Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
Kobalt Tools 400 NSCS Qualifying
Friday, March 4, 2016
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
2nd Joey Logano
4th Brad Keselowski
7th Aric Almirola
14th Ryan Blaney
16th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
25th Chris Buescher
26th Greg Biffle
27th Landon Cassill
28th Trevor Bayne
32nd Brian Scott
38th Jeffrey Earnhardt
Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion — “It was better than last week. Second is so close. Second always stings the most. I felt like that last run I just – I told Todd that our car was close I just had to want it more. I pushed as hard as I could and got a little tight in one and two and that was enough to give up that speed we needed to get the pole tonight. I am so proud of what this Pennzoil team has done to pick up over last week. Dang it. It is so close. It was a lot of fun out there tonight and we are looking forward to Sunday.”
Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion — “That is our best starting spot here at Las Vegas. We don’t typically qualify well here. I am really proud of the effort all these guys have been putting in. It is really fun to show up with a fast race car. We have been good off the truck just searching for balance but the speed has been there. I am so happy with that. A lot of times we have good balance but can’t find the speed. This weekend has been drastically different as far as the speed has been there but we are searching for better balance. I am really proud of Trent Owens and all the guys on this 43 team. They had my Smithfield Ford Fusion hooked up today.”
Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion — WHAT PART OF THE TRACK SEEMED TO GIVE YOU TROUBLE? “I just couldn’t get through three and four very well. I thought our one-two was very good. I just can’t connect three and four. I feel like I’m very disconnected over there. It’s unfortunate. We’ll sit down and think about it and see what we can do about it tomorrow for race practice and see where were are. We learned some things yesterday for race runs and hopefully we’ll apply them tomorrow and be good. Fourteen’s not a bad starting spot. I wish we were up there in the final round but we’ll go work on our race car tomorrow.” WERE YOU HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH TURNS THREE AND FOUR IN PRACTICE AS WELL? “Not necessarily. We were bounding back and forth on what corners we were better at. I thought we were having trouble with one and two then we got that working pretty good then couldn’t get through three and four very well.” YOU STILL IMPROVED FROM ROUND 1 TO ROUND 2. “Yeah, we improved, but unfortunately everyone improved and we weren’t able to get in that final round. It’s not a bad start for us and we’ll work on our race car tomorrow.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion — “That wasn’t bad but it wasn’t exactly what we wanted. I just couldn’t get it to turn as well as what we wanted. We were close just not enough. We have a little more work to do but I am not dissatisfied but not super-satisfied either. We will work on it tomorrow. It felt good on race trim on Thursday, just came up a little short, not much. Less than a tenth. We were close.” WHAT ABOUT THE BUMPS OUT THERE? “Well, I ran above the bumps a little higher in one and two. Maybe that cost us a little time, I don’t know. I know some of those cars qualified on the bottom and were pretty good. I stuck to the line we practiced and thought it would be enough for us. I didn’t think it would be good enough to get the pole but good enough to get round three, we just came up a little short.”
Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion — “It just wasn’t enough today you know. It is really close on speeds here. A tenth puts you in the top-20. We needed that tenth today. We struggled with front grip and overall grip getting into the corners. The track hasn’t really changed much from practice. We just needed that little bit extra and didn’t have it today. You can choose lanes and that is what we tried to do. I just couldn’t get my car to do what I wanted to. Kurt Busch laid down a fast lap on the bottom and we knew that was coming but when you can’t get your car there it is hard to do.”
JOEY LOGANO POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
“We got a little bit tight in one and two and I felt like our car was pretty close the run before. I felt like I just needed to push it harder. This track in qualifying is all about how bad you want it. We always talk about the guts-to-brain ratio and this is a track you need more guts than brains to tell yourself to put your foot on the throttle when you really feel like you shouldn’t. It is fun for that reason. We were good in three and four but not enough to beat Kurt. Another front row starting spot, our third in a row here, but second always stings a little bit.”
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS WEEK AND LAST WEEK AND HOW MUCH DID THE TEST SESSION HELP? “A lot apparently. Last week we were 27th in qualifying so we have made some big gains throughout one week. I think just last week we just really missed the off-set of what we needed from race to qualifying and qualifying practice to actual qualifying. I think we just missed it a little bit. I think we learned from our mistakes. It is not like we hit on something huge yesterday, we found some things, you find some direction on things that are better than others and what this package wants compared to last years. You get some of that stuff but there is no finding three-tenths. It is hard to hit on something like that. In general we got a better direction of what we need to do to our car. It showed today with both Team Penske cars up there in qualifying today.”
