Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Monday, February 17, 2020
DAYTONA 500 POST RACE QUOTES
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
2nd – Ryan Blaney
3rd – Chris Buescher
4th – David Ragan
5th – Kevin Harvick
6th – Clint Bowyer
8th – Corey LaJoie
9th – Ryan Newman
14th – Michael McDowell
19th – Matt DiBenedetto
22nd – Aric Almirola
26th – Joey Logano
36th – Brad Keselowski
37th – Cole Custer
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang – Finished 2nd
“We pushed Newman there to the lead and then we got a push from the 11. I kind of went low and he blocked that and so I was committed to pushing him to the win and have a Ford win it. I don’t know. We just got the bumpers hooked up wrong and I turned him. I hope he is alright. It looked pretty bad. I was trying to push him to the win. I don’t like saying that things just happen because I feel really bad about it. It was a close one. I just hope Ryan is alright.”
DAVID RAGAN, No. 36 Select Blinds Ford Mustang – Finished 4th
“That was the ugliest fourth place finish I have ever had. I wasn’t disciplined enough in my strategy there with about 15 to go. I felt like things were getting a little hairy and we were 16th or 18th and that is no man’s land here at Daytona. I keyed the radio up going down the back straightaway and said I was going to back off a little. That is when they wrecked. I was pretty mad at myself for not seeing that earlier and getting that damage. Our Front Row Motorsports team with Rick Ware did a good job getting it fixed up. Those last few laps were exciting.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang – Finished 6th
“That was my opportunity to win, being on the outside in fourth. I don’t know. It is just disappointing. I am frustrated because I felt like I should have been on the outside and not on the inside. That was a game winning decision there, or losing decision on our behalf, and unfortunately it didn’t transpire.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang – Finished 5th
“We did exactly what we wanted to do. We just got a little bit of bumper damage and abandoned stage points to be around at the end to have a chance. We did at the end; we just ran out of pushers. I knew we needed to be fourth on that restart. The bottom wasn’t where we needed to be. We didn’t get a good shove and then everything jumbled up and we were able to get back close to the front. It was a solid night for the Busch Light Ford.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED HAMLIN WAS ABLE TO WIN WITH ALL THE FORDS UP THERE OR WERE THEY JUST NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO GANG UP ON HIM? “We were plenty strong. It is all about timing of the pushes and things like that. In the end, it looked like the 12 wrecked the 6 and that is why the 11 won.”
COREY LAJOIE, No. 32 RagingBull.com Ford Mustang – Finished 8th
WHAT DID YOU SEE THE LAST LAP? “The narrative kind of changed a little bit. I heard he (Newman) went straight to the hospital. That’s obviously scary. I got a big push there that last coming to the white. I don’t know who was pushing me and I kind of stalled out and I don’t know who hooked Newman. I was hoping he would kind of bounce off the fence to the left, but he didn’t and I hit him. I don’t know exactly where I hit him. I haven’t seen a replay. It was some scary stuff. Don’t’ get me wrong. My car was on fire. My seat belts grabbed all sorts of areas, but it was a good day for us. I hope Ryan is OK.”
COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – Finished 37th – “It looks like we had a problem with a gear. Those things are usually pretty bulletproof. I don’t know. It’s tough because we just rode around all day to position ourselves for the end and it just didn’t work out. We had a good car. I think we probably were gonna be in contention for a top 10 there, but it just doesn’t always work out sometimes.”
