Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, November 1, 2019
AAA Texas 500 | MENCS Qualifying Results & Quotes
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
1st – Kevin Harvick
6th – Aric Almirola
7th – Daniel Suarez
8th – Brad Keselowski
9th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11th – Joey Logano
15th – Ryan Blaney
24th – Clint Bowyer
25th – Ryan Newman
26th – David Ragan
27th – Michael McDowell
29th – John Hunter Nemechek
31st – Paul Menard
33rd – Corey LaJoie
34th – JJ Yeley
36th – Garrett Smithley
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Bush Beer Ford Mustang – Qualified 1st
“I think the key to the lap was obviously knowing that you had to be wide open and kind of did a halfway qualifying run yesterday and worked most of the day on race runs and making sure we ran enough laps to know where our car was. I think the first pit stall is obviously a good stall to have here for pit road time and the things that go with that and I think it is obviously going to be a track position game like it was last time and hopefully that helps us stay on the right side of that.”
PAUL MENARD, No. 21 Menards/Jack LInks Ford Mustang – Qualified 31st
“We were wide open. We probably have a little more downforce than some guys, anticipating the race conditions. I felt really good yesterday, even in the draft and being able to run through 1 and 2 better than a lot of guys. It came with the sacrifice of probably not qualifying very well today.”
RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Roush Performance Ford Mustang – Qualified 25th
“We just ran one lap, ran the exact same thing we did yesterday. I don’t know if it was any better or any worse, it was just wide open. Kind of a pointless lap from a driver’s standpoint. We will just see how it all shakes out and go from there.”
“I feel like we had a good first practice but not as good of a second practice. I think that we understood why and we will hopefully be better here in the race tomorrow. We learned a lot since our first race here. I think a lot of people have. We will see really a different race I think and some different situations than in the first race.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang – Qualified 24th
“I am looking forward to racing tomorrow. I can’t wait. I am really looking forward to the race. I think our Stewart-Haas cars were very strong in practice and we have a lot of confidence going into the race. We ran well in the spring. I am still after that elusive win. We haven’t been able to check that box. I had a great car last weekend and practice well, qualified well, raced well and then had a slew of bad luck. Just ran over something, had a flat tire, all hell broke loose. It was one of those races when you leave and Laura looks over at me on the way home and was like, ‘You aren’t even mad.’ There was so much stuff that happened you just have to smile and write that one off because it was just not meant to be.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 36 Speedy Cash Ford Mustang – Qualified 29th
“That was the first qualifying run I have ever done in a Cup car. It was pretty interesting. We went faster today than we did yesterday. That is a positive. We are getting faster every time on the race track. It is a whole new deal for myself being over here in the Cup garage. Different scenarios, a whole new team. Different communications. A lot of variables that play into this weekend. I am really thankful for the opportunity from Bob (Jenkins) and everyone at Front Row Motorsports. I hate that the circumstances are like this. I really wish Matt Tifft a speedy recovery and hope he is back at the race track very soon.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang – Qualified 9th
“Our Fastenal Mustang has been really good all weekend and I have been happy with the speed and how it has been driving. It is going to be tough to pass. You have to have a car that is fast but also one that drives well behind other people. I felt like we had that in practice and we brought something a little different than we brought here in the spring. So far, so good. I am happy with it. We will see how it goes. I sped here in the spring and that cost us a few spots. All in all I think for me it would be good to get a solid race here. We have won here before. I would love to win a Cup race here.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Wabash National Ford Mustang – Qualified 15th
“The car drove fine, it is just some cars you go through this every 1.5 mile track with some cars more trimmed out than others and you see how they race. You just hope you aren’t too downforced out where you have to start way in the back. That should be in the top-12 or so. We will find out where we end up. We will see. Hopefully our car races good tomorrow.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Mustang – Qualified 11th
“Our qualifying lap was okay. It was kind of what was expected. It is still the question that lingers every race track you go to with this rules package. Do you want to be trimmed or have downforce? Today is a day that shows where everybody is at when it comes to that decision, whether it is organization wise or one team specifically. It is an interesting thing to see and then you wonder how it is going to race. The true answer comes tomorrow when we get out there and race each other on what is going to be best.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Wurth Ford Mustang – Qualified 8th
“Just like rookie mode on a video game. You just hold it wide open and see what it will run. That is it.”
