Ford Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Firekeepers Casino 400 (Michigan International Speedway; Brooklyn, MI)
Friday, June 8, 2018
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
1st Kurt Busch
2nd Brad Keselowski
4th Kevin Harvick
5th Joey Logano
6th Aric Almirola
7th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9th Ryan Blaney
12th Clint Bowyer
15th Paul Menard
19th Matt Kenseth
23rd Michael McDowell
27th David Ragan
30th Matt DiBenedetto
KURT BUSCH, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion – Qualified 1st
“This one is fun because I could trust the car and I knew I needed to go after it hard. Watching all the Fords in practice I knew we had a good shot at it. The guys tweaked on the tires the right amount. It is a new compound, left and right side, and we didn’t want to get caught up too much in chasing the tires. We went with status quo. I think it is because of the speed that I like here and Texas and the balance we had in our car in qualifying. Now we need to translate that to race speed. I enjoy qualifying here. It is a pleasure to have one of these Fords and have Yates power under the hood. To go 217 mph, to haul the mail going into the corner I love that feeling.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – Qualified 2nd
“I think we were right there for the pole. I made just a small little mistake in one and two that I wish I could have back. Credit to Paul and the team, they made some good adjustments the last round and got us from running a 60 or 70 down to a 40. That is a pretty big gain. I just didn’t quite get all the gain they made on the car out of it but we have a good starting spot and it bodes well for the Miller Lite Ford. Hopefully we can get a good run Sunday.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion – Qualified 4th
“Our goal is to run the same speeds throughout each round and if not run your fastest at the end and we ran the same speed in all three rounds. To be honest I didn’t really expect everybody to pick up two-tenths. I thought we had a little bit to just keep from trying to screw up but in the end I needed to get a little more. It was still a good qualifying effort so we will just go from there.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion – Qualified 6th
“That was a really good lap for us, especially after having to make an extra run in the second round because we were nervous we weren’t going to make it. The guys did a really good job and got our Mobil 1 Ford Fusion balance a lot closer. I wish we would have gotten ahead of it sooner, we just struggled and missed our balance a little bit there. All these Stewart Haas Ford Fusions are really fast and I am looking forward to the race on Sunday.”
Ford Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Firekeepers Casino 400 (Michigan International Speedway; Brooklyn, MI)
Friday, June 8, 2018
Page 8
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – Qualified 5th
“Being mad about fifth is a good place to be. As a team that is a good thing that we are mad about that because I feel like we had potential for the pole but we just missed the balance the last run a little bit. The run before that last one we had a really good one and two, three and four I got really tight. We tried to make it better for the last run but the car tightened up and we just weren’t ready for it.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion – Qualified 7th
“It was a good qualifying session for us. After practice we thought that we could run into the third round of qualifying and even though we were 20th in practice I was comfortable with our Fastenal Ford. We accomplished that. Goal number one for the weekend. Now we have to get it driving good for Sunday. It is a really good start for us and I look forward to dialing it in during race trim practice tomorrow a little bit better.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI PRESS CONFERENCE
TALK US THROUGH QUALIFYING AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO GETTING YOU YOUR FIRST WIN HERE: “Qualifying well always feels good. It means you have decent speed at least in qualifying trim and a lot of times that carries over here to race trim at Michigan. There are a lot of similarities between the two. Along with it you get a great pit stall selection and pit road here is very critical to your success. We are pretty happy about that. Of course we have to make it count on Sunday but we are off to a great start.”
FOLLOWING UP ON YOUR BLOG THE OTHER WEEK ABOUT HYBRID CARS IN NASCAR. WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE SPORT OR OUR CULTURE THAT A SERIES CHAMPION IS SUGGESTING THAT IS AN ANGLE WE NEED TO LOOK AT? “I think hybrid technology got a bad rap because it was sold from a fuel economy perspective when it reality it has an opportunity to be used from a performance perspective. McLaren car company has done a good job proving that with some of the efforts they have and on the motorsports side there are a number of entities proving there can be opportunities in that category. Unfortunately it has been branded as pure fuel economy and save the earth, which is great, but I think it has a much broader reach than that and there are opportunities to utilize it in this form of motorsport that would allow a more powerful car, a more advantageous car for a driver to showcase talents and skill if we could put all of those pieces together. Personally I see that as the future of the port beyond any other talks there are. Whenever you can add relevance to the marketplace and world we live in and initiatives we have, those are always great as well. I am very bullish on those opportunities and wish we were actively pursuing them and to this day I am not aware of any case where we are.”
WHY DO YOU THINK WE NEED TO GO THAT ROUTE? “There are a number of case studies. Look at what Formula E has done with going from nothing to having some of the largest manufacturer support globally. They are doing something right. I don’t think their model is the model we need to necessarily have but they are pursuing technology that is relative to the world and marketplace and that will have a trickle down effect to their brand with relevance to fans. As we look to engage the younger generation, millennials or whoever is after that, I don’t even know what the buzzword is, we are going to have to continue to find ways to market to them and to be relevant to them along with producing the great racing that we are known for having and showcasing driver talent. I see those technologies for the future of our sport without a doubt.”
