Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Shriners Children’s 500 Qualifying | Saturday, March 9, 2024
Ford Performance Qualifying Results:
7th – Noah Gragson
8th – Chase Briscoe
9th – Michael McDowell
14th – Chris Buescher
16th – Ryan Blaney
18th – Brad Keselowski
23rd – Joey Logano
24th – Harrison Burton
27th – Ryan Preece
29th – Todd Gilliland
32nd – Kaz Grala
33rd – Justin Haley
34th – Austin Cindric
36th – Josh Berry
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 10 SERVPRO Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 7th)
“These guys at Stewart-Haas have been getting better and making progress all weekend from where we unloaded. I was a bit concerned with our pace on the short run and being able to fire off a fast lap time but it seemed like the long run was really good. I am happy with it. We did a package change to end practice and our second package was a lot better and that is what we ran for qualifying. I feel really comfortable on entry and I feel like I can go wherever in the center and it is really good on exit with throttle. I am proud of everyone on the team and just want to continue — I know I have been saying it a lot but I want to continue to improve and be better than we were last week. It takes time to develop the camaraderie with the team and get the atmosphere where we want it and the communication. I don’t know if it has been expedited and we still have a long way to go but it has been a lot of fun working with this group.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 8th)
“The first round was really good. I thought I left a little on the table the first round but the second round the track just changed a lot. It was way slicker and we were sliding around a lot and that caught me off guard. I wish I could have that one over again. We left the car the same from the first round thinking it would be okay but the track just changed. Still a top-10 starting position which is good and I feel like we have a good car for tomorrow, so that is good.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 9th)
“I just got loose in that second run. It is one of those things where I was a little free the first run but we ran so fast I was afraid to do too much but we should have probably worked on it a little bit. Just freed up and got loose in the middle of one and then stayed that way the rest of the lap. I am proud of the effort. Obviously we wanted to get the pole but we will be ready to go for tomorrow. Our long run stuff and packages we went through yesterday were successful and we tried a few things we wanted to try. I think we will be close. We were a top-10 car yesterday and a top-10 car again today so we will see what happens.”
