Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Saturday, September 28, 2019
EVENT: Drive for the Cure 250, Charlotte Motor Speedway
Ford Finishing Order:
3rd – Austin Cindric
8th – Cole Custer
9th – Chase Briscoe
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Autodesk Fusion 360 Ford Mustang – DID YOU KNOW YOU HAD TO BE MORE CAUTIOUS AFTER YOU GOT MIXED UP IN THE BACK OR WERE YOU TRYING TO BE AGGRESSIVE? “It was tough. You pretty much have to be cautiously aggressive because we’re in a pretty good points spot, so we’re trying just to get more points. I don’t know. It’s a tough spot. Just not much went right today. We got blocked in on the pit stop and got put back there on the restart and got spun. I don’t know what I’ve got to do to get the monkey off my back on these road courses. I just can’t seem to get a race to go right, but it seems like we’re fast every time. We’ll go get ‘em in Dover.”
ANY SENSE OF RELIEF GETTING BY THIS RACE? “A little bit. It’s good that we had a solid day, but it’s so frustrating that I thought we could compete for a win and didn’t.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Ford Performance Ford Mustang – “I felt like we had the car to beat all day long. We were able to constantly come back through the field. We had to go for points obviously because of our situation and we were always able to get back. There at the end I felt like I still could have ran down AJ. I felt like we were really good on the long run and that’s kind of where he struggled. I don’t know. I still haven’t seen a replay of what happened, so it’s hard for me to say. It always feel different, I feel like, than the way you actually see outside of the car, so I don’t know what happened. I felt like I was doing everything I could do try to win the race and knew that pass was crucial down there to try to have a shot to catch AJ and, like I said, I haven’t really seen it so I don’t know what happened.”
WERE YOU GLAD NASCAR PENALIZED BELL FOR MISSING THE CHICANE? “Whatever happened I remember looking to my left in the mirror thinking he was gonna stop because I knew he had to have went all four because I was two wheels over, so I don’t know. It was a racing deal. I feel like we were both trying to win the race and there’s nothing wrong with that. I felt like I got turned down here and that’s what I don’t understand. I mean, we’re both racing for the win and I felt I was doing everything I could. I had no reason to move him off the race track or anything. Like I said, I haven’t seen it, so it’s hard to say, but I wasn’t worried about his penalty. At the end of the day I’m trying to do what I can do for the 98 car and I’m not too worried about those guys.”
YOU TREAT THAT LINE LIKE A WALL, RIGHT? “Yeah, for the most part. Obviously, you have a lot more run off because you can kind of go over that curbing, but I honestly felt like I could take it all the way to that next curbing because I had ran him down almost a straightaway, so I thought he was honestly gonna give it to me. Cindric, I caught him and he gave it to me and in that situation I had already drove in really deep trying to pull on past him and I was committed at that point. There was nothing I could do to not do that, so he obviously stayed in the gas and that’s what happened.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – “I wish I had a chance to fight the 10 there at the end, but under caution I felt a shock mount break. The right-rear shock was clean off the race car before I even restarted the race, so I’m glad I didn’t wreck and I’m glad I finished third. I guess all of that is positive, but at the same time I felt like we had a good shot, especially if the thing would have gone green and try to pressure him into a mistake or getting a good lunge, but, all in all, a great points day, a great day for the MoneyLion Ford Mustang. We’ve got to keep it going this way.”
DID GOING OVER THE STRIPS AND BUMPS LEAD TO THE SHOCK MOUNT BREAKING? “We beefed up the car from last year. We broke a lot of stuff after last year and just finding what’s weak.”
HOW DID THE BACK CHICANE WORK TODAY? “It feels like it needs to be slower. It feels like needs to be a first-gear cornered, or at least further down the race track to create a better passing zone and less of a harsh transition into the frontstretch chicane. If I was changing things and it was my world, I’d probably do that because I think I may have been the only one to make a legitimate pass there today and kind of screwed Harrison Burton a little bit, but you’ve got to do that. It’s Playoff time. That’s what I’d do, but, otherwise, I think it made it easier for us to set up our race car, but at the same time I think we’ve got a little ways to go.”
YOU HAVE A NICE CUSHION GOING TO DOVER, SO WILL THAT BE LESS STRESSFUL? “No doubt. I think Dover is an opportunity weekend for us to learn about our cars and what we need to do at tracks like that. I think there are packages we can learn that help us in Kansas and Texas. My MoneyLion Ford Mustang guys have been in the Playoffs, obviously, to have a second and a third to start the Playoffs is great, but we’ve got to keep going.”
