Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix | Sunday, March 26, 2023
Ford Finishing Results:
6th – Austin Cindric
8th – Chris Buescher
10th – Todd Gilliland
12th – Michael McDowell
13th – Kevin Harvick
15th – Chase Briscoe
18th – Jenson Button
21st – Ryan Blaney
22nd – Harrison Burton
25th – Cody Ware
28th – Joey Logano
30th – Aric Almirola
32nd – Ryan Preece
35th – Brad Keselowski
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang (Finished 6th) – “Great to lay some laps. Good to be able to show some speed in our Discount Tire Ford Mustang. It’s one of those days where you win or lose as a team. There were quite a few miscues on pit road that probably kept us from having the track position. Then, it’s a fight. Fair recovery to finish sixth. A lot of things had to go our way for those restarts. But for a long, hot day, we never gave up.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang (Finished 8th) – “It was our first bumper car race of the year. Our Fifth Third Ford Mustang ended up pretty solid there towards the end. We got a solid top-10 out of it. That’s a big testament to this team and its ‘never give up’ attitude. I started into the 30’s for the day, 32nd. I had to really power through, and we had some issues there that probably came from getting run into… backwards a couple times. But, I’m proud of everybody. That was a good finish for a really hard-fought day.”
TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 Ruedebusch Ford Mustang (Finished 10th) – “The restarts were really good for us, even in the very beginning of the race. We were able to fire off and gain a lot of spots right off the bat. So, after that, we had fallen off a little worse than everyone else, but our fire-off speed was probably top-five to [top] 10 every time. It was really nice to have some speed there, and to be really aggressive on the restarts. Most of them worked out really well. I got spun once, but we were able to rebound up to 10th or so. That’s good – 15th and 10th the last two races. That’s something to build on.”
JENSON BUTTON, No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang (Finished 18th) – “It was an emotional rollercoaster. First, it was terrible. I mean, I must’ve been last by the end of it. And I was just like, ‘Everyone: Go. I just need to drive and find a rhythm.’ I’ve never gone through a corner too wide, so often. And trying to place my car in the right place – I just got it wrong every time. Normally, if you’re a little bit slow through a corner, nobody tries to overtake you from the outside. Because they’re not going to make it all the way on the next one. But here they do, because they get a wheel inside for the next one, and if you turn in, you turn around. The first stint was really bad – it was embarrassing for me. I was like, ‘All right guys, we need to pit, freshen the tires and I need some air – I need some fresh air.’ I got that. The pace was good, consistency was good. I was really happy… and passed a few cars which was nice. We got a little bit unlucky with the safety car because it was just two laps before our window. Pitted, then the next stint was mayhem. We also made a couple of changes that just didn’t work. Big oversteer – went from the car feeling great to really difficult to drive. I also had a massive whack from Kimi [Räikkönen], and it fell off after that. The car wasn’t quite right. Everytime I turned in, the rear tires would chatter, then immediately to oversteer. It was really difficult, but towards the end, we made some good calls stopping and putting on fresh tires. I enjoyed the last three restarts – got good placement and good overtaking moves from the outside. Finished 18th after almost stopping because I had heat exhaustion. It was so hot, I don’t have a fan in my seat which really didn’t help me too much. It was so hot, I thought I was going to faint in the car. So, I stopped twice for a minute. They put ice on me, gave me loads of water, and I went back out. I was so close to getting out of the car because I thought I was going to faint. I must’ve drank eight… nine bottles of water during the race. The team kept me calm, and it’s the reason why we got a good result in the end. So, I was happy.”
