Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway Post-Practice Media Availability | Friday, May 28, 2021
Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, posted the fastest speed in today’s practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 178.435 mph. He conducted a Q&A session afterwards and spoke about his day and expectations for tomorrow’s race.
RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang — HOW WAS PRACTICE? “Hopefully, we didn’t get cancelled out. That was my biggest thing. I’ve been looking forward to this practice since probably Atlanta, just working with a new team and want as much experience with them and Richard as possible and really glad the rain stayed away, and were able to put some quick lap times down and have a good Ford Mustang.”
WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO PICK UP ON TO GET A PLAYOFF SPOT OVER THE SUMMER MONTHS? “I feel like the biggest thing is doing what we’re doing. I knew it was gonna be a challenge this year. I knew that they had fast cars last year, but me and Chase are different race car drivers and we both want a little bit something different in our race cars, and it was gonna take a while to figure out. To be honest, we had better speed than I expected the first few races at the mile-and-a-halves and we just didn’t get the finishes. I feel like that’s why we’re looking out of the playoffs right now, but the biggest thing we can pick up on is just unloading off the truck better. This is huge being able to work on the race car, so Richard and the boys know what I want in the race car and we can move forward to the next mile-and-a-half and racetracks going forward.”
HOW WAS THE TRACTION COMPOUND DURING PRACTICE? “I don’t know. That traction compound, PJ1, I feel like they shouldn’t even put it on the racetrack because it’s just so inconsistent from each time. Last year we had it and that was the place to be. It was like you had super softs on and if you weren’t in it, you were in trouble, but now if you touch it, you’re gonna spin out. I think it adds a cool feature to it, I just wish it was more consistent.”
