Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Saturday, August 3, 2019
EVENT: Zippo 200 at The Glen, Watkins Glen, NY.
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – TAKE US THROUGH LAP 81 AND THOSE PASSES FOR THE LEAD. “First of all, AJ is a hell of a race car driver, so I knew it wasn’t gonna be easy even if we got there with way newer tires. I’m just so blessed and appreciative of this kind of an opportunity at this stage racing these types of race cars and I hope this is the first of many.”
LAP 70 A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER TO PIT. TALK ABOUT THE CALL. “I’ve been on the other side. I wanted to be offensive and felt like our car was good on offense, so it worked out.”
LAP 73 ON THE RESTART. HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO DODGE THOSE INCIDENTS AND GET AROUND THOSE THREE CARS TO GO FROM SIXTH TO SECOND? “That was nuts. I didn’t know how that was gonna work out, but sometimes the path clears and you’ve got to take advantage of it and we executed all day today.”
YOU TOLD YOUR PARENTS AT NINE THAT YOU WANTED TO BE A RACE CAR DRIVER. DID YOU DREAM ABOUT DAYS LIKE THIS BACK THEN? “I’m not sure it’s soaked in quite yet, but they told me I was too tall when I asked them. They tried to get out of it, but I told them Michael Waltrip, Justin Wilson, those guys can do it, so why can’t I? Like I said, it’s about the people you surround yourself with. I’m very lucky to have really great parents that have been able to put me in the right positions with the best people and really be able to execute like we have today.”
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Go Bowling Ford Mustang – “To have a really competitive backup car and to stay clean, I really felt like we were competitive there at the end. I think we could have a shot at easily a top five, but just didn’t have the right lane on restarts. Every single one we just got stacked up in the wrong one, but overall I can’t thank everyone on the team enough for working so hard on the car. It was definitely a thrash getting it ready and I can’t thank them enough.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Pirtek Ford Mustang – “It was a long day. We were way off. I’m glad we got it close. I’m really happy for Austin. That was cool. I was watching his race there at the end and he did a good job, but definitely not where we wanted to be.”
“We were terrible all day. We lacked a ton of speed yesterday and we just weren’t even close today. I’m really happy for Austin. He’s been close to them her for a while and did a good job there at the end racing AJ, but our stuff, I don’t know where we went wrong. Hopefully, it doesn’t hurt me here in the Cup car qualifying.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Ford Performance Ford Mustang – “For my first time here I was more competitive than I thought I would be. To qualify sixth I felt was really good, personally. I was really proud of that and finished seventh. I felt like we had a little bit better race car there at the end and at that point we were better than the 2 in front of us, but other than that we were about that all day long.
“I just have to get a lot better at road courses and I think that will come with experience, but, overall, I think it was a pretty good day. It will definitely be easier coming back next time and hopefully improve on it.”
THE LAST RESTART WAS IT A CASE OF EVERYONE JUST GOING FOR IT? “Yeah, just everybody was going for it. My apologies to the 11. I just got in there and I was trying to make sure the guys behind me didn’t’ get into me and I got off the brake pedal a foot too early and just barely tagged him, but it was enough to turn him around. I hate that I ruined their day, but I just have to get better and that will come with experience.”