FORD UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS
6th – Noah Gragson
7th – Matt DiBenedetto
13th – Ryan Sieg
28th – Kyle Sieg
24th – Blaine Perkins
25th – Logan Bearden
30th – Cole Custer
35th – Lawless Alan
38th – Riley Herbst
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 30 Ford Performance Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Finished 6th)
HOW ABOUT THAT FINISH? “I was just a little too tight today, but I just want to say thank you so much to Terry and Lisa Jones, Matthew, Casey and Mark Rette and all the Rette Jones Racing guys. It was a lot of fun to drive this Ford Performance Ford Mustang Dark Horse out there. I really wanted to get the win for Ford at their home track here in Michigan and take home those bragging rights but I was just a little too tight, a little too draggy all weekend. We qualified 12th and made good moves all day and hung on for a fifth. We need to go to work for Darlington in this car next time, but overall I am just so grateful to be out here and for the fans sticking it out. I can’t say enough about these fans. We will try again tomorrow.”
WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THIS PACKAGE THAT MADE THE RACING SO SKETCHY? “I don’t know if it was sketchy. I managed to build tight all day. My front tires wouldn’t turn and they would get worse and turn less and less so I would have to start lifting lap after lap there. It was kind of that way all weekend, even the Cup car. Some guys were complaining loose but I have been too tight. Overall, just super grateful. It is a little bit of a handful. Man, I want to be wide open but I know I have to crack the throttle just so keep some life on the right front tire. We will move on. We will learn and keep getting better.”
WHAT ME THROUGH THAT FINAL OVERTIME FINISH: “The 8 probably could have won the race. I wound up third there right away and then kind of lost it there. I think if the 8 would have gotten up we could have maybe gotten side by side with help on the back, I don’t know. But he didn’t get up and we were kind of tight in three and four coming to the white flag. But congrats to JRM and Justin Allgaier. I know a lot of those guys over at that organization but I really wanted to bring one home for Ford.”
RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
(Retired early due to damage in an accident on lap 48)
“We had a really fast race car. I thought we had a shot at it there. I was picking them off on the restarts and working my way back up. I thought it was coming to us. I thought we were better than a lot of people in front of us. We had a huge run on the 39 off of Turn 2 and I went to his inside and thought I was clear. Obviously I wasn’t clear. It is a bummer deal. We will bounce back at Daytona and try to get another win.”
DOES THE INDIANAPOLIS WIN MAKE THIS EASIER TO SWALLOW? “Yeah, for sure. We are locked into the playoffs and have really fast race cars. I was trying to put myself into the position to try to win the second stage because who knows if that was going to be the end of the race or not with the rain coming. I just fought and fought. I don’t know. We will watch the film and see what I can learn and we will go to Daytona.”
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