Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series Post Race Quotes
Pocono Mountains 225 | Pocono Raceway
Saturday, July 13, 2024
UNOFFICIAL FORD FINISHING RESULTS
1st – Cole Custer
11th – Riley Herbst
12th – Ryan Sieg
20th – Kyle Sieg
24th – Matt DiBenedetto
27th – Josh Berry
29th – Mason Massey
34th – Blaine Perkins
- Cole Custer won the Explore The Pocono Mountains 225, his 14th victory in 162 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
- This is his first victory and 15th top-10 finish in 2024.
- This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in six races at Pocono Raceway.
- Custer leads the point standings by 51 points over Justin Allgaier.
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Finished 1st)
VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW
“This means so much. These guys have worked so hard this year and just haven’t gotten that final result. It is awesome to get it here at Pocono. This is such an awesome race track that is hard to win at. I can’t thank all of them enough. An unbelivable car. Doug Yates gave us awesome Roush Yates horsepower. Ford, we got a win in the Ford Mustang Dark Horse finally. We are pumped about that. We are ready to try to carry this into the playoffs. I couldn’t be here without Gene Haas and everyone at Haas Automation and everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing. It is an awesome day.”
NORMALLY AT A TRACK LIKE THIS YOU DON’T THINK OF BEATING AND BANGING, BUT YOU HAD TO DO THAT WITH THE RESTART WITH FOUR TO GO, WHAT WAS THAT BATTLE LIKE? “You never know what you are going to get. You just don’t know how they are going to push on the restarts, if you are going to get the push or they are. It didn’t work out well on the front stretch but we had such a great car that we were able to rebound from it. Justin (Allgaier) is such an awesome guy to race with. He races hard but we were able to race clean with each other and it is awesome to get wins like that.”
YOUR TEAM ASKED YOU WHAT YOU NEEDED AND YOU SAID CLEAN AIR. WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT THIS CAR AND TEAM AND COMMUNICATION TODAY? “It is unbelievable. JT and these guys, like I said, they have been working so hard. I have told people that we are the points leader but I have never been so frustrated being the points leader because we hadn’t gotten a win yet. To get that, and everything these guys have done to bring a really fast piece here means a lot and I think we can really take it to them in the playoffs.”
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
YOU RACE WITH JUSTIN A LOT, YOU KNOW HOW RESPECTFUL HE IS. I THINK HE PROBABLY WOULD SAY THE SAME ABOUT YOU. I ASSUME THERE WASN’T ANY WORRY ABOUT ANY ROUGH DRIVING AT THE END OF THE RACE, BUT YOU GUYS WERE PRETTY CLOSE AND YOU WERE RACING PRETTY HARD. WHAT WAS THAT BATTLE LIKE FOR YOU?
“Well, I mean, Justin, like you said, he’s the epitome of a clean racer but hard. I mean, he’s going to give you all he’s got and it’s not going to be easy, but he’s going to be clean, he’s not going to make stupid mistakes usually, and it’s awesome to race with Justin because he’s, I think a Cup level talent, he just never had the right opportunity but, he’s just a first-class racer and to be able to race with him and everybody in this series, I think us getting our first win this year really shows how hard this series is at this point. So it’s definitely awesome to win against great competitors.”
DID IT TAKE LONGER THAN YOU THOUGHT TO GET YOUR FIRST ONE?
“Yes. At the end of the day, we as a program, we think we can go win every weekend and we just haven’t done that this year for whatever reason. We’ve been close a lot of times, we just haven’t been able to finish the deal and today, to have such a fast race car, all our guys did a great job and to finally seal the deal means a ton.”
BACK IN 2019 YOU HAD YOUR FIRST WIN HERE, BUT HOW MUCH MORE MEANINGFUL IS THIS WIN HERE TONIGHT COMPARED TO THAT FIRST TIME AROUND?
“Oh, I mean, both were huge and both honestly were pretty exciting. Pretty late race cautions and things like that. So, honestly, whenever you get a win here is such a big deal because this is a hard track to win at. It’s a hard track for the teams to get the car right. It’s a hard track for the drivers to figure out and do their jobs. So you have to have the whole package here. And to have it all work out twice is amazing. And teams bring their best stuff here. It’s a really aero-sensitive racetrack. Horsepower means a lot. So you’re going to bring your best stuff here. And winning here really shows where your program is. And hopefully, you can carry it into playoffs.”
