Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Mobil 1 301 Qualifying — New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Saturday, September 20, 2025

FORD MUSTANG SWEEPS TOP THREE QUALIFYING SPOTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

• Joey Logano won the pole for tomorrow’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
• Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry made it a Ford sweep by qualifying second and third, respectively.
• The pole is Logano’s second of the year (Atlanta-2) and 33rd of his career.

Ford Qualifying Results:

1st – Joey Logano
2nd – Ryan Blaney
3rd – Josh Berry
15th – Chris Buescher
17th – Brad Keselowski
20th – Zane Smith
22nd – Austin Cindric
23rd – Ryan Preece
31st – Cole Custer
33rd – Noah Gragson
35th – Cody Ware
36th – Todd Gilliland

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

BEING A NEW ENGLAND DRIVER, RYAN PREECE SAID BECAUSE OF THE GEOGRAPHY IT’S HARDER FOR DRIVERS TO GET NOTICED FROM HERE. DO YOU AGREE? “He’s probably right. With that said, there is an incredible history of New England and motorsports. If you want to know what it is, Dick Berggren has done a pretty good job virtually up the road from here at a really cool museum that can show you a lot of that. There’s a lot of great racers that have come from here. We were talking about it in our hauler today. Of the road crew we have, I think at least five of them are from up this way, so there’s only seven or eight, so it’s not that many – the majority are that way. I don’t know why it’s like that, but it’s the team that I’ve had around me for a while. I think all of us when we come up here we really want to perform because it’s home. You’re representing New England, to your point, if it may be harder for people to make it in NASCAR. I mean, most of the time you’ve got to move to Charlotte no matter where you’re from. You have to move to Charlotte if you want to do it right because that’s where all the race teams are. You have to do it. So, yeah, you have to move and that makes it tough, but when you come home you want to be able to show what you can do, so you feel like you’re representing everyone up here.”

WHERE WAS THE EMOTION COMING FROM WHEN YOU WON THE POLE? “I like winning (laughing). That part hasn’t changed over the year. It’s hard. It’s honestly become harder over the years, just because the field is so close and I think part of the emotion is it’s New Hampshire. For me it means a lot and the other part is I just got out of the car. It’s one thing if you’re like Josh and you have to sit there the whole time and watch. It’s more of a relief when you win the pole. It’s because you sat there and your adrenaline is gone and you’re just chilling and you’re just watching, nervous the whole time. This was like I just got out of the car and I’m still shaking. I haven’t calmed down yet. And the other piece of it, like I said it’s New Hampshire, but the fans cheer for me (laughter). It’s freaking cool. That doesn’t happen everywhere. It’s like just here, so I love that. It’s a little bit more exciting when you’re able to win the pole when the whole grandstand is happy for you. That’s kind of neat.”

THE FORDS LOOK STRONG TODAY AND EVERYONE SAYS YOU’RE THE ONES TO BEAT. HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DOES IT GIVE YOU TO BE UP FRONT AND THE RACE? “I think we’ve got a good shot there’s no doubt. When I look at Loudon on the schedule, I feel like it’s one of those racetracks that’s in our wheelhouse – flat one-mile type tracks seems like it’s a Team Penske kind of thing. Hopefully, we can translate this pole into a win because that’s what really matters. This is just a good starting spot. There are no points for it and it’s really about the points or getting a win and moving onto the next round no matter how you do it. I do think we have a great shot at it. The 12 looked really fast. I think we can get there with some adjustments, hopefully, and be able to compete with him, but with that said the 24 looked pretty strong too. There are some other cars that are definitely in the mix, so we’ve got to be perfect. That’s how it is to win these races these days. Everyone is close. It’s not like someone is just two-tenths faster than the field like we’ve seen here in the old car. First to 20th is pretty close, so a lot of times you can put the best car and put it 20th and it’s gonna run 20th. It’s just really hard to move through the field when everyone is running the same speed, so you’ve just got to be really good. We’ve got the track position to start. There’s a lot of opportunities in this race if cautions fall in interesting places where two tires are options, no tires. We’ve seen that happen a lot here, where the field can get jumbled out pretty quickly, so you’ve got to be great on strategy, which I’ve got a really good team when it comes to that piece of it.”

