Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Autotrader 500 Media Availability | Saturday, September 24, 2022
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
2nd — Joey Logano
4th — Ryan Blaney
5th — Chase Briscoe
8th — Brad Keselowski
11th – Michael McDowell
15th – Austin Cindric
18th — Harrison Burton
19th — Kevin Harvick
23rd — Garrett Smithley
24th — Aric Almirola
26th — BJ McLeod
28th — Todd Gilliland
30th — Chris Buescher
33rd — Cody Ware
35th — Cole Custer
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Mustang — Finished 2nd
YOU ARE THE POINTS LEADER HEADING OUT OF HERE, BUT I KNOW YOU WERE MORE CONCERNED WITH THE TIRE ISSUE HERE TONIGHT WEREN’T YOU? “Yeah, the tires, if they aren’t blowing out then they are square. They were shaking like crazy. That is what happened there the last run. The last couple of runs really, just shaking the car. We got tight a couple runs and last time I got one that was off in the rear and we got loose. I think Reddick was fighting the same thing from what I heard there. You get that close to the win and you just know that if you just had that it might have been good enough to win the race. At the same time we should be happy that we scored a bunch of points today. It is bittersweet I guess.”
BUT VERY SUCCESSFUL FROM A POINTS STANDPOINT: “Yeah, it was a successful day for points scored. We got stage points in both stages and we were able to get a bunch by finishing second there. Yeah, it was a sloppy race for everyone on the track. We were just able to position ourselves really good at the end. Paul did a good job calling the race and putting four tires on when we needed to and putting two tires on when we needed to cycle forward.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Tarkett Ford Mustang — Finished 4th
“It was a long night for sure. It didn’t start out very good at all. We got better and better through the night and throughout the day we were able to win a stage and claw our way back from pretty far back in the pack there that last run to get to fourth. I thought our Mustang was probably the best car at the end we just couldn’t pass anybody. Overall, not a bad night. A pretty wild night. Luckily we were able to put together a solid race.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang — Finished 5th
“The first 90 percent of the race we were struggling. We couldn’t get the balance of the car right. We would be too loose or too tight and could never find where we needed to be. After that red flag I think the nighttime coming in kind of helped us a bit. With 80 to go we were hoping to catch more cautions and make it on fuel and we were able to get our track position that way and it ended up working out. We did what we needed to do for our Rush Truck Centers Ford. We were not a fifth-place car. We weren’t even a 15th-place car. To steal some points like that is huge. Going to Talladega, we are not in a massive hole and that is the most important thing. We will go there and hopefully have a little luck go our way and see what happens.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang — Finished 15th
ALL IN ALL, WOULD YOU CONSIDER THIS A SOLID DAY FOR THIS TEAM? “I guess so. Personally, absolutely not. I felt like we had a really fast Discount Tire Ford Mustang. We made the right changes throughout the day. I would say we didn’t execute very well at the beginning of the race but passed a lot of cars throughout the day and then got caught up in somebody elses mistake that took us out of a top five or top three or even a shot at the win. I am very upset about it. Getting stage points has been our weakness as a race team. We were able to get that both stages today and really grind one out and show a lot of poise but have nothing to show for it so I am pretty upset about it.”
THE NEXT TWO RACES AT TALLADEGA AND THE ROVAL. DOES THAT GIVE YOU ANY EXTRA HOPE?
“We are still on offense. We will put our heart and soul into it just like everyone else does. I have a great team behind me and I believe in myself and believe we can make the Round of 8, whether that is with a race win or on points. But it was a missed opportunity tonight for sure.”
