FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR NOTES AND QUOTES
Date: Friday, July 7, 2017
Event: Quaker State 400 (Cup Qualifying)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Kentucky Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
6th Ryan Blaney
7th Kevin Harvick
10th Brad Keselowski
11th Joey Logano
15th Kurt Busch
16th Clint Bowyer
17th Darrell Wallace Jr.
18th Ricky Stenhouse Jr
19th Trevor Bayne
20th Danica Patrick
26th David Ragan
30th Matt DiBenedetto
35th Landon Cassill
RYAN BLANEY, No. 21 , No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion — Qualified 6th
“I thought we had good speed in our car. I really wish we could have gotten one more shot at it because we were getting better and better but we didn’t get that third round, which stunk. I think our car has really good speed in it and we will see come tomorrow.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion — Qualified 7th
“I think I probably could have done a couple little things better than what I did in one and two on that lap. I don’t know that it would have been a lot better. We have battled all day. We didn’t get the car where we wanted to, so that went a lot better than I think we all anticipated, especially after the inspection issues we had happen. It was a good qualifying session and I am happy with the progress.”
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH INSPECTION? “I think sometimes it just lines up and it is your day. I think everybody knows and that is why nobody got mad, they just tried to fix the problem. You know it is going to happen at some point so you can’t get mad, you just move on. If you miss it, you miss it. You move on.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion — Qualified 10th
“It was just okay today. We really worked hard to get the most we could out of it. The guys did a nice job chasing it but we just needed some more. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to get that last round in.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil/Autotrader Ford Fusion — Qualified 11th
“I guess that is about where we were on speed in practice. I thought maybe we could be a tick better than that. After the first round we were fifth or so on the board. I kind of wish I had one more shot at it. I don’t think we would have been fast enough for the pole but I think we could have snuck into the top-five there with a good lap. My second round lap was so-so, not great. We will keep working to make it better.”
KURT BUSCH, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion — Qualified 15th
“We had just gone out and that was our third run on tires and that was the peak that our tires were going to give. I had to crack the throttle a bit off of Turn 2. You have to be right on it. We’ll start 15th and go from there.”
DARRELL WALLACE JR., No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion — Qualified 17th
“It was good. We kept gaining speed every time that we went out. We went out a little bit too late in the second round and we didn’t have enough time to cool it down. I’m really pleased with the speed in our Smithfield Ford. It’s been fun to be on track here at Kentucky. We always run good here and it’s showing.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion — Qualified 18th
“We got a little tight in 1 and 2. We’re trying to fix our car for 3 and 4. Everybody is struggling there. If you can get it right (there) you’ll be first like the 24 was (in Round 1). They looked really good going through there. We’re a little loose getting down into Turn 3. It’s a fine line because I’m a little too tight in 1 and 2. We’re just trying to find a good balance.”
HAS THE TRACKED CHANGED MUCH TODAY WITH THE COOLER WEATHER? “With the clouds rolling in, storms coming in, it’s gotten a lot cooler. The track gained grip. A lot of us went faster than we did in practice. The track has been faster. I wish just wish I could get more rear grip in Turn 3.”
TREVOR BAYNE, No. 6 Roush Performance Ford Fusion — Qualified 19th
“Man, I thought we nailed one and two the second round, first run, then I went into three and missed it and went up the race track and that hurt us. It probably cost us making the final round. We made big progress. We ran again the first round because of the rain coming in we didn’t know if that would be the end of it. I think we had a fast Ford, we just have to work on it in race trim to get it to run the bottom in three and four. The best guys can hold the yellow line. Hopefully our Roush Performance Ford will turn and we can go to the front.”