NOT ONLY IS THIS THE FIRST ONE FOR YOU AND FOR SHR, BUT THIS IS THE FIRST ONE IN XFINITY FOR FORD AFTER A VERY LONG WAIT, AND YOU GUYS HAVE COME VERY CLOSE. SO HOW GREAT IS IT, NOT ONLY FOR YOU, BUT FOR THE MANUFACTURER TO GET THE MONKEY OFF THE BACK?
“Oh, it’s huge. Honestly, going into the year, we wanted to be the first ones to win with the Mustang Dark Horse. We were close, but just weren’t able to make it happen earlier in the year. But to get a win with the Mustang Dark Horse is huge and huge for Ford. They’re just such a great company with Edsel and the whole Ford family. Everybody there makes you feel right at home. It’s awesome to really be in their corner and really muscle out a win for them.”
YOU’VE BEEN THE POINTS LEADER FOR THE LAST SEVEN RACES. YOU HAVE A 51-POINT LEAD. INCHING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE END OF THE REGULAR SEASON, ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT POINTS NOW OR IS IT JUST GO ALL OUT FOR A WIN?
“Yes and no. I mean, it made you feel really good when you didn’t run the best and still had a points lead. But at the end of the day, we’re here to win. That’s what we’ve got to focus on. That’s what the name of the game is. You have to win. That’s where the most bonus points are. That’s what it’s all about. So finally making that happen means a ton for our team and going into the playoffs. To win that regular season championship means a ton too. If we can hang on to that, the bonus points there will be huge. So we want it all though. We want to win and win the regular season championship.
WOULD YOU SAY THIS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON IS A STATEMENT OR AN AUDITION IN ANY WAY OR JUST ANOTHER GREAT WIN?
“You audition every weekend in the Xfinity series, you know, that’s what this series is really. Everybody in this series is looking at how to get to the next level. So the more you can win, the more you can win championships, the more you can show that you can go out there and compete against the best, that’s speaks volumes. So I think we definitely have shown what we can do. We just got to try and piece everything together.”
I TALKED TO YOUR DAD, OBVIOUSLY A VERY HAPPY MAN OUT ON PIT ROAD, AND HE ASSURED ME YOU WILL HAVE A RIDE FOR NEXT YEAR. HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THE WIN IN XFINITY HELPS YOUR PROSPECTS TO GET THAT CUP RIDE NEXT YEAR?
“It doesn’t hurt. Whenever you win, it’s definitely helpful. But at the end of the day, we don’t have anything for sure next year. It’s just you try and win as many races as you can and usually that works out for drivers. But you know, you try to go out there and do all you can. Try to do your homework during the week and work with your team to bring the fastest stuff you can. If you do enough things right and do the little things right usually things work out.
DO YOU TRY NOT TO ASK YOUR DAD ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW?
“We try and just keep it a little bit separate. You have to work with that dynamic, but at the end of the day it’s up to Gene Haas and what Gene wants to do. I really respect Gene and what he’s done in this sport. And he’s been a great owner. I think it’s awesome to get Gene trophies and wins. So I’m just really thankful to have the support from him.”
WHAT DID YOUR DAD SAY TO YOU AFTER THE RACE?
“He was excited. Whenever you see your family member win and be able to win with a family member is huge. And for our team too, I mean, obviously it’s not been the easiest year for Stewart-Haas, with everything that’s gone on. So to finally muscle out a win is huge to have that kind of benchmark and kind of perk throughout the year. So hopefully we can keep carrying this and maybe carry a little bit of momentum on the Cup side and see those guys get up there because I know that they’re gaining on it, it seems like. So, hopefully be able to take all our cars stronger in the playoffs.”
WE SAW A LOT OF ACTION TODAY OUT ON THE TRACK. DO YOU ANTICIPATE WE’LL SEE SOME OF THAT TOMORROW AS WELL?
“Oh yeah. It was fun today. There was so much strategy that went on and the restarts made it crazy But that Cup package, it’s all about dirty air and how it really packs the field up and makes it really hard to drive. So they’re they’re going to be two and three wide four wide at times. It’s a package that kind of promotes you have to go where they’re not. So I’m sure it will be a lot of chaos tomorrow.”
DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO CATCH JUSTIN IF HE WAS SAVING GAS?
“I didn’t know what the situation was, honestly. I knew that I think he was going to stretch it, but I didn’t know where he was at on the racetrack. I’d have to re-watch the race. I have no idea how to answer that question, honestly, because I don’t know how much time we were within him or anything. I was going to go as hard as I could. I think we were going to have a good shot at it. It was going to be close.”
WHEN YOU’RE RACING A DRIVER THAT THERE’S A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE YOU BOTH MIGHT BE IN THE FINAL FOUR TOGETHER. IS THERE ANY I’VE GOT TO WIN TO JUST SHOW THAT I’M GOING TO BE THE GUY TO BEAT?
“Yes and no. At the end of the day, I’m just going to go try to go out and try and win no matter what it is, you know, whoever I’m racing. But I feel like that definitely speaks volumes when you’re able to win against good competitors. I think we had a tire advantage on Justin also there, if I remember right. So he had a little bit of a disadvantage there, but it was a hard race, and I’m really happy with how fast our car was. When we were able to get in clean air, we could really put some distance on him. So it was a cool day.”
CAN YOU JUST TAKE US THROUGH THAT LAST RESTART, HOW IT PLAYED OUT, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE BATTLES YOU HAD, NOT ONLY WITH JUSTIN, BUT WITH WILLIAM, BATTLING BACK AND FORTH FOR THE LEAD THERE.
“Yeah, it was really fun racing with William, you know, because he doesn’t race these cars all the time, so you could tell he was really fast. There were a few situations where I was like, man, I don’t know if that’s going to stick. You know, he’s not used to driving these cars every weekend, but he’s always an awesome guy to race with because he’s at the top of the sport right now. He’s one of the best, so to be able to race with him hard and have great competitors like that is awesome. It’s just such a crapshoot, honestly. On the final restart, you don’t know who’s going to get the best push and how it’s all going to work out. So you go in there and try and hope for the best that you’re going to have the lead off turn one, but sometimes it doesn’t work out. So we just had to keep our cool, and we had a fast enough car to recover from it.”
YOU NOW HAVE YOUR FIRST VICTORY OF THE SEASON IN THE BAG. YOU’RE ALSO LEADING THE XFINITY SERIES POINTS. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TO CARRY THIS MOMENTUM THROUGH THE NEXT 14 RACES AND WIN BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONSHIPS?
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. I think we do a great job as a team of communicating and doing the little things right. I think progressively just getting ourselves better and better and better. It’s easy when you’re not running how you need to to just start throwing things at it, but I feel like we did a great job of finding the root issues and how we go about our weeks and how we go about our pre-race stuff. So that’s a testament to our team. We just have to keep communicating how we do and keep fixing the little problems we have and we’ll be right there.”
YOU AND JUSTIN ALGEIR HAVE LED A LOT OF LAPS IN THIS YEAR, BUT ONLY HAVE ONE WIN TO SHOW FOR IT. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE THE UNLUCKIEST DUO IN NASCAR RIGHT NOW?
“I don’t know. That’s a really tough question. We’ve definitely had some things not go our way. I’m not going to say I’m the unluckiest guy in NASCAR. I mean, whenever you have shots to win, I feel like I’m a pretty lucky person. So I feel like we just got to keep doing what we’re doing. I’m not going to blame luck on it. We have to make our own luck in a lot of ways. I think we made our own luck today, and we just have to keep doing that.”
WHEN YOU AND WILLIAM WERE MAKING YOUR WAY BACK TO THE FRONT AT THE END. WITH THE WAY EVERYTHING PLAYED ON THE RESTART, WILLIAM WAS NOT ABLE TO GET BY JUSTIN. WERE YOU KIND OF WATCHING IN THE MIRROR AND HOPING IT WOULD STAY THAT WAY? AND IF WILLIAM DID GET TO SECOND, HOW CLOSE DO YOU THINK HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN?
“It’s really hard to say. I mean, obviously I’m not driving William’s car, but the run before, I felt like we were able to get a pretty good lead on William, the run before. I felt confident in our car. I felt like we could beat the best out there with what we had. So once we got the lead, I just knew I just had to hit my marks, really. I was just focused on that. I don’t think it would have mattered who was behind me, honestly.”
