Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 – Phoenix International Raceway
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Ford Finishing Results:
3rd – Joey Logano
9th – Brad Keselowski
10th – Aric Almirola
25th – Greg Biffle
30th – David Gilliland
31st – Sam Hornish Jr.
33rd – Cole Whitt
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “It was a long day for everybody and to have it end like that wasn’t surprising. We kept adjusting on it, but it’s a short race and who knows? Maybe that last run we would have had something, but that’s not the way it played out. The highest we can get is fifth in points now, so I’d like to pull that off and take advantage of that opportunity when we get to Homestead next week.”
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “You can’t help the weather. I guess it wasn’t in the cards tonight, but I’m still super-proud of what this Pennzoil team has done all year. We’ve had super-fast race cars and we really produced on the race track, executed our plan. Once again, this is a high-pressure race for these guys and to see us drive to the front and have good pit stops all night, but it just didn’t work out. Overall, I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve done this year. We’ve still got one more race to win this year. Our heads are still high and it’s been a great season. I don’t have much to say bad about anything. I just want another shot at it and when you’re this close to seeing the lead you want just one more restart. I was hoping they got that wreck cleaned up fast enough to just try to get one more shot at it, but congratulations to Junior and his team. It’s cool for them, but I wish I had another restart.”
WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING IF YOU GOT THAT RESTART? “Do whatever I’ve got to do try to win the race. It’s hard to play the race with rain in the area. You don’t know what’s gonna happen, but you just hope there’s another shot. You hope that there’s a restart and if two of them slip up and you’re able to put it three-wide on the bottom, or do something like that, but just didn’t ever have the opportunity there at the end. We had plenty of opportunities to try to get ourselves to the front, we just weren’t as fast as the 4. We were a solid second-place car, but Junior timed it out really well when they pitted to that caution and it worked our really well for them.”
DOES THIS SEEM LIKE A CRUEL WAY FOR THIS TO END? YOU’VE DEALT WITH A LOT OF WEIRDNESS THE LAST MONTH. “That’s the way this game is played. That’s the way this Chase is. There’s no doubt in my mind we’re still the strongest team on the race track. I feel like this team is tight as ever, as fast as ever and we’ve still got one more race to go out and win, and I’m confident this team will keep doing that. This was a good race for us, considering the last couple of weeks, to get back out there and start racing for the win again. It’s a good way to redeem ourselves, but it just didn’t quite work out.”
HOW WILL YOU VIEW THIS SEASON? “I consider this a great season. We’ve got six wins and a whole bunch of top-fives. It’s a great season if you look at it from that angle. We just had a couple bad races at the wrong time and it is what it is.”
HOW DISAPPOINTING TO NOT GET THE RACE RESTARTED? “You don’t know if there’s another restart if we’re gonna win. You don’t know that, but you just want a chance. It’s no one’s fault. It’s not NASCAR’s fault. What are they supposed to do when it’s pouring out. It’s just unfortunate. You can woulda, shoulda, coulda the heck out of the last pit stop if you did something different, but you don’t know it’s gonna rain hard enough to call the race. You don’t know sometimes and it is what it is.”
IS IT BOTHERSOME THE JULY DAYTONA RACE DIDN’T START UNTIL 11:45 EASTERN AND IT’S NOT THAT YET. THERE IS A LOT AT STAKE WITH THIS RACE. “There’s a lot at stake at this race, but it’s already called. What am I supposed to do?”
MORE KESELOWSKI
BRAD KESELOWSKI TV INTERVIEW BEFORE RACE WAS OFFICIALLY CALLED: IF IT ENDS LIKE THIS IS IT FAIR TO HAVE IT END LIKE THIS? “I don’t think it matters what’s fair, it matters what entertains the fans and if the fans are happy then that’s what it’s all about.” HOW WAS YOUR CAR? PAUL SAID IT TAKES OFF SLOW, BUT IS GOOD ON THE LONG RUN. “Yeah, the first five laps we just couldn’t keep pace, but after that it would come in really well and we would slowly climb our way forward and could only get so far. But we kept adjusting on it. It’s a short race and who knows, maybe this run we would have had something, but that’s not the way it played out.”
