Ford Performance NASCAR Notes and Quotes
Coca-Cola 600 Advance – Charlotte Motor Speedway
Saturday, May 27, 2017
The Roush Fenway duo of Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. posted the fifth and sixth-fastest practice speeds in today’s first practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway in conditions that figure to be similar when the green flag falls tomorrow for the Coca-Cola 600.
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion – “Our Fastenal Ford felt really good. We struggled last week in practice, so we changed quite a few things coming back here this weekend and I think we definitely made gains on it. We could have been a little higher up the board. I totally missed my line in three and four, but with that being said, as we ran throughout practice I basically stayed on the same set of tires the whole time and felt like our long-run speed looked pretty decent and we were happy with that. We’re still trying to get it driving a little bit better. I’m definitely happy with the speed, but you’ve got to have it driving good here at Charlotte. We knew the things that we struggled with in the All-Star Race, so we went to work on it this week and so far, so good. I think that practice was probably the practice that meant the most, being a little bit cooler. It’s only gonna get hotter as we go here and the last one will be just to really try some things that you want to get some data on, but I don’t think you’ll tune your car too much on the second round of practice.”
WHAT WILL YOU WORK ON? “We’ve got a couple things that we want to look at, but, overall, we probably won’t run too much. I think we learned a lot that last practice and if we can start next practice pretty happy, we won’t run too much.”
TREVOR BAYNE – No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Ford Fusion – “We unloaded pretty good today, but we know that off the truck speed isn’t what matters it’s being able to go on the long runs as the day gets hotter and the track slicks up. I actually felt like we held onto our speed pretty well at the end of practice, so I think both of us have made huge gains. I need to give a big shout out to these guys for working their butts off this last week after the All-Star Race when we didn’t have the performance that we wanted. They’ve dialed our cars in a lot. Our biggest struggle right now is just turn three because the bumps have gotten way worse here at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We’re trying to get the car to be consistent, but you know everybody is fighting it, so it’s how much do you chase it. And then also the car has been a little tight on exit, so we’re trying to get them to turn a little better. That’s what we’re fighting.”
WHAT ABOUT FINAL PRACTICE? “It’s gonna heat up more and I’ve already seen some guys migrating to the top. The 20 car was right in front of me and he was kind of right in the middle, so I’m curious to see with the grippy compound down on the race track on the top two lanes if we can move up. Typically, you know what to expect, but with that chemical down you don’t know if it’s gonna free your car up or tighten it up, so we need to get some laps up there. Next practice I’m gonna work the top a little bit and try to get my car to drive good there, but at the end of the day you know that once the night time comes you’ve got to be able to run the bottom. We watched the 78 car be super-fast on the bottom the last couple of times here, so you’ve got to utilize the top in the heat and be on the bottom at night.”
