Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Quaker State 400 | Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sunday, September 8, 2024
JOEY LOGANO PUNCHES TICKET TO ROUND OF 12 WITH ATLANTA VICTORY
- Joey Logano won his second race of the season with today’s victory, not including his win in the All-Star Race.
- The win is Ford’s third straight and advances Logano into the Round of 12.
- The win is Logano’s 34th of his Cup Series career and 32nd with Ford.
- Those 32 wins put him 4th on the all-time Ford win list.
- Today’s win is Ford’s 736th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
- It also marks Team Penske’s 98th series win with Ford.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Autotrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU AND THIS TEAM THAT CAN STEP UP AND MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ROUND? “We didn’t last year and it hurt a lot, but they just give me really fast cars on superspeedways and we always find ourselves towards the front of them, we just end up wrecking more times than not. So, to be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again, I lived right over there in condo 805 for a long time, waking up dreaming of just racing on this racetrack, so pulling into Victory Lane here is always a special one. We had such a really good team here today. It’s awesome to get Autotrader into Victory Lane and the JL Kids Crew are here today, so it’s really cool to finally win with them here.”
HOW HARD WAS IT TO WORK THROUGH THAT PACK? “We kind of just got stuck back there and couldn’t figure out how to get myself back up there, and then I finally picked the right lanes at the right time to move myself forward. That part was good.”
HOW SPECIAL IS THIS WINNING HERE AT ATLANTA WITH ALL THE HOURS YOU PUT IN AT CONDO 805? “It was a lot of time. My dad, my family. We had so much fun. You park right over there and unload. We’d be here every Wednesday and Thursday night racing Legends cars and Bandoleros. I remember we came down here for the first time when we were moving down from Connecticut and we pulled into this place and we said, ‘Oh my God, look how awesome this place is.’ You never dream, that was almost 30 years ago, that dream and meeting Ken Ragan, David Ragan’s dad, and getting a Bandolero and racing out there for the first time with duct tape Number 10 on it to where we are today is just really, really cool.”
Ford Performance Results:
1st – Joey Logano
3rd – Ryan Blaney
10th – Austin Cindric
12th – Justin Haley
18th – Ryan Preece
19th – Brad Keselowski
22nd – Michael McDowell
27th – Todd Gilliland
28th – Josh Berry
30th – Cody Ware
31st – Harrison Burton
34th – Noah Gragson
36th – Chris Buescher
38th – Chase Briscoe
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Honestly, I can’t believe we got back up to where we did. The 12 boys did a really good job of fixing it. I’m surprised it didn’t have more damage than what it did. From my seat, I got drilled in the left-rear, or the door I guess where it hit me, and then the right-rear got off the fence. I didn’t know how damaged we were, but I was able to carve up through traffic and kind of get through the middle pretty good. I’m really proud of the effort. I had a thought of going three-wide on the frontstretch and I’m like, ‘Man, this is gonna be tight and we’ve already had a really good day going, great points and all that stuff,’ so third is a really good day. I appreciate Dent Wizard doing what they do, Menards, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, the Wurth group, Discount Tire. We’ll move on to Watkins Glen. I’m really happy. Like I said, this thing looks ugly, but a really good finish so I’m proud of the effort by everybody.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards Quaker State Mustang Dark Horse – “I’m just glad a Team Penske car won it. We’ve come to so many of these speedways with cars that are capable of winning races and I’m proud of Joey and the guys to get it done. Obviously, Ryan and I worked really well together to get a ton of points to start. We just got off cycle there with a bad pit stop and just really took a long time to get back up to the front of the field. I feel like I could have made some better decisions on the last couple of restarts, but a solid effort all around with all of the challenges of pack racing.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET THROUGH THIS WITH A GOOD DAY? “Yeah, just base hits all around. I’m so proud of the team. We have just a little bit left on execution, but, otherwise, happy with the result.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It just wasn’t a super strong day. We kind of survived and we’ll live to fight another day.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 4 Decisely Insurance Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We struggled with grip all day and just couldn’t find what I needed to get the speed needed to drive up front. It’s a bummer for sure to qualify so well and not make the most of it, but this group will take a bad day on the chin and reset for next week. I can’t thank Decisely enough for coming on board this week and supporting the No. 4 program. It’s really special to have friends of the team want to get involved and I am just appreciative of them. We will go at it again next week in Watkins Glen.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Ultimately, that’s not how we wanted to go out. I’m definitely disappointed and screwed up there. I got a really good run. I got to the bottom and we’d been able to keep really good pace on the bottom, and then just caught a bump and stepped out and ended up making a crash. I’m disappointed in myself for that one. It certainly wasn’t our typical Atlanta day, either. We’d been so good here, but I had to fight for the handling today. The team made good adjustments and good calls to get us close to the front, but I just messed it up when it counted.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT HAPPENED? “That’s NASCAR. You can be on top one week and you can be at the very bottom of the mountain the next week. It’s unfortunate. I thought our car was an adjustment away from being pretty good. We weren’t very good at all balance-wise and I still felt like I was able to kind of run right there around the seventh to 12th place guys. I was watching my outside getting into one because somebody kept trying to get to my outside and was probably a little late just trying to see the 5 car wrecking. I didn’t expect anybody to wreck because they weren’t really two-wide, and then I saw the smoke and tried slowing down. I knew he was coming down the racetrack and just kept trying to feed the thing left and slow it down and I couldn’t get left quick enough and then he kind of started sliding back down the track at the very last minute, so I tried to turn back right to avoid him and just KO’d him. It was a big hit. One of the biggest hits I’ve had in a long time. I’m glad I’m alright and we just have to go win. That’s what we had to do at Darlington and I know we’re capable of doing it again, so we’ll just have to go to Watkins Glen and Bristol and try to do the same.”
HOW ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW? “I’m good. My private area hurt pretty bad at first, just when I hit it was a big hit, but, other than that, I’m totally good. My head, everything feels fine. I’m glad my ankles didn’t get messed up. The brake pedal and everything went through the floorboard, so I’m thankful that I’m alright, for sure.”
A MUST-WIN AT WATKINS GLEN OR BRISTOL? “I mean, either one. I think we’re gonna be really good. Bristol, we’ve started in the top three of four there the last three times we went. We’ve obviously had really good speed. We tested there about a month-and-a-half ago, and then the road courses we’ve always been really good. With the fall off that they’re talking about at Watkins Glen, I think we’re gonna be in good shape. The slick, wore out, where we’re slipping and sliding around is typically when we’re our strongest, so I feel like we can win any of the two.”
HOW DO FEEL ABOUT THAT CHALLENGE? “I’m excited for the challenge, truthfully. I think we all knew when the Playoffs started that this was gonna be the one race where you could really dig yourself a big hole. It’s unfortunate that we dug ourselves in a big hole, but if there was two racetracks out of the 10, those are two of the ones that I would definitely pick to go run in a must-win situation, so hopefully we can do it.”
WHAT WAS THE CAR LIKE FOR YOU? “You’re hanging on, for sure. This place is hard. You’re just on the ragged edge. I know for me I was almost spinning out a lot and that’s why I kept telling my guys that I needed to make it to the first pit stop to get our car better and, unfortunately, we didn’t get that opportunity. These guys are on pins and needles, I can assure you.”
