Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, August 16, 2019
EVENT: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Bristol, TN. (Qualifying)
Ford Qualifying Results:
5th – Aric Almirola
8th – Kevin Harvick
11th – Joey Logano
12th – Ryan Blaney
13th – Brad Keselowski
14th – Ryan Newman
15th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
16th – David Ragan
18th – Daniel Suarez
20th – Clint Bowyer
25th – Paul Menard
26th – Corey LaJoie
27th – Matt Tifft
28th – Michael McDowell
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – “I thought our car was pretty good. I felt good about the first run that we made in happy hour and then we made some adjustments just trying to find a little bit more speed and we kind of got off track, so we’ve had a good car. Our Smithfield Ford Mustang has been good since we got here. I love this place. It’s a really good place for me, so hopefully we can have some lady luck on our side this time.”
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO DOING WELL HERE? “It’s so hard. It happens so fast. You have to attack. You just have to be on such attack mode here, but it’s weird because you can’t attack every corner every lap, you’ve got to find a way to get into a rhythm and still yet be on attack mode and I think that’s the most challenging thing about this place is just being able to breathe and loosen up your grip on the steering wheel, but at the same time going balls to the wall and that’s such a challenge.”
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN TO BE AGGRESSIVE AND NOT TOO AGGRESSIVE? “Really, at this place you have to be aggressive all the time. Dodging lap traffic and cars on restarts and everything. You have to be on full send all the time and you’re right on the edge of out of control, and everything happens so fast that sometimes that’s what jumps up and bites you is that things happen so fast.”
DO YOU FEEL SHR HAS TURNED THE CORNER? “Yeah, I do. I feel like our cars have been getting better. Obviously, everybody has been working really hard back at the shop. I know we all say that week in and week out, but, truly, we have been scrambling for the better part of the year and we’ve really honed in on the direction we’re heading as a company and when you have a big four-car operation like we do it sometimes takes a little while to re-steer the ship. I feel like we’ve got a great direction heading into the Playoffs. I feel like we’re peaking at the right time as an organization and I’m looking forward to these next few weeks to get the momentum going back the way we need it going into the Playoffs.”
DO YOU FEEL ALL OF YOU ARE PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME? “You don’t plan it that way. You want to be successful all year long. You want to win the Daytona 500 and you just want to keep winning all the way through the season until Homestead when you can run for a championship and try and win a championship, so that’s the goal, but this sport is very cyclical. You guys as reporters know that and see that. It’s not the same guys and the same teams on top year after year, so I think it’s important to peak at the right time.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford Mustang – “You’ve got a lot of variables here. You’ve got an impound race that we typically don’t have here at Bristol. You finish in race trim. You’ve got the VHT on the bottom that changes with the amount of rubber and sunlight and heat in the track, and it’s a tough track. I mean, 14-and-some change or 15 seconds is quick around any short track. We made a couple good adjustments on our Ford. It held good and I was able to hustle it without slipping and sliding a whole lot, and that’s a respectable lap.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Mustang – “We were decent, but I was hoping for a little bit more. I had a great first lap and just got a little bit out on the second one.”
RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Acronis Ford Mustang – “It was good, but I didn’t feel like I nailed either lap. I think it was a good run for our Acronis Ford, and I definitely wish we were faster. The track continues to get better, so I don’t know how to equate that into everything, but I feel like we’ve got a decent and good-driving car for the race tomorrow night and we’ll see after 500 laps, if we make it that far, how it goes.”
