Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Night Race Qualifying — Bristol Motor Speedway
Friday, September 12, 2025
Ford Qualifying Results:
2nd – Ryan Blaney
3rd – Austin Cindric
10th – Josh Berry
18th – Brad Keselowski
20th – Ryan Preece
21st – Chris Buescher
22nd – Joey Logano
24th – Zane Smith
26th – Cole Custer
30th – Noah Gragson
34th – Cody Ware
36th – Todd Gilliland
39th – Chad Finchum
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I’m proud of our lap and proud to be starting on the front row. I wish I could have had it back and I’m sure a lot of guys say that. I just got tight in three and four. I feel like my first lap I got through one and two pretty good, and probably got a little greedy into three, a little too high of an arc, a little too much speed and then I tried to jump back to the gas quick and I got tight and I kind of had to burp it for a second. I probably lost a little bit there, but, overall, it was a good day. I think our race car is really good, too, over the long haul and I’m just looking forward to tomorrow night. Hopefully, we can run a good 500 laps and keep up with the racetrack and see what we can do.” HOW COMMITTED DO YOU HAVE TO BE FOR A 15-SECOND LAP AROUND HERE? “It’s wild. You think qualifying, you are pretty much holding your breath the whole lap. There’s a lot of commitment, but it is fun, that’s for sure. Little, tiny points in the racetrack kind of where you place your car on entry and your speed, it can really make or break you. I was just a little off. I was like a foot higher into three than I should have been and lifted probably half-a-car length too late and that’s what it is, but, overall, I’m proud of the effort. To be that close to the pole, it’s a good day.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Bristol has been a pretty difficult qualifying track for me in the Cup Series. However it shakes out, that sets us up with a reasonable shot to continue to execute well for tomorrow night and that’s what’s gonna matter.” STARTING UP FRONT IS A GOOD CHANCE TO GET POINTS IN STAGE ONE, SO THAT’S THE IMMEDIATE GOAL TOMORROW? “Yeah, I think points in both stages are gonna need to be a must for us to really control our destiny and control that gap that we have and any craziness that happens at the end of the race. It’s the first box checked, but nothing is guaranteed from here on out. Still, we’ve done a good job today.” HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO TOMORROW? “I feel like we’ve done our job for Friday. Whatever that means for Saturday is still yet to be seen, but this sets us up well to try and continue to control our destiny for the end of the race.” HOW SOFT OF A CUSHION IS 11 POINTS? “Not really. Essentially, you think of it like 10 spots, so it’s not anything that’s out of the question if you have a problem or have a mistake or something happens or one of the other cars has a really good night or if somebody else wins. That’s the other thing too is you could easily think of the 48 or the 21 or even the 3 car going out and having an excellent day and we’ve got to be prepared for that. We’re close to the guys that are just ahead of us, so we need to go out and have a really great day.” WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE THE BUBBLE GUY GOING INTO AN ELIMINATION RACE? “Call me bubble boy, that’s fine. It’s no different than any other day, really. My job is still the same, just the emphasis on doing it well is more, but it doesn’t mean I can try any harder to change the outcome.” WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THE LACK OF TIRE FALL OFF? “Not at all, no. The temperature in the track, I think tomorrow night will be interesting if it gets really cold out, but, overall, not really. The pace increase and I’d say that’s probably it from today. I think there might be some fall off towards the end of the stints, but nothing like we had here last spring, I don’t think.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I thought it was a big improvement from practice. I didn’t feel very comfortable at the start of practice because I was struggling being pretty free, but the guys made some really good adjustments there. I thought we hit a solid lap there, probably left a touch out there with how far we were off to start, but, overall, the guys did a really good job. We should be in the top 15, hopefully, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET FOR TOMORROW? “It really hasn’t changed. Every week we come out here and try to win. We try to do the best job we can every time we’re on the racetrack and that’s gonna be the same tomorrow. We just need to be able to move forward through the race and execute, have good pit stops and just see what happens.”
