Hollywood Casino 400 | MENCS QUALIFYING RESULTS/QUOTES
FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
2nd – DAVID RAGAN
3rd – (P) RYAN BLANEY
4th – (P) BRAD KESELOWSKI
6th – MICHAEL MCDOWELL
7th – RYAN NEWMAN
8th – DANIEL SUAREZ
13th – ARIC ALMIROLA
17th – MATT TIFFT
19th – RICKY STENHOUSE JR.
21st – (P) CLINT BOWYER
22nd – PAUL MENARD
29th – (P) JOEY LOGANO
32nd – COREY LAJOIE
40th – (P) KEVIN HARVICK
DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 MDS Ford Mustang — Qualified 2nd
“I hope we can be the fastest on Sunday too. We made adjustments on our Ford Mustang last night anticipating a little warmer race on Sunday. We looked at the weather and we looked at what we did here in the spring and so we really didn’t think much of qualifying. It is what it is on these impound races. I was surprised to see the speed that Michael (McDowell) had in his car. I was optimistic knowing our cars were pretty close. To be on the Front Row is awesome for the start of the race on Sunday. Hopefully we can make some adjustments and be a top-10 or top-15 car on Sunday.”
WHAT DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS DO FOR THE MORALE OF YOUR TEAM? “It is Front Row Motorsports, we should be on the front row at some point. It is awesome leading the field to green with Daniel (Hemric) is a neat thing. We come here to win and run the best we can in the race but qualifying is fun too. Single car qualifying you just go as fast as you can. Like I said, we made some adjustments that we thought would help our car in the race. We didn’t really think much about qualifying. That was just a free bonus for our team this weekend.”
(P) RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Dickies Ford Mustang — Qualified 3rd
“The lap went really smooth and the Mustang drove really good. We were pretty surprised in the speed it had because we added some downforce yesterday after practice. That is always good when you add downforce and go faster than your mock run yesterday. That is pretty promising for the race and a good starting spot for sure.”
(P) BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang — Qualified 4th
“I feel good about that. We have three Fords in the top-four. It isn’t the top spot that we wanted but it isn’t bad either. We should be in a good spot. We think we have it dialed in for tomorrow. My teammate Ryan Blaney is pretty good too. There are certainly some cars that favor qualifying over the race, and vice versa.”
(P) KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang – DNQ (Failed Inspection) – Qualified 40th
WHAT CHALLENGE DO YOU FACE FIRST OFF TOMORROW COMING FROM THE BACK? “I have to pass a lot of cars. It is what it is at this point. You just go out and try to strategize and plan what you can and try to pass as many cars when you can at the beginning and go from there.”
YOUR TEAM KIND OF TOOK A CHANCE. YOU COULD HAVE GONE OUT AND QUALIFIED AND THEN MADE THE CHANGE AND STARTED AT THE REAR FOR UNAPPROVED ADJUSTMENTS, BUT YOU DECIDED TO MAKE THE FIX TO START WHERE YOU QUALIFIED. DO YOU FEEL A LITTLE SNAKE-BIT ON THAT? “Just a number of things kind of lined up right there. Obviously going out on track and having the drive line drag the tunnel was probably not a good option for a number of reasons. So, I think we all felt like we had to try to fix it and I don’t think anybody thought that we were anywhere close on the toe to fail the next time or you probably would have thought through things a little bit differently. Just a number of things lined up there that didn’t exactly go right and lined up in a circumstance that we are.”
WAST IT A PARTICULAR PIECE OR PART? “I don’t build ‘em.”
YOU HAVE A POINTS CUSHION, BUT DOES THIS MAKE YOU WORRY OR FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN A HOLE TOMORROW? “It is just another race. It is like I have talked from the very beginning. You deal with the situations as they approach you. It doesn’t matter if it is the first race or an elimination race. You go about the circumstances you are dealt. This is why I always tell you guys you never know what the circumstances will be and you have to adapt and adjust as they present themselves. It is basically one lap and it could have been in practice or the race and it is basically one lap that comes at qualifying and a number of things that go with that. It is still only one lap that changed the direction of where you thought you were going to be yesterday when we were going to qualify. You do what you can do. We have been in these types of situations before and you adapt to it and go about your business.”
(P) JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang – Qualified 29th
“You have to pick one or the other. Do you want to go fast for a lap or do you want to be good for all of them. I hope this is the right choice for all of them. Time will tell. Obviously we are probably outside of the majority considering where we are at compared to some other cars. We will see when we get up there. Hopefully she handles great and I can make some aggressive moves to get up there. I feel confident we will.”
WERE YOU ON THE RIGHT PATH WITH RACE TRIM IN PRACTICE YESTERDAY? “I felt really good yesterday. I felt like my car was able to do what I wanted it to do and was competitive. I could pass up to the lead of the pack when I was out there and maintain it once I was there. I think we are going the right direction but tomorrow will be the real true test.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang — Qualified 6th
“We went out early and I don’t know how that will stack up when it is all said and done but that was a good solid lap. The car was pretty good in race trim yesterday and we feel really good about where we are at. I think that will put us in the top-10 or 15 starting spot and we will do work from there. Where you start matters everywhere now. I think it is really important with this particular package to start up front and get that clean air. Restarts and starts get wild and we are three and four-wide and just that kind of energy with those cars three and four wide you lose ground to the leader so the closer you can be, the better.”
(P) indicates NASCAR Playoff Driver
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