WHAT WAS MORE PREDICTABLE – GATEWAY OR HERE? WERE YOU CONCERNED COMING HERE BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE SPEED AT GATEWAY? “I guess after Gateway you’re a little concerned saying, ‘Hmm, what’s going on?’ But you also know that Loudon is different than Gateway. There are characteristics that are similar, but if you look at one and two at Gateway, it’s nothing like Loudon. It’s not even close. Three and four is somewhat like it, but even then it’s really not like Loudon. This is a different beast here, so I still felt pretty solid about this weekend. Flying up here I was like, ‘If we don’t have speed here, I’m gonna be really confused.’ Because the test went well. I really feel like we should be fast when we got here and I’m glad we are.”

HOW NICE IS IT TO BE HERE THIS WEEKEND AND TO HAVE IT AS THE FIRST RACE OF THE SECOND ROUND? “Like I said, I love coming up here because it’s home. You feel that as soon as you get off the airplane. The weather, looking around, just the way the buildings look. You’re used to that, so it’s fun to see all that stuff. Even this morning I was watching the modified race with my oldest son and you just kind of go back. He’s seven. I was seven the first time I came here and I remember watching at the time it was the Busch North Series and watching my first Cup race and have my family all camped out here. I don’t know. I was watching the race with him this morning and I was like, ‘This is pretty cool.’ It was kind of a full circle moment. The weather was similar that weekend. There’s not many memories as a seven year old that probably any of us can remember, but you remember your first NASCAR race, and I thought that was really neat this morning. I was just reflecting on that a little bit, but obviously a special day to end it with a pole on top of that. I’m sorry to get sentimental on you guys, but I do think that was kind of neat. It’s always been a special place for me, whether it’s watching my first race, starting my first Cup race here, winning my first Cup race here. There are so many great memories here.”

IT’S THE FIRST TIME HERE IN SEPTEMBER WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR. HOW DOES IT TRANSLATE FROM RACING IN THE JULY HEAT TO NOW? “It’s a lot of comparisons you’ve asked for there. The car is way different. There are no comparisons to the cars. Even the last race here to this race is quite a bit different because the tire is a lot different. There’s some more fall off in the tire. It seems like the track is pretty wide. You saw in practice they were already above the sealer, so they were like in the fourth lane up there, so I expect tomorrow that a lot of the cars will move way up there. There’s plenty of room to race. You can race below the yellow line to the fourth lane, which is pretty impressive if you think about that. It’s a pretty racy racetrack, so I think everyone is in for a good race tomorrow.”

ARE THERE SHARED CHARACTERISTICS IN A TEAM THAT YOU RECOGNIZE ABOUT THIS YEAR THAT YOU HAD IN THOSE OTHER CHAMPIONSHIP 4 SEASONS? “Yeah. I feel like it’s almost been the same every time, where we just seem like we’re a grind it out kind of race team. We just keep plugging away and winning the races that matter and capitalizing on situations when we can and even if we’re not the fastest car, a lot of times we’re able to somehow manipulate something to put ourselves in position. It’s so cliche’ – never quit – but it seems like our team just keeps grinding and grinding and eventually you find yourself there. There’s something to say for us being consistent and prepping the same way and doing everything all-out all the time. You might not see the rewards immediately, but over time you start to see some of that. I think that’s just the kind of team we are. You just keep going. You keep asking the hard questions. You keep challenging yourself. You challenge your teammates. It’s not fun to do it that way. It would be enjoyable just to show up to the racetrack and drive in circles. Sure, that would be fun, but I don’t find that being great either because I want to win.”

