FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES
Pure Michigan 400 (Friday Advance)
August 19, 2011
Michigan International Speedway
FORD FAST FACTS (MICHIGAN)
. There are 14 Fords participating in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
. As a manufacturer, Ford has taken the checkered flag 31 times at Michigan, the most of any manufacturer.
. The most recent Ford win at MIS came in 2008 when Carl Edwards grabbed the checkered flag at the fall race.
. Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle are all two-time winners at MIS.
. A pair of Ford owners, the Wood Brothers and Jack Roush, are tied for the most owner wins at MIS with 11 apiece.
. Hall of Famer David Pearson piloted his Wood Brothers Mercury to the most wins in MIS track history with nine and the most poles with 10.
. The No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford of Trevor Bayne is running a special paint scheme designed by seven-year-old Katie Hahn of Omaha, Neb., winner of the fourth-annual “JDRF Race Car Design Contest,” hosted by the Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD) and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
Trevor Bayne, drivers of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, will definitely be easy to see on the track this weekend as he hops in a specially designed tie-dyed No. 21 car designed by seven-year-old Katie Hahn of Omaha, Neb. Katie was winner of the fourth-annual “JDRF Race Car Design Contest,” hosted by the Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD) and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Bayne unveiled the car Thursday at Ford World Headquarters and talked about the scheme and the upcoming weekend at MIS.
YOU HAVE A PRETTY UNIQUE CAR FOR THE WEEKEND, ARE YOU READY TO HOP IN THIS THING? “I am really excited about the weekend, mainly because of the partnership with JDRF and Motorcraft and Quick Lane. They have done a great job of putting the program together and this paint scheme on my car looks awesome and Katie, our contest winner, did a great job of designing this crazy, colorful car with tie-dye on it. I know the Wood Brothers are excited for it and so am I. We are excited to get on the track with it.”
OF ALL THE PAINT SCHEMES YOU HAVE DRIVEN, WHERE DOES THIS RANK? “This is the wildest paint scheme I have ever had. Usually they have some kind of straight lines on them when you are talking about a contest scheme, or even a regular scheme, but nowhere on this car will you find a straight line. It is pretty wild and colorful and I really like it a lot. I think it actually looks a lot like a colorful camouflage or something. You don’t really see tie-dye a ton, but she did a great job coloring that thing and getting it bright for us.”
ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SHOWING KATIE AROUND THIS WEEKEND? “I am really looking forward to the whole weekend. I am excited to show Katie and her family around and letting her come down to pit road and see the car ready to go. I think once this thing gets out on the track and you have the grandstands behind it packed with people, Katie and her family will get the full affect and it will be really cool for them. I can’t wait to be a part of that.”
YOU MUST BE EXCITED TO GET ON A BIG OVAL AGAIN. “I like Michigan. You can always move around there. You aren’t boxed in and you can run the top, bottom or middle. You want your car to drive good everywhere, but you can make passes here and I am pumped about that. We ran pretty decent here last time, finished 16th, but we are looking for a top-15 or top-10 finish this time around. The Wood’s have always run pretty well here, so hopefully we can bring this car home to a top-10.”
