Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Thursday, February 13, 2020
DAYTONA 500 DUEL #1
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
1st – Joey Logano
2nd – Aric Almirola
3rd – Ryan Newman
4th – Brad Keselowski
10th – Chris Buescher
12th – John Hunter Nemechek
14th – Ryan Blaney
15th – Clint Bowyer
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang — Finished 1st
“This is awesome. What great teammwork by the Ford’s, especially Aric Almirola, my goodness. He was a great pusher at the right time and we were able to hold off the bottom when we needed and hold off the Chevy’s and showed the speed that the Ford’s have here. That is something I am proud to be a part of. I am proud to be driving that Blue Oval and these Roush Yates motors. We are ready to rock and roll. I can’t wait for the 500.”
YOU WERE ABOUT FOUR CAR LENGTHS OUT FRONT AND THEN STENHOUSE CAME AND GOT AHEAD OF YOU BUT COULDN’T QUITE SLIDE IN FRONT OF YOU. WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE THERE? “I think it was just the run I had from the 10 pushing me. We were going so much faster that there was really no opportunity for him to jump in front of us. He was trying to pull his Chevy into the lane and it was old school Chevy versus Ford and I am glad to say Ford won this one.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang — Finished 2nd
“Our cars are so good. I’m so proud of Mike Bugarewicz and all the guys on our Smithfield team. It’s a great way to start Speedweeks for us. Mike has been telling me all winter long that this car is really, really good and he’s excited about it, and then we were the fastest qualifying Ford Mustang and so I knew he was right. We got a really, really good car and then tonight it drove so good. It would draft really well. I was able to be very aggressive and bump drafting and pushing and I just felt really good. I felt really comfortable, so I’m ready to go for Sunday.”
HOW MUCH IS THE NUMBER TWO GUY IN CONTROL? “You certainly are in control of the momentum and the runs that they get or don’t get, but you also have to be careful. You can make a mistake and hook the guy in front of you pretty easy, so you’ve got to be mindful of that and be smart.”
YOU DID THE TANDEM DRAFT A FEW TIMES AS WELL. IS IT WHAT YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AND HOW DID THAT WORK? “I think so. I think you could stay tandem for a while. There’s a lot of factors that go into it. Your car doesn’t drive as good. You’re putting the guy in front of you in a little bit of a bad position pushing in the corners. That’s a little bit tricky. If he makes a move and gets offset on you too much, you could make a mistake or both of you could end up wrecked and then, oh by the way, you don’t get the air to the radiator when you’re tucked up behind, so you’ve got to be mindful of all of that, too.”
RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Koch Industries Ford Mustang — Finished 3rd
“Our Koch Industries Ford was good. I’m really proud of the guys. They brought a really good piece here and keeping it in one piece was one of the goals. Obviously, you want to win, but the big one is on Sunday. We had great execution by everybody at Ford to have a good, strong finish there. I think we had the top four cars and it’s something to look forward to for the 500.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang — Finished 4th
“I thought we were really in a good spot until that crash with Blaney and Suarez. We were right there, for sure. That cycled us back a few spots and I could never get a clear lane to make anything happen, but it was still a decent result for sure for all the Fords.”
DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT SUNDAY NOW? “Yeah, this car drives really good. It’s got good speed. Let’s go race.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Peak Ford Mustang — Finished 14th
YOU KEPT YOUR MUSTANG OFF THE WALL AFTER THE CONTACT, SO WAS THAT SOMETHING YOU FOCUSED ON AT THAT POINT? “I guess if you wound it, try not to kill it. We got lucky. We should have never been in that spot in the first place. It was just an error on my part and kind of a little lack of communication that didn’t end well.”