DID YOU GUYS TAKE A PRETTY BIG SWING AT IT BETWEEN THE SECOND AND THIRD ROUNDS? IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE LEFT A LITTLE BIT OUT THERE: “Yeah, I think I left a little out there. I don’t know if I could have gotten to Kurt. I think he ran like a 43, I don’t know, something like that. We made a really good adjustment on the car between rounds two and three and picked up a good amount and when you qualifying and run laps around a track like Michigan it is so much about commitment level. Your commitment level is really dictated on president. What your car has set as a president, whether it be in practice or your earlier qualifying runs. The president for the performance of our car was lower than it was in the third round or its capability was and I just didn’t adjust for that in time. I had already committed. I am not sure that would have made a big enough difference. I had an incredible three and four but I left something out there on one and two and I will go study the data. You kick yourself in the butt for that but I am also proud we made the adjustment that we did.”
FORD WAS STRONG AGAIN TODAY. WHAT IS UP WITH THIS SEASON FOR FORD? “Yeah, Ford has been very strong. Mostly buoyed by Kevin (Harvick). Blaney has had some good runs and Clint won at Martinsville. We have been okay. If you kind of remove Kevin from the equation we are nowhere near where we want to be but Kevin is in the equation and deserves credit for that. I think that team is really strong right now and they are probably the best team in the garage right now. They are making the most of the resources they have available to them and deserve credit for that. I think they were probably the best team toward the end of last year and were at a deficiency with the rules and that got cleaned up over the offseason and now we are seeing a level playing field between the three manufacturers and we are seeing the play out. For qualifying here we seem to have a lot of strength. When you get into this qualifying package the horsepower is critical and Doug Yates does a great job with that. The RPM’s are really high and we have a great motor for this package. It is the strong suit for Fords. When you get to some of the short tracks with the lower RPM stuff we are probably a little behind but this track the engine package is probably just a touch ahead for us to go with what we are seeing from the aerodynamics. All those things together give us a great shot to win on Sunday. We still have areas where we can be better. The short tracks and lower RPM 1.5 mile tracks are still a challenge for us but we need to play to our strengths and this place is a strength.”
YESTERDAY WAS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF OF YOUR FIRST WIN. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THAT NIGHT? “I do remember that. It was before I was sponsored before Miller Lite so more memories from that one than a couple others. It was really awesome. It was funny that was one of the hottest days I have ever had in a race car and it was the Xfinity race and I was beat. My mom and dad were there and my dad doesn’t come to races anymore which makes it even more special that he was there and we were able to share it together. You only get that moment once in your life. It is amazing it was 10 years ago but I am still living that high.”
KURT BUSCH POLE WINNER PRESS CONFERENCE
HOW DOES STARTING FROM THE POLE BUILD MOMENTUM FOR SUNDAY? “It is awesome to get the pole today. I wanted it bad. We went for it and made the right air pressure adjustment and all of that adds to the aero department that we build the car form at Stewart-Haas Racing and then with the engines. Having Doug Yates here today personally and have him under the hood and that whole organization, that is a key when you are going 217 mph. I love the fact that the track had the grip level it did today. The overcast skies gave me the confidence to go for it hard and it was a perfect balance of speed, aero, handling, track conditions and the new Goodyear tires with the new tire code. There is not a lot of history behind them so I just went for it today.”
“The experience level is something you have to use when you have it. A lot of it is the confidence in the team and the car and being with Ford right now. Ford definitely has all eight cylinders clicking hard. So it is up to me. I have to do the job to grab that last tenth and a half. It is done by just going after it. You have to be in position to go after it. You can cinch down the belts tight and saddle up and go for it hard but if the car isn’t there you bust your ass. All signs pointed toward going for it today and I let it rip.”
WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE GOING INTO THE CORNER AT 217 MPH? “You don’t know the mph but you definitely don’t have much time to think about what line to take or if you are going to adjust the throttle or whatever. You just go for it. You go off instinct. That is what is fun about tracks like Michigan or Texas for us. The time I drove the IndyCar at Indianapolis, the speeds are so high that you just go off instinct. You don’t have time to sit there and worry about it, you just go for it.”
DID YOU WATCH ANY OF THE HOCKEY GAME LAST NIGHT? ARE YOU READY TO RING THE SIREN AGAIN NEXT YEAR IF THEY ASK YOU? “Yeah, the hockey game didn’t turn out the way all us Las Vegas Knights fans hoped it would. It would have been nice to try to go back to D.C. and try to win game six. I guess the Cinderella story struck midnight and the goals didn’t quite unfold the way we needed them to. The offense the Capitals kept bringing was insane. I was caught up in the fandom being from Las Vegas, my hometown, to have a pro sports team go to the Stanley Cup Finals in the first year was amazing. It was great for the city, especially with everything that happened in October. It seemed like everyone rallied around the Knights. The energy of it all, that is what I gave to the siren when they asked me to do the siren in the third period of game two. I let it rip. Went after it hard. I felt a responsibility to get the team fired up. We were behind by a goal at that point. That is the fun part of having that sports venue in Vegas. It gives a lot of people a chance to use sport as a way to get away from the burdens of everyday life and it was fun to watch the Golden Knights go as far as they did this year.”
