Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Post Race
Love’s RV Stops 225 | Talladega Superspeedway
Friday, October 4, 2024
Ford Performance Results:
5th – Lawless Alan
12th – Ty Majeski
20th – Jason White
23rd – Matt Crafton
28th – Layne Riggs
29th – Jake Garcia
35th – Ben Rhodes
LAWLESS ALAN, No. 33 AUTODockit Ford F-150 – YOU WERE CONSISTENTLY FAST ALL DAY. TAKE US THROUGH THE FINAL RESTART. “It worked out pretty much exactly how I wanted it to. I wanted to be on the bottom and I wanted the 9 and the 19 to be in front of me, and that’s how it worked out. We all got a really good launch and were all pushing really well. We got to third and were just riding, and I feel like I could have won the race if I effectively blocked the 17, but I knew that I had to do something in order to not be third. I feel like if I did that, I would have won, so I’m happy with fifth, but, man, what could have been. I’m super proud of Reaume Brothers Racing and AUTODockit and everybody that helps support me up to this point. I’m happy to have given them a finish and it’s not like we got lucky. We were there on merit and speed, so it feels good.”
TY MAJESKI, No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 – “It’s just stupid racing. We had a fast truck and made a bad decision. I hopped out of line and cost ourselves some Stage 2 points, so I don’t know where that puts us in the points, but I guess it could have been worse if we finished 12th. We’ll move on to Homestead.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES TRYING TO SUCK UP IN THE DRAFT? “I don’t know. I think it was just situational. The truck was fine. It’s just situational on who is pushing you and what lane is going. We had a fine truck, one that could have competed, but it just didn’t go our way today.”
JAKE GARCIA, No. 13 Quanta Services Ford F-150 – LOOKED LIKE A BAD PUSH INTO TURN ONE. “Yeah, definitely. Green flag pit stops like that everyone is trying to blend out towards the front, so I was leading the top lane there and it was just a push gone wrong because the intensity level was so high. I just want to thank everybody – all my guys, Quanta Services, Duke and Rhonda Thorson. I want to thank God for keeping me safe out there and just really fortunate to have this opportunity. I think we did a good job. I certainly learned a lot. This is like my first full superspeedway race and I definitely learned a lot, and I’m excited to close the year out strong.”
LAYNE RIGGS, No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford F-150 – IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE THERE. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun today. It was really my first superspeedway race ever and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot. It was really just interesting how it all works out, but I thought we had a really good strategy. We short-pitted it a little bit over the main pack and I think me and a lot of Toyotas lined up together and I was able to lead the pack, so that was pretty cool. I got to really run a little bit of everywhere in the field today. I felt good out there. We were working our way up there and I don’t know what happened above me, but I just got right-rear hooked into the wall. It was definitely the hardest hit of my life. It didn’t feel good, but it’s a good thing that NASCAR has such a good safety team and they keep me safe. I’m just super thankful to Love’s Travel Stops for sponsoring the race and our truck today. Infinity Communications for all they do – a lot of disaster relief, especially with the hurricanes right now. I’ll take it. I learned a lot today and that’s speedway racing. We all know it.”
BEN RHODES, No. 99 Kubota Ford F-150 – “It was a rough day at Talladega. It started out really well. We qualified the best we ever have for a superspeedway, so we made all of the right adjustments on our Ford F-150 to have good single truck speed, and actually I was very happy with what we were able to accomplish up until the wreck. We had the third lane going with just three trucks with us as the caboose pushing ourselves to the front. To run a third lane at Talladega and be having success at it, I think, speaks a lot about the program. That’s really hard to do. It’s just unfortunate we weren’t able to keep running. I think we could have made that work in the long run and found our way to the front. That’s obviously, the long way around and to do that is a testament to these Ford F-150s.”
WHAT WAS YOUR IMPRESSION OF WHAT HAPPENED AT THE START OF THE RACE WITH YOU GETTING PENALIZED? “It used to be that you couldn’t beat the leader to the line. That was the rule. This year, you can’t fire before the leader, but what ended up happening is that Sawalich was going late in the box. I got hit from behind by the 9 truck. He was ready to go and as he was pushing me it put my nose ahead of his and by the time Sawalich fired, I got in the gas. I gave the spot back, but obviously from the roof if must have looked like I went first, which I didn’t. I got hit from behind, but there’s only so much you can do for that, and that’s why I gave the spot back, hoping we’d be fine, but I guess they didn’t see it that way.”
