Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
Ford EcoBoost 400 Qualifying – Homestead-Miami Speedway
Friday, November 18, 2016
Ford Qualifying Results:
2nd – Brad Keselowski
8th – Ryan Blaney
13th – Joey Logano
18th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20th – Trevor Bayne
21st – Greg Biffle
22nd – Brian Scott
25th – Aric Almirola
27th – Chris Buescher
32nd – Landon Cassill
39th – Dylan Lupton
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – WHAT MORE WERE YOU LOOKING FOR OUT THERE? “I don’t know. We just missed it a little bit. I am not really sure. I don’t have the answer for you right now. We have to think about it a little bit. We want to be faster than that obviously. It is okay though. We are not that far back. We have a long race and it is easy to pass so we will work our way up.”
WHAT IS ON THE AGENDA TOMORROW IN RACE TRIM? “Just making sure the car is able to move around, do different things. We want to run the top and bottom because we need to pass some cars here so that is the main thing on the agenda now.”
WHAT WERE YOU DEALING WITH IN THE CAR THAT KEPT YOU FROM ADVANCING? “It was a little free and a little tight at other times. It is hard to get back out there real quick. It is what it is. We will start 13th. It is not that bad. We will be okay. We will race hard and practice our car tomorrow to get it driving good and be able to move around in different lanes and stuff like that.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “It’s kind of fitting that it’s the 4 and the 2 in the front row. I think we’ve been the two best cars all year. We might not be in the Chase, but it kind of shows the strength of those two teams.”
HOW MUCH GRIP DID THE TRACK PICK UP AS QUALIFYING PROGRESSED? “Tracks are always changing with adding grip and losing grip, and part of having a great team is being able to adjust to it and our team did a good job with that.”
EVERYBODY IS FOCUSED ON THE FOUR GUYS BATTLING FOR THE TITLE. YOUR JOB IS TO CRASH THAT PARTY AND WIN THE RACE. YOUR THOUGHTS ON DOING THAT. “My goal doesn’t really change. We want to win the race and I think we’ve got a good opportunity. This is a good start.”
RYAN BLANEY – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – “It’s not what you want. You want to end up better. It’s a decent place to start on Sunday.” WAS THERE ANY PART OF THE TRACK THAT GAVE YOU TROUBLE? “One and two weren’t very good. I tried to switch something up there and it didn’t really work. That probably could have made it a lot better.”
JOEY LOGANO POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion | Qualified 13th
WALK US THROUGH YOUR QUALIFYING. “Well, the first round went really well. I thought we were in good shape there. I thought we were third or fourth on the board. The car had good speed. The second run we just lost speed. It just fell off too hard, more than most of the field. We came in to cool it down and try to get more, make adjustments to make our balance better but it is just hard to go back out there after you get your tires hot and try to go even faster. We matched our time basically. We just missed our balance from run one to run two a little too much and that put us back there in 13th. We are not that far back. We will be okay. Like Jimmie said, this is a place you can pass. It is a wide race track, faster cars are able to get around other cars. I feel comfortable about where our car is going to be. We will work on it more tomorrow to make sure it is good in race trim over the long haul and make sure we are able to move around the race track. It will be a typical Homestead practice.”
THE FOUR OF YOU ARE STARTING VERY CLOSE TOGETHER IN THIS RACE. “Yeah, I told Jimmie, ‘Man, we all suck.’ I don’t know what happened. It is interesting that we are all starting so close to each other and not towards the front. It is not what you would expect coming here. I am sure none of us are going to stay back there very long. When this race starts we will all have to move up forward and possibly have to win this race. It has come down to that the last few years and I would expect the same once again.”
WHY DOES 13TH SUCK? “Because it’s not first. What else do you want me to tell you? We shoot for number one. That is what we shoot for. We all want to be faster than that I am sure. Not just the 22 team but everyone wants to be quicker than that when we come here. The good news is we are all right around each other so the penalty of starting back there isn’t too severe because we are all starting in the same boat.”
