Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Chicago Street Race Qualifying
Saturday, July 6, 2024
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
3rd – Michael McDowell
10th – Brad Keselowski
16th – Chris Buescher
17th – Ryan Blaney
21st – Austin Cindric
22nd – Chase Briscoe
23rd – Justin Haley
26th – Todd Gilliland
28th – Noah Gragson
29th – Ryan Preece
31st – Harrison Burton
32nd – Joey Logano
36th – Josh Berry
38th – Joey Hand
40th – Kaz Grala
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Chicago White Sox Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 3rd)
“I was trying to get my Ford Mustang on the pole. We were close, right? So proud of everybody. We made good changes in between round one and two because I felt like (Kyle) Larson and SVG sort of had everybody covered there. Then we went into that next round and made some gains and got close. You know what it means to get a pole and track position and all that. So we’re starting up front, we’ll have a great shot at it with the White Sox Ford Mustang. It would just be easier if you were controlling the start, but we’re in for a battle tomorrow and we’ve got a fast car and a good opportunity to try to execute and put ourselves in position to win and we’ve got to have speed to do that and we have the speed to do it.”
WAS THERE A CERTAIN SPOT ON THE TRACK WHERE YOU FELT YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE BACK?
“Yeah, there’s always a little bit and the thing I’ve learned with road racing, though is it is the same for everybody. You very rarely hit a perfect lap where you just got 100 percent out of every corner, every brake zone and here it’s risk versus reward too. You’re on the edge. You’re pushing really close. I did get into the wall on my last lap, so it’s not like I left a bunch on the table, but at the same time, when you’re only two or three hundredths off, you’re like, I could have just got off the brake a little sooner here or there. But it is the same for everybody. You know, if you ask (Kyle) Larson that, he’d tell you, oh, I blew turn five and six and could have run a tenth or two faster. So we’re close. We’re in the game.”
YOU SAID YOU GOT IN THE WALL A LITTLE BIT AND WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF THAT. HOW DO YOU WALK THAT FINE LINE FOR THE RACE TOMORROW, TRYING TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE VERSUS THE RACING? “Today’s the day you have to push really hard to get track position. And then tomorrow, you’ll still have to have that pace. Still, you’re not going to be pushing every last inch every single lap because you’ll be able to control those cars behind you, so that’s why today was worth the risk to put yourself up front, and there’ll be times tomorrow where it’s worth the risk as well. Still, you know the toughest thing about a street race is anytime you race with a lot of concrete barriers is when you’re tucked up behind somebody knowing where those points are. Where the corner apexes are, where the limits are because your visual is so limited when you’re behind somebody. That’s when you can make the big mistakes. You turn in a little early and you’re in the fence. So yeah, I enjoy the challenge of it because you have to be so laser-focused and dialed in but tomorrow’s race is going to be a dogfight.”
