Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Saturday, May 11, 2019
EVENT: DIGITAL ALLY 400 – Post Race
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
1st – Brad Keselowski
5th – Clint Bowyer
11th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
12th – Aric Almirola
13th – Kevin Harvick
14th – Daniel Suarez
15th – Joey Logano
21st – Matt Tifft
23rd – Ryan Newman
24th – Paul Menard
26th – Michael McDowell
27th – David Ragan
32nd – Ryan Blaney
BRAD KESELOWSKI CLAIMS KANSAS CHECKERS
Brad Keselowski won his third race of the season tonight claiming victory at Kansas Speedway.
The win is the 30th of his Cup Series career.
The win is Mustang’s fourth of the season.
Today’s win is Ford’s 681st all-time in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition.
Of Team Penske’s 69 MENCS wins with Ford, 41 have come since rejoining Ford in 2013.
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Wurth Ford Mustang | Finished: 1st — VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW
WHAT WAS THE SITUATION EARLY IN THE RACE AND HOW HARD DID YOUR GUYS WORK ON THIS RACE CAR? “Yeah, we were just too loose early and then in the traffic I brushed the wall a little bit and we couldn’t get it tightened up and finally with about 100 to go Paul Wolfe and the team made some adjustments and the car responded. I felt we were a top-3 or top-5 car but then the yellow came out right as we came to pit road and I thought we would have to claw to get a top-10. We clawed and clawed and a couple opportunities presented themselves and we were fighting for the lead. Alex Bowman ran an incredible race. I feel kind of bad. I think I kinda stole one from him. He was one of the best cars, him and Kevin Harvick. We just had a little fresher tires and I was able to catch the traffic just right to make the move on him and from there we were able to get the win.”
WHAT WERE THE RESTARTS LIKE? “Very hectic. You know you have to get the draft to get your car up to speed and the bottom lane just does not go. You are cursed if you are on the bottom lane. It is a dog fight for sure.”
“I am just thankful to be at this level. I never dreamed I would ever be in the Cup Series. I just dreamed of making a living in racing. I worked with guys like Mike Mittler who taught me the grit and energy and effort you have to have to be successful in this sport. Mike was local to this area and he passed away yesterday. It hurts to lose guys like that because they mean so much to me and the sport. I think this was hopefully something he would be proud of.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang | Finished: 5th
“Tonight wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. We struggled. We struggled with handling, especially as soon as the night fell and it got dark outside we were not handling at all. It was tight and it was loose and on top of the race track. With two stops to go we came in and raised the back of the car up and we got better in traffic and were able to race. Then all hell broke loose on the restart and things like that. It was tires, no tires, two tires. Everyone was on different strategies, people were a lap down that should have been up front. It was hard to even figure out who you were racing. We should have finished second. I had a huge run on both those guys but that kid, I guess he was willing to wreck himself to hold the position.”
HOW FRUSTRATING IS IT? “It is frustrating. It is always disappointing when you come here and don’t get a win. A top-five was a solid night for us. We did a good job of fighting for that finish because it probably wasn’t exactly where we deserved to run the way we ran all night.”
WITH 30 TO GO YOU STARTED TO MAKE A RUN: “Yeah, you gotta go for it. You know those restarts are gonna be hectic. The 20 got to my outside over there getting into three and stalled me out and I really thought it was over. I got another run down here in one and two and got to the outside. It was hard to pass. Those things punch such a big hole in the air. You get behind in traffic and you just don’t have as much downforce as the car in front of you. You have to swing out wide and go somewhere that he doesn’t have the big wake in front of you. Some could do it better than others. Kevin (Harvick) was extremely fast. We were fast. Earlier in the race, he and I took off and I thought we were going to walk away from these guys. Halfway through I started slipping and sliding around and I knew we would have to make some adjustments and it was tricky to figure out which way to go with those adjustments. We just missed it a little bit.”
YOU A LITTLE FRUSTRATED WITH JONES? “Yeah, that wasn’t very smart. If it had been another scenario where I would have had some room I would have just turned him in front of the whole field and he would be back there wishing he wouldn’t have done that. Oh well.”
