Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Auto Club Speedway | Sunday, February 27, 2022
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
5th – Joey Logano
6th – Aric Almirola
7th – Kevin Harvick
11th – Cole Custer
12th – Austin Cindric
16th – Chase Briscoe
18th – Ryan Blaney
20th – Todd Gilliland
21st – Garrett Smithley
22nd – BJ McLeod
27th – Brad Keselowski
31st – Michael McDowell
32nd – Cody Ware
33rd – Harrison Burton
35th – Chris Buescher
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AAA Southern California Ford Mustang — Finished 5th
“The guys did a great job of getting the car fixed after I wrecked in qualifying and we were fast right off the get-go. We were okay. The short runs weren’t really our cup of tea with our Auto Club Mustang here. We had a shot there at the end though going down the backstretch two-wide and I thought it was my chance. It was a low percentage move and it was kind of too late down the straightaway to make the move but I thought I had a big enough run that I could maybe get position going in. It was just too late and I couldn’t get my amigo Daniel Suarez there to get far enough back on my quarter. He was on my door and I had to start chasing it. I don’t know. I probably could have finished second or third if I didn’t make that move but you have to go for the win. We were so close. I probably would do it again but maybe checked up the entry a little bit anticipating him washing up into Larson. But hey, I tried.”
“It was a fight for everybody out there. The cars are equally matched and nobody had a real dominant car. It switched out through the race. At times it was the 8 and the 5. We were pretty good a couple runs and we were good on the long haul with our Mustang. I had a shot there at the end down the backstretch and I had that run and I knew it was a low percentage move to try to go three-wide on the bottom as late as I was going down the straightaway to get that run but I had to try it. Maybe we could have finished a couple of spots better if I didn’t try it but I had to give it a whirl and it probably cost us a couple of spots but who knows, it might have been the winning move. I am always going to try, it just didn’t work out for us. Overall, coming here with big challenges and wrecking the car in qualifying and the guys fixing it and giving us a shot at the win, you have to be proud of that effort. We learned a lot and there is a lot more to get better at. Nobody is really good, that is what I figured out today. Nobody is good. We have work to do.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Rush/Mobil 1 Delvac Ford Mustang — Finished 6th
“We sure had our hands full. It was a crazy day, wow. These cars are certainly a handful and we worked on it all day and made it to where it was driving better. Then we got some damage and the guys worked on it and got it fixed. It was a solid day for us to come out and have a good start to the west coast swing and keep our cars in one piece.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Subway Ford Mustang — Finished 7th
“We actually had a really good car and then every time we would get close we would have something go wrong. So we just had so many things go wrong that it was hard to keep our track position but I am really proud of my team. They did a great job of battling through everything and giving us a shot out there.”
COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang — Finished 11th
“I was really happy with the progress our team made. We made really good adjustments all day and got our car better. We got a little off there at the end and I wish I did a few things different on the restarts but overall it was a solid day and we got some stage points and we can take that into the next one.”
DO YOU FEEL A LITTLE BETTER GOING INTO VEGAS? “For sure, I think it is awesome to get the car driving good and have confidence there so hopefully, we can take that into the next weekend.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang — Finished 12th
“It was a really solid day in our Menards Quaker State Ford Mustang getting points in both stages and being a contender in the top-10 the entire race. I felt like I was a bit married to the top lane. I will have to understand why that is and look over how I can be better on the bottom and do a better job on the restarts. It wasn’t our day as far as being involved the wrong things and even recovered back to the top-10 and got a wheel stuck on. We have some things to clean up but it was overall a solid performance and it was good to be in the top-10 all day.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractor Ford Mustang — Finished 16th
DO YOU THINK YOUR DIRT BACKGROUND HELPED YOU MOVE AROUND AND GET BY GUYS TODAY? “I don’t know. Maybe a little bit. I think dirt guys like Larson and Reddick and me, we like it slick and worn out and you can move around and search for grip. I felt like I was able to try different lanes and try to find grip. I felt like our car was really good too and that obviously helps. But yeah, this place has always been really good for us guys and I think that is just because of how slick it is.”
WAS TRACK POSITION THE BIGGEST THING ONCE YOU GOT STUCK IN THE BACK? “Yeah, I think track position is a lot of it but at the same time, we started 26th and were able to drive to the lead so I can’t blame it all on track position. I think toward the end of the race as guys get better and better throughout it gets harder and harder to drive up through there. I think after I got in the wall a little bit you never really know how much that hurts you but track position is always important.”
ANYTHING YOU CAN TAKE FROM HERE TO ANY OTHER TRACKS OR IS THIS PLACE TOO UNIQUE? “I think it is pretty unique. I think that the 1.5 mile stuff, you can learn some stuff. It will be a learning experience the whole time and I think anything you can take away from any track is going to be important. I definitely feel like we learned some stuff today.”
HARRISON BURTON, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang — Involved in a multi-car accident on Lap 157
“It just looked like they stacked up in front of us there. I don’t know how many crashed but there was a lot of smoke and I couldn’t see where I was going. I kind of had to take a guess on where they wouldn’t be and ended up finding the 23 I think. It was a frustrating day. It felt like we weren’t running as well as we needed to be anyway. I guess those things happen when you don’t have great track position. We were fighting in the teens and 20’s all day and we need to be fighting further up to be able to avoid that mess.”
