’t quick enough.”
Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion: Qualified 16th
“We don’t have a lot of grip. I thought we were okay the first round and got worse the second round. That is unfortunate. That is the first time in a long time that we got worse from round to round. It is something we will have to go back and look at. We will see what we have for tomorrow.”
Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion: Qualified 22nd
“The first round I was pretty happy with. The second round I just didn’t think the track was going to go that way and I didn’t help Drew make the right adjustment for the second round. All in all I am happy to be back at the race track. It has been so nice to be back with my team, back behind the wheel of the Smithfield Ford Fusion feels great. That being said, we’ve got potential in our car. We showed some promise today in race trim. We have to work on it tomorrow in practice and get it ready to rae. I feel good about it. If excitement level counts for anything I am on cloud nine. Hopefully we will have a good race here on Sunday.”
