Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sunday, March 31, 2019
EVENT: O’Reilly Auto Parts 500
Ford Finishing Results:
2nd – Clint Bowyer
3rd – Daniel Suarez
7th – Aric Almirola
8th – Kevin Harvick
11th – Ryan Newman
15th – Michael McDowell
16th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17th – Joey Logano
19th – Paul Menard
24th – Matt Tifft
25th – David Ragan
28th – Corey LaJoie
36th – Brad Keselowski
37th – Ryan Blaney
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 41 Ruckus Ford Mustang – “I’m happy. The entire weekend was strong for us. We had the speed all weekend long. I feel like we had for sure a top five car and at times probably the best car out there on the long run. We were just trying to find the right balance back and forth, but I’m just very proud of everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford Performance, and especially from the 41 guys. They worked extremely hard to bring a good piece for Texas and we did it, so I’m grateful.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang – HOW DO YOU FEEL AFTER TODAY? “Unclogged. We definitely unclogged ourselves from qualifying (laughing). All in all, our car handled good. It wasn’t lightning fast all day long, but as they started slip sliding around and struggling we’d kind of prevail on those long runs. That was our M.O. Denny, he was relatively fast all weekend long – top of the sheet – so we just weren’t really. All in all, I’m really happy to finish where we were. What a wild race. Just about the time you think you’re gonna have some stage points the caution would come out and then you thought you were back in and it happened again. Then you’re like, ‘Well, damn. What kind of haymakers are gonna be thrown at the end,’ and it just didn’t. Anytime you finish second it’s like, ‘What could I have done?’ When he came out of the pits that far ahead of us I was like, ‘We’re in big trouble,’ but second is not bad for the way our weekend started.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT A TIRE CALL WINNING THE RACE? “You have to go back and look. When you’re in the car it’s kind of hard to figure it out of where you’re at track position-wise. There are so many weird things that happened today, but I knew when you look in the mirror and there is nobody really behind you on that straightaway, you know you’re putting — and that’s the next car behind you and on and on and on where they’re at – so when you’re that far ahead you start to wonder ‘can we get in and just do a splash-and-go and prevail?’ It’s a different kind of racing, there’s no question about that.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Prime Fresh Ford Mustang – “I’m tired. It was a long night last night. I didn’t sleep at all, throwing up with a stomach bug, so I’m really, really depleted. I haven’t been able to keep anything down, so I’m just really hungry and I’m really tired.” HOW MUCH DID YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THROUGH IT TODAY? “We don’t get to call in sick. That’s the challenging part of our job occasionally. The flu or a cold or a stomach bug pops up and you’ve got to fight through it. I’m really proud of everybody on our Smithfield Prime Fresh Ford Mustang. We had a good car and track position there and strategy and pit stops and stuff and we still got out of here with a top 10, so that’s six in a row. I’m proud of that.”
RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang – “It was a good run for our Wyndham Rewards Ford. We just didn’t have everything we needed. I fought track position there for a while, but the guys did a good job. We gained some spots in the pits, so it was a good day in general and our best finish of the year, but we still have some work to do. We’ll keep working on it. We’re just off a little bit on speed. When you’re only lifting once it’s hard to make up much.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR HOOD? “That’s a good question. Something came apart in the bracing underneath the hood, I believe, and then the hood started flaring all over the place. The hood was gonna blow off the car if we didn’t get a caution, so we were able to fix it but went down a lap and there weren’t enough cautions to ever get the lucky dog. We rode around in the lucky dog spot for a while, but never got that. That really altered the handling once we had all the bearer bond on the front. The car got really draggy and got real tight, but we won a stage. I was proud of the speed that was in the car. Our car was capable of winning the race, but didn’t have the opportunity to take advantage of it.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1/O’Reilly Auto Parts Ford Mustang – “Our day was a disaster. Our car drove terrible and that pretty much sums it up.” LAST WEEK YOU SAID YOU NEEDED TO GO BACK TO THE WINDTUNNEL. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE NOW? “We’re further off than we were last week.” DID YOU EXPECT TIRES TO LAST AS LONG AS THEY DID TODAY? “I don’t build tires. The tires suck every week.” HOW FAR OFF DO YOU THINK YOU GUYS ARE? “We haven’t been close to a race-winning car in a race yet.” IS IT ORGANIZATIONAL? WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE IT TO? “I just drive.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Mustang – WHAT DID YOU FEEL WHILE SCRUBBING TIRES GETTING READY FOR THE RESTART? “Something broke out of nowhere. We weren’t going very fast or anything and something in the back of the car broke and it won’t go. It’s one of those really important parts as Kenny Schrader would say.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang – YOU LOST WATER ON PIT ROAD. ANY IDEA? “A part broke off and leaked all the water out, so that’s the way it goes. It just seems that’s the way this season is going. We’ve had a shot to win pretty much every race and something happens. That’s getting old, but the car is fast. That’s the bright side, but I’m kind of tired of looking at the bright side. I want to actually start finishing where we should. It’s just one of those days.”
