NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
FANSHIELD 500
FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER – POST RACE QUOTES
SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2020
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
1st – Joey Logano
2nd – Kevin Harvick
5th – Clint Bowyer
8th – Aric Almirola
9th – Cole Custer
11th – Brad Keselowski
14th – Matt DiBenedetto
16th – Michael McDowell
17th – Chris Buescher
23rd – Ross Chastain
25th – John Hunter Nemechek
27th – Corey LaJoie
37th – Ryan Blaney
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang — Finished 1st
WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY THAT YOU COULD TAKE INTO NOVEMBER BY WINNING THIS RACE, THE PERFORMANCE YOU HAD, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THE CHAMPIONSHIP IS GOING TO BE WON? “You think I’m going to tell you that (laughter)? Definitely, everybody learned something out there today just whether it’s racing, the way this traction compound is, the awesome sauce up there, how that worked out, played throughout the race. There’s a lot learned, for sure. We learned that this No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford team is just stout and is not going to get beat if we have the opportunity. We tried everything we could to regain our track position and get control back of the race. I knew that last restart was going to be crazy. I have to thank my partners, Moneyline, Auto Trader, AAA, Ford, Coca‑Cola, Snap‑on, everybody that helps this program at Team Penske. Roush‑Yates motors. It was cool to see two Fords on the front row at the end of a race like that. This is a motor racetrack as much as we don’t think it is. Proud of the team effort today to make this one come.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang – Finished 2nd
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE 22 MAYBE HAD JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE OF? “He just had control of the race. After we pitted there, I got stuck behind a couple of cars there, lost five or six spots. He got by and got control of the race. He got to restart where he wanted to. Our Jimmy John’s Ford was better, especially when we could put it in front of his. We just didn’t get the control of the race back there, and he was able to get by us on that restart where I got hung up.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – Finished 5th
“As you go through this west coast swing, you are lying in the bed you made. We saw that all the time and it really is true. You come out here and these cars are prepared before we get out here. Certainly we are looking forward to getting back home and reevaluating some things. I can’t seem to figure out how to get the front end to turn. There is a new mentality with John and all his engineers. All in all to grind it out on Sunday when the money is on the line, it was a good effort and some momentum going into Atlanta, a fun race track for me that I really enjoy. The Mobil 1 Ford is beat up a little bit as I look over your shoulder there. Hell, that is what this track is all about.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – Finished 8th
“That was a decent day for us. We scored stage points in both stages and ran competitively. I thought after practice we were a fourth to eighth place car and quite honestly that is about where we ran all day. The pit crew did a good job there the second half of the race keeping us in the game. I am proud of that. We just continue to build. We just keep knocking off these top-10’s in a row after last weekend and this weekend. Then you slowly progress to trying to run in the top-five and that is where you find yourself in position to win races. We need to continue to build on this. I am really proud of Bugga and all the guys on this Smithfield team. They have been bringing some nice Ford Mustangs for me to drive the last couple of weeks.”
WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOU AND THE 19? “Honestly it was just a mistake. We got down into turn 1 there and he checked up slightly sooner than I expected him to and I was literally an inch or two off his bumper through the dogleg getting down into 1. Just the slight delay from the time that he got on the brakes to when I got on the brakes, I got into the back of him and crashed him. We race around each other a lot, all day. We raced around each other and raced each other clean and I had fun racing with him. We swapped positions back and forth and never touched each other and then had that mistake right there. Certainly not intentional but that doesn’t help him.”
COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – Finished 10th
“This was huge. It is a huge boost in our step to have a really solid day and fast Mustang. We overcame obstacles all weekend and hopefully we can continue to carry that all through the year. I think we get better every single race, so it is just a matter of continuing that and doing that every single weekend.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Tarkett Ford Mustang (Retired due to accident on lap 65)
WHAT DID YOU SEE FROM THE CAR BETWEEN THE 2 AND 11? “From the car I couldn’t really see. A couple of us were three-wide. I was happy to be on the top. I thought we were going to roll the top pretty good through three and four there. It looks like the 11 tried to send it in there below the 2 and got loose and hit him and then overcorrected and got us. We got up in the dirt and we just ran right into the fence. Just an innocent bystander there. It sucks to have it end so early like that and have that happen so early in the race. I do really hate it for Menards and Tarkett and Ford. We didn’t even have a chance to work on our car. We weren’t great the first run but we made a big swing at it and we don’t know how that change was. It stinks when you are taken out like that. We will just go on to Atlanta and see what we can do.”