DO YOU RELISH PEOPLE ROOTING AGAINST YOU FOR WHATEVER REASON? “I dread the day they don’t say anything. That’s the worst part, and I don’t understand it because I don’t know why. I wish I understood why a little bit more. I feel like I’m misunderstood a lot of times. I think the industry knows me really well and the kind of person I am. I don’t know if all the fans understand the kind of person I am or don’t understand how you can race one way and be happy all the other times. It doesn’t add up. I guess that’s the only reason I can try to understand it. I don’t understand it completely, but there is a lot of 22 fans out there. As a society, we focus too much on the haters. We just do that in general and a lot of times it’s just louder than cheers, but when you look at whatever it is – sales in the merch haulers or if you just look in the grandstands, there’s a lot of yellow stuff out there. There’s a lot of Shell/Pennzoil stuff out there. Although we do talk about about the haters too much, there’s a lot of 22 fans out there and I’m happy to have every one of them. Like I said, though, it is neat when I do come to Loudon because I am representing, I feel like, everyone who lives around here. I feel like you’ve got to root for the hometown guy. You’ve got to do that and it’s fun to enjoy that piece of it. It’s the only time I ever feel a little bit like Dale Jr. – just a little bit. It’s super cool. It’s really neat to be Dale Jr. I’ve learned.”

DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE POINTS AT THE START OF THE ROUND WITH THE SAME LEVEL OF IMPORTANCE AS THE END OF THE ROUND? “I look at them all the time. I can’t obviously look at them live like everyone else can, but I can put two and two together inside the race car and see where certain cars are running and have an idea of where I’m at. I think everybody races that way. Maybe some drivers say that they don’t do that. I don’t know how you can’t because the goal is to win the championship, so why wouldn’t you pay attention to it? Like, it’s the biggest thing you can do, so why wouldn’t you focus the most on that? That’s always been my opinion.”

COULD YOU FEEL THAT THE TIRE YOU LIKED DURING THE TEST IS THE ONE OUT THERE NOW? “Yeah, it’s the one that everybody kind of went with. There was another tire that fell off a lot, and I kind of was leaning like, ‘Hey, let’s give it a shot.’ It would have been pretty risky to do, especially in the playoffs. If it doesn’t work out, it could be a total fiasco, but it was pretty cool to see that Goodyear can build a tire like that and probably just be able to develop that a little bit more and build some more confidence in running something like that. There was a tire we ran that 40 laps, you had to manage the tire to make it 40. I like that. Look at what happened in Bristol last week. I think everybody likes it. As a driver, I thought it was awesome. I think a lot of fans loved it. You want to create passing and differences in speed and your decisions mattering more, that was pretty fun.”

DID YOU EXPECT TO WIN THE POLE AND HOW THE FORDS ARE LOOKING GOOD HERE? “You always hope. The expectation is to win all the time. That’s why I’m here. That’s why Paul is here. That’s why Roger is here and expects that from us is to win, so the expectation is always to be first. It’s a hard sport. What other sport is there a 1 in 40 chance to make that happen? It’s pretty tough. You don’t get that very often, so it’s enjoyable when you’re able to do that. Like I said, Loudon, we expect to be fast here. Paul has always had fast cars here. The last few years our cars have been really fast. We haven’t capitalized on it, but we’ve had speed that is good enough to win the last few races here, so hopefully we’re able to have a nice, smooth race tomorrow and maintain that track position.”

