Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
Toyota SaveMart 350 Qualifying – Sonoma Raceway
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Ford Qualifying Results:
7th – Joey Logano
12th – Brad Keselowski
22nd – Brian Scott
26th – Ryan Blaney
27th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
28th – Trevor Bayne
29th – Aric Almirola
32nd – Greg Biffle
34th – Patrick Carpentier
36th – Chris Buescher
37th – Landon Cassill
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “That’s better than where we were last year. We were 17th or 18th last year, so we’ve improved. I thought I had a shot after the first round, but lost some grip the second round and tried harder at the same time and all of that just didn’t work out. It’s unfortunate that we lost a little bit from the first round to the second round, but we’re still in good shape. I still think we have a top-5 car and we proved that today in qualifying. We were really close to that, so now we’ll just work our way through it and see where we end up. At this race you never know what’s gonna happen. It’s about strategy and the fastest car doesn’t always win. A lot of times if you have a top-5 car you can figure out ways to win and I feel like we have that, so it’s just all about executing the race strategy and getting through the race by keeping your cool and doing all of that right.”
BRIAN SCOTT – No. 44 Safeway/Blue Emu Ford Fusion – “I think that was a decent qualifying effort. I’m still learning a lot about this place. This is my first time here. I’m proud of my guys because they’ve given me a car that I can work with. I feel like there are two corners that we struggled with yesterday in practice and we struggled in those same two again today in qualifying. They’re just the slow right-handers, seven and 11, and I just can’t seem to get my car to turn like that. We’re learning though and working on it. I think it’s a decent enough starting spot and we’ll get a good pit selection and then just try to stay out of trouble.”
CHRIS BUESCHER – No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Fusion – “It was just tough for me to get in a rhythm and get any speed out of it. It’s on me there. I didn’t do a very good job, but I felt like we had decent speed in our Love’s Travel Stops Ford. We were OK yesterday and our long-run stuff was decent. We’re starting way back there, but it will just be that more fun coming through the pack.” HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THE RACE? “Hydrate. A lot of hydration and I’m going to try and watch some of these race tapes again, just to see what it was like for guys that started where we’re gonna start – how crazy it’s gonna be and what we’re gonna have to do to get more track position.”
RYAN BLANEY – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – “The first one was OK and we went out and were going to be better and we had to pass cars and we still ran the same time.” DO YOU EXPECT TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE AS THE RACE PROGRESSES ON SUNDAY? “Yeah, I hope so. We have to keep all the fenders on it and stay out of trouble. If you do that, you can work your way through there. It’s all about staying patient.” ARE THERE ANY AREAS OF THE TRACK THAT ARE MORE TROUBLING THAN OTHERS? “They’re all pretty difficult. I don’t think we’re particularly weak in any set of corners. I feel like we lose a little bit on every one. I’ve got to look at the data and see where we stack up. It’s definitely something to look at tonight and compare with our (Penske) teammates who are pretty good, and see where we wind up compared to them.”
