Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Coca-Cola 600 Qualifying | Saturday, May 25, 2024
Ford Performance Results:
9th – Michael McDowell
13th – Josh Berry
16th – Ryan Blaney
17th – Austin Cindric
18th – Chase Briscoe
19th – Noah Gragson
22nd – Justin Haley
28th – Joey Logano
30th – Brad Keselowski
31st – Ryan Preece
32nd – Harrison Burton
33rd – Kaz Grala
35th – Todd Gilliland
37th – BJ McLeod
39th – Chris Buescher
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Walmart/RTIC Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It’s great. I’m really proud of everybody. We made a great effort there because we missed it unloading in practice. We were really loose, but made good changes. I felt like we got caught up a little bit, and then you had to go out there and lay down a big lap. I thought my commitment level was high enough on that last run, but obviously not. I had a really good one and two, I felt like, and then three and four I had to wait just a little bit on it and it got away from me a little bit. A top 10 starting spot though for 600 miles, it still matters. There’s a lot of racing for sure, but track position matters and I’m glad that we were able to get a Ford Mustang in the top 10 and we’ll make the most of the track position and pit selection as well.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 4 Overstock Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I hate that we must missed advancing. I didn’t love how I felt in practice, but we did run a pretty good lap. We had a little traffic, too, so I was optimistic about qualifying and I thought we made some really good adjustments. We had a really good one and two. The car felt really good on that end. I just got a little bit loose in three and four and just barely slipped on exit and that was probably the difference on making the final round. Nonetheless, we’re getting better week in and week out and it’s becoming more obvious now.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We made a lot of progress from practice. We really struggled off the truck and probably under drove my qualifying lap, so I’m a little frustrated with that. It’s always high commitment at these mile-and-a-half tracks. I thought I had a little bit better and maybe enough to squeak into the final round, but we’ve got some work to do for 600 miles tomorrow and I think it’s probably in our favor that the race ends at night.”
Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Roush Fenway Keselowski, had a tire go down during practice and hit the wall. He spoke about the incident afterwards.
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DID A TIRE GO FLAT? “Yeah, it was flat. We lost the left-rear. I haven’t had time to catch up with the team yet, so I’m not sure where we’re at yet. We’ll begin to diagnose it a little bit afterwards. Right now, we’ve got to build a race car and get it back on track and make sure it’s just as fast as that one. I know our team is capable of doing that. We’ve obviously showed it over the past couple years now, but really the last couple of weeks, so we’re gonna make that hard charger run tomorrow, I guess. I hate to be in that situation, but that’s where we’re at. I’m not having run at this exact moment, but I’m very proud of the speed we had right before that happened.”
SCOTT SAID HE WANTS TO GO TO A BACK UP AND IS JUST WAITING FOR NASCAR TO GIVE THE APPROVAL. “Yeah, I don’t see any way it doesn’t go to a backup. Honestly, from where I was inside the car it was a hard of a hit as you want to take and to think about staying in the same car, I don’t think that’s doable, really. I’m sure we’ll get the approval. They’ll see it. Unfortunately, it’s not good either way, rebuilding this car or going to a backup. Neither is a good place, so we’ve got our work cut out for us. Our team will hustle and they’ll get this done. They’re the best out there, so I’ve got confidence in them. I know we’ll be able to get right back going on track tomorrow and be able to put good laps like that down again.”
ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT TIRE WEAR FOR TOMORROW? DID YOU CUT IT? DO YOU KNOW? “I was rushed to the care center as soon as I got out of the car, so I don’t have a good answer yet. It was unexpected, I’ll say that. That’s all I know.”
YOU DIDN’T FEEL ANYTHING BEFORE? “No, just right on entry I maybe had about a car length to get your thoughts together, but that’s not enough at 190.”
