Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Qualifying | Saturday, September 23, 2023
Ford Qualifying Results:
2nd – Chris Buescher
3rd – Brad Keselowski
17th – Michael McDowell
20th – Joey Logano
21st – Aric Almirola
22nd – Kevin Harvick
23rd – Ryan Blaney
25th – Ryan Preece
30th – Harrison Burton
31st – Chase Briscoe
32nd – Austin Cindric
33rd – Zane Smith
35th – JJ Yeley
36th – Todd Gilliland
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang — (Qualified 2nd)
“That was definitely encouraging. It stinks to get bumped by the last car at the end like that. That is a bummer. But it is the first part of the weekend. Our Fastenal Mustang had a ton of speed there in qualifying and it is our best qualifying effort of the year so I am really proud of that. I am proud to have both the RFK Fords up here. It is a good start for us at a track that we have been looking forward to for a long time. It is hot and slick and we were still able to put good speed down, so I am happy with that. It is a good start for us.”
WITH HOW HOT IT WILL BE TOMORROW, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO START UP FRONT TOMORROW? “It is huge. This is a very track-position-sensitive race track and with the heat this weekend I think it will be even more. With that in mind, I guess this probably puts us in the non-preferred lane for the start but we will be watching this Xfinity race very closely and try to pull what we can out of it and see what we can learn for tomorrow.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang — (Qualified 3rd)
YOU AND CHRIS BOTH HAD SPEED AGAIN TODAY IN QUALIFYING, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR TOMORROW AND FOR THE MOMENTUM YOU HAVE GOING AS AN ORGANIZATION? “It was a solid day for us. We didn’t have the speed that I think what we saw from the 23 car but both Chris and I had really strong laps and put ourselves in position for a great day on Sunday. We are pumped to see what we can make of that and hopefully score a lot of points and maybe win the race.”
TRACK POSITION IS ALWAYS KEY HERE, BUT ESPECIALLY WITH HOW HOT AND SLICK IT WILL BE TOMORROW, SO HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO QUALIFY WELL HERE? “Yeah, track position will be key all day and having a good pit stall is going to be super helpful and I am thankful for that. But it is also a good sign of the speed you have in your car too.”
