Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Coke Zero 400 (Daytona International Speedway)
Sunday July 6, 2014
FORD AND FUSION WIN THIRD STRAIGHT BEHIND ARIC ALMIROLA AT DAYTONA
Aric Almirola’s win today was the first of his career and the first of the season for Richard Petty Motorsports
The win is Ford’s third straight. The last time Ford won three-straight Cup races was 2005 when Greg Biffle won Dover (June 5) and Michigan (June 19) bookending a Carl Edwards Pocono (June 12) victory.
The win is the seventh of the season for Ford Racing, equaling the most wins for Ford since 2011.
The win is Ford’s 625th all-time series victory and the third by Richard Petty Motorsports with Ford.
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
1st Aric Almirola
10th Marcos Ambrose
17th Joey Logano
18th Brad Keselowski
22nd David Ragan
29th Greg Biffle
35th David Gilliland
37th Carl Edwards
38th Trevor Bayne
41st Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 43 US Air Force Ford Fusion – FINISHED 1st (VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW)
“I grew up two hours away from here in Tampa and I grew up in those stands watching Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s and grew up dreaming about what it would be like to win here. I can’t believe I just took the 43 car to victory lane here at Daytona. This is amazing.” AND YOU NOW HAVE A CHANCE AT THE CHASE. “Yes, and deservedly so for this race team. We have had good cars, top-10 cars. We have been right where we need to be to be competitive but just haven’t gotten to that next level. This is so cool to get this team and all these guys behind me that have been working on this race team for a long time and haven’t gotten to victory lane with the 43 car, this is so special. I wish my wife and kids were here. They contemplated coming but decided not to come. I wish they were here so bad. This is so awesome.”
MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 DeWalt Wounded Warrior Project Ford Fusion – FINISHED 10th
“We were backwards, sideways, and through the grass here. The front got torn off and we are still in the top-10. We got our teammate Aric in the Air Force car the win. We were praying for rain. If I knew how to do a rain dance I would have. I just really glad the red flag came out here and Richard Petty Motorsports got this win. Aric has done a great job today and deserved to win this race. On the DeWalt side, we were digging hard. The front end was pushed down and on the race track so it didn’t turn very well but we were hanging tough and in the top-10.”
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE? “It was mega-hot in my race car. I don’t know what it is but it is the hottest race car I have ever had and I have been in some hot cars in my time behind the wheel. The heat was incredible. For me it is about keeping hydrated and staying cool. We were so torn up. We were in both the crashes but still were able to drag a top-10 out of it.”
