Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bass Pro Shops Night Race Qualifying | Friday, September 15, 2023
Ford Qualifying Results:
4th – Michael McDowell
6th – Brad Keselowski
11th – Ryan Blaney
14th – Chase Briscoe
17th – Ryan Preece
20th – Chris Buescher
21st – Kevin Harvick
26th – Aric Almirola
27th – Ryan Newman
28th – Joey Logano
29th – Austin Cindric
30th – Todd Gilliland
32nd – Harrison Burton
35th – JJ Yeley
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang – MISSION ACCOMPLISHED TODAY? “Yeah, it’s really close. You’d like to get the pole, that would help things, but I’m really proud of the speed that we’ve brought all three weeks in the playoffs so far. We just haven’t got the finishes and haven’t executed like we needed to, but we know what tomorrow is. Tomorrow is a must-win for us and you’re gonna have to have track position to do that, so I’m glad we executed today and feel like we have a decent Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang. Our long run speed was good, but so much changes tomorrow night with the traction compound and the grooves moving around, so there’s still a lot of homework to do tonight and a lot of preparation to make sure we get the changes just right for tomorrow. But I’m thankful to have good speed and give ourselves a fighting chance tomorrow.”
YOU WERE SLOW IN PRACTICE BUT CONTENDED FOR THE POLE. WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE? “When I rolled out for practice I was in traffic. I didn’t actually set my fastest lap until like lap 15 or lap 16, so I wasn’t terribly worried about it. I thought our long run pace was good and the balance was close and you know how it is here, too, two, three, four, five-hundredths and you’re up or down five or six spots, so I wasn’t terribly concerned going into qualifying. And this track is a lot about commitment going into qualifying and knew what I needed to do. We just missed it last year here. I think we qualified sixth in our group and you go back and study that and look at all the little things that you could have done different to get those couple hundredths, so everything went pretty smooth today.”