KEVIN HARVICK POLE WINNER PRESS CONFERENCE
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Bush Beer Ford Mustang – Qualified 1st
TELL US ABOUT THAT LAP TODAY: “I think the key to the lap was obviously knowing that you had to be wide open and kind of did a halfway qualifying run yesterday and worked most of the day on race runs and making sure we ran enough laps to know where our car was. I think the first pit stall is obviously a good stall to have here for pit road time and the things that go with that and I think it is obviously going to be a track position game like it was last time and hopefully that helps us stay on the right side of that.”
WHAT DOES STARTING ON THE FRONT ALLOW YOU TO DO IN TERMS OF CONTROLLING THE RACE HERE? “I think as you look at this race last time, the 11 played a tremendous amount of tire strategy and track position games that came along with that. I think yesterday in practice being at the front of that pack we were able to put a straightaway on those guys as they were trying to decide where to go and what to do and by the time they got that figured out you were long gone. It is kind of the run and hide strategy and you can get away with that at some of these places and hopefully we can get away with it tomorrow. Some of these race tracks more downforce and more drag and those types of things have been on the plus side on the handling side. We ran 30 laps yesterday and everything felt really good. I think the race track is going to widen out. I think it is definitely going to get into that PJ1 in the second lane. I still think the fast lane is still going to be the bottom.”
THERE ARE A COUPLE GIBBS CARS UP FRONT, TYPICALLY THEY HAVE QUALIFIED FURTHER BACK THIS YEAR. WHEN YOU SEE THEM QUALIFYING UP FRONT HERE DOES THAT GIVE YOU ANY EXTRA CONCERN OR GRAB YOUR ATTENTION? “No, speed just comes from how much drag you have in your car. I think that obviously there is a temperature, race track type, what type of race it is going to be as to how you want to play that game. I think everyone knows you need to stay up front, get track position. Speed in the car has been a benefit to us this weekend, even in race runs.”
IS THERE A POINT OR NUMBER OF POINTS YOU FEEL THAT IF YOU MAKE UP THIS WEEK YOU WILL FEEL SOMEWHAT COMFORTABLE GOING INTO PHOENIX? “I think you would rather win. I think if you can win that is obviously the best route. You just never know what can go wrong and what can happen. If you remember Phoenix last year, it was definitely one of those situations that was a tough scenario to keep up with. YOu had cars crashing and things happening at the end of the race. There were a number of things that cycled through that race where you thought you were in, thought you were out. Unless you are like 60 points ahead or in the win column I don’t think there is a safe spot because you never know what can happen.”
SMOKE SAID HE WAS HAPPY WITH THE SPEED IN YOUR CAR AND THOUGHT YOU GUYS HAD FOUND SOMETHING. WITH THE SLOW START SHR HAD TO START THE SEASON, WHAT AREAS HAVE YOU GUYS REALLY TRIED TO PICK UP SPEED IN THE CAR? “It is really just trying to understand. There are so many nuances that go with it and the things that you can do with the car with high drag, low drag, what is efficient and not efficient. Obviously Doug (Yates) and those guys from the Roush Yates side have gotten better all year as well. I think it is a combination of things and we have definitely run better the second half of the year. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple times with not qualifying well. I think qualifying well, especially for us, is a big key for how our day is going to go. If we can qualifying up front that usually lets us be a little more in control of what is going on instead of having to fight our way through traffic. That hasn’t been our strongpoint.”
CONSIDERING YOUR TREMENDOUS SUCCESS OVER THE YEARS AT PHOENIX, HOW DIFFERENT DOES THIS Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, November 1, 2019
Page 4
KEVIN HARVICK POLE WINNER PRESS CONFERENCE CONTINUED …
NEW AERO PACKAGE FEEL THERE? “It wasn’t a great race there for us in the spring. I will have to go back and look. I honestly haven’t even looked at anything about Phoenix. I am a ‘week of’ guy and trying to put it all together. I will let them worry about the car and things that we talked about together the last time we went there as to how they are going to build the car, setup wise. As far as me and things I need to do I haven’t even looked that far ahead yet but it has been a pretty good place for us.”
WHEN THE CAR IS PREPARED, HOW IMPORTANT IS THE TEMPERATURE AT THE TRACK TO THAT PROCESS? “We hope it is cold, every week. Cold has been better for us. Really over the last six years and especially on the 1.5 mile race tracks, cooler weather has been better for us. When we see 50 and 60 degrees we are happy.”
