Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
SpeedyCash.com 250 | Saturday, April 1, 2023
Ford Finishing Results:
4th – Ty Majeski
6th – Hailie Deegan
10th – Ben Rhodes
11th – Mason Massey
13th – Matt Crafton
14th – Zane Smith
21st – Josh Reaume
33rd – Keith McGee
NOTE: Hailie Deegan tied her career-best finish with a 6th-place run today, equaling what she did at Talladega last season.
HAILIE DEEGAN, No. 13 Ford Performance Ford F-150 – TAKE US THROUGH WHAT YOU SAW ON THE FINAL RESTART? “I was pretty pumped up because I thought we finished fifth, but I found out a second ago we finished sixth. So I’m not as excited, but it was still definitely a great day, especially where we started the season. I feel like we’re just getting the ball rolling, getting our confidence and just building off of what we have every single race, not having to rebuild trucks and just making them better. That’s what we were really focusing on this race, getting through all the wrecks. There were so many big ones today and I’m just so glad we were able to make some smart decisions and avoid all of them and come out with a good finish.”
WHAT GOT YOU UP FRONT TODAY? “Honestly, just staying in it all day. I didn’t qualify all that great. I think I tried to get a little too much in one and two in qualifying and got a little free down there, so I didn’t have the best lap. We were able to still stay in it all day, come back through the field and just chip away at it little by little. We made the truck better as the race goes on and as the track is changing, so as you’re moving around more everything was changing so quick, so I think we did a great job of that. My team did such a great job and I’m super thankful for everything that they’ve been able to give me for this race.”
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 SpeedyCash.com Ford F-150 – RESTARTS WERE PRETTY CRAZY. WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR VIEW? “Yeah, no doubt. First off, we got our SpeedyCash Ford better all throughout all the race, which is exciting. At the end there, it was overtime, overtime, overtime restarts and I don’t really know what was going on with the 2. He was just so sketchy, especially on the straightaways. He doored me, gets off me, drives it through the grass and then I just get hooked. We were in a great position to get our third win of the year there with the help of the 19 on that restart and, unfortunately, I’m missing the back end of my F-150. We’ll rebound and go to Bristol Dirt and hopefully have a good weekend there.”
YOU TRIED EVERYTHING TO GET BY SANCHEZ. IF THAT HADN’T HAPPENED AT THE END COULD YOU HAVE HELD ON TO WIN? “Yeah, I mean everyone – I was really surprised he wasn’t taking the top there for one because once you catch the right-rear of whoever you’re battling, typically momentum funnels to the top there and we were in just a great position to win. Unfortunately, he was kind of a dart without feathers on the straightaways. There was not much we could do.”
