Ford Performance NSCS Notes and Quotes
Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 – Pocono Raceway
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Ford Finishing Results:
4th – Joey Logano
12th – Greg Biffle
17th – Brad Keselowski
24th – Trevor Bayne
27th – David Gilliland
28th – Cole Whitt
30th – Brett Moffitt
41st – Sam Hornish Jr.
42nd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
43rd – Aric Almirola
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 17 Zest Ford Fusion – “The brakes were getting hot and we were having to pump them up. They kind of maintained the first run and everything felt OK. I was still having to pump it up and on that last run I was having to pump them up three or four times, and then when the 13 got into us down the back straightaway I was too busy catching it and too busy being sideways, and then once I finally caught it I didn’t have time to pump up the brakes and the brakes went to the floor. Then I was just trying to make it through the corner without hitting anybody else and tried to keep it out of the wall, but didn’t quite do it.”
ARIC ALMIROLA – No. 43 Nathan’s Famous Ford Fusion – WHAT PUT YOU IN HERE? “Something internal. It won’t run any more. It’s a shame. It was not a good weekend for us. We struggled all weekend finding speed in our car and right there we came in and made a pretty aggressive adjustment on that pit stop. Trent changed a lot of stuff and just on that one lap of the restart it drove a lot better and I had my hopes up for a minute and then my hopes got crushed. We had some sort of motor issue, so we’ll have to go back. Doug Yates and all the guys do an awesome job giving us great motors and this is just part of it. Every once in a while something happens.” HOW WAS THE RACING, ESPECIALLY WITH THE BUMPS IN TURN TWO? “I wasn’t a fan. The race track is extremely rough going across the tunnel. I don’t know if it was just the way we had our car set up or what, but it felt like I was in the Baja 1000 today.”
SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 9 Medallion Bank Ford Fusion – WHAT HAPPENED IN TURN ONE? “It actually happened on the straightaway. We must have run something over and cut down a left-front tire. Right before I got to the braking zone the left-front tire went down and started trying to turn in and there was nothing there. It’s unfortunate for us and our Medallion Bank Ford Fusion, but the hardest part about it is being able to see it coming for what felt like about five minutes, but I’m real glad about the safety that NASCAR has in these cars. It’s unfortunate for us. We were running OK, trying to be patient and make sure we made it to the end and something like that happens, but it can get anybody I guess.” WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE BUMP IN THE TUNNEL TURN TODAY? “I finally got my car good enough that I could kind of go around the outside of them a little bit and we picked up some time. It’s bumpy. It does affect how the car drives through there. I’m sure they’re gonna do something about it. I went out yesterday and looked at the tunnel and looked at what’s going on and I don’t think it has anything to do with what they did with the tunnel, I think it just has to do with age. Hopefully, they’ll be able to get it all remedied for us. I didn’t feel like they were as big of a deal in the race, but maybe it’s just because you were ready for it. I don’t think they’ve really caused anybody too much of a problem.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “I thought my team guys did a really, really good job making the most of a car that’s way behind what it needs to be to be a winner in this series. I’m proud of my team guys, the mechanics and pit group, and all the other parts need a lot of work.”
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – AN EVENTFUL DAY, BUT ARE YOU HAPPY WITH HOW IT FINISHED? “I’m happy with the way it ended. We didn’t have a very fast Shell/Pennzoil Ford from the get-go when we unloaded here, but we kept fighting hard. This was one of those blue-collar days, just working hard all day on the car and on pit road the guys did a good job making my car faster and got to where we were a top-five car at the end. We were maybe a little better than the 48, but nothing for the 4 and the 78. Those guys have been rocket ships each and every week and we’ve got to figure out a way to catch up to them – figure out what they’re doing or try to come up with our own way – something, but they’re really fast right now.” HOW WAS THE BUMP OVER THE TUNNEL? “My car sucked over them. That was our worst corner. In one and three I wasn’t bad, but the tunnel turn I was hanging on. The bumps are so big and our cars aren’t made to do this stuff. It rips the wheel right out of your hands quite a bit.”
TREVOR BAYNE – No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion – “We got through it and that was the main part for our first run here at Pocono. I felt at times we had a really good car and then the sun came out at the end and I just got way too tight off of turn three. I was really fast through one and really fast through the tunnel turn and I’d get to three and it would just give up the nose, so I couldn’t make passes. Early in the race I thought we had a top-15 car and Logano ran behind us for a while and they got their car better and were able to finish fourth, so if we could get on a roll like that it would be nice. But, overall, we kept a clean car and for the first time here I learned a ton. From where I started this week and getting to where we finished I think we made big gains. We got back on the lead lap there at the end and we just needed to be a little bit better off turn three and we would have had something for a top-15 run.” HOW WERE THE BUMPS IN THE TUNNEL TURN? “I saw some cars that were really bad, but mine actually wasn’t. Surprisingly, mine would go through the bumps pretty well. I was actually really happy with the changes they made last night to my race car. It was a totally different car than what I practiced all weekend, so it was a good job by those guys and we’ll just keep on going.”
