Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Food City 500 — Bristol Motor Speedway
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Ford Unofficial Finishing Results:
2nd – Ryan Blaney
6th – Todd Gilliland
7th – Joey Logano
8th – Ryan Preece
13th – Chris Buescher
14th – Brad Keselowski
16th – Austin Cindric
19th – Zane Smith
26th – Noah Gragson
32nd – Josh Berry
36th – Chad Finchum
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Before the last yellow I was side-by-side for the lead and I slipped into three and that kind of cost us a shot to get it before that last yellow. I thought I had a good restart, but the bottom was just hard to hit. I didn’t maybe get the best one and two the last lap and didn’t have a far enough position, and then I really got a good three and four coming to the checkered, but it was a little bit too late. I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but, overall, I’m really proud of the effort. I had a great day and got better all day. It’s definitely something to be proud of.” HOW WAS THE FEEL OF THE TIRES? “I thought it laid a lot of rubber down, which was good in the race, which was better than what we thought after practice, for sure. I thought it was good. It clumped the bottom like crazy. The top came in. I thought it was a pretty good tire personally. We’ve got to keep working on the car itself in dirty air, for sure, but I thought the tire was pretty good. It’s weird. I didn’t think it fell off a ton, but it clumped and put a lot of rubber down, so I don’t know what to think about that, but it was fun working through the rubber progression through the day.” ANYTHING ABOUT THE LAST RESTART OR FINAL LAP RACING WITH TY? “I got a good restart. I thought I got a really good restart. I just got done talking about the rubber clumps on the bottom. It was really hard to hit it right and I got a decent first lap. I didn’t get a great one and two the last lap and it didn’t kind of let me be even with Ty. I got a really good three and four the last lap, it just wasn’t quite enough. I’m not gonna throttle up and destroy somebody. I thought I got a pretty good restart, I just wish I would have maybe got a better lap, but it was so hard to do. It was easy to miss and I missed it. Honestly, I look back at where I lost the race was before the last yellow I slipped into three and was up the track when I was side-by-side with Ty and that really hurt us. It was a little too late.” WHAT IS THIS MOMENT LIKE FOR TY? “You never forget your first one, that’s for sure. Even though I’m bummed we didn’t win the race, I’m happy that Ty was able to get his first one because I remember what that was like and I remember the elation and the joy, especially when you’ve come close a handful of times, which he has. Honestly, Ty has dealt with a lot of criticism from the outside, and I feel like he’s handled it pretty well and it’s good to see that he’s been able to prove himself on the racetrack. You never forget that first one. I hope they have a good time.” HOW MUCH DO YOU LOOK BACK ON WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE IN A RACE LIKE THIS? “Yeah, I’ll pick through a little bit, but it was so hard to hit the bottom in three with pace. So many guys missed it all day and messed up. I’ll probably think about that corner more than any, but I don’t know if there’s really anything I could have done differently. I had to commit and I just probably missed my entry by about a foot and you miss the whole bottom and you slide up and it’s a handful. I’ll think about it a little bit tonight and forget about it tomorrow.” PIT ROAD WAS AN ISSUE AGAIN TODAY. “We’ve got to get it better for sure.”
TODD GILLILAND, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We weren’t great to start and that’s kind of how we were in practice, but it seemed like when the groove moved up to the top for us we were way better. It was like a different car It’s a pretty awesome day for us. To recover from qualifying 35th at Bristol is tough to do, so, honestly, I’m just so proud of my team. We’ve got to work on qualifying. I think a lot of it is on me. That’s not a great feeling to have as a driver, but I’m so proud of our fight today.” THE TWO TIRE CALL AND THEN THE LATE CAUTIONS. YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T WANT TO SEE THOSE AT THE END, RIGHT? “No, even before that last caution with like 30 to go I was fairly content. You hate to say that as a driver, but for the day that we had, I was content. I’m proud of my crew chief, Chris (Lawson) with those calls. We were on the same page for two tires. Immediately when the caution came out, I said, ‘I think two tires or even stay out here.’ I’m thankful he didn’t let me stay out, but two tires was definitely the right call and I’m just really proud.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Kroger/Muscle Milk Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We ended up eighth because we had a good restart with our Kroger/Muscle Mile Ford Mustang Dark Horse. On a green-white-checker we were able to take advantage and move forward, so that’s a good feeling. We’ve just got to find a way to break into that top five for those restarts because if we can be there, we’re just as good. It’s just when you start 10th or 12th to make up that ground is extremely difficult. They made great adjustments during the race and got our car in contention. The pit crew rebounded and did a great job, so we’re gonna work on putting it all together from practice to qualifying to the race and we’ll be fighting for the wins.”
