Ford Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Bass Pro Shops Night Race Qualifying (Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN)
Friday, August 17, 2018
Ford Qualifying Results:
4th – Paul Menard
6th – Kevin Harvick
8th – Aric Almirola
9th – Kurt Busch
10th – Ryan Blaney
11th – Brad Keselowski
12th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
15th – David Ragan
16th – Clint Bowyer
19th – Joey Logano
23rd – Trevor Bayne
29th – Matt DiBenedetto
31st – Michael McDowell
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Anytime Favorites Ford Fusion – “It’s a great starting spot for us. We started deep in the field here in the spring, so to be able to start up in the first few rows and get a good pit selection, I think that’s gonna mean a lot. I’m really looking forward to the race. I felt like our car was pretty good in race trim, so, all in all, it was a good day. I’m excited about the race. I feel like our car has good speed, good long run speed, and it’s really comfortable to drive. I’m proud of everybody on this Smithfield Anytime Favorites Ford Fusion. We’ll go get ‘em tomorrow night.”
YOU’RE AN UNDER THE RADAR GUY WHO RUNS WELL HERE. HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU TOMORROW? “This is a place that I come to that I always feel very confident. I have a good feel and I’ve got a good understanding of what I’m looking for out of the race car, so anytime I come to Bristol I kind of come in here with high expectations and really good attitude, which is fun.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 REV Group Ford Fusion – “I’d be happy with the pole, but our first run felt good and then we kind of lost a little bit the next two rounds. I actually thought my last round was OK. It felt better than the round before I was just slower, which is frustrating, but we’ve got 500 laps tomorrow. It’s a long race and I thought our race trim car was pretty decent, so we’ll see what we can do.”
PAUL MENARD, No. 21 Menards/Knauf Ford Fusion – “We had a really solid day all around. We made a couple changes in happy hour that kind of woke the car up and didn’t really concentrate on qualifying much, so we weren’t really sure what to expect but the car drove really good. Turns one and two was shaded, so there was a lot more grip versus three and four in the sun, so I think everybody was kind of struggling with the balance there, but it felt like we nailed it pretty close. It sucks being so close to P1 – two one-hundredths I think it was, but overall I’m proud of my guys and it was a good day.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 Shriner’s Hospital Ford Fusion – “It’s awesome to qualify by the wall like that. Generally at Bristol you’re down on the bottom and our Shriner’s Hospitals for Children Ford drove pretty good. I never got a perfect lap. I was always a little too high or a little too tight, a little too loose, but all in all it was a great qualifying effort and I feel like our race car is pretty good for Saturday night. I was pleased we picked up a little bit of speed and that’s an intense qualifying round. When you can qualify on the top groove, there’s a lot of pressure to not make a mistake, not miss the line, and there’s a lot of speed in hitting your marks just right. I was able to hit them. I didn’t hit the fence. I hit it a little bit in practice, but we should be good to go for tomorrow night.”
WHAT’S IT LIKE QUALIFYING WITH ALL THOSE CARS OUT THERE. THERE WAS A LOT OF TRAFFIC? “Well, everybody just waits until the last minute. If somebody would go a little early that would be a little nicer, but we just want to put on a show for the fans. It’s fun. I think there’s a little bit of speed in waiting toward the end, so everybody plays that cat-and-mouse game waiting toward the end. We did too, but we went a little earlier just to try and get a little clean air.”
