Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series — Firekeepers Casino 400
Michigan International Speedway | Sunday, August 22, 2021
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
1st – Ryan Blaney
6th – Matt DiBenedetto
9th – Brad Keselowski
11th – Chase Briscoe
14th – Kevin Harvick
15th – Chris Buescher
17th – Aric Almirola
20th – Michael McDowell
23rd – Cole Custer
24th – Ryan Newman
28th – BJ McLeod
31st – Josh Bilicki
33rd – Joey Logano
34th – Anthony Alfredo
FORD RETAINS MANUFACTURER BRAGGING RIGHTS AS BLANEY WINS MICHIGAN
- Ryan Blaney won his second race of 2021 with today’s victory at Michigan International Speedway.
- The win keeps the Heritage Trophy (awarded to the winning manufacturer at MIS) in Dearborn for the 7th consecutive time.
- Ford now has 42 all-time series wins at MIS, which is the most at any track currently on the circuit.
- The victory marks Blaney’s sixth career NCS win and first time he has won multiple Cup races in the same season.
- Today’s win is Ford’s 710th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
- Of Team Penske’s 83 NCS wins with Ford, 56 have come since rejoining Ford in 2013.
MARK RUSHBROOK, Global Director, Ford Performance
THIS IS THE SEVENTH WIN IN A ROW FOR FORD AT THIS TRACK, AND THE HERITAGE TROPHY IS STYAING IN DEARBORN. YOUR THOUGHTS? “This is such a big deal for our company, for our employees. To come here and race in front of all of our employees and their friends and families and have Ryan (Blaney) go get that win with Team Penske and Roush Yates power. We are taking the Heritage Trophy back to Dearborn.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang — VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW
THAT LAST RESTART, THAT START ON THE INSIDE FOR YOU PROPELLED YOU TO THE WIN: “Yeah, we were going to be fourth and the front row was open. You have to take the front row. It gave us a shot to win the race and Kyle (Busch) gave us a really good push to get us clear into turn one and then I was playing defense. We were wide open. Especially with Larson and William (Byron) laying back and tryin gto get runs. That made it tough. It was cool to persevere all day. We didn’t start off very good but we worked on it all day and found ourselves in a spot to capitalize on it at the end and did that. A very cool day and nice to be in victory lane here in Michigan. This is huge for Ford and Mr. Penske and a lot of fun.”
HOW MUCH DID YOU WORK ON THE CAR THROUGH THE DAY? “All day really. The first run wasn’t very pretty. We slid backwards pretty good and we put packer in the right front and did a lot of stuff to try to free it up. There were a lot of changes but hopefully it paid off in the end and the last restart went our way too and we were able to hold those guys off the last 10 laps or so. That was stressful. That is not the ideal way to race, just blocking everybody, but it is what you have to do nowadays and Josh did a really good job up top. It is nice to be in victory lane.”
HOW COOL IS IT TO MAKE SURE TODD GORDON GOT AT LEAST THIS ONE MORE WIN? “Well, we talked to Edsel Ford before the race and he was wanting to get Todd another trophy here before he retired and told us to make sure we do that today. We will try to get Todd a few more before the season is out.”
YOU MENTIONED EDSEL FORD, WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO DELIVER THIS WIN AND THE HERITAGE TROPHY TO FORD MOTOR COMPANY? “It is huge. We come up here every year and know it is important to the Blue Oval and the Ford family and Mr. Penske as well. It is a really big race for all of our group including the Penske side. To have Edsel here, I haven’t seen Edsel in over a year so it was great to have him out. I am excited to get him in victory lane. Everyone from Ford does so much for us. It really is a big family and I am just happy to be a part of it.”
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 MasterTech/Quick Lane Ford Mustang
“We had a rocket for a while. Then, something went sideways. We didn’t change anything but we lost the handle on it. I am not sure what exactly happened. Either way, we made good calls and the team did a good job. We got the day going really good and were really fast and then had some things go wrong. We had trouble on a pit stop and had the car go a little off and then had to rebound at the end and fight. My spotter Doug does an excellent job and we work together well. We were super aggressive and made it back up. It was a proud team effort.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
“We were really good in the sun. Those scattered clouds at the end took away a little too much handling I think. We had a pretty good Discount Tire Ford. I am bummed. I wanted of course to get a win and I hate that I had that contact with the 3. That really sucks for everybody. It really hurt our day and obviously ruined his. That was crappy. So it goes.”
