Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
YellaWood 500 Media Bullpen – Talladega Superspeedway
Saturday, October 18, 2025
A group of Ford Mustang drivers took question from the media as part of the scheduled bullpen session ahead of this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT PREPARATION DURING THE WEEK HELPS YOU SUCCEED AT THIS TRACK? “I think it starts with fast cars. Ford has done a good job of understanding what it takes to go fast here, and Roush Yates Engines always does a good job of bringing some good horsepower to these places and that’s where it started. And then it continues over to communication and teamwork within our building, and kind of how the drivers talk to each other, how the crew chiefs communicate, and things like that. So all the little pieces come together and I just feel like we do a great job. I can’t speak for anyone else but I just know in our building that the prep work is top notch and those fast cars always help us too.”
HOW OFTEN DO YOU DISCUSS WITH YOUR TEAMMATES HOW TO BEST SUPPORT EACH OTHER WHEN DRIVING ON A DRAFTING TRACK? “We talked about it a little bit. I feel like it’s just a lot of racing around each other, right? You kind of understand what tendencies that everybody has, but you know your teammates a little bit more because you do sit down at meetings and just kind of go through it. Like asking each other what our thinking was behind certain decisions just to understand their thought process more. I think we just have to communicate that out and make everyone better. I know how Joey and Austin run these places really well and I’m getting to know Josh more and more at these places, just that he’s newer to the program. But you learn that stuff pretty quick. And I feel that if all that information is shared between your teammates and stuff, it just helps you be on the same page a little bit easier. And that kind of makes the teamwork side flow a little bit more naturally.”
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO MINIMIZE MISTAKES ON DRAFTING TRACKS? “I probably still make some, for sure, everyone does at some point. I think it just takes time to figure it out. And I talked earlier this week about trying to be as patient as I can at these places. I always try to let my mind know that I have another shot at this. And maybe I don’t get it, but that’s the way I’ve always approached these races. I try not to get too antsy and just try to be a little bit more patient. Most of the time, something will develop where you do have another shot at it, but it takes a long time. I got to learn from a couple of really good guys too, you know, Brad and Joey coming up around those guys and being their teammate, I think they’re two of the best who have done these deals. And I was able to watch a lot of guys early in my career like Denny and Dale Jr., who were fantastic at these types of racetracks, and that’s where I kind of learned from them and applied my own taste to it.”
HOW DO YOU PUT BEHIND WHAT HAPPENED AT LAS VEGAS LAST WEEKEND AND FOCUS ON REBOUNDING? “I try to tell myself that you can be upset about something, and I allow myself to be upset about it until I wake up on Monday morning, but after that, you do whatever you have to do. When the new week comes and you open your eyes you just gotta be fully focused on the next week, and I think all of the guys on our team do a good job of that. That just comes with time and experience and getting older, and if it’s something like the Vegas thing, I just gotta smooth past it. Otherwise, it just takes your mentality off what’s next. I’m just thinking about what I have to do now and go figure out what I have to do to get myself out of this hole or position.”
DO YOU LIKE RACING AT TALLADEGA? “Yeah. This place has been good to me and it has been bad to me. That’s what these drafting style tracks are gonna do to you. But I’ve always come with the mindset of enjoying Daytona, Talladega or Atlanta nowadays and I’m gonna enjoy this type of racing. I’ve never understood the guys who go to a place and they hate it. You’re kind of behind the eight ball when your mentality is not in a good spot before the weekend. I just always think of each time as a different race, speedway racing is different from everywhere else but I’m just gonna go enjoy it and try our best. Whatever happens happens, and that’s the way I go about being everywhere. And people can get pretty down and not look forward to racing here and I just have never really understood that before you even unload.”
WHAT MAKES TALLADEGA SO SPECIAL? “I came here a lot as a kid. I remember seeing these guys four wide, ten rows deep, and watching my Dad do it always fascinated me. I mean, the on track stuff and the good days and the bad days, they are what they are. I think the community around here is pretty neat. I haven’t had a night out on the Boulevard in a while, but I think that’s just cool that everybody comes together and camps and has a good time. There’s always good concerts. And Dad always had good runs here too, got a top five a couple of times in 2011 and 2012 and I was a young adult by then. But it’s always just been a unique place for me and the history behind this place and how they built it in such a short amount of time, it just has a lot of cool history to it.
DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE TO CUT INTO THE POINTS DEFICIT? “I don’t think going into this weekend that I’m in must win right now. Some things can happen during this race and I can have a big day short of winning, and it can flip. You know, I went to Vegas six above and now I’m 31 back and I can make a lot of that up. It just depends on how the race goes. The mission is always to gather stage points and put yourself in a spot to have a good run at the end of the day. Martinsville then will kind of decide, and it could be decided by the end of the first stage whether this is a must win scenario or not, so you just got to see how the race plays out.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PHOENIX REMAINING IN CHAMPIONSHIP HOST ROTATION? “I think they should stay in rotation. I think you can rotate it between Phoenix, Miami, also Kansas would make a good race, Vegas would be a good spot too. So there’s a handful of tracks that you can rotate in.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 21 eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU TAKE IN ACCOUNT THE DIFFERENCES IN STAKES FOR PLAYOFF DRIVERS? “We all want to do what we can and we’ve done a good job working together on superspeedways anyways. This is not really something that’s new, it’s just higher stakes for those guys.”
ARE THERE CONVERSATIONS THIS WEEK ABOUT THE EMPHASIS BEING ON RYAN AND JOEY? “I think we know the situation. We just want to help those guys the best we can, and hopefully if one of us is up front then one of us can get it.”
WHAT HAS IT MEANT TO RUN IN THIS CAR AND TO BE A PART OF THIS ORGANIZATION WITH WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED THIS YEAR? “Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun, going to victory lane and being in contention for several races, it’s been a lot of fun working with Wood Brothers. I feel like it has been a great fit for all of us and I think more about the missed opportunities than anything. When I look back at it, we had things out of our control and we’ve made mistakes, and it just feels like there is so much potential with our group and I’m excited to build off that.”
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU DO DURING THE WEEK TO PREPARE AND ON TRACK THAT SEPARATES YOUR TEAM FROM OTHERS? “I think we just try to talk a lot about it beforehand and just try to stay committed to working with each other. I think it’s important to have friends in this style of racing, and obviously our cars are really fast. I’m sure we’ll be up front this weekend and we have to use that to our advantage and maximize that.”
HOW IN DEPTH DO YOU TALK ABOUT HOW THE OTHER FORD DRIVERS DRIVE EACH DIFFERENT TRACK? “I’m still adapting to all of that, with this being our sixth race together with them on a drafting track, and I’m just trying to listen to what they say and apply that to my own studying and process and learn from those guys as much as I can.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Trimble Ford Mustang Dark Horse –HOW MUCH DO YOU LEARN BEING A PART OF THIS ORGANIZATION IN RACES LIKE THESE RUNNING AT THE FRONT? “It’s just a different mindset, and that’s the challenging thing that I don’t think people in the media understand, that we’re told to do certain things at times. And some of those things are telling us whether or not to race for stage points or if our priority is to be there at the end. Because, for most of the season, if you win at that race, you’re locked into the playoffs and that can change your entire season. So that’s just the mindset and where it is now, do your rack up stage points or try to go for the win.”
IS THAT THE SAME INTENSITY THIS WEEKEND WHILE OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah. I’m going to try to win, absolutely. I wouldn’t wait around in the back and play it safe. I’m a big believer in not changing things if they’re working for us, because unless someone has a big block or a wreck in the first two stages there shouldn’t be a wreck. A lot of that typically happens when things ramp up and get more aggressive, so I’m just gonna race it.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Kroger/Thomas’ High Protein Bagels Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT IS YOUR MENTALITY GOING INTO THE RACE HERE AT TALLADEGA? “Lots of options during the race and it’s all guesswork. Ultimately, we know we’re coming into this thing and you’ve gotta be there at the end and survive all the chaos. And fortunately at Talladega, you have more lanes, so that you can stay clear and make more passes at times to kind of work around the fuel saving side of things. It’s this big speedway racing that can be a little frustrating at times, but we’re all playing the same game and it’ll be chaos as usual.”
DO YOU THINK THE POSSIBILITY OF RAIN TOMORROW MORNING WILL PLAY INTO THE TRACK TEMPERATURE? “I don’t think so. Even if it does rain, the track temps are pretty mild when you look at it, so I don’t feel like handling is going to be much of an issue at all no matter what. So with the rain and the temperatures going down a bit more, I couldn’t see it being a big factor tomorrow.”
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF GOING TO TALLADEGA? “It’s always fun to come in and see the infield packed out. You always got concerts on Saturday night for everyone to go see there, so I think it’s just a fun place to come to. And we don’t get on the track very much except for only one lap in the first two days so we get some time to explore the area. It’s just been a place where we’ve enjoyed throughout the years to travel to. I got some really good friends I met back in the ARCA days I usually get to touch base with as well and hang out with.”