YOU GUYS SEEM TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TIME WHEN YOU TEST. HOW METHODICAL IS PAUL THAT YOU GUYS LEARN SO MUCH SO QUICK? “I would give the credit to Paul with that. Paul is one of the most disciplined people you’ve probably ever met on every aspect of his life. You can look at him and tell. Everything is perfect. Everything has a place. He eats a certain way. He works out a certain way. Everything is just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. This is how the guy lives his life. When you put that type of discipline towards a test, it’s very methodical. You just do it this way and that’s the way we’re gonna do it. That paired with the experience that Paul has and I have as well, to be able to see through some of the BS when you’re at a test. I mean, there is some of that. Your track may not be completely rubbered up. There are a lot of different variables that are there, so being able to cut through all that to be able to see the clear picture and get some clear answers, he does a really good job of that.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That was pretty terrible, actually. It’s a track position racetrack and it’s frustrating to not quite get a good enough lap to set us up well for points. We kind of needed to maximize every stage of the game here and we’ve been behind compared to the competition.” HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT PRACTICE? “Our first run was pretty far off and made some good adjustments and we were able to get our Autotrader Ford Mustang turning definitely a lot better across the center and probably just overshot it in qualifying too loose.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Libman Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I think all of our cars are pretty close. I thought we all had good practice sessions. I was happy with my race run and to qualify on the front row is really good, so it’s a huge testament to everybody. The 22 group got to do the tire test up here and I feel like we learned a little bit off of that and then building off of it and applying it to all of your teams. I think the 2 would have been right up there with us if he didn’t have his moment off of four, but, overall, it was a good day. I’m proud of the whole team effort.” SOME DRIVERS SAID THE PENSKE CARS ARE IN THEIR OWN ZIP CODE. DOES IT FEEL THAT WAY? “No, I don’t ever feel that way. You’re just trying to piece your weekend together and then piece together your day to day. We did a good job today and now can we do a good job tomorrow? I definitely think our cars are fast. There’s a couple others that stood out to me as well through practice that are really good, so it’s just a matter of trying to run 301 laps around here tomorrow. I’m just proud that we’re in the game.” DOES THE PACKAGE FEEL SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT WITH THE TIRE CONSTRUCTION CHANGE? “A little bit, yeah. I feel like you can kind of piss your right-rear off pretty easy. It feels like it spins the tire more on exit, so that’s good. Hopefully, that continues to go that way during the race. I think it will, so, yeah, I think they’ve made an improvement with the tire as far as it falling off and can kind of make it angry, so that’s a good start.” DOES THE COLDER WEATHER OFFSET THAT? “Yeah, maybe a little bit. I’ve got to think it’s colder up here right now than what it was at the test when they ran this tire, so it surprised me how chilly it was when I got here this morning, but, yeah, it might offset it a little bit, but I still think it’s the right direction to go, for sure.”

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was a really solid lap, for sure for going out that early. I felt like it was a pretty good lap, but I definitely didn’t expect it to hold on for as long as it did. I started to get a little nervous there watching those guys at the end seeing how close it was getting, but the credit goes to these guys for the car they brought. To come here and qualify third after the last three weeks we’ve had proves that we’re doing the right things and we have the speed and, like I said, we just need some things to go our way tomorrow.” WAS ROLLING THE SPEED THROUGH THE CORNER THE KEY TODAY? “Yeah, I think so. I think your entry speed and just rolling through the first part of the corner is so important here, especially in qualifying and I felt like our car did that really well in practice. Obviously, in qualifying you’re just trying to guess at what the grip is and I felt like I did a pretty good job. I was happy with it and I’m excited for tomorrow.” HOW DO YOU PLAY SPOILER NOW? “I think, for one, we just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We’re showing up with good cars and executing on Saturdays and qualifying well and being up towards the front. Obviously, we have the benefit tomorrow that we don’t have to worry about stage points or anything like that, so maybe that opportunity will present itself where we can flip a stage or something and keep our track position and take advantage of that. We’re a long way from the end of these races and I’m just excited to have a good starting spot.”

Toyota GAZOO Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

LOUDON, N.H. (September 20, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Do you have any news to tell us this year like you did last year here at New Hampshire?

“Thankfully, this year’s race is a little bit later on in the year, so I think all of the silly season stuff is behind us (laughter). But, yeah, it was right here in this seat, and I do not have any news to share.”

