Ford Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Coke Zero 400 Qualifying (Daytona International Speedway; Daytona Beach, FL)
Friday, July 6, 2018
Ford Qualifying Results:
3rd – Brad Keslowski
5th – Kevin Harvick
6th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
8th – Michael McDowell
9th – Clint Bowyer
11th – Joey Logano
12th – Ryan Blaney
20th – Trevor Bayne
21st – David Ragan
23rd – Kurt Busch
26th – Aric Almirola
30th – Paul Menard
31st – Matt DiBenedetto
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “That’s good. We’re the top Ford and were pretty close to second, but a long ways from the pole. We’ll see what we can learn, but, all in all, starting up front is always a good omen for these plate tracks.”
NOTICE ANYTHING WITH THE DIFFERENT SPOILER? “You think you know, but you never really know until you get in the race, so we’ll find out.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Jimmy John’s Kickin’ Ranch Ford Fusion – “I feel good about starting in the top five. We did a lot of work on our cars from Talladega to this race – to work on the handling and try to make them drive good all night and it’s still fast, so that’s a good thing.”
LEARN ANYTHING FROM PRACTICE YESTERDAY? “I think we learned that our car is fast and that’s really about it. We had some handling issues that we had to work through a little bit, so as far as techniques and things happening and all the things that you have going on I think it’s gonna take the whole pack being out there to really learn exactly what you need to learn.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion – “I’m real happy with that. I think yesterday in practice if you had asked me we would be in the top six I didn’t think so. I’m really happy with the effort that the guys put together for our qualifying effort, so we get to go to work tomorrow night from a really good starting spot.”
ANYTHING YOU COULD DEDUCE FROM PRACTICE YESTERDAY AND HOW THIS PACKAGE IS DIFFERENT? “It drives different. I felt like it’s just a little bit slower and almost easier to slow each other down. I think that’s something that will be a little bit different throughout the race tomorrow.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 K-LOVE Ford Fusion – “I’m just real excited for everybody at Front Row Motorsports to qualify in the top eight. That’s a huge accomplishment and I can’t thank everybody enough for their hard work and Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines. This is a collaboration between Roush Fenway and Front Row Motorsports and I really feel good about our superspeedway program. Jimmy Fennig has done a great job just getting these superspeedway cars fast. We unloaded fast, drove good and obviously has good speed, so we’re excited about tomorrow night.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “It’s always a balancing act when you come out here for qualifying. Do you want speed or do you want handling and you try to make the best compromise you can. I think we’ll start 11th and go from there.”
WILL IT BE HARDER TO LEAD? “Yes, which is great. That’s the way it should be. It was too hard to pass the leader the way the package was before, so this should make it harder to pass the leader.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Fusion – “The cars are fast. We knew that yesterday in practice and we just wanted to get this day out of the way and I can’t wait for tomorrow. It’s just that simple. You come down here and you’re just anxiously anticipating the big dance tomorrow.”
ANYTHING YOU LEARNED FROM YESTERDAY IN PRACTICE? “I got some good runs on people and I think we’ve got a good package for here. You’ve got to go out there and take care of it and put it in that situation, but you’ve got to continue to put it in that situation over and over and over and in doing so, you can get yourself bit too.”
