The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will run Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway with hometown product Brad Keselowski and his racing team fielding a pair of entries with Ryan Blaney and current series leader Tyler Reddick. Both met with the media Friday morning ahead of track activity to talk about the weekend ahead.
RYAN BLANEY, No. 29 Cooper Standard Careers For Vets Ford F-150 – IT IS A BIG WEEKEND FOR BRAD KESELOWSKI RACING WITH COOPER STANDARD AND THE BRAD KESELOWSKI FOUNDATION HOSTING THE TRUCK RACE TOMORROW AFTERNOON. TALK ABOUT HAVING THE SPONSOR ON THE TRUCK AND EXPECTATIONS FOR THE WEEKEND. “It has been great for me to be back in Brad’s truck this year and I have been fortunate enough to be a part of this race since 2013 and Cooper Standard has been on the truck for all of them. We just started the Careers for Veterans truck last year and it is great they are back this year. They are having about 3,000 employees here tomorrow which is great. They do it every year and have a ton of people come out and the support they show and hospitality they give their employees is second to none. I am grateful to be back in that truck with such a great sponsor and great people and I know we will have a big cheering section.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 19 Draw-Tite Ford F-150 – YOU ARE MAKING YOUR TRACK DEBUT AT MICHIGAN, WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY ON A TRACK YOU’VE NEVER RUN ON BEFORE? “Fortunately for us the No. 19 has been good here in the past and both trucks were really fast here last year. My job will be pretty easy getting up to speed here. Ryan Blaney has run really good here and also had unfortunately had some back luck here too. He and Joey were both really fast here last year. We should be good here. Like I said, we had a really good shot last year but some things got in the way but we should be fast.”
A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO YOU DID THE DIRT RACE AT ELDORA, HOW MUCH DIFFERENT IS THAT FROM A CAR SETUP ASPECT?“Yeah, the dirt race is just so strange. The trucks just don’t run as good as a late model or sprint car run at Eldora. It is really fun to go and do that though. The trucks don’t get a lot of grip so it is just a constant battle for more traction and makes it really fun and a really intense battle. A lot of times you have to use someone else to get more traction out of the track, or the wall. It makes an exciting race and is a lot of fun to be a part of.”
RYAN BLANEY CONTINUED – HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO HAVE A FULL TIME CUP RIDE IN THE WORKS FOR 2016 AND WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT? “There isn’t much to say about it yet. We are trying hard to make that happen. Obviously that is the ultimate goal for everybody but you can’t focus on that now. We are here in Michigan and trying to go out and win this race and that would only help for next year. The best thing we can do is focus on the present and do our best in the remaining races this year and that will only help this year.”
TYLER REDDICK CONTINUED – YOU TOOK OVER THE POINTS LEAD AT POCONO, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TO MAINTAIN THAT LEAD? “The same thing we have done all year. We go into each race trying to get a top-five finish and if not win. That is what we will do the rest of the year and what we have done all year. It has gotten us two wins so far and a lot of good runs. We will keep doing that and try to win as many races as we can on the way to the end of the season.”
RYAN BLANEY CONTINUED – YOU ARE RUNNING DOUBLE DUTY THIS WEEKEND. HOW MUCH WILL THE TRUCK RACE TOMORROWHELP YOU FOR SUNDAY, IF AT ALL? “It will help a little bit. It is kind of different here running both. I feel like the Cup cars will be more similar to the trucks right now with this high drag package and we saw that in Indianapolis with the way they draft up to other cars. It is not as drastic as the trucks but has some similarities to it. It may be that the track changes temperature a little bit and see where your truck goes that you can apply forSunday. There are always some things you can take away from it. I wouldn’t say it is no help, it definitely helps some.”
