Ford Performance NASCAR Notes and Quotes
Firekeepers Casino 400 – Michigan International Speedway
NSCS Post Race
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Michigan International Speedway awards the Michigan Heritage Trophy each race to the winning manufacturer. The trophy renews a fun rivalry between the automakers and serves as an iconic reminder that Michigan International Speedway is the manufacturers’ racetrack, and that winning manufacturer today of the No. 22 Shell‑Pennzoil car is none other than Ford.
Dave Pericak, global director of Ford performance and Raj Nair, executive vice president, product development, chief technical officer for Ford join us. Also, today marks the 100th win for Roush Yates Engine in NASCAR, we have Doug Yates. Congratulations, all three of you. We’ll just open it up to comments. We’ll start with Dave and just move on down the table. Could you tell us what this really means for Ford and the pride that this trophy bestows?
DAVE PERICAK, Global Director, Ford Performance — “Obviously racing is hugely important to us at Ford; it’s part of our DNA. So to be able to win in our backyard means a lot to us, and then obviously to take this trophy home and share it with all of our our employees ‑‑ we have 1,400 employees here today sharing this win with us today, so obviously that’s really special to us, and obviously to be able to do all of this and celebrate Roush Yates’ 100th win in Cup is just absolutely phenomenal. It just means the world to us.”
RAJ NAIR, Executive Vice President, Product Development & Chief Technical Officer –
RAJ, WHAT DID YOU SEE OUT THERE FROM THE 22 TODAY AND WHAT IT DELIVERED FOR FORD?
“Well, I mean, obviously the 22, Joey and Team Penske and Roush Yates had a great weekend, secured the pole and led the most laps, and just really drove a flawless race. Can’t say enough about that partnership and how great it is to work with professionals like Roger and Doug and Joey obviously and Todd Gordon up on the box. It was just a fantastic job. Couldn’t have done it any better.”
DOUG YATES, Roush Yates Engines — DOUG, A STORIED HISTORY WITH YOUR COMPANY AND WITH ROUSH YATES ENGINES IN RELATIONSHIP WITH FORD. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU NOW TO GET THAT 100TH WIN UNDER YOUR BELT? “It’s just a special day. To achieve that at Michigan, just couldn’t happen at a better place, and really all the credit goes to Ford Motor Company and all the great employees at Roush Yates and what Raj and Dave are doing with Ford Motor Company today to lead us into the future, I’ve never been more excited about racing. I’m so proud to be with Ford Motor Company and part of their team. To win here at Michigan is really special, and to win ‑‑ I know it’s not exactly Father’s Day yet, but had a lot of special memories here with my dad, and got my girls with me today, so it’s a great weekend.”
THE ONE MAN THAT TAUGHT YOU ALMOST EVERYTHING YOU KNOW, YOUR DAD, HAVE YOU HEARD FROM HIM YET TODAY? “We have a deal: If we do well, I call him on the way home. If we don’t, we’ll be talking. But he called last night to see how we were doing. He checks in. This is a special place for him. Like I said, the win here in Michigan, to make these guys proud of what we do is something that really means a lot to us. We take a lot of pride in that, and it’s something that is really, really special. As you can tell, I’m pretty emotional and pretty excited about it, and I’m sure my dad and I will go over it. But Ford Motor Company has been a huge part of his career and my career, and we want to keep it going for a long time for now.”
WHAT’S ARE THE BENEFITS OF ALL THE FORDS GETTING THEIR ENGINES FROM YOU GUYS AS OPPOSED TO SAY CHEVROLET, WHICH HAS A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE THAT SUPPLY ENGINES? OBVIOUSLY THERE’S A COST THING THAT THE FORD TEAMS DON’T HAVE TO DO, BUT OUTSIDE OF THAT, WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO LETTING YOU GUYS HANDLE IT?
“It just speaks to what racing is today and the level of technology that’s in the sport and what’s required, the resources and the manpower and everything that goes behind it. We worked hand in hand with the engineers at Ford Motor Company that Raj and Dave provide to us, and it’s really a joint effort, more than I’ve ever seen it. It really speaks to what racing is all about. How stock car racing began is the engineers at Ford Motor Company worked with just one team, and we’re really proud to be that one team, and we feel like that’s the best way to go racing that we see, and it’s worked really well for us. But the level of technology is unbelievable in the sport today, and I’m proud that we’ve kept up with that, and I’ve got two of the smartest guys in the world sitting beside me that understand what that means, and we’re going to keep pushing forward.”
DAVE PERICAK CONTINUED — DAVE, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS AERO PACKAGE NASCAR USED TODAY AS FAR AS THE RACING, AND DO YOU THINK LOGANO SINCE HE WON THE ALL‑STAR AND WON THIS IS GOING TO BE ASKING FOR THE NO‑SKEW RULE TO BE IMPLEMENTED EVERY WEEK? “I think this new aero package is ‑‑ it’s a move in the right direction, and I think that the racing was better today for sure. It definitely puts it in the driver’s hands to truly drive the car and bring out their skill. I think it’s a positive thing for the sport. Overall I think it was really good. As far as your last comment, I don’t know what to say about that, but I like the aero package.”
RAJ NAIR CONTINUED — THE SAYING IN THE SPORT YEARS AGO WAS WIN ON SUNDAY, SELL ON MONDAY. FORD HAS HAD SOME VERY GOOD MONTHS SALES‑WISE IN THE SHOWROOMS LATELY. COULD EITHER OF YOU JUST ADDRESS IN THIS CURRENT ERA HOW SUCCESS IN RACING TRANSLATES TO THAT, ET CETERA? “It’s obviously not quite the same as it used to be where it literally was a car off the showroom floor and then modified to go racing, so the fans know that, but they still want some cars out there that they can relate to. But perhaps more importantly it’s an aspect of when we bring our internal resources to bear and we work with the teams and we work with Doug, it’s still an impact on particularly the influencers, the race fans, and those race fans have a big impact in their neighborhoods and their friends and family about when people are thinking about a new car, they go to the person who knows cars the most, and it’s often a race fan. So those what we call influencers still matter on Monday. It may not be the direct connection that it used to be, but it’s still an aspect of win on Sunday and sell on Monday, and given that, we’re really lucky that we’re in a business that designs and engineers and manufactures and sells and services cars, and this is a sport about racing cars, and not many businesses can say that. That’s why it makes total sense for Ford to be in racing.
RAJ NAIR CONTINUED — YOU’RE GOING TO TAKE THAT BACK TO THE OFFICE; WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO PUT IT, AND WHAT’S IT GOING TO MEAN TO YOU OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS? “I think I’m going to put it in my office. We’ve got a lot of buildings and a lot of employees that will want to see it, so we’ll probably rotate it through the building in Dearborn. That’s what we did the last time we were privileged enough to hold this trophy. We’ll hold onto it dearly and then come back in August and hopefully take it home again in August.”