How much do you think the tire test will help you here?

“I do think anytime you get track time is valuable. NASCAR does a pretty good job of making sure that it’s not just an open test. We do get to come here, we do get laps on the race track, but for the most part you’re just working on evaluating tires and not really a bunch of car performance stuff. So, I think that the race is going to probably play out a little bit different than years past just because the tire that they’re bringing is expected to have a little bit more tire deg than what we’ve raced here in the past. So, the tire strategy is probably going to be called a little bit differently than what we’ve had in the past. But, yeah, at the test, we were not the fastest one here for sure. I’m glad that we weren’t racing that day in July at the tire test and hopefully we made performance gains. I think that the cars are really good – now. They are really good now. I think we’ve made an uptick in performance now versus what we had in the tire test, but I’m sure the rest of the competitors could say the same thing.”

What is the vibe within your race team this week after your win at Bristol?

“Certainly, winning helps but we didn’t lead laps. Once again, I won a race, but I didn’t lead laps which is okay. I will gladly take that. Last week was just such unique circumstances. We kind of won the lottery last week. Whoever won that race was going to have to have a substantial amount of luck and fortunately it was on our side. But I don’t know. I think we had a great car, but I think a lot of people would’ve said the same thing, and we got really fortunate last week. So, it was kind of a unique circumstance that played out. So, I don’t know that it necessarily was a true test of where the teams stack up.”

Were you excited when the schedule for this year came out and New Hampshire was a Playoff race?

“I was definitely excited whenever the schedule came out and I saw that Loudon was a Playoff race. It made me very optimistic about it and obviously this is a great track for me. You need to start out the rounds with a positive race and certainly this is a place that we should lead laps and should contend for the win. And, if you’re putting yourselves in that position where you are leading laps and you are contending for the win, even if you don’t win, you get enough points. Which is a different mentality than in the Round of 8. In the Round of 8 you really need to win, but in the Round of 12 getting through here with a lot of points – that’s the goal.”

What’s the temperature like at Joe Gibbs Racing?

“Certainly, we’re feeling good. Joe Gibbs Racing has asserted themselves as the powerhouse team in the sport right now so we’re loving life. Absolutely. We know we’re in a good spot and we’re just trying to keep the ball rolling. It’s a week by week basis and the schedule certainly lays out really well for the Toyotas to run well for a little bit here and hopefully we can do that. But, certainly, we’re all super happy and thrilled with how it’s going.”

What is the biggest challenge in the Round of 12?

“I think, you look at the race tracks on paper and they say that we should be really good at all of these tracks, and we should be able to have good performance. The toughest thing is just going to be going out there and doing it and not eliminating yourself. I think that all of us, myself, Denny (Hamlin) and Chase (Briscoe) – even Bubba (Wallace) and Tyler (Reddick) – all of the Toyotas, they’re going to have speed. We’re going to be capable so just got to dot your i’s and cross your t’s and do your job. I think if it’s up to car performance, we’ll probably be fine but the execution side and finishing the races out, making sure that you make the right decisions on restarts, the right strategy calls, not making mistakes on long green flag runs – stuff like that — is going to be the difference maker in the Round of 12.”

Are you surprised that Toyota is not just winning but dominating the Playoffs statistically and how much confidence does that give you?

“It’s pretty impressive. I don’t think any of us expected the Round of 16 to start the way that it did. It’s just a credit to the Joe Gibbs Racing folks and Toyota and Toyota Racing Development (TRD). It’s not an overnight thing. It’s a lot of effort put in by a lot of different people that have gave us the performance that we have and then once you have that performance it comes down to the teams executing the races and doing the right thing. The 19 team with Chase (Briscoe) and James (Small, 19 crew chief), they did incredible. That Darlington performance was one of the best performances that we’ve seen in a long time. To qualify on the pole at the Southern 500 and lead and just dominate the race like that. That was absolutely phenomenal. Then – Denny (Hamlin) – I don’t think he had the best car at St. Louis, but him and (Chris) Gayle (11 crew chief) did a great job playing the strategy right and were there whenever it mattered the most. So, it’s just – I don’t think that any of us pictured it going the way that it has, but we know that we’re in a good spot.”

