Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona 500 Final Practice — Daytona International Speedway
Saturday, February 14, 2026
The top five speeds in today’s final Daytona 500 practice session were all Ford Mustang Dark Horses, led by the RFK Racing trio of Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski. Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Buescher, who drives the No. 17 Body Guard Ford Mustang Dark Horse, talked about going to a backup for tomorrow’s race and his hopes for ending up in Victory Lane.
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Body Guard Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU FEEL IN THIS BACKUP FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE? “I have a tremendous amount of confidence in this team and they’ve buckled down and hustled to clean this backup Ford Mustang Dark Horse with the No. 17 Body Guard colors and we’re rockin’ and rolling. It’s nice to take these Ford Mustangs and put them in a line and be able to put some speed up on the board. We know we were able to in the Duels, and I think we’ve got a good handle on it. We’ve got plenty of laps, so I’m ready for the 500 now. We get to watch this thing unfold at least for the drop of the green and work hard to go up there and be a part of it.”
FIVE FORDS AT THE TOP OF THE BOARD TODAY. DO YOU FEEL ALL OF THE OFFSEASON PREP HAS PAID OFF FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION TO BE IN POSITION TO WIN? “Yeah, absolutely. I think we always come to these speedways with a ton of speed and a lot of handling across the entire Ford camp. I’ll speak on RFK and say that if we can commit to that amount of teamwork that has become so important here, it will set us up for success at the end of 500 miles. I have no complaints. If I didn’t know it was a backup in my head ahead of time, I would say that’s our same race car. That’s exactly what you’re after when something like that does happen. It’s a good start to a recovery story right there.”
Casey Mears, driver of the No. 66 SI Yachts/Gracie Foundation Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will be starting 17th in tomorrow’s Daytona 500, which will be his 495th career Cup Series start. He spoke about making The Great American Race and how he feels after today’s final practice session.
CASEY MEARS, No. 66 SI Yachts/Gracie Foundation Ford Mustang Dark Horse – A LOT OF WORK HAS GONE ON WITH THIS FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. DO YOU FEEL YOU AND YOUR TEAM ARE READY FOR THE 500? “I think so. The key parts and pieces of the car, I know it was a big job to get it to where it is now, but the undertray and the heights and all that kind of stuff is the same, so we didn’t really bend much suspension. It was really slight, so I feel pretty good that the guys got it pretty close. Obviously, there could be some nuances. When I get in the draft, it could handle differently, but there’s really no such draft to test right now and see what it’s gonna be like. I’ll be the first to find out and you’ll probably be the second or third, but, right now, I think the guys did a really good job because not only did they have to rebuild this car, they had to disassemble a car and rebuild a car, so the work and effort and the time that it took to do it, I’m proud of these guys for the limited experience that we do have on this team. They all chipped in and got it done right.”
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE LAST LAP IN THE DUEL RACE? “Just make it at all costs is the final thought, but leading into it on that final lap, Jimmie and a couple of other guys happened to be behind me. I was tail end of the lead pack and what I did was just roll out of it a little bit going into one and two to create a gap, otherwise you don’t get a run. Fortunately, I was able to back up to Jimmie and those guys and we were able to hook up and get some momentum going towards the pack going into turn three. There was a hole up top and I couldn’t believe it was wide open. I thought it would be three-wide, but when I got there the top was wide open. We hit it and I was able to pass two or three guys honestly, and then when they all started checking up we had the momentum. Thank God we were able to miss the 99. He shot up in front of me so quick that I made a quick reaction, slightly missed him, and then the 7 shot up in front of me so quick that there was nowhere to go. Thankfully, we hit him square. It didn’t tear the car up too bad and here we are, but I can tell you right now I sat there and watched that video probably 50-60 times that night and I didn’ get to sleep until about two o’clock in the morning. I had so many people texting and calling and wishing congratulations and then so many people – old fans reaching out through social media – and I just felt an obligation to respond back to them. They took the time out of their day, plus I was wound up and I couldn’t get to sleep anyway. So, I’m just real proud of everybody that’s involved, especially Bob Germain. Obviously, Carl Long and these guys bringing everything here to do it, but Bob has been a good friend of mine for a long time and he’s the one that really stepped up to make sure we can do this program.”
THIS WILL BE CUP START NUMBER 495, SO IT’S ANOTHER ON THE MARCH TO 500. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO GET ANOTHER ONE TOWARDS THAT GOAL? “It means a lot because going into this I didn’t know if we were gonna be able to check that box or not, so knowing that after the Daytona 500 there are five more that we need to get is definitely satisfying in itself. Being a part of this race is amazing. It’s definitely a different range of emotions now than it probably would have been 10 years ago. It’s a big race, but in the past I knew I would have been locked in and we would be able to just focus on doing our job and securing as many points as we can to start the season off right and win this race, but now I can look at it through a little bit different lens. I feel this is the bonus round. We’ve made it now past the hard part. Our job now on Sunday is to be competitive, show people that we can run with them, show them that I’m not out of control and in control and hopefully make some friends so when it comes down to the end of the race there are people that are willing to work with me.”
