Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Friday, March 15, 2019
EVENT: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
2nd – Kevin Harvick
3rd – Aric Almirola
5th – Joey Logano
7th – Ryan Newman
9th – Clint Bowyer
10th – Ryan Blaney
12th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13th – Brad Keselowski
19th – David Ragan
20th – Daniel Suarez
25th – Paul Menard
29th – Michael McDowell
32nd – Matt Tifft
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford Mustang — Qualified 9th
“You know, I have seen it in other sports but never seen it in ours. We just got booed and it is disappointing. It is disappointing for everybody involved. I don’t know. I saw this coming three weeks ago. I think we all did. Unfortunately we are going to have to be reactive to it instead of proactive. It is just a learning process. The whole package is. Everybody knows that going in and everybody has been patience but I am a little out of patience with Friday’s. There is so much hard work and dedication on so many teams behalves to go out there and have the fastest car known to mankind that you are literally capable of building in the walls of your organization and it just doesn’t matter. That is not racing. I feel like we are capable as an industry of putting on a better show than that. I know they will make the right provisions to make that correction but unfortunately it is going to take something like that to make that adjustment.”
RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford Mustang – Qualified 7th
“I don’t think that was a very successful use of TV time for our sponsors. I told you all back in Vegas that I am still a big fan of single-car qualifying. That is all I need to say, really. That is the way qualifying should be. The gamesmanship that goes on, the lack of 100%, it is not what qualifying is all about. That is the program that NASCAR set forth and the rules they laid down and the box they put us in. Shame on us for not getting a lap in.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 PPG Ford Mustang — Qualified 10th
“It is just the way it is. It is such a big place and you don’t want to be the first person to go because you are going to qualify last in the round. We got close to the time we needed to go and we just didn’t make it. We had the truck deal three or four years ago and they went away from it and now we are back to doing it and running into the same problems. That is just how it is.”
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Page 13
Friday, March 15, 2019
EVENT: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Farmer John Ford Mustang – Qualified 3rd
“That is the product of the environment we are in. We are all very dependant of posting a good lap based on the draft that you get. You are in that box and it is really stressful trying to figure out when to leave pit road and what position to put yourself in and you can’t be the lead car. The lead car is at such a disadvantage. You just play all the games and if you are going to be the lead car you try to drag it out until you are the only car that makes the line. If you misjudge a little bit you get what we just saw.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AAA Southern California Ford Mustang – Qualified 5th
“We blew it, but at least we all did. The answer is to go sooner but nobody wants to be the first one out there. I don’t know really what to say. We have something to talk about now I guess. I don’t know what to tell you. That is the game. It is just part of it.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Wurth Ford Mustang – Qualified 13th
“I don’t’ know. The race is going to be so much different than qualifying, so I don’t think there is a whole lot you can really take away from today. This was pretty much the same at Vegas. Kind of in between Vegas and Atlanta.”
YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE ON THE BUBBLE, THEN OFF THE BUBBLE, JUST EVERYTHING HAPPENING LAST MINUTE? “No, probably just latency in whatever scoring system they have. It kept crashing on us.”
DID YOU HAVE TROUBLE IN THE FIRST ROUND WITH WHAT HAPPENED WITH CHASE ELLIOTT? “No, we were just fine. We got through that with no issue.”
WITH THIS QUALIFYING, WAS IT MORE LUCK OF THE POSITIONING WHERE YOU ARE IN THE GROUP OR WHO HAS THE FAST CAR? “I feel it doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what NASCAR and the fans think.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – Qualified 20th
HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO GET OUT WITH GUYS BLOCKING YOU ON PIT ROAD? “The rule for me is very clear. You have to go. Either left or right, You have to leave the middle line open just in case somebody wants to go. I couldn’t go anywhere. I had an opening with the 37 that was in front of my but I really couldn’t go to the right because of the wall and to the left there were cars in the middle. I was surprised that NASCAR didn’t make them go.”
WHAT DOES THAT FEEL LIKE? “It all depends. If you qualify well, it is fun. If you don’t qualify well, it is a little frustrating at times. It was a little frustrating for me because things didn’t work out the way that we were planning.”
IS THERE A SOLUTION OF WAY TO AVOID WHAT JUST HAPPENED? “I don’t really know. It is hard to say. We definitely have to figure something out. It is hard to say because if you go first you won’t be the fastest guy but if you are the last one, you maybe won’t make it. Everyone is in a tough spot playing games like that until we get to the point like today that nobody even made it in the last round. That is ridiculous I think.”
