Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Food City 300 — Bristol Motor Speedway
Friday, September 12, 2025
Ford Unofficial Finishing Results
2nd – Sheldon Creed
3rd – Sam Mayer
7th – Harrison Burton
21st – Kyle Sieg
23rd – Ryan Sieg
SAM MAYER, No. 41 Audibel Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We were really solid today. I’m really proud of everybody at Haas Factory. This Audibel Ford Mustang was certainly as fast as Xfinity mobile and we were just a little bit short. If we didn’t get that damage, I think we could have taken it to him, but the toe was knocked in a ton, so I just had no turn there at the end. At the end I was just kind of holding on, but to hold on to what we had was really solid, so I’m really proud of these guys and that’s the start of the playoffs you want.” HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHAT’S COMING UP? “Kansas is one of those places that kind of fits my driving style. We were really, really good at Homestead at the start of the year. We could have won that one, I felt like, if things went a little differently, so I would say that Kansas is pretty similar just because you run the wall there a little bit as well, so it can be a fun one. It’s one that I enjoy going to and Haas was really good there last year, so hopefully we can go and lock ourselves in the Round of 8.” WERE YOU SURPRISED YOU COULD HOLD ON SO LONG WITH OLD TIRES? “That’s where experience comes in. Almirola was around back then and a lot of people that are in the series now honestly weren’t around, so 2022 the 9 stayed out on 90-lap tires and ended up winning the race, so that was in the back of my mind all night. I knew that if it came down to it within in 90 laps you’re not gonna come down pit road. A lot of people did and we didn’t, so I expected that. That’s exactly how I thought it would turn out. I think the end of the race, if you watch back-to-back 2022 and 2025 they look exactly the same and that’s kind of why we made our decision.” SO YOU ARE STUDENT OF THE GAME AND IT PAID OFF? “Yeah, I just got done saying it’s all in the details. You don’t want to tune yourself out and you also want to pay attention to history because history always repeats itself, especially at a crazy place like this. We have lots to be proud of. We did our job today and we had a shot at the win. If we didn’t get damage, we probably would have been in Victory Lane right now, but we have a lot to be proud of.”
SHELDON CREED, No. 00 Road Ranger Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I chose bottom thinking that was gonna be the right move there and kind of lost a few laps and lost a couple of positions. I had to get them all back and for whatever reason I refired a lot tighter that run. I saw them kind of lining up around the top, so I followed them up there and it took me a couple laps to get around the 1, and I was just tight. As I got closer to the 41, I thought that maybe I could run the bottom and try something, so I ripped the bottom pretty good. Then I got by the 41 and closed on the 19 and I was like, ‘Why didn’t I do that five laps earlier?’ It was a good rebound. I stumped us early by speeding on that first stop and then just rallied back all night.” YOU THREW IT IN THERE THE LAST LAP ON THE INSIDE. “Yeah, I had to make it exciting at least. I kind of knew I wasn’t gonna get there. You’re not gonna spook Aric, but maybe if I could have got him to see me and lift, I don’t know. It was more for the show I guess, but I’m happy with a second and to come out plus on points, I’m just proud of everybody at Haas Factory and Ford, Roush Yates Engines, everybody back at the shop, Road Ranger, Pit Boss, Friends of Jaclyn, Haas Automation, Gene and Joe Custer – just appreciate everyone’s hard work.” THIS HAS TO FEEL GOOD. “Yes, absolutely. I don’t want to say we were irrelevant at times, but I’m not gonna lie, we’ve struggled and we struggled a little bit tonight and just worked on it and rallied. To come out with a top three finish and up on points is all you can ask for in an opening round.”
HARRISON BURTON, No. 25 AirBox Ford Mustang Dark Horse – A COUPLE SCARY MOMENTS THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. WHAT WAS THAT FINAL STAGE LIKE? “Wild, definitely wild. I was fortunate on a few occasions and thankful I have a good spotter like Kevin Hamlin. I guess as soon as they wrecked he was saying, ‘Check up’ and I was as much as I could slow down without crashing. I kind of already entered really hard to run the top and hard to slow down, and then with the 54 I was fortunate to just have the hood and splitter a little bit messed up and not the whole front clip tore off it, so I’m thankful we got through that stuff. We had a really good car too, so thank you to everyone at AM Racing, Ford Racing, AirBox, the whole group. It was pretty fun to have a good car like that and go race with the best in the business.” YOU KEPT KNOCKING OUT POINTS AND DID WHAT YOU NEEDED TO DO. “Just experience. I’ve been there and done that in the Xfinity playoffs and the Cup playoffs. My crew chief, Danny Efland the same way. He was a driver before he was a crew chief, so he gets it and he’s been on a lot of really, really good race teams, so we kind of understand the moment. We understand to stay within ourselves and do the best we can and the chips will fall where they will. I think just having been there and having been eliminated before and having advanced before and having lived that emotion is valuable.” HOW MUCH MOMENTUM DID YOU GET FROM STAGE ONE WHEN YOU STAYED OUT AND GOT SOME STAGE POINTS? “That was big and you build that little cushion. I mean, we had to recover. Stage two was gonna be really, really hard to get stage points. I think we got to 14th from 23rd or something like that, but it’s hard to pass here. I feel like we were a pretty good race car, better than a lot of guys at the end and just couldn’t get it done. I’m really, really proud of our group. I wish I could have passed a couple more guys at the end, but it was good to get those stage points and good to get a good finish as well.”