THERE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WINDS OF UP TO 35-40 MPH ON SUNDAY. HAVE YOU GUYS TALKED ABOUT THAT AND WHAT KIND OF ISSUES IT CREATES FOR YOU ON TRACK? “Yeah, we have talked about it some. It is that it is though. I don’t really know how we are supposed to adjust for that. What we do hope is that it is a constant wind. The gusts of wind is what crashes cars. I think of tracks that are typically windy like Kansas and Texas, those are usually really windy race tracks. If it is constant it is okay. If you get big gusts the car jumps out of the race track and leads you into the wall or spins you right out. It is going to be dangerous, treacherous for sure. It is going to be just crazy to think about what that wind is going to do. It is not like we know what direction it is going to be blowing on the race track. I don’t know at least. Maybe some weather guy can tell me. I just think it is definitely going to be cars moving around and I am sure cars will crash for that reason if it is that windy and you get a gust at the wrong time when you are under somebody. It could be big.”
HAS THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU? HAS THE WIND EVER CRASHED YOU? “Probably. I try to forget that stuff. I know a lot of times it just jumps out of nowhere on you and the car just takes off. If you are already right on that edge a lot of times it doesn’t take but a little bit to push you over that edge when you are right on it. When you think of 30 mph winds that is a big deal. The track temp is going to be down as well so some grip is going to be gained in the race track but we will also be going too fast to take advantage of that. I think the wind will be a big story as you guys are already on it and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. It will be kind of dangerous for sure.”
WE KEPT HEARING THE WORDS ‘LUDICROUS SPEED’ DO YOU THINK THAT WILL CARRY INTO SUNDAY? “We saw some falloff in the tires yesterday in race trim. Today we unloaded our car and never really came out of qualifying trim. It is just one lap after another. We did see some fall off from lap to lap to lap but we didn’t tonight with the sun going down and track temps going down. With the tires wearing and temps going down it equals out. I think there will be more falloff than last year but I don’t think it will be huge like last week. There will be some falloff for sure.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion
(POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE)
“It was a pretty good day. I think at the end I tried just a little too hard. The track kept picking up as night came in and you saw the speeds pick up the last few runs. I tried a little too hard to get that last little bit of pick-up and it wasn’t quite there. I probably swung a little too hard. All in all a really good day for us. It was a good improvement from where we were last week and look forward to showcasing that same improvement in the race and getting another win here in Las Vegas. That would be really special to add another one to the Las Vegas win pile.”
HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU WITH THE WIND ON SUNDAY? “I haven’t thought about it. I try not to worry about the things that affect everyone equally. Wind is one of those things. I haven’t thought about it.”
IF IT IS REALLY GUSTY, HOW MUCH DOES THAT AFFECT THE CAR AND CAN IT CRASH YOU? “When we do kind of our morning rounds on race morning when we talk to race fans, sponsors, whoever it might be. We always talk about the race cars and try to explain aerodynamics to them. So I use some of those cliches with you. I think of a race car like an upside down airplane wing. Instead of making lift it makes downforce. Just by that simple analogy the cars are of course dramatically affected by air. It is hard to explain to people because you can’t see it. Much like trying to explain the earth is round and not flat. Without being able to see it, it doesn’t make sense to people. The wind moves the car around dramatically much like every aero force and the cars rely on three key aero forces. Drag, downforce or side force. All three of those are three dimensional right, that is what it is those three. The wind, depending on where it strikes, where it blows you in what direction, can affect all three of those. Of course a headwind down the straightaway can add a lot of drag and make the motor feel a lot weaker. A crosswind in a corner can add or take away from the side force on the car and a headwind into the corner can give you a lot of added downforce or vice versa a tailwind can take it away. All three of those effects are hard to explain to people as well because you would think that if the air hits you blowing one way it is X advantage and if it hits you the opposite way it is X disadvantage. Because aerodynamics are inherently inefficient it always affects you in a worse manner than it does in a positive manner. It is impossible to be as helpful on one end as it is hurtful on the other end. It will add another layer of dimension to the race but like I said, I feel like it is one of those things that is equal for everyone. You can’t change it and as it pertains to our car there isn’t anything I know of you can do to lessen its effect. You have to pull up your pants and drive around.”
DOES THE NEW AERO PACKAGE HAVE ANY EFFECT WITH HIGH WINDS? “I guess theoretically it should be less than what it would have been last year, so that is probably a good thing.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE GOOD THROTTLE RESPONSE HERE? “The speeds are higher than what we had hoped for I think with this package. As a race car driver that sounds awful because I always want to go fast right? But knowing that I am more than a race car driver, I am also half entertainer and we want to be able to put on the best race for our fans, high speeds don’t necessarily make the best racing. I would caution against reading too much into that this time because from testing we did yesterday and the Goodyear tire test, we did see a lot of fall off in the cars. Although I would say there is very little throttle response right now, once the tires fall off there is more than enough. The key is getting into that tire falloff. I am pretty certain we are going to see that take care of itself.”
WAS THE TIRE FALL OFF SIMILAR TO ATLANTA? “It is hard to ever get the falloff Atlanta has. I think you will get a good portion of it. Probably 50 or 60-percent.”
