Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Xfinity 500 Qualifying | Saturday, November 2, 2024
Martinsville Speedway
Ford Performance Results:
4th – Chase Briscoe
6th – Harrison Burton
8th – Ryan Preece
11th – Josh Berry
12th – Joey Logano
13th – Todd Gilliland
14th – Ryan Blaney
17th – Michael McDowell
18th – Brad Keselowski
24th – Austin Cindric
25th – Noah Gragson
26th – Chris Buescher
33rd – Kaz Grala
34th – Corey LaJoie
35th – Josh Bilicki
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP YOURSELF OUT OF TROUBLE TOMORROW BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE THERE, OR WILL YOU BE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT? “I’ll still be in the middle of it, I’m sure. I still want to race. I mean, we still want to get what we can out of the day, but outside of that, you don’t want to make enemies, either. But, if we have a fast car and we can go win the race, let’s go win the race. Why not?”
BELL SAID THIS IS A TRACK YOU CAN’T FAKE IT. YOU’RE EITHER GOOD OR YOU’RE NOT. WHAT’S THE BIGGEST FACTOR THAT KEEPS YOU COMPETITIVE? “The field is getting closer than it used to be, but there was a point in time where it was Jimmie, Jeff, Denny everytime, and then Kyle Busch got in the middle of that for a little bit. The Next Gen car kind of switched some of that up to where those guys that just understood what Martinsville was and that’s why they won so many races because they understood this place and what it took from the race car to go fast through the whole race. What’s gonna happen when it rubbers up? What do they need to go fast, not just in practice or qualifying, but they always showed up in the race and it’s still a little bit like that, but it seems like the gap has closed up a lot, which is just competition. You can only retain an advantage for so long, but it seems like now there are still probably a handful of drivers that I can name off that will be strong, but you can sprinkle in a few others that will be right there, for sure.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Obviously, I think we ended up fourth so we’ve got a good starting spot, but I’m kicking myself because I should have been on the front row. We’ve obviously got a good short run car. I don’t really know what to think about it on the long run, but the good thing is it’s pretty hard to pass here. Just being able to start in those first two rows will definitely help a lot, so hopefully we can manage that tomorrow. This has been a place that has been really, really good to us, so I feel like we’ve done everything but win here, so hopefully we can finally seal the deal tomorrow.”
HOW COOL WOULD IT BE TO WIN A GRANDFATHER CLOCK FOR THIS GROUP IN THE NEXT-TO-LAST RACE? “It would be super cool. I think even doing what we’ve done today is pretty cool. Literally, eight days from now our shop is locking the doors. We’re not even allowed back in, so for them to be able to come here and be quickest in our group the first round and, honestly, should have been quickest in the second round, too, is just a testament to everybody at SHR. They easily had every opportunity to give up and they haven’t done that. I’m proud of the effort of our guys. These last two races are really good tracks for us, so hopefully we can steal another one.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We have a really good car. I felt like usually we aren’t very good at qualifying, so it’s nice to start up front and have a good pit pick. It’s really important here at Martinsville, so now I feel like we have some really good Ford Mustang Dark Horses and tomorrow is 500 laps. We’ve just got to be smart about it and put it in a good place and hopefully be there at the end.”
HARRISON BURTON, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It’s been a good weekend so far and I’m just really proud of our group. There have been a million opportunities for these guys to quit on themselves, quit on me, quit on this team. We keep swinging the hammer because we know days like this are possible. I wish it came more often so I could keep doing it with this group, but we know we can do it, so it’s time to execute on it tomorrow.”
