Ford Performance NXS Notes & Quotes:
Subway Firecracker 250 – Daytona International Speedway
NXS Post Race
Saturday, July 4, 2015
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
2nd ELLIOTT SADLER
6th DAKODA ARMSTRONG
12th CHRIS BUESCHER
13th RYAN REED
14th JOEY LOGANO
34th DARRELL WALLACE JR
35th ARIC ALMIROLA
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 60 Bit-O-Honey Ford Mustang (Finished 12th) – “Not at all the night we were looking for from our Bit-O-Honey Mustang. The speed was there, it was just a matter of getting in the right spot and I didn’t do a good job of that today. We nearly went a lap down through some pit stops and that was pretty lucky that we got a caution when we did. We were able to get back going and avoided the wreck initially but then got trunked from behind and at that point you are just along for the ride. The guys did a nice job fixing it and it was a good recovery considering where we were. To come home P12 isn’t bad. That is five superspeedway races with this car without having to do any work and I guess the odds were against us today. It is good to salvage that finish and get out of here with the points lead still.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang (Finished 14th) – “We had a pretty fast Discount Tire Ford Mustang, we just had to get position in the right spot and hook up with the right cars and we did at certain times. As soon as we got up there with the 1, it gets toward the end of the race and people want to race. The rest of the day, everyone was just riding around and I wanted to go but nobody wanted to go. At the end everyone started running and we got ourselves toward the front and then the 2 just misjudged it. He went to block us while we were pushing and that was a bad call on his part. It tore up a lot of race cars. I don’t know where we ended up but the guys worked as hard as they can to fix this thing and get us back out there.”
RYAN REED, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang (Finished 13th) – “I felt like we had the car to beat. We were taking our time in second there but we weren’t great on restarts. When we restarted in P2, I was a little worried about it but it just didn’t play out how we wanted to. I think we would have been alright because the 22 and I were working good together. He hung me out a little bit but the 3 picked us up and then I don’t really know what happened. The 3 left-reared us right in the tri-oval and got us loose and then mayhem broke out. It really sucks but I think that the biggest thing is I have to figure out how to restart better on the outside and then I wouldn’t be in that position. We ran up front all day long so it is a shame to be where we are at but the guys did a heck of a job to fix this thing and salvage a 13th place finish. I am proud of that and we had a fast Ford Mustang tonight.”
DARRELL WALLACE JR, No. 6 Cheez-It Ford Mustang (Finished 34th) — Involved in wreck on lap 90
“I hate this. The same thing happened last year at Talladega. I just got wrecked. I never cause them. It is always a product of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Cheez-It Mustang was fast, it just wasn’t our day. Me and the girlfriend will relax tomorrow and head down to Warped Tour and forget about this crap.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 98 Fresh from Florida Ford Mustang (Finished 35th) — Involved in wreck on lap 90
“I just saw some smoke and some sparks and some cars got turned into the wall. I went left and thought I would miss it and it actually cleared up for me and then cars shot back up the race track and I think I ran into the 6. The Fresh from Florida Ford Mustang isn’t looking too fresh right now. That stinks. The car was pretty good but we got stuck back in traffic and it was hard to get going. The 6 car just bounced off the wall and came back across the race track into us. It is unfortunate. Hopefully the bad luck is out of the way today and we will have a good race tomorrow night.”
ELLIOTT SADLER, No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford Mustang (Finished 2nd) – POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
“It was definitely a disappointing night for us. We were in the cat-bird seat there going into the back straightaway with Joey Logano pushing us and a lot of momentum off turn two and making our way to the front. I just think that Brian (Scott) or his spotter made the block call too late. I was already up to his right rear tire and he made the block too late and wrecked us. It wasn’t intentional, just racing but it stinks it happened to us. That is two restrictor plate races in a row that we were in really good shape with less than four to go and couldn’t pull it off. Tonight really stings because we were really fast, top four all night, and then the wreck happened. Second is our best finish of the year but it isn’t what we came to Daytona to do. We will have to take it and move on.”
AT THAT POINT IN THE RACE DO YOU EXPECT THE BLOCK? “Of course. You are supposed to block of you are leading but I think he just misjudged. I don’t know if he didn’t know if our closure rate was that fast or that we were running that much faster than he was and just tried to make the block. He came up a little bit just trying to bluff and then he went back to the bottom and then his spotter must have told him the top line was moving because he really came and when he did it was way too late. We had so much momentum I was trying to keep some air between he and I so he couldn’t drag me down and he just made a late block. It is what it is. It is frustrating. We have had I think eight problems in 14 races this year and felt like Daytona was a good one to get some things going our way but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
HOW BADLY DAMAGED WAS YOUR CAR? “We came out good. It knocked both front fenders in but my tire wasn’t flat so I wouldn’t pit early and I told Phil I wasn’t going to pit early and I wanted to restart where we were supposed to instead of the tail end. We thought we would be eighth or ninth and then when we started passing cars going back up from we got to restart behind Chase in fifth but the splitter was on the ground and both front fenders were knocked in so I knew I couldn’t lead unless it was right at the end. My plan was to push Chase and see what would happen. I got a run on the outside of him off of turn four but the guys did a good job putting it back together but tonight was a ‘what could have been’ race.”
HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO START THIS 15-RACE STRETCH ON A GOOD NOTE? “I think coming off a weekend off and Daytona is always kind of the first chapter of the next book, now is the time if you want to make a push and you need some momentum on your side. It is the last restrictor plate race and if you can get out of here, even though neither one of us are probably happy with the finish overall, but if you can get a second or third here it does build momentum. There are a lot of tracks we are heading too but now is that time to make that push. Anytime when you come to Daytona in July you look at it as starting that downhill toward Homestead. It is good to get a good first step and to start this 15 race stretch this way. It is important, yes.”
