Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Verizon 200 Qualifying | Saturday, July 30, 2022
Ford Qualifying Results:
2nd – Austin Cindric
3rd – Chase Briscoe
5th – Joey Logano
6th – Ryan Blaney
7th – Michael McDowell
9th – Todd Gilliland
12th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Harrison Burton
14th – Aric Almirola
16th – Chris Buescher
18th – Kevin Harvick
24th – Cole Custer
27th – Joey Hand
33rd – Cody Ware
34th – Loris Hezemans
37th – Josh Williams
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – “It’s certainly an important weekend for us at Team Penske, but it would be pretty cool to run up front and try and get a win for Roger at the Brickyard. It’s a long race ahead, but obviously a good place to start, a good pit stall for the boys, so a good foundation with a long race ahead.”
HOW WAS YOUR LAP IN THE FINAL ROUND OF QUALIFYING? “When you get beat for pole I guess you’d rather be a chunk slower than a little bit slower because I feel like there’s a little bit I could have done better, but not a chunk. I felt like our Ford Mustang was fast all day and I’m proud of that effort. We’re trying a few new things this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing how they play out in the race.”
TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 Ruedebusch Development & Construction Ford Mustang – “It’s been a good morning, but we still have a long day ahead of us. It takes everything and my guys did a good job with the setup of the car. I was telling them it’s much easier to drive than Road America, so it’s all about progress. We’re learning a lot from the 34 team as they’re running really well. Overall, a pretty good start to the day.”
HOW DO YOU TRANSLATE THIS INTO THE RACE AND KEEP THAT TRACK POSITION ALL DAY? “That is the crazy part about shifting your expectations. Even when we got into the second round you really have to shift into going to get the pole, but I feel like a road course is even more so of when your car has speed and there are so many turns that it kind of just adds up to having good speed. It makes me feel confident about the race tomorrow and, like I said, my car feels really driveable. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it. There are still gonna be some tough decisions tonight, but, overall, it’s probably our best race car going into a race this year.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang – “We got both cars in the top 10. I think that’s the first time we’ve done that on a road course, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. This is not our first time making it to the second round at a road course. I think three out of the four we’ve moved on and honestly I didn’t put in a really good lap, it was kind of a messy, sloppy lap so I wish I could have a re-do, but I think we’ll be there tomorrow when it counts.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – “I had a good first lap, but my second lap I overshot turn one. I just went for it. I felt like I was in contention to maybe get a pole and so I sent it in there pretty hard and missed turn one, and then you’re just fighting from behind. It’s a long lap from there all the way around to try to make up for a mistake, but it was a good pickup from practice.”
THREE TEAM PENSKE CARS IN THE TOP SIX TO START TOMORROW. YOUR THOUGHTS? “Absolutely. It’s a good start and hopefully we can continue that. It’s always special to win here. When your boss owns the track it probably adds a little bit to that, but a top-five qualifying effort is nice and we’ll try to pick it up a little from there.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang – “In practice I was a little bit worried. I didn’t really feel like I had the speed I needed. I felt like everything I had was what I had and I was still only 13th-quick and didn’t feel like the car was really that great. I still don’t necessarily feel like the car is quite where I need it to be, but definitely the speed kind of surprised me there in qualifying. We’ve got a really good starting spot for tomorrow. We’ve got a good pit stall selection, so all of those things will help. We’ve just got to put it all together. We’re kind of in a unique spot where we have to kind of go for points and it might not be the best strategy to win the race, so hopefully the race will come our way and we can catch some breaks along the way and hopefully be kissing the bricks at the end of it.”
