Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Last Chance Qualifying Race — The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Josh Berry won the Last Chance Qualifier race while Austin Cindric outbattled Corey LaJoie for the second spot after a spirited side-by-side battle over the closing laps. Berry and Cindric will compete in the Clash Main Event at Bowman Gray Stadium
JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WAS YOUR MUSTANG GOOD ON THE LONG RUN? “Yeah, I feel good about it. Honestly, we just struggled a little bit on the restarts, cold temperatures, locking the left-front there and got it locked up a little bit under AJ and washed him out, but once we were able to settle in and get some heat in the tires I felt good about our car. I think we can make a few small adjustments and make it a little bit better, but obviously you don’t have great track position starting in the back. It’s a long night when you don’t make this race, so I’m glad we were able to put both of our cars in.”
YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE STARTING IN THE BACK FOR THIS RACE. HOW DO YOU GAIN SPOTS? “I think it’s gonna be a little bit different. It definitely seems like there’s more fall off. We obviously saw it stretch out a good bit right there, so just managing the tires probably early in the run and just trying to stay patient. We’re still at the Madhouse.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That was about as fair as that could have gotten for an LCQ. I appreciate Corey racing hard. Obviously, we advanced in, but it’s a long road ahead starting last with scuffs for the final here, but happy to get the Freightliner Ford Mustang in the show here and enjoy round two here at Bowman Gray. This is a very cool place. I was happy with how the car held on for a long run. I kind of had to save my stuff after I got punted out of the way early, so it seemed to play out reasonably well. I’m glad it went as long as it did. It was fun and a good way to get started.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN OVER THOSE 75 LAPS THAT YOU CAN ADJUST ON? “Definitely some of the wear characteristics of the tire. It’s the same right side tire and I feel like that definitely dominates a lot of the characteristics, so I think some of the same from last year. We talk about adding horsepower, but I don’t think I got full throttle the entire race there, except for maybe when emotions got high. Past that, it was pretty interesting to try to manage. Hopefully, we didn’t get too much damage there and we’ll try to have a good final here.”
COREY LAJOIE, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was like a game of chess at 50 miles an hour. You wanted to be the guy on the inside obviously, but you don’t want to pass the guy because then he had the opportunity to get back to you. I came up a little bit short. It was exciting. It was fun to be in the fight. I hadn’t been in a fight like that in a long time. Kudos to the 6 team. They’ve had a lot to deal with over the offseason. I know Brad is watching at home. He’ll be ready to go next week, but it was really cool to get in this 6 car system to knock the rust off. Unfortunately, we’ll be watching the show from the couch, but we’re really prepared and I feel really good about next week.”
HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO BE IN THE 99 MUSTANG NEXT WEEK? “It’s gonna be without a doubt the best opportunity I’ve had at the 500. We’ve been close with some other opportunities too in the last couple of years, so maybe this is the year. Nonetheless, we’re gonna have some strength in numbers with our RFK group next week and I’m just ready to get out of the snow, get south to Daytona where it’s nice and warm, and we’ll see if we can go sneak out a Harley J. Earl trophy.”
