Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series — Toyota Owners 400
Richmond Raceway | Sunday, April 18, 2021
Ford Finishing Results:
3rd – Joey Logano
6th – Aric Almirola
9th – Matt DiBenedetto
11th – Ryan Blaney
14th – Brad Keselowski
22nd – Chase Briscoe
23rd – Cole Custer
24th – Kevin Harvick
25th – Chris Buescher
27th – Michael McDowell
28th – Austin Cindric
30th – Ryan Newman
31st – Anthony Alfredo
32nd – BJ McLeod
37th – Josh Bilicki
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang — WHAT DID YOU NEED ON THAT FINAL RUN?
“We just needed more turn. We didn’t turn good enough to take off. The 48 sure did. They put the qualifying pressures in or something. That thing took off like a rocket. Denny and I caught him the last few laps, which was probably because they showed the adjustments they made to their car to make it fire off. They started to pay a penalty at the end, but they were too far out. Congratulations to them. They beat us. They beat us fair and square. It stinks when you’re that close. We were leading with a few to go. Denny and I had a hell of a race. It was pretty fun there for a minute, but here we are third. It stings. We were up there all day. It’s a decent finish, don’t get me wrong, but wanted more for our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang.”
WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT LAST RESTART?
“Congratulations to them. They beat us. i think probably their adjustments they made on that final pit stop definitely made his car fire off really well. He started to pay the penalty the last couple laps, but he was so far out that it didn’t matter. It’s frustrating because we were so close with the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang and wanted to get our Ford in victory lane here and led some laps. We made the pass on Denny and then we had a heck of a battle going back and forth. He was tight when I passed him and then I was tight and he caught back up to me, so the track was changing there and we were both trying to keep up with it. Dang it. I hate being that close. Third is decent, but to be that close and you’re on the front row on the final restart you think you’ve got a good shot at it and the front didn’t wake up for three laps. Once it woke up, it was too late, so that’s part of it, I guess.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang —
“Man I really battled for fifth there at the end but burnt up my tires on the outside in the process. Finally, a solid day for our Smithfield team. Everyone did their part and we were mistake-free today. Let’s fire it up and keep it rolling. “
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Menards/Libman Ford Mustang —
“It definitely feels long overdue that we got that top 10 finally, so that’s good. We’ve had some rough circumstances that sort of put us in a hole to start the year, but we knew that we have plenty of speed and obviously a great team. It was good to come here and at a track that I really wouldn’t consider one that I have a ton of success at in the past, so that was definitely rewarding. It was a day full of just no forgiveness. You couldn’t have any mistakes at all, so we started the race and we’re too far off. We worked on the car a little bit and made the right calls and got great breaks and once we got track position and got up in the top 10 we had no problem staying up there. That was good. It was a really high pressure day because there was no room for mistakes with that much green flag here. I’m proud of the team and having Menards and Libman on the car. All good stuff and something to build on. We’re climbing out of that hole in the points and gaining a lot quick.”
HOW CONCERNED WERE YOU THAT YOU WERE IN A BAD SPOT WITHOUT TAKING THE WAVEAROUND AND ON OLDER TIRES FOR THE LAST RESTART?
“Yeah, I said right when that caution came out when the 18 had just passed us my quote was, ‘Perfect timing.’ Some things just don’t work out exactly right, but I can’t complain because we had everything go smooth the rest of the day before that. That’s a nerve racking situation because you’re having a solid day and you know if we would have got that lucky dog or stayed on the lead there, which was just a matter of a couple laps, we got lapped before and then we would have been new tires and then you separate yourself from everybody behind that had the wave around and do all that, so that was definitely nerve wracking, but I knew we had a good buffer to the next guy that we were racing, which was the 3, so that was good to know that all we had to do was just restart, be smooth, don’t get in any incidents, and as long as it got sorted out I knew we would be fine and it worked out just fine for us.”
YOU’VE BUILT SOME CONSISTENCY SINCE HOMESTEAD. HOW HAS THIS JOURNEY BEEN LIKE?
“It’s rewarding. I’m glad we’re finally getting on track and the runs that we deserve. We started the year and just was nothing of our doing. We couldn’t even look at it and say they were self-inflicted, it was just kind of bad circumstances, so something that was out of our control — not as bad a luck as Aric Almirola, but it just goes to show between him and I and kind of the rough starts to the season that sometimes things have to go your way and as easily as that momentum can be pretty bad, it can flip around and we haven’t even really had smooth races until today, but we’ve still be climbing up in the points. It just shows the strength of our team and it’s rewarding to finally get that top 10 and be climbing up there in the points, digging out of that hole and doing what I’ve known all along that we’re more than capable of as a team.”
WHAT WILL THIS NEXT MONTH HAVE TO BE LIKE TO GET BACK IN PLAYOFF CONTENTION?
“It’s tough. There’s just a lot of guys that have won races and taken up some of those spots for the playoffs, so it makes it extra challenging. I know that we can keep on hitting our stride, running consistent, having consistent runs. Consistency is everything, so if we can do that, I have confidence we can climb up in the points where we belong because we’re just kind of getting going. We still haven’t really had smooth races aside from today, although we’ve been finishing up in the top 15 and having OK runs. We still haven’t had the greatest of circumstances, so I know that we’re getting on track, building up points and that we can climb up there where we belong, but it’s going to be very crucial the next month. All of these races from here until the playoffs we don’t really have any margin for error at all and hopefully a win would be the best-case scenario, but we’ve got to just focus on consistency.”
HAS THERE BEEN ANYONE ON YOUR TEAM THAT YOU’VE LEANED ON TO HELP GET YOU GUYS BACK ON TRACK?
“I think what I was proud of and have been proud of is that our entire team is like a family. I get along and have relationships with every guy on our team and that’s how it has to be, so I don’t know if I could credit one person, but everybody on the team from Greg Erwin to Billy, our car chief, Doug Campbell, my spotter, the over-the-wall guys have kept a good attitude even through the start of the season when we had rough luck, just because we knew there’s nothing self-inflicted. I have to give credit to everybody on the team. Their attitude is great, which is a big deal.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 33 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang —
“It’s an interesting race. I definitely chose the wrong time to make a rookie mistake getting into the 6. That’s definitely on me and that was a really vulnerable time for our strategy and that put us behind the eight-ball all day. We tried to do some strategy to get us back and we ended up putting ourselves another lap down. By the time stage three rolled around we were able to make some good adjustments and our Verizon 5G Ford Mustang was really good. I wouldn’t say we were top five good, but I think we were good enough to run inside the top 10, top 15 so there’s a lot of positives. I drove up to P20 under green, so lots to learn, but definitely wish I could get that stage two mistake back.”
WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT INCIDENT WITH RYAN?
“It started off on pit road. I got shoved in the left-rear by the 5 off of pit road and that put us three-wide going down the backstretch with the 6, who was already on the racetrack, and at that point I should have just bailed. It’s one of those deals where you’re on colder tires and you’ve got a car with more laps on his tires and you’re kind of hoping that you can shuffle him out and when you’re racing for 20th it’s probably not the right thing to do, especially when you’re faster than the guys you’re around. It’s just one of those deals, something that I know and should have done better, but didn’t and now I’m mad at myself for it, but that’s racing.”
