Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Go Bowling at The Glen Qualifying| Watkins Glen International
Saturday, September 14, 2024
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
5th – Austin Cindric (P)
7th – Joey Logano (P)
9th – Noah Gragson
10th – Michael McDowell
12th – Chase Briscoe (P)
21st – Ryan Preece
24th – Chris Buescher
28th – Brad Keselowski (P)
30th – Ryan Blaney (P)
31st – Josh Berry
33rd – Harrison Burton (P)
36th – Justin Haley
37th – Todd Gilliland
38th – Kaz Grala
(P) indicates Playoff driver
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 5th)
“I am happy with how practice went and the guys did a great job adjusting to the unknowns going into the weekend and we were able to execute a good qualifying session and get us a good starting spot at a place where track position is super important. A solid start to the weekend. We just have to execute tomorrow.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THE TIRE FALL-OFF TODAY?
“It is quite a bit. It is definitely going to affect strategy. We will look at the notes and see how long we can make it live.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 7th)
“It was an improvement over practice, which is nice. It feels like our long run speed is just a little bit off, so hopefully we can dial some of that in tonight. We will see what happens. The tire fall-off, it will affect the whole race for everybody. It seems like our short run speed is in the game but our long run speed is a little off, so hopefully we can adjust on that.”
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 10 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Quflified 9th)
“It felt really good on our first lap in the first session and we were able to transfer in off of that lap into the second round. We had a lot of laps on the tires there. We ran a lot of laps. They started to fall off. The first one was kind of the best and then we were at a deficit for the second round. But I am super pumped for this Bed Bath and Beyond team and Stewart-Haas and this Ford Performance Mustang is a lot of fun to drive. This is my first time here in Cup and it is a lot of fun to drive this Mustang around here.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT TIRE FALL-OFF FOR TOMORROW AND HOW IT WILL AFFECT THE RACE?
“It certainly is going to be hard to pass, no doubt. Even with the fall-off I don’t know if you can save and make it up on the back half of the run and be better. We are going to have to wait and see a little bit. I think track position will be key all day. It will be hard to pass and you will have to make up positions on pit road. Luckily we are in the top 10. We can see the front. We aren’t there yet but we will work hard until we get there.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Benebone Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Qualified 10th)
“Honestly qualifying wasn’t that great for us. We had higher expectations than that but our Benebone Ford Mustang was really fast in race trim and really good on the long run. I think some of the setup approach that we brought here knowing there was going to be a bit of fall-off probably hurt our fire-off speed a bit but I feel great about the car we have for tomorrow. Track position will be important, but maybe with fall-off it will be a little easier to pass. I feel good about what we have and I was glad we made it to the second round but we wanted to be fighting for the pole and that last run there we were not. It was a good effort though and I feel good about tomorrow.”