What’s the hardest part of the Playoffs for you?

“Surviving Talladega. That’s been the hardest part every year. I don’t know if it’s fortunately or unfortunately, now it’s moved a little bit later on in the schedule so fortunately I don’t have to deal with it now. Unfortunately, and hopefully, I have to deal with it later. Talladega has always been the toughest one. Last year we had Atlanta in there so certainly this year the additions of Gateway and Loudon into the Playoffs were something that I was super excited about. And, yeah, Talladega has been the one that’s always the fearful one for me and I don’t know if it’s good or bad that it’s later on in the year this year.”

How have you learned to handle the highs and the lows that you’ve experienced in the Playoffs and how have they shaped you?

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s hardened my heart a little bit. Yeah, certainly I don’t know – certainly Martinsville 2024 was the bottom of how I’ve ever felt in my professional career. And, yeah, Martinsville 2022 was probably the highest I’ve ever felt in my professional career. I don’t know. I guess it just kind of mellows you out a little bit and you understand that no matter what happens come February we’re all going to be chasing the Cup back there again. Yeah, I don’t know. I guess the more you do it, the more experience you have with it, it becomes more natural, it becomes more normal, and you know what to expect. So, hopefully I have the ends covered from winning and advancement in 2022 and then the being in and not advancing in 2024. I think all of it is probably filling in in the middle there on the emotional spectrum.”

Has what you’ve gone through in the Playoffs run you through the ringer?

“It has for sure. I don’t know. I love where we’re at and obviously I’m glad that we’re on a positive, but you never know what the next week brings. I don’t know. I feel like maybe Adam (Stevens, crew chief) does a little bit better job of managing the highs and lows than I do. But, yeah, it’s – I don’t know. You always ask the deep questions. That’s a good one. That one stumped me a little bit, but I certainly have the highs and lows covered throughout my career so far.”

Can the current form of your race team win the championship and if you feel like you can’t, what’s the biggest thing you need to see happen to make it to Phoenix?

“So, actually, I can answer this one pretty clearly. What we have to do better, is we’ve got to start qualifying better. That is mission critical. Oh, my goodness. All of us are – we’re frustrated a little bit of how we’ve qualifying especially compared to our team cars. I say that because the team cars are the barometer. If the team cars are qualifying well, then you should be qualifying well too. And, through the summer months, we couldn’t even put it in the top 10. We’ve made gains on our qualifying performance and now it seems like we can consistently put it in the top 10, but our teammates are consistently putting it on the front row. Whenever you get deeper into the Playoffs, you have to be scoring stage points, and a lot of the stage points are dictated by your qualifying effort. So, yeah, that’s mission critical. We’ve got to start qualifying better, and along the lines of qualifying better, that’s how you lead laps. I think a lot of it stems from the qualifying and that’s probably the biggest performance gain that we need to go out there and be one of the top contenders. I feel like our race performance has been on par with most of our competitors, it’s just we’re starting from a hole after Saturday.”

What are you not able to do in qualifying to get the result?

“There definitely has been a consistent theme through our qualifying sessions the past handful of races and probably months. It just comes down to car balance. We have the capability and the teammates are showing we have the capability if we just get it right. And, we just have been off a little bit, and it doesn’t take much to be a couple positions back. Our teammates have just been hitting it and getting the good qualifying results. We’re missing a little bit. Some of it has been on the balance side and some of it has been on the driving side as well. All of us – myself, Adam (Stevens, crew chief), the engineers, we all have to just buckle down and improve that if we want to go deeper here.”

